Sony has internal goals to ship 16 million PS4s in 2013
Gamers across the world, myself included, are itching for the next-generation consoles to be released - but how many do Sony expect to ship this year? DigiTimes' latest piece comes from quoted sources at both the Foxconn and Pegatron manufacturing plants where the PS4 is being made, who have said that Sony's internal plans are to ship at least 16 million PS4s by the end of 2013.
DigiTimes' sources said that Sony have only just begun requesting quotes on the requisite components, and that mass component shipments in August would allow Sony to get the PlayStation 4 onto shelves by Christmas this year. If DigiTimes' sources are right, Sony are in the very beginning stages of industrial design, which could be problematic if something were to happen in the coming months.
16 million is a lot, but we have had nearly 10 years between consoles, and gamers are spending more than ever with DLC these days - so is it too much to ask for Sony to sell 16 million? What are your thoughts on the matter?
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Garry's Mod has made nearly $22 million since its release in 2006
It's hard to believe that Garry's Mod has been out for seven years now, but Facepunch Studios' hit has made them a tidy sum of money. Garry's Mod creator, Garry Newman, took to his blog to say that since its release, the game has made "about $22 million dollars".
This may sound like a nice pile of money, but the creators are only entitled to "less than half" of that. Newman writes "The tax man gets a bunch of [the $22 million]. Then when we take money out of the company, the tax man gets a bunch of that too."
Garry's Mod is available through Steam on both Windows and Mac for $9.99, and we should expect a new PC game from Facepunch Studios, as Newman has "wanted to start work on for ages," he continues, "I don't really want to talk about it until we've got something more solid though."
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Study suggests Android apps engage in less risky behavior than iOS
Appthority has released a new study that looks at risky behavior exhibited by the top 50 iOS and top 50 Android apps. The data suggests that despite the appearance of more security in iOS, more iOS apps tend to engage in risky behaviors, such as sending and receiving unencrypted data, than Android apps do.
As you can see in the chart above, every single one of the iOS apps tested sent or received data without using encryption. This exposes user data to being sniffed while traveling over the internet. Only 46 of the 50 Android apps tested exhibited this behavior.
Furthermore, a higher percentage of tested iOS apps used ad networks or analytics. Far more iOS apps tracked the user's location. Finally, over half of the iOS apps tested had access to the user's contacts, while only 20 percent of the Android apps tested were allowed to access a user's contacts.
Of course, none of these behaviors are indicative of a major security risk. However, it just goes to show that Apple's process of going through and approving apps doesn't make them any less risky than Android. In fact, by Android showing which permissions an app is allowed to access likely discourages app developers from requesting permissions they don't need.
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comScore data shows Android losing ground to iOS, Windows Phone staying steady
New data released by comScore shows that Android lost ground to iOS in the three month average from October 2012 to January 2013 as compared to the three month average from August 2012 to October 2012. Most interesting is the fact that Microsoft's Windows Phone failed to gain any market share.
In fact, Microsoft's Windows Phone actually lost 0.1 percent of the market despite a marketing push from the Windows giant. Of course 0.1 percent is not statistically significant meaning that for all intents and purposes, Microsoft's market share remained steady at just over 3 percent.
Android saw a 1.3 percent decrease in market share while iOS picked up a 3.5 percent increase. Blackberry was the largest loser, losing 1.9 percent of the market. Interestingly enough, Blackberry continues to be ahead of Microsoft with 5.9 percent.
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RumorTT: Samsung Galaxy S3 might get S4 features such as Smart Scroll
The latest out of the rumor mill is that the Samsung Galaxy S3 might end up getting some of the same features that are said to be coming in the yet-to-be-released Galaxy S4. These rumored features include the new Smart Scroll feature that will automatically scroll webpages and other text areas automatically.
The screenshot seen above is said to be from a Galaxy S3 device running a leaked Android 4.2.1 update. If this is indeed a true Galaxy S3 update, then I would expect to hear more about it at the March 14 event being held by Samsung to announce the Galaxy S4. At that time, they'll probably give a timeframe for the update to roll out to the international version of the device.
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Nexus 7 dock magically appears in Google Play Store for $30
Google has made the official Nexus 7 dock available in the Google Play Store for $29.99. The dock's shipping time is one to two weeks out in the future, but it's at least available from the Play Store. Google has said that the dock is available in Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, UK, and US.
You can head over to the Google Play Store to pick up your very own, something I'll be doing very shortly. Google's dock allows you to place your Nexus 7 at the perfect angle for "optimum viewing of your Google Play movies and television shows." It will also charge your device through a microUSB port and output audio through an integrated 3.5mm jack.
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Bug found that allows bypassing Samsung Galaxy S3 lockscreen
Coming on the heels of a bug that allows partial access to the Galaxy Note II, a new bug has been discovered that provides full access to a device locked with a pin, password, or gesture. The bug was posted on the Full Disclosure mailing list by Sean McMillian and makes use of a variation on the original bug.
ZDNet verified the bug on their Galaxy S III running Android 4.1.2 and note that "the issue is very small and difficult to replicate at first." McMillian's instructions are as follows:
It seems like it's not just Apple that is having security issues stemming from the emergency call function. Samsung has not yet commented on the bug and there is not a current estimate for how long it will take for a fix to be released.
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EA shut down several SimCity servers for maintenance
For those looking to play on some of EA's SimCity servers, you might have found yourself out of luck earlier today. EA was forced to shut down Oceanic 1, NA East 1, and NA East 2 to apply patches that will hopefully fix connection and load issues that users have experienced since SimCity's launch yesterday.
The process started at 11:40a.m. PST for NA East 1 and NA East 2. At 12:14p.m., EA said they had powered on four new servers to meet demand. Ten minutes later, they brought Oceanic 1 back online for players to use. At 1:55p.m., EA turned NA East 2 back on for gamers. At the time of writing, NA East 1 is still offline for maintenance.
EA added at 2:18p.m. PST that they were applying the patches to EU West 1 and EU West 2. This likely means these servers are offline, though I can not confirm this as I don't have SimCity. You can keep an eye on EA's progress on their status post.
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Valve releases Counter-Strike: Condition Zero for Linux
Valve continues to make the push for Linux gaming by releasing their fifth title to be compatible with the Linux operating system. Joining the ranks of 79 other games available through the newly released Steam for Linux client on Linux, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero pushes that count up to 80.
We have made Counter-Strike: Condition Zero available in Beta form on Linux, just go to your library list and double click the game to install.
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RumorTT: iPhone 5S said to be in production at Foxconn
We're used to seeing lots of Apple rumors. Most of the time they end up proving false, but in this case we might actually see this turn out to be accurate. In the past week, there have been whispers here and there that Apple is planning to launch the new iPhone 5S sometime in August. If this is the case, then the iPhone 5S going into full-scale production now isn't too far-fetched.
Besides that, the source, Macotakara, has been correct on other pre-release Apple details in the past. They say that Foxconn and Apple have finished test runs of the iPhone 5S and that they are in the process of scaling up production. They note that the device will likely end up being very similar to the current iPhone 5S as most of the manufacturing process modifications are hard to find.
Only time will tell if this is true. If it is, we will likely start to see parts of the device leaking out and possibly a fully assembled device.
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RumorTT: Next Samsung Galaxy Note might feature 5.9-inch screen
The Korea Times is reporting that the next Samsung Galaxy Note will come with a 5.9-inch screen. The Times' cites an unnamed official who spoke anonymously. "Samsung is working on introducing a new phablet using a 5.9-inch organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen," the official said.
The current Galaxy Note II features a massive 5.5-inch screen. Some rumors had placed the next Note as coming with a pocket-busting 6.3-inch screen, though it looks like this is not the case. The Times' source added that the new phablet would be coming with Samsung's new Exynos eight-core processor.
We'll keep our eye on all things Samsung and let you know when interesting or trustworthy pieces of information pop up.
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Beats' music streaming service gets closer to reality, secures $60 million investment
The online music streaming service market is going to get even more crowded as Beats continues to push forward with plans to launch their own streaming service known as Daisy. We've reported rumors about Beats possibly working with Apple in regards to the latter starting a streaming service, though this looks less likely with the news of Beats securing a $60 million investment.
The $60 million investment comes from Access Industries, Marc Rowan, James Packer, and some others. The investment will be used to help launch Daisy, which is currently backed by Beats Electronics LLC. Co-founder Jimmy Iovine:
Beats was always about helping people re-discover the magic in the experience of listening to music. Now that we are well along the way to addressing the quality of audio playback with Beats headphones and speakers, Daisy allows us to re-introduce the same magic into the process of music discovery and consumption.
This, coupled with rumors of YouTube possibly launching their own streaming service, could lead to increased competition in the marketplace. Increased competition should provide consumers with lower prices and better features.
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Microsoft fined 561 million euros ($732 million US) for browser choice error
Microsoft has been hit with a massive 561 million euro fine, which equates to around $732 million US, for removing the option to pick a different default browser in Windows 7 SP1. Microsoft had previously settled the EU over claims that making Internet Explorer the default browser was anti-competitive.
Microsoft had agreed to provide the option of several different web browsers when Windows was installed or configured. When the company released Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, the option to select a web browser was removed. Microsoft says that a technical error prevented the option screen from showing.
It took Microsoft 14 months and complaints from the EU to get the problem resolved. The EU has now fined Microsoft over the issue, though it's not as bad as it could have been. EU law allows for the fine to be up to 10 percent of the company's revenue, meaning the fine could have been as high as $7.4 billion.
"We take full responsibility for the technical error that caused this problem and have apologized for it," a Microsoft spokesperson said.
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First complete map of Mercury unveiled by NASA
Amidst massive budget cuts, and an overall reduction in funding, NASA somehow manages to continue to be able to wow us on a regular basis. This time the space agency has released the first full map of the planet Mercury's surface.
The first planet in our solar system has not received much scientific attention over the course of modern space science mostly because it is too close to the sun to properly observe from earth. NASA's Messenger spacecraft has managed to negate that issue and since 2011 has been hard at work mapping the surface of Mercury.
NASA's Mariner spacecraft had previously imaged the surface of Mercury, but only managed to capture less than half the surface during a flyby in 1974 and 1975. Messenger is the first spacecraft to orbit the closest planet to the sun and used modern technology to image the surface.
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Facebook's new look to include multiple news feeds, image based ads and larger photos
This Thursday Facebook will be holding a big press event where it is expected to announce the first major change to its Timeline feature since release in 2006. We are hearing speculation that the news feed may be broken down into multiple categories and would be configurable.
TechCrunch is reporting that in addition to the multiple news feeds, we will also see large timeline photos, and image based ads adorning the service. When tech news site Mashable reached out to Facebook and asked for a comment, they replied "We don't comment on rumor and speculation".
If the rumors are true, then we will see the new multiple feed feature somewhere at the top near the search bar as well as a new photo feed that would exclusively feature images uploaded through the Facebook and Instagram apps. My only worry is that the rollout of Facebook's last big announcement, Graph Search, has not even began to get started, so how long would it be before everyone had access to these new features?
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Microsoft back-peddles on Office 2013 retail license, now lets you transfer to new PC
It seemed that the whole tech community was up in arms over Microsoft's decision to tie all retail licenses of its Office 2013 to single install on a single PC, which could not be transferred, if you upgrade machines. Redmond has taken notice and reversed that decision.
Today Microsoft announced that it is changing policy and will now allow users to transfer their retail Office 2013 license to a new PC "if the old one fails." The new changes will be updated in the license agreement in future updates, but said that the change is effective immediately.
There are of course limitations, including only being able to transfer the license every 90 days and you can still only run the license on one piece of hardware at a time. We are glad Microsoft has recanted their decision to limit the use of its software, and we hope they will continue to think of the customer over the bottom line.
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News Corp launches 10-inch Amplify Tablet aimed at educators and students
News Corp just unveiled its next push into the education sector. The ASUS manufactured Amplify 10-inch Android Tablet is being billed as a budget tablet for the classroom.
The tablets will come pre-loaded with Google Apps for Education and basic encyclopedia apps. Battery life is quoted as being somewhere in the eight hour range, and is swappable, unlike most other tablets on the market.
The tablet is being made available through AT&T and will run schools a mere $299 each for a 3G model and $349 for 4G. Each tablet will carry a $99 annual data subscription. That may sound like a lot, but the real savings is the ability to load digital text books and forever forget the heavy dead tree based books of the past.
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Spotify teams up with Volvo to product voice activated in-car music system
Recently I reported on Ford teaming up with Spotify to offer in-car hands-free music streaming, and it seems that Volvo is now jumping on that same bandwagon. The company announced today that it has teamed up with Spotify to bring forth a hands-free in-car music system.
Dubbed Sensus Connected Touch, the system will allow users to stream music via a 3G/4G connection and control everything with simple voice commands or a dash mounted touch screen. The system is powered by Android - Volvo promises to keep it updated regularly.
Other apps reported to work on the system are: Google Maps, iGO-Powered GPS and TuneIn Radio. The Sensus Connected Touch will be sold as a dealer option and will be available for the V40, V40 Cross Country, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 car models.
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RumorTT: Apple could team up with Beats to finally get its music streaming service off the ground
Apple has been trying for a while now to bring forth its own version of a music streaming service. For the most part, the venture has been stifled by failed royalty negations between artist and record labels.
We are hearing reports that Apple's Tim Cook has met with Beats Electronics CEO Jimmy Iovine in an effort to discuss all things about music streaming. This meeting comes hot on the announcement by Beats that it will be launching its own subscription streaming service dubbed Daisy.
Apple is keeping things quiet (as usual) about the meeting, only saying that the meeting was "informational" and covered a vast range of topics. With streaming services out there that do a very good job already, is there really a need for an Apple branded subscription based music streaming service?
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Samsung to stop selling Windows RT tablets in Germany, cites weak demand as cause
Word on the street is that Samsung, the dominating everything-electronics giant, will be pulling its Windows RT-based ATIV Tab hybrid from the German market due to very weak demand. This news is not much of a surprise as the company has already pulled back plans to launch the ATIV Tab in the US.
Both Heise.de and MobileGeeks are reporting that Samsung will cease to offer the ATIV Tab sometime in the coming days in Germany as well as a few other European markets. This news comes after Samsung consulted with retailers who had no good news about demand for the Windows RT based tablet.
Samsung has reportedly confirmed these rumors at CeBIT, with an exec saying it "sees no market for RT in Germany and other European countries." At the time of this post, the ATIV Tab is still listed for sale by Amazon.de priced at 605 euros. What do our German and European readers think about this? Is there a market for Windows RT based devices in your country? Let us know in the comments.
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Five-year-old kid racks up $2500 bill on iPad apps
Five-year-old Danny Kitchen asked his parents for the password to their iPad so that he could download a free game, which turned into a nightmare for the Kitchen's, as Danny racked up a $2500 bill in add-on purchases to his mother's credit card.
The culprit? Zombies vs. Ninjas, which is definitely a free game, but Danny ordered extra "darts" and "bombs" to battle those nasty zombies, where weapons range right up to $99.99. Danny's mother had no idea what was happening until she noticed 19 e-mails from iTunes in the morning, receipts of her son's purchases.
Sharon didn't think anything of the emails, putting it down to multiple invoices of the one receipt. She ignored it until her credit card company called her regarding the suspicious activity. Sharon told Mashable:
I still find it incredible that he managed to do it. He only had the iPad for ten to 15 minutes, so he could've only done the deed within this amount of time. He thought he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was reprimanded and told off, but he was crying. He realized there were going to be consequences and I said, 'You better run and hide,' and he says, 'But mommy, where shall I hide?' I felt so sorry for him and couldn't be mad.
The story does have a light at the end of the tunnel, with Danny's parents contacting Apple regarding his purchases. After three days of communication, Apple deemed the incident a mistake, refunding the full amount to the family.
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Gigabyte's Z87 motherboard is ready for some extreme overclocking, meet the Z87X-OC
We've already seen what ASRock are working on, but what about Gigabyte? They haven't been sleeping by the looks of things, with the new Z87 range of motherboards, built for overclockers, being noticed at CeBIT.
The best of the bunch, the GA-Z87X-OC, is built with a full 8 Phase Solid VRM using DRMOS, International Rectifier MOSFETs, which should give some crazy stability when pushing that overclock. The Z87X-OC includes that sexy orange and black design we've come to know and love from Gigabyte, as well as the usual buttons for enthusiasts on the board - BCLCK, Turbo, Gear, Power switches at the side of DIMM slots, Voltage measuring points, Debug LED and a Dual BIOS switch.
We should expect to see more from Gigabyte at Computex in June, where more consumer-ready boards should be unveiled. There's more in the Z87 range from Gigabyte, with the GA-Z87X-UD5H, GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H and GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H being shown off at Gigabyte's CeBIT 2013 booth.
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SGI Launches new InfiniteStorage 5600 RAID Storage Platform
SGI has launched the new InfiniteStorage 5600, a next-generation high performance storage platform. SGI has a huge presence in the storage market, delivering over 600 Petabytes of storage last year alone. This next gen RAID platform provides the highest throughput for its footprint, spindle count, watts consumption and investment dollars. Designed to capitalize on many forms of storage, from SSDs to HDDs, this platform is well suited for high performance computing, research and analysis, simulation and modeling.
The flexible modular architecture of this new system allows customers to tune their specific performance and capacity requirements. The IS5600 can intermix multiple drive types and enclosure densities, ranging from 4TB high capacity drives to extreme performance SSDs in a single, scalable system.
With a tremendous advantage in MB/s per spindle over competing solutions, the IS5600 provides higher performance with fewer spindles than any other solution on the market.
The new product is available in three enclosure densities, with 12, 24 and a 4u 60-drive high-density enclosure. Each enclosure can house dual controllers or can be configured as an expansion unit.
One of the more compelling features of the IS5600 Series is their Dynamic Disk Pools (DDP). These pools allow the customer enhanced flexibility not offered by legacy RAID systems. With typical rebuild times growing exponentially with each increase in HDD capacity, rebuilds have become a huge problem in many environments. This leads to compromised performance from the storage solution for days, and in the right circumstances, as long as a week.
DDP provides 85-90% of normal performance in a degraded state, and only requires a fraction of the time to rebuild the array that typical RAID 5 and RAID 6 architectures require. Even in worst-case scenarios, DDP can reduce the rebuild time by 2X over a RAID 6 implementation. With the continuing
evolution of HDDs, and 4TG HDDS on the horizon, flexible storage solutions that provide faster rebuild times are becoming necessary.
General availability for the IS5600 platform will come in April of this year.
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Hands-on video with MSI's WindTop AG2712 AIO PC - the first true gaming all-in-one?
CeBIT 2013 - One of the final great videos we'll see from Johannes Knapp after his trip to MWC and CeBIT 2013 is of the MSI WindTop AG2712 AIO PC.
This new all-in-one computer from MSI is claimed to be the world's first true gaming AIO and MSI does manage to back that claim up with some pretty solid specs. It comes packing an Intel Core i7 3630QM processor running at 2.4GHz, up to 16GB of DDR3 memory and a speedy NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX CPU with 3GB of GDDR5 memory.
The screen included on the unit is 27-inches in size with a solid 1920 x 1080 resolution and includes 10 point multitouch support. The screen is also of the non-glare type, which Johannes liked during his hands-on with the unit. The unit includes a whole bunch of I/O options, with one of the better being HDMI IN, allowing you to use the AIO as a television for other HDMI devices such as your PS3 or Xbox 360.
At this stage we have no details on pricing or availability, but it looks to be quite a good AIO that may be worth considering.
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Thief reboot confirmed, will stealth onto next-gen consoles and PC in 2014
Ah, Thief, a game I remember from the 90s as a huge leap in terms of stealth games. Now we're finally seeing a reboot of the franchise from Eidos Montreal who have been working on the Thief reboot for years, reports Game Informer.
The rebooted Thief will be released on the PS4 and PC, as well as other next-gen consoles. The above trailer doesn't show you much, but is more of a confirmation that we're to expect Thief. The new game will see series hero Garrett returning to Gothic, an industrial metropolis known as just the 'City'. We should hear more on the game soon now that it has been announced.
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Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB SSD Review
Introduction
Recently we posted a retake review of the Plextor M5 Pro using the new Xtreme 1.02 firmware. Around the same time the new firmware update was released, Plextor also released an official branded 'Xtreme' SSD. The new Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme drives ship with new Xtreme firmware preinstalled, uses new Toshiba Toggle 19nm 2bpc NAND and has a more aggressive garbage collection scheme.
The physical change in the form of new NAND is quite a bit different from the older 19nm Toggle. The chips are now TSOP instead of BGA, but the largest change is the page size. 2bpc uses 16KB page sizes, which doubles the page size of the first generation 19nm Toggle.
The preinstalled firmware, version 1.02, delivers a performance boost over the M5 Pro's 1.0 release firmware. The M5 Pro original does accept the new 1.02 and newest 1.03 release, the same as the new Xtreme branded drive. We're not sure if the new firmware programs the old Pro with the new garbage collection scheme that starts the garbage collection at 10% and makes it more aggressive as the drive continues to use up free blocks.
The old 1.0 firmware didn't start GC until 4% so this is a nice change for consumer users because it helps keep the drive fresh and running at higher speeds. The trade off is higher write amplification.
Firmware details aside, let's dive in and take a look at the new M5 Pro Xtreme SSD.
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Silverstone Redline Series SST-RL04B Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
Looking back at everything I have seen from Silverstone over the years, it is really amazing what this company has actually been able to do for the aftermarket case industry. While most manufacturers stuck with the standard square cases with typical layouts and features, Silverstone just thought there was something better, or a different way to look at the problems case users tend to run into. With many of the series' that Silverstone has introduced like the Ravens, the Temjins, Fortresses, all of these designs were very innovative in their time, and to be honest, they are still some of the coolest cases on the market. That isn't to downplay on the Grandia, Crown or any other series from them, Silverstone usually does a great job of meeting their customers' needs in some shape or form.
This time around, instead of pushing the boundaries of technology with extruded aluminum, mechanized front panels, or digging deeply into your wallet, with the Redline Series from Silverstone, the idea is to offer a budget friendly solution without being the typical lame black box. I don't typically do this, but I think Silverstone says it best, so I will add what they have to say about this chassis.
"The Redline series was created with the goal of exceeding user experience and expectation for affordable PC chassis by offering punchy styling and features reserved often for more expensive models. The RL04, with its chest armor styled front fascia punctuated by glowing red SilverStone logo that doubles as a power button that will surely raise the adrenaline of PC enthusiasts. Its bottom mounted power supply layout and flexible drive storage options enable it to support a wide selection of components. The top, front, and the bottom side of the RL04 are also fully filtered to ensure that positive pressure setup, a prominent feature in SilverStone's high-end chassis, is a viable option for creating a dust-proof PC. For enthusiasts looking to build a PC with quality features and styling on a budget, the RL04 is an excellent choice."
Since they covered quite a bit about the Redline Series SST-RL04B that we are going to be looking at today, I guess the only thing left to do is get into detail with the specifications so we can see the chassis that arrived for testing.
Considering what Silverstone has to say, up front, this chassis looks really good, and coupled with the price you are about to read about, I really think that Silverstone may have made the right move here.
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Plextor M5 Pro 256GB SSD with Xtreme 1.02 Firmware Review
Introduction
There seems to be a bit of confusion surrounding Plextor's M5 Pro / Xtreme products. The M5 Pro hit the market several months ago and was one of the first SSDs to use Toshiba's 19nm Toggle NAND. At the time we didn't realize Toshiba already had a newer design in the works. The first 19nm NAND has an 8K page size, the standard we've had for the last few years. The new 16KB page size is the future and will eventually allow for higher density NAND dies and packages.
The Plextor M5 Pro uses the 8K page size design and the new Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme uses the new 16KB page size. That's pretty simple, a change to the BOM and a new tag, but it isn't. Just prior to announcing the M5 Pro Xtreme, Plextor released Xtreme firmware for the original M5 Pro. The Xtreme firmware gives a solid boost across the full spectrum with the largest performance bump coming in the sequential read and write area. This is good news for those who've already purchased a Plextor M5 Pro because with the Xtreme firmware updates, version 1.02 and above, you gain some free performance.
When we reviewed the M5 Pro 256GB the first time with firmware 1.00 we felt as if Plextor held back with the release. In the review, we commented that the M3 Pro performed better in a few key areas. Plextor isn't just sitting back and letting Xtreme 1.02 become the end all be all for M5 Pro either. After finishing this article, Plextor released version 1.03. 1.03 doesn't introduce a radical shift in performance like 1.02 did, but it does increase the efficiency of TRIM so some of our benchmarks might see even higher results.
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Light Virtualization Software Review and Guide: Shadow Defender
Overview and History
In one of our recent articles we have explored the benefits of Light Virtualization (LV). This is a unique software technology that sandboxes whole disks/partitions, protecting their contents against unwanted changes.
Shadow Defender (or SD for short as it is known among its dedicated fans) has been enjoying a great reputation among Light Virtualization fans during the last few years. There has been a barren period of two and a half years where development was interrupted, leaving v1.1.0.325 (which was released back in February 2010) as the last known good version.
Amazingly this version is still doing its job perfectly three years later, keeping pretty much everything at bay. It is basically a three year old piece of code that is still able to fully isolate and contain malicious code which is much newer than itself. This unique feature is what has cemented the Shadow Defender reputation among its dedicated fans.
The SD project was put back on track a few months ago with the developer coming back and picking it up once again. Tony (as he is known among SD fans) is the author and owner of Shadow Defender. We don't know what real life issues may have forced Tony to abandon the project for two and a half years. What is important is that the break is now over. In the last five months the program has evolved and important new features have been added. The latest version of SD includes full SSD/TRIM compatibility, introduces Windows 8 support, and also includes write cache encryption plus a configurable RAM Cache option.
If you are interested in trying or buying Shadow Defender, you can visit this website.
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Corsair Hydro Series H90 AIO CPU Cooler Review
Introduction
Since the inception of AIO coolers, and when CoolIT and Asetek went to making third party coolers and dealing much less with a retail product of their own, Corsair was one of the first to get on board and start selling AIOs under their name with the Hydro series. Back in the beginning, things were chunky, failures were a bit more rampant in forums, but with a brand like Corsair they were able to overcome issues along the way. With every generation, there have been design improvements, thermal improvements, and various types of mounting systems to keep reviewers on their toes over the years.
With every unit in the lineup developed to this point, the units were all based on a 120mm radiator, or a dual 120mm radiator to cool the fluid within the loop. While using lower voltages in the head units produced less heat dump into the loop, and like the H60 (2013) trying different fans also helped out with the performance. That being said, there is only one more way to increase the performance with the latest generation of head units being used on the market, and that would be a move to a larger radiator and fan to provide more surface area for the fluid to travel through while the fan attached is cooling said liquid.
Today from Corsair's Hydro Series we are going to be getting up close and personal with the H90. This is an AIO CPU cooler that took the step into the larger radiator direction, now coming equipped with a 140mm radiator. Since more and more cases are giving up on 120mm cooling solutions, and most even offer a 140mm in the back now, the move seems very natural, almost a shame it took this long to be honest, but all of the pieces had to fall into place for this to actually work well for a lot of users.
Well, it seems that time is now, and we will see soon enough if the move to a larger radiator is worth the hassle, or if the AIO has been taken to its limits already.
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Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Cinema Review
Starting life as a dramatized version of the failed U.S. military bid to locate the elusive head of the terrorist organization Al Qaeda; Osama Bin Laden, amongst the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan, was aborted in favor of telling the story of the successful raid on the Pakistani compound.Zero Dark Thirty came into being immediately following Bin Laden's killing in May 2011.
Zero Dark Thirty is primarily the journey of one woman, Maya (Jessica Chastain), a fresh out of college CIA analyst, who rises through the ranks to be taken seriously by her generally male superiors, whilst gathering intelligence from captives and loyalists who are happy to supply faulty or otherwise misleading information.
The methods of extracting this information initially repulse her, but as the story progresses, it becomes clear that the coercion is a necessary evil. Eventually, Maya gathers enough information to convince her military superiors including Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler) to take a gamble on her theories, leading to the climactic chopper assault.
From this point, Zero Dark Thirty changes focus to take viewers on a firsthand account of seal team six, the elite group of agents tasked with capturing or killing the elusive head of Al Qaeda.
The last thirty minutes of the film (and I don't think this requires spoiler tags) is a white knuckle, edge of the seat affair, which from all accounts accurately recreates the assault on the Abbotabad compound, including the disastrous accident, which downed one of the top secret choppers.
Director Katherine Bigelow is no shrinking violet in regards to war time storytelling, having secured an Oscar for her work on 2007's The Hurt Locker (and not least surviving a divorce from James Cameron), and she directs Zero Dark Thirty with adeptness over what seems like a breezy runtime. Notably, the story is told with complete apolitical judgment. Political figure heads such as former president George W. Bush, or Barrack Obama, are unshown and remain completely detached.
Some may find Zero Dark Thirty hard going; the scenes of simulated drowning via the controversial method of 'water boarding' prove particularly uncomfortable viewing, but this is war, and little attempt is made to dilute this fact. Over the course of its nearly three hour run time, Zero Dark Thirty proves not only to be a prime Oscar contender, but a compelling, smart and emotional account of an extraordinary moment in time.
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AMD EyeFinity - Issues with Triple-Screen setups and 120Hz Refresh Rates
Introduction
My high-resolution obsession started back in the CRT days, when most of my LAN friends were running small 14-inch CRTs. They were expensive, but LCD's weren't even in our wildest dreams in those days. I remember getting my first decent 15-inch CRT and thinking "yep, this is it - this is the sh**."
Back in those Quake and Unreal days, I constantly upgraded to make sure I had the best. 3DFX Voodoo video card? Come at me. First GeForce video card to give me 32-bit color in Quake III Arena? Bring it on. By Quake 3's release, I had a Sony Trinitron G520 - it cost me $3199 AUD at the time, but was the best CRT you could buy as a consumer.
1600x1200 at 32-bit color - and best of all, at 100Hz. This was amazing - it was liquid smooth and had me fragging everyone else so much better. But, I needed the hardware to keep up with 1600x1200, so things started getting expensive, and upgrades became more frequent.
I became equally as obsessed with high resolutions as I did with high refresh rates. In first-person shooters, high refresh rates were what made you play better than the others. Refreshing your screen at 100 times per second compared to 60 times per second made you see more, in between each frame, and much smoother during all frames per second, than your enemy.
It made using a PC feel even smoother than the already smooth CRT feel that professional gamers to this day still enjoy. Moving onto LCDs, I became tired of the low refresh rate that 60Hz offered me, but still persisted with my high-resolution dreams.
I began with a 15-inch LCD, and ended up buying more than one 17-inch, multiple 19-inch LCDs, an uber-expensive 20-inch LCD, a 24-inch Dell ($1300 at the time), and eventually settled on the eye-busting 30-inch monitor offering me 2560x1600.
After using LCDs for so long, you forgot that buttery smoothness that CRTs offered, so it became the norm to play at 60Hz, or 60 frames per second. The 30-inch monitor I purchased, the HP LP3065, cost me $3199. The same price as my 21-inch CRT monitor cost me all those years ago. I didn't mind - I was loving the 2560x1600 resolution.
But, my monitor obsession didn't stop there.
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Adaptec by PMC ASR-72405 Enterprise RAID Controller Review
Introduction
Adaptec by PMC is hoping to ride a wave of resurgence into the enterprise RAID controller market with the recently launched Series 7. At the heart of this new series of RAID controllers is the radical new processor developed by PMC-Sierra, the PM8015, which boasts speeds of 6,600MB/s and 450,000 random read IOPS.
PMC-Sierra, a large semiconductor innovator, acquired Adaptec in 2010. Developed prior to the acquisition, the Adaptec 6 Series controllers were released shortly after the PMC merger. The Series 7 RAID controllers we are testing today are the first from Adaptec to leverage the benefits of the merger, with PMC-Sierra's newest ROC (RAID On Chip) providing a drastic increase in power.
The backbone of the datacenter is constructed around slow spinning HDDs and has not evolved nearly as quickly as the server platform. In the past, this has not required vast advances in storage controller technology and related infrastructure. For years the pace of innovation has been merely evolutionary in the storage controller market.
SSDs have burst into the datacenter, and this disruptive technology creates new challenges. As the sophistication of flash-based devices increases, and prices plunge, and suddenly there is an intense need for faster storage systems as SSDs stress existing infrastructure.
In 2011 SSDs provided 16GB of storage per cubic inch, compared to 1GB per inch for HDDs. HDDs also supply 4.2 IOPS per cubic inch of space, dwarfed by the 1,250 IOPS provided by SSDs. This calls for revolutionary new products to deliver not only the performance to handle mass deployments of exponentially faster devices, but products that also mesh well with the increased density enabled by these solutions. With smaller 2U servers featuring up to 24 x 2.5" SAS/SATA bays, the ability to pack as much connectivity into the smallest possible solution is imperative.
The PM8015 is a revolutionary approach to RAID controller design and integration. This new controller, engineered by PMC, sports 24 native SAS 6Gb/s ports. This is a radical departure from the current crop of storage processors, which feature only 8 ports. This tripling of native ports allows administrators to connect more devices to the RAID controller without the use of expanders.
Adaptec paired this powerful controller with the new Mini-SAS HD (High Density) cables. This new form of RAID controller interconnects is the only solution that can provide the required number of connections for taking advantage of the ROC's 24 available ports. This combination provides a revolutionary new controller with advanced cabling provides extreme performance, a slim form factor, and enhanced density that no other product currently on the market can match.
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AZZA Silentium 920B Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
Back in early 2009 I was introduced to AZZA as I took a look at their Fantom 900 chassis. Back then cases still had exposed steel innards, but they were still offering aggressive styling, LED fans, shiny bits of plastic - you know, everything that was all the rage four years ago. Then we got to see the Solano 1000 that was basically AZZA's take on the Antec 900. Here the styling was more subtle, but air flow and LEDs were big then, and they were accommodating to those desires.
Then there was a pair of cases that sort of broke the typical mold of full-tower designs. The Genesis had a reverse ATX layout, was white, and appealed to a lot of people trying to be a bit different than the average user. The Fusion, again was slightly aggressive in its styling, but was one of the few to make a color themed chassis that didn't take the accent color over the top, and choosing red as this accent allowed a ton of ASUS users a chassis that would easily match their motherboard.
One thing that seemed to be a trend with AZZA was that they were seemingly building for the gaming and overclocking crowd, but what about those that want to have a PC that is less seen and heard then the previous solutions? Today AZZA is looking into exactly that. They are taking what could be an average mid-tower in its basic respects, and adapting things to make this latest chassis to hit our labs, not only subdued in appearance, but great strides have been made to either redirect the airflow and fan noise or just straight up absorbing it with materials placed inside of the chassis. Not that this concept has been unheard of, Fractal Design, Corsair, Antec and many others have been banking on this for quite some time now, but this is the first I have seen this from AZZA.
So what do we know? This new chassis has sound absorbing materials placed inside a few of the panels, and redirecting the airflow from the users ears means we are likely to have a flat front to the chassis, and very possibly a door over the optical drives if they follow the trend of other solutions in this field. We also know, well I do, and that typically AZZA cases tend to have a very low price associated with them, especially when it comes to the features that each of the previous cases had to offer.
With today's example, the AZZA Silentium 920 mid-tower chassis, even the name lulls you into a sense of peaceful silence. With my ears wide open for any sort of oddities, I say we dive right into the Silentium 920 and see what this case is all about.
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Kingston LSI SandForce B02 for Low Power SSD's - Power Consumption Investigation
Introduction
Around the time LSI SandForce announced they shipped 10 million controllers worldwide, another press release emerged. The other press release spoke of changes to a number of SandForce controllers that reduce power consumption. The new stepping dubbed B02 is now in the hands of SSD manufacturers and aims to extend the battery life of mobile computers running LSI SandForce based SSDs.
As you know TweakTown has a couple of new power tests introduced late 2012 and we feel that mobile power performance is just as important as desktop throughput performance. The new B02 stepping is more than just a firmware change so existing LSI SandForce based SSDs aren't covered by the B02 hardware and software changes.
B02 achieves new power states Auto-Idle1 and Auto-Idle2 while keeping the I/O portion of the controller awake and alert to the OS. The controller is able to shut down unused portions of the drive, while maintaining awareness with the host operating system. The OS is unaware of these changes and continues to operate with the same capabilities as any other system with a LSI SandForce controller.
Suspending or putting to sleep inactive areas inside hardware isn't anything new. We discussed Intel's plans with Haswell's deep power states after the 2012 IDF summit in San Francisco. This is just another tool for extending battery life and reducing power consumption for next gen devices. The trick is the ability to wake products up from a sleep state quickly. Just like you or me, the deeper we are asleep, the longer it takes to wake up - the same is true with computer hardware. LSI SandForce managed to reduce the time to active state by a significant merging and that allows the controller to take advantage of deeper sleep states without adversely affecting the user experience.
Today we're looking at a new SSD from Kingston that's still in development. The hardware is early and so is the firmware. The product looks really good as is, but we know what you see today is an unrefined product. This alpha Kingston part allows us to peer into the world of emerging technology and to understand the benefits of reduced power in the data storage area. Over the last six months we've shown that choosing the right SSD can extend your battery life by up to an hour on our Lenovo W530 mobile workstation. The W530 is a bit of a power hog on its own and not configured for maximum battery life. We speculate that with a properly configured ultrabook, an ultra low power SSD could extend the battery life by two hours or more.
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Apotop DW06 Travel Wi-Fi Router Review
Introduction
Apotop aren't a familiar company to me, I've seen them around the place, at Computex and such, but I've never dealt with them until now. I received this sample nearly two months ago and haven't had the opportunity to properly test it until now.
A little back story into Apotop - it is a Taiwanese company that has a full Chinese website that had to be translated before I could write anything here. They offer a bunch of different products, stepping outside of the usual things we see on the market. They offer products from RAM, ExpressCard Adapters, USB hubs, card readers, flash drives and SSDs. They do a fair bit, which is good to see from a relatively small company.
The product we have in the lab today is their Travel Wi-Router. By name only, it doesn't sound too interesting, but this little product is actually quite helpful and I'm sure by the end of the review you'll be surprised, too.
You can pick up the Apotop Travel Wi-Router for $34.99 from Newegg, so it won't be breaking your bank to get this device. We have some specs below, and as you can see this is designed specifically for Apple's iPad.
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Thermalright AXP-100 Low-Profile CPU Cooler Review
Introduction
Usually when Thermalright has sent me an aftermarket cooler, whether it is for a CPU or a GPU, they tended to be built with the bigger is better theme to them. I haven't personally seen a lot of their earlier coolers, but with coolers like the Shaman, Silver Arrow and even the TRUE Black, there was never really a space saving thought in the whole designing and building process. Thermalright is seeing the market swing in custom built PCs, and currently that move is to either go to a gaming HTPC setup for your living room, or you just got tired of the huge cases and full ATX, and decide to save a ton of room at home and move into SFF builds. While there aren't a whole lot of options out there for Micro-ATX, the sensible move for most is to a Mini-ITX motherboard.
This is where Thermalright decides that maybe the bigger is better tactics that worked for so long, may not be the right idea to stay with in today's needs and wants in aftermarket cooling. The latest cooler to arrive takes in a few concerns of the very compact and not very space friendly cases associated with SFF builds or home theater cases. With home theater, there is usually a bit more room in most of the cases, but efficient cooling is always a concern and silence while doing so is a must. As for the SFF cases, and the use of a Mini-ITX motherboard, space is very limited, and depending on the socket location, things like the memory and video card are very close to the socket, leaving Thermalright with very little room for error if they plan to cool these boards as well.
This is why Thermalright has released the AXP-100, a low profile and very compact CPU cooler. This is a C-style cooler, just squished almost flat onto the base, but at first glance you realize right away that this is a Thermalright cooler. The ticker fins, the nickel plating, the finely polished base, and much like Noctua does, this Thermalright offers very unique colors for the frames and blades.
Even with the compact nature of the AXP-100, I plan to put this cooler through all the testing, and see if the AXP-100 can keep the heat at bay with the stock runs, but I also plan to see if this cooler will allow for any overclocking headroom. That in mind, let's jump into the specifications and pricing, so we can get a much closer look at the AXP-100, and see just how efficient this new low-profile CPU cooler really is.
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Patriot Supersonic Magnum 256GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
As of late many manufacturers have stepped up their game in the flash drive business offering higher capacity, high performance drives utilizing controllers with 8-channel technology. One such company is Patriot with their new line-up of Supersonic Magnum USB 3.0 flash drives.
We had our first peek at the Supersonic Magnum line-up at CeBIT 2011 with the introduction of the 128GB model from Patriot. Since then capacity has been ramped up to 256GB and we have the pleasure of testing this high capacity monster. If the manufacturer specifications mean anything to you then you will be pleased to know that this drive is setup to push 250MB/s read and 160MB/s write.
The Supersonic Magnum is compatible with modern operating systems including Windows XP/Vista/7 and 8 along with Mac OS 9+.
At first glance the first thing we noticed about the Supersonic Magnum was it size - measuring 79mm x 27mm, this is definitely the largest drive we have tested to date. The structure of the Magnum is supported by an aluminium construction that is said to withstand 15Gs.
The back of the drive contains a simple Patriot logo.
Laying the Magnum on its side we can see the extreme profile this drive creates at 10mm thick.
The Supersonic Magnum is the first capped drive we have tested, and such I am happy to report the cap seems to have a good hold on the drive itself. However, in time, as we all know, the plastic that secures the cap may wear out.
The layout of the PCB contains the Phison controller to the left and two 64GB NAND flash packages to the right.
The backside houses another two 64GB NAND packages, giving us our 256GB total. Each of these packages are labelled TU89G2LAKA made by Toshiba.
Taking a closer look the controller is labelled Phison PS2251-01. This is the big brother of the PS2251-03 that we saw in the Rage XT. This controller carries with it 8-channel technology along with wear levelling.
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 Supersonic Magnum, as I do all drives I test.
ATTO is commonly used for marketing performance of hard drives and solid state drives alike. The Magnum was equally impressive as it was unimpressive. With write numbers only reaching 109MB/s way short of the advertised 160MB/s. Read numbers however were great reaching 303MB/s, a full 53MB/s over the marketing specifications.
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.
The performance kicked up quite a bit in sequential testing where we saw the Magnum reach a nice 304MB/s read and 179MB/s write. 4K was much better than expected as well.
Disk Bench is a rather simple program that benchmarks real world file transfers between drives. For this test I made up 3 data sets, one consisting of 1000 pictures totalling 1.5GB, the second consisting of 4 mp4 movies with a total file size of 8.65GB. The last data set consists of Microsoft Windows 7 x64 install w/ SP1.
Putting the Supersonic Magnum to our real world testing resulted in 40MB/s copying our batch of 1000 photos, taking only 37.7 seconds.
One of the more impressive results came when transferring our videos to the Magnum. We managed a very quick 166MB/s with time spent at 52 seconds.
The transfer of our Windows install was as equally impressive as the transfer of videos. 151MB/s consuming only 26 seconds, putting this drive neck and neck with the SanDisk Extreme, which we tested previously.
The Supersonic Magnum from Patriot is certainly one of a kind. It's the fastest drive we have tested when it comes to sequential reads, boasting 304MB/s. Before I get ahead of myself though let's look back at the construction and aesthetics of this drive.
To start, the Magnum is a very big drive, in fact I'm 100% sure this drive will block adjacent USB ports when used in a horizontal layout. If your just plugging these drives into the standard I/O ports on the back of a motherboard in the stacked configuration, you should have no issues there. With this drive being a capped model, we do know that over time the plastics may wear out leaving you with a cap that won't seat properly (or as good as before), but let's admit it you will probably lose the cap before that happens. As far as construction of the drive is concerned, the aluminium body of the drive secures all the plastics very tight, and at no time did I feel that this drive was made by cutting corners.
Performance of this drive is impressive to say the least, and while it's doesn't top the list on our Disk Bench chart, it certainly deserves recognition as one the highest performing drives.
Pricing of this drive is where you may shy away, but its good practice to take a look at what you are getting for the money. The Supersonic Magnum is available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB capacities with the 256GB model priced at $299.99. Now the price may seem a bit high, but you are only paying $1.17 per GB and this drive comes with a solid five year warranty.
The bottom line is simple. If you want the latest and greatest on the market with numbing capacity and speed then the Supersonic Magnum is for you.
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Zalman MS800 ATX Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
Of course I have been aware of the fact that Zalman made more than just coolers, even though that is what seems to drive most of their business. There have been a few cases I have seen in news blasts and for sale when shopping prices for other cases, but up until now, Zalman hadn't sent me any.
This year at CES I had a meeting with Zalman, and of course we discussed the large group of new CPU coolers that are in the works, there was also a section with quite a few new cases that Zalman is to offer at various points this year. I also saw the chassis we are going to be looking at today, and at that time I believe I was told this case was planned to retail in the $100 to $150 price point.
Making a bold leap into today's chassis market, specifically in the $100 to $150 range, is almost suicide with what is currently offered. As I look over at Newegg, cases like the Define R4, the Storm Scout 2, the C70, the 500R, the 550D and the TJ04 to name most of the top offerings in this segment. With the bar set so high by these cases in design, aesthetics, feature sets, most of these cases are at or near the price point of this new case, and are the direct competition as I see it. This is why I say it's almost suicide to enter this segment, but Zalman feels they have a strong enough design and final product to deserve you money over the other somewhat aging designs.
Since I have yet to actually hold a Zalman chassis in my hands, I have no real expectations. I was able to look at this chassis at CES, but it was more in passing as I tried to absorb all the information on this chassis as well as around six others, all in the short amount of time we had set aside to discuss things. That in mind, I don't have anything that sticks out from CES about the mid-tower chassis we are looking at today, the MS800. So with no shadows or silver linings over their heads, let's dive into the new MS800 and see just where it falls in the already flooded market of mid-tower chassis offerings.
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Patriot Supersonic Rage XT 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
When it comes to flash drives there is no doubt in my mind that USB 3.0 has pushed this compact form factor to the mainstream. Previous to this we were stuck with slow and arduous drives that took hours to transfer a batch of files, to the point where USB ports were only good enough for mice, keyboards and the occasional webcam.
Now that we have made the transition to USB 3.0, with many manufacturers jumping on-board including Patriot, we now have the ability to transfer files faster than ever before, reaching speeds upwards of 300MB/s.
In the lab today we have one of the latest drives to come out of the factory in Fremont California, the home of Patriot Memory. The Supersonic Rage XT follows the same design concept as the previous Xporter Rage USB 2.0 drive that Patriot released many years ago. This compact, yet durable drive houses 32GB of flash memory inside a plastic shell with full slide articulation.
The Patriot Supersonic Rage XT supports the full array of operating systems with Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista/7 and 8 support next to Linux 2.4+ and Mac OS X 9+.
Looking over the Rage XT, our first impression is of the size of this drive, being the smallest we have seen to date. The drive carries Patriots' new blue and black color scheme with brand identifiers of Supersonic Rage in the 32GB flavour. In this closed position the drive measures in at 53.6mm.
On the flip side where we normally see all the legal jargon, we instead see a large XT logo.
In somewhat of a backwards fashion the Rage XT slides together to reveal the USB 3.0 connection. The overall size of this drive in its extended position is 53.6mm, the same as it was in its closed form. Pulling back on the drive again safely tucks it away.
The USB 3.0 connection here shows the same blue coloring as all 3.0 peripherals with the overall width of the drive measuring in at 22mm.
Looking over the PCB we find the Phison controller to the left with a single 16GB flash package to the right.
The backside houses a single 16GB NAND flash module, bring our total to the 32GB capacity. The NAND used in this drive labelled TU57G2LAKA is Toshiba MLC.
Taking a closer look at the controller used in this drive that is labelled PS2251-03, it's a Phison controller that markets itself as a high speed USB 3.0 to NAND flash controller, supporting 3x/2x and 1x nm flash memory while being ONFI 2.2 compliant.
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 Patriot Rage XT, as I do all drives.
ATTO is commonly used for marketing performance of hard drives and solid state drives alike. Taking a look at our results from the Rage XT we peaked just shy of marketing specifications for this drive. At 188MB/s read and 49 MB/s write, this isn't the quickest drive we have tested, but it does offer performance five to ten times better than USB 2.0.
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.
Managing a nice 195MB/s read the Rage XT exceeded its marketing specs on this front, where 180MB/s was advertised on the packaging. 44MB/s write fell just short of marketing set at 50MB/s. 4K numbers were somewhat disappointing and furthering this was 4K at QD32.
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.
Transferring photos proved be a nice workout for the Rage XT, where we managed a slow 20MB/s taking 1 minute 16 seconds to transfer our batch of 1000 photos.
The Rage XT did manage to transfer our video files at a faster rate, but in the end the amount of time consumed doing this task was nearly three and a half minutes.
Our Windows install transferred to the Rage XT at 42MB/s with a total completion time of 95 seconds.
The Patriot Rage XT truly is a unique drive in that it encompasses a great design. I'm sure most of you have plugged in a flash drive in the past that had a wonky slide mechanism that was just worn out, leading you to hold onto the slide while plugging it in. The Rage XT reverses the traditional slide mechanism in that you are pushing the actual USB 3.0 connection through the front plastic housing, giving you a secure connection that will never flake out. Furthering this unique design the Rage is covered with a soft rubber to enhance durability and protect against life's everyday mishaps.
Performance of this drive was as advertised and while it may not be the fastest on the market, it does offer speeds of 195MB/s read and 44MB/s write as seen in our testing.
To get yourself one of these Patriot Rage XT drives you will set yourself back $34.99 for the 32GB and $62.99 for the larger 64GB model. This drive in both the 32GB and 64GB flavours are warrantied from Patriot at five years. Pricing puts this drive from Patriot in a great market segment with the 32GB model specifically, you won't find a faster drive at a cheaper price with the added bonus of a five year warranty from a top-tier company like Patriot.
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BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z77X (Intel Z77) Motherboard Review
Introduction
I can't remember the last time I heard the name BIOSTAR. It was probably the last time I reviewed a board from them which was surprisingly only eight months ago with the BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 which performed well, but hardly left a lasting impression since I had to search TweakTown for the last time we looked at a board from them.
No one can deny, though, that when it comes to buying a motherboard, BIOSTAR isn't one of the first names that come to mind. As much as I hate to say it, they're probably a name I would struggle to think off if someone asked me to name some motherboard manufacturers off the top of my head. That's really not a good thing for BIOSTAR and shows that they seem to be lacking something in the advertising department.
Today, though, we're hoping that the Hi-Fi Z77X not only performs well, but also does a better job of leaving a lasting memory on our minds. As always there are a number of things we've got to do before we get into the performance side of things and the first is taking the time to look at the package.
Once we've checked out the package we'll move to the motherboard itself to see what exactly BIOSTAR is offering us in the Hi-Fi Z77X before we take a closer look at the board itself to see the layout and the main features it offers. Next we'll check out the BIOS, which is an area I can honestly say I'm not looking all that forward to checking out since BIOSTAR isn't exactly at the forefront of BIOS design. Finally we'll look at our testbed, cover the overclocking side of things and get stuck into the performance of the board at both stock speeds and overclocked.
Package
Looking at the front and back of the box you can see there's a huge focus on the "Hi-Fi" name that BIOSTAR has given the board with a number of features that support that. The front gives us some familiar logos like LUCID VIRTU MVP, Intel SRT, SLI, CrossFire and a few others. But you can see a number of logos that don't mean a whole lot to us.
If we flip over to the back of the box we get more of an idea when it comes to covering what exactly is going on with these logos and this board just in general. Here we see a number of logos again, but also a brief explanation on what exactly they are. Some of the main ones that take our attention are the built-in Hi-Fi AMP, 110dB+ Signal to Noise Ratio and Multi-Channel Calibration to just name a few.
Along with the audio focused features you can see a number of logos you'd expect including PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0 and support for Lucid VIRTU MVP, something we've seen on a lot of motherboards lately.
When it comes to the bundle we've got a fairly standard setup with a driver CD, manual and I/O backplate all being present. Along with those we've also got four SATA cables and a CrossFire bridge. The main addition to the bundle is a microphone that is used to calibrate your audio. This comes in handy if you're using larger 4.1 or 5.1 speaker setups.
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Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [25 February 2013]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!
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Lexar JumpDrive Triton 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
If you follow Lexar Multimedia then you know CES 2013 was an exciting moment in history for this long running brand. With the introduction of their first XQD memory cards, the once monopolized market populated previously by Sony alone made Nikon D4 users rejoice.
Alongside the release of the XQD cards, Lexar announced new USB 3.0 flash drives in namely the P10, S23 and S33 all of which will be available in the second quarter of this year. In the meantime Lexar was kind enough to send us their current flagship USB 3.0 flash drive, the JumpDrive Triton in the 32GB flavouring.
Back in January of 2012, Lexar announced the release of the JumpDrive Triton that we now have the belated opportunity to review today. Sporting a rugged aluminium body and the convenience of a sliding USB 3.0 connection to safely tuck away vulnerable parts, the Triton showcases speeds of 155MB/s read and 150MB/s write.
Is the JumpDrive Triton all that it can be or will we give it an honourable discharge?
First impressions of the Triton are of its simple curves and aluminium housing that exude professionalism. As with most of the drives you see coming to market today, the Triton sports a retractable USB 3.0 connection that protects the drive from mishaps should you drop it.
The back of the drive showcases even further the metal alloy casing that protects this drive. You will also find a loop hole here for securing the drive to your keychain with the included lanyard.
The drive connection here noted with blue coloring supports USB 3.0, but also maintains backwards compatibility.
Disassembly of the drive, however complicated, resulted in us destroying the casing but alas we pushed on and have images for your enjoyment.
As you can see above, the front of the PCB houses the flash controller to the left and NAND to the left.
The backside houses a second NAND flash package, Micron branded.
Looking closer and using tools to decode the FCBGA code above, we find that we are working with 8K SLC synchronous NAND.
The controller used in the Triton is branded Innostor IS902. This controller supports a two channel 8-bit NAND flash interface and complies with ONFI 2.2 specifications.
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 Lexar JumpDrive Triton, as I do all drives I test.
ATTO is commonly used for marketing performance of hard drives and solid state drives alike and thus perfect for our purposes. Looking over our results from the Lexar JD Triton, we see read and write speeds exceeding that of the marketing materials. At 177MB/s read and 187MB/s write, the Triton isn't the fastest we have tested, but is commendable.
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. Looking over our results from CDM we see the Triton did very well in the sequential tests giving us close to the same numbers we saw in ATTO. Where the drive started to slow down was 512K and 4K random writes, where we see a severe loss of performance.
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 in zip format.
Our first test, transferring photos to the flash drive, proved the JumpDrive Triton worthy of 21.3MB/s, and consuming 74 seconds of our time.
Movies were much faster transferring to the drive, and this too, shows where the true performance of the drive excels.
Equally impressive was the transfer of our Windows install where we managed 25 seconds at 156MB/s.
Spending time with a product is certainly something I focus on before coming up with my final thoughts or conclusion. With that, and spending the better part of my day with this JumpDrive in my pocket, there are certainly a few points to be made.
This drive is beautifully designed, from the metal alloy casing to the glossy black exterior this drives exudes what I call an enterprise feel, and as most people will buy on sex appeal alone, this drive certainly has that and then some. Aside from the aesthetics of the drive, the casing gives the drive a feeling that you could run it over with your truck and still retrieve your data.
Performance of this drive is exceptional, as long as you transferring large files. I find this kind of ironic as the drive comes preformatted from the factory as FAT32, which means you will have to reformat it as NTFS to transfer files over 4GB in size.
At release back in 2012, this drive was priced at $109.99. Since then the prices has come down quite a bit. In fact, you are now looking at spending around $64 for this drive in its 32GB configuration. This does put us in the $2 per GB arena; however the drive does come with a lifetime warranty from Lexar.
With all of the above said, I do believe the Triton is a great drive. However, for those of you that want the latest technology, you may want to wait for the Lexar JumpDrive P10.
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Looper (2012) Blu-ray Movie Review
Time travel features can be a bit of a hit or miss. On one hand you have classics such as Back To The Future, Terminator 2 and 12 Monkeys and on the other you have fluff like Time Cop, Timeline and the utterly disastrous A Sound of Thunder.
Looper sits somewhere in between, a proficiently made film which rides high on ideas, whilst refusing to get tripped up its own logistics; only flirting with its future locations, instead homing in on a few small set pieces which focus on the human drama.
In the year 2074, an era where time travel exists and human bodies filled with tracking implants has resulted in difficulties in disposing of them. To rectify this, contract killers called loopers are established 30 years in the past, tasked with disposing of bodies of those sent back in time, in order to be taken out on the spot. But when a Mafia boss prematurely ends the contracts of those in the future by sending the loopers future selves to be murdered, Joe Simmons (Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) must solve the mystery of why they are being exterminated, with events in the future causing dynamic changes to the multiple timelines.
Looper certainly isn't perfect and despite the best of intentions, it isn't the next Matrix, but the sheer originality of the film simply can't be ignored, nor the unflinching vision of writer/director Rian Johnson and the achievement of telling such a visual story with a budget of just $30 million.
Video
Looper is presented in the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression.
Filmed on Kodak 35mm stock and finished in the digital domain at 2K resolution, it's quite possible that Looper will never look better than it does here. The image is sharp and clear, as one would expect, with a significant amount of detail evident in every frame, with fine textures really helping the image pop.
Black levels are quite solid, although I did notice the contrast waver at times. There are certainly no instances of edge enhancement or film artifacts marring the frame.
Audio
Looper is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, at 24 bits.
Not content to be just a proficient soundtrack, Looper aims to be a great one, filled with all the bombast and immersion that the visuals do. There are no issues I could detect in regards audio sync or intelligibility, and the surrounds are kept active at all times. Topping it off is some quite extreme LFE. One complaint would be that the soundtrack is just a little too dynamic, forcing a bit of volume surfing so as to not upset the neighbors (or the girlfriend).
The industrially percussive score by Nathan Johnson (cousin of Director Rian Johnson) is a frenetic experience, utilizing sound effects which substantially heightens the on-screen visuals.
Extras
Roadshow Home Entertainment, along with U.S. distributor Sony Pictures produced a reasonably solid collection of supplements.
First up is the feature length Audio Commentary featuring Writer/Director Rian Johnson, along with lead actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt. Johnson is a smart and insightful guy and the commentators bounce off each other well, with clear rapport. Admittedly, only the most dedicated of the film's fans will be able to sit through the entire run.
Next we have four brief featurettes; The Two Joes, which over five minutes explains the process of turning Joseph Gordon-Levitt into Bruce Willis, with the aid of some handy prosthetics, while The Future from the Beginning and The Science of Time Travel discuss some of the plot elements. However, I found the final featurette; Scoring Looper to be by far the most interesting, with Nathan Johnson revealing the techniques and digital manipulation that went into producing the films memorable score soundtrack.
Next up are approximately some 38 minutes of Deleted Scenes presented in 1080p (along with optional commentary) which reveal that a significant batch of scenes featuring young Joe's girlfriend Suzie hit the cutting room floor. Finally, we have an oddly animated Theatrical Trailer, which differs to the standard, live action trailer I saw in cinemas.
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Dick Tracy (1990) Blu-ray Movie Review
In the summer of 1990, hot on the heels of the success of Tim Burton's Batman, Disney (through its Touchstone brand) launched what was hoped would be Disney's own superhero franchise. Unfortunately, its success was only middling and plans for additional films were shelved. However, in the shadow of the evolution of comic book adaptations some two decades on, Dick Tracy has lost none of its ability to entertain, now seen as even more campy and tongue in cheek than it ever was.
There is a real charm to the film that contemporary overtly serious fare such as The Dark Knight can't quite match. Rather than aging as badly as its star Madonna, it's quite possible that two decades on Dick Tracy can finally find its audience, and with the quality of this Blu-ray release - there's no reason it can't.
Set in a fictionalized, undated Chicago, Dick Tracy, is a hard-but-fair detective, whose day-to-day activities include battling grotesque Capone-like thugs, including Alphonse Caprice (Al Pacino) and the ruthless Flattop (William Forysth) for dominance over the towns various crime syndicates. When Caprice wipes out his rival Lips Manlis (Paul Sorvino), taking ownership of his moll, Breathless Mahoney (Madonna), and the nightclub she performs at, coming one stop closer to complete dominance of the city, but a straight cop like Dick Tracy won't take this lying down.
Whilst Dick Tracy is a mostly family-friendly action film, very occasionally the envelope is pushed with some double entendre dialogue, or risque costumes. What is clear is that the film has stood the test of time, with innovative production design and photography, some great character performances, including Dustin Hoffman as Lips, and great visuals. In many ways the film reminds me of The Rocketeer; and just like that film (also recently released on Blu-ray), it's high time that Dick Tracy was re-evaluated.
Video
Dick Tracy is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.781, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression.
Recipient of an all-new transfer of unknown resolution, Dick Tracy has never looked better. The overly red-hued image of the DVD release is now far more balanced, rendering the films signature comic book primary colors even bolder than before.
Made well before the digital age, Dick Tracy utilized many photochemical tricks in its repertoire, including significant use of models and matte paintings. Rather than accentuate these, the new transfer helps the image look even more filmic, and thus, strangely realistic.
Disney have retained a consistent and fine level of film grain in the transfer, whilst removing the unsightly video noise and mosquito noise that marred previous masters.
I'm really pleased that Disney went above and beyond for the film, rather than utilize the aged HD master that's played on network TV for some years. The film sure does deserve, and benefit from the treatment.
Audio
Dick Tracy is presented in DTS HD MA 5.1 at 24 bits.
Notable for its timeline in history as the first film to be mastered in the digital domain with six track sound, Dick Tracy will most definitely slam your home theatre with the same bombast as the films visuals. No doubt, there has been some audio remixing and sweetening since then - the film has some very aggressive use of split surround activity and deep bass feedback.
I didn't detect any audio sync or intelligibility issues, nor any distortion or other undesirable anomalies. The numerous musical sequences scattered throughout the length sound internally appropriate and overall the mix sounds quite alive.
To put it simply, I highly doubt Dick Tracy will ever sound better than this.
Extras
Sadly, Disney elected to release Dick Tracy as a bare-bones Blu-ray release, without even a lowly Theatrical Trailer to contribute. It's a real shame too, because there would be undoubtedly a myriad of interesting stories from the film's production, not least the torrid love affair between Beatty and Madonna that unfolded behind the scenes.
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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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TRENDnet Launches Powerline 200 AV Nano Adapter
TRENDnet, a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, today announces the availability of the Powerline 200 AV Nano Adapter, model TPL-308E, and the Powerline 200 AV Nano Adapter Kit, model TPL-308E2K, which comes with two TPL-308E adapters. The adapter's ultra-compact form factor saves space around crowded electrical outlets and is about half the size of standard Powerline 200 units. The Powerline 200 AV Nano Adapter Kit, model TPL-308E2K, uses electrical outlets to create a secure high speed network. Connect the first adapter to your network and plug the second adapter into an outlet on your electrical system for instant high speed network access.
Secure TRENDnet powerline adapters come pre-encrypted out of the box. They also automatically connect to other TRENDnet Powerline AV adapters with no installation required -- TRENDnet recommends pressing the 'Sync' button to change default encryption keys.
Power Save mode reduces power consumption by up to 70%, when the adapters are idle -- this is a big benefit since the adapters are always plugged in. Quality of Service technology prioritizes video, audio, and online gaming. LED displays convey device status for easy troubleshooting. Advanced 128-bit AES encryption secures your network. This adapter is ideal for use in buildings that interfere with wireless networking signals.
Pricing:
TPL-308E2K MSRP U.S.: $74.99
TPL-308E MSRP U.S.: $39.99
For more information, visit the product pages of TPL-308E2K and TPL-308E.
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Futuremark and Galaxy Announce Overclocking Contests
Futuremark and GALAXY announced the start today of GALAXY Ice Storm, the first official overclocking contest using the new version of 3DMark released in February. For the next four weeks, overclockers worldwide can win more than $16,000 USD in prizes by submitting the highest scores in the new 3DMark Ice Storm, Cloud Gate and Fire Strike benchmark tests. The competition is open to all overclockers using GALAXY or KFA2 brand graphics cards. For details of how to enter, please visit the competition website.
GALAXY ICE STORM OVERCLOCKING CONTEST
March 6 to April 3, 2013
Four ways to win. Four weeks of competition. Prizes worth more than USD $16,000.
The contestants with the highest score in each category at the end of the contest will each win a limited edition 3DMark Fire Strike monster statue, faithfully created by 3D printing the original 3D model used in the Fire Strike test. Winners will also be awarded $3,000 USD plus a bonus of $2,000 if their score is a new official 3DMark world record at the close of the contest.
3DMARK ICE STORM CATEGORY
$3,000 USD top prize for the best 3DMark Ice Storm score from a system with a single CPU and single GPU, limited to GTX 680 and below. There is a bonus prize of $2,000 USD if the winning score is a new 3DMark Ice Storm single GPU world record in the Futuremark Overclocking Hall of Fame at the end of the contest.
3DMARK CLOUD GATE CATEGORY
$3,000 USD top prize for the best 3DMark Cloud Gate score from a system with a single CPU and single GPU, limited to GTX 680 and below. There is a bonus prize of $2,000 USD if the winning score is a new 3DMark Cloud Gate single GPU world record in the Futuremark Overclocking Hall of Fame at the end of the contest.
3DMARK FIRE STRIKE CATEGORY
$3,000 USD top prize for the best 3DMark Fire Strike score. Multiple CPUs and GPUs are allowed, including the GALAXY GeForce GTX TITAN. There is a bonus prize of $2,000 USD if the winning score is a new 3DMark Fire Strike world record in the Futuremark Overclocking Hall of Fame at the end of the contest.
LUCKY DRAW WINNERS
Twelve lucky people selected at random from qualifying entries will each win a GALAXY GeForce GTX 650 Ti GC graphics card. One lucky person will win a limited edition 3DMark Fire Strike monster statue.
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TYAN's New 1U Server and 4 GPU Compatible 2U Server Announced
TYAN, an industry-leading server platform design manufacturer and subsidiary of MiTAC International Corp, launched the TYAN TA77-B7061, its latest and flexible 2U GPU supported platform; the S7042, entry-level dual socket motherboard; GT62A-B5512 and the GT20A-B7040, the cost-effective 1U server during the CeBIT. TYAN welcomes customers to visit the TYAN website for more detail product information during CeBIT or experience the latest products at ISS EMEA in Dublin, Ireland from April, 10-12.
TYAN TA77-B7061 is the ideal platform designed for users who are looking for accelerated data-processing and efficient computing performance. Supporting up to four GPUs in a 2U server chassis, it is a high performance option that also offers outstanding computing density, saving both time and server/rack space in conjunction with industry-leading companies' GPU products such as Intel Xeon Phi processors, NVIDIA Tesla K20 Series and ATI FirePro. The non-compromised TA77-B7061 will be displayed at TYAN booth at ISS EMEA (Intel Solution Summit) in Dublin, Ireland from April, 10-12. TYAN TA77-B7061 supports (2) Intel Xeon E5-2600 Series Processors, (8+8) DDR-III R/U/LR-DIMM, (4) PCI-E x16 G3 slots, (1) PCI-E x8 G3 slots, (2) GbE ports and (8) 2.5" HDDs. Customers could enjoy more flexible and upgradeable computing performance to tailor to their own computing environment with TYAN's TA77-B7061 server platform.
Targeting SMB marketing and general server users, TYAN presents S7042, GT20A-B7040 and the TYAN GT62A-B5512 which are energy efficient design and cost-effective platform. With multiple expansion slots on board, the TYAN S7042 is cost-optimized dual socket motherboard that designed for SMB and workstation environments. The S7042 supports (2) Intel Xeon E5-2400 Series Processors, (4+4) DDR-III R/U/LR-DIMM, (2) PCI-E x16 G3 slots, (1) PCI-E x8 Gen.3 slot,(2) PCI-E Gen3 x8 slot ( w/ x4 link), (2) GbE ports and (10) SATA ports or (8) SAS ports/(6) SATA ports. The GT20A-B7040 is 1U cost-effective dual socket server barebone designed for power-efficient applications with space saving. It supports (2) Intel Xeon E5-2400 Series Processors, (6+3) DDR-III R/U/LR-DIMM, (1) PCI-E x8 G3 slots, (2) GbE ports and (4) hot-swap 3.5"/2.5" SAS/SATA 6G HDDs.
TYAN GT62A-B5512 is the ideal option for users looking for brilliant performance with lower price for a 1 way 1U rackmount server. Targeting the nearline storage, it delivers affordable computing power and brings down the cost of server deployment. GT62A-B5512 supports (1) Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2 Series Processors, (4) DDR-III U-DIMM w/ECC, (1) PCI-E x8 G3 slots, (2) GbE ports, (1) dedicate FE port and (10) hot-swap 2.5" SAS/SATA 6G HDDs. Its special designed for CDN (Content Delivery Network) and HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) with enhanced storage and server management capability.
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AMD and Crystal Dynamics Collaboration Delivers "Tomb Raider" with TressFX
AMD today announced a collaboration with Crystal Dynamics following the launch of "Tomb Raider," one of the most highly anticipated PC games of 2013, and part of the AMD Gaming Evolved program. AMD and Crystal Dynamics worked together extensively on the development of "Tomb Raider," most notably with TressFX Hair, the world's first in-game implementation of a real-time, per-strand hair physics system. This leading-edge technology imparts one of the most iconic video game characters, Lara Croft, with an astonishingly lifelike appearance. With AMD Radeon graphics, gamers can unleash the full potential of this next-generation technology.
"With the launch of 'Tomb Raider' and TressFX Hair, AMD and Crystal Dynamics have radically pushed the boundaries of realism in the PC gaming experience," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics. "Over the past several months, AMD has proven that the Gaming Evolved program is set to full throttle, and today's launch is a testament to AMD's ingenuity and innovation. Our team is working with the finest game developers in the world to ensure AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics deliver the ultimate PC gaming experience."
AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next (GCN) is the ideal architecture for outstanding "Tomb Raider" performance. Built with numerous compute-driven effects like High Definition Ambient Occlusion (HDAO) and Depth of Field (DOF), "Tomb Raider" uniquely exploits the computing strengths of GCN architecture and the AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series, enabling an unrivaled gaming experience. "Tomb Raider" also fully supports AMD CrossFire technology, immersive AMD Eyefinity multidisplay technology and AMD HD3D stereo 3D. What's more, it is the first game in the franchise to take full advantage of DirectX 11, a direct result of Crystal Dynamic's collaboration with AMD Gaming Evolved.
"AMD and the Square Enix Studios, including Crystal Dynamics, have a long successful history of collaboration, starting with 'Deus Ex: Human Revolution' from Eidos Montreal," said Darrell Gallagher, studio head, Crystal Dynamics. "We continue this close PC gaming relationship with the latest edition of 'Tomb Raider.' The AMD Gaming Evolved engineers and the team at Crystal Dynamics worked for months to make TressFX Hair a reality - with tremendous success. We hope that gamers can best take advantage of the dynamic realism we've brought to Lara through AMD Radeon and Graphics Core Next."
"Never Settle: Reloaded" Redemption
Coupons for "Tomb Raider" included in the AMD Radeon "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle are provided by resellers in select regions1 when customers purchase select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards, and coupons can be redeemed on the AMD redemption portal.
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Seagate Ships New Hybrid Hard Drives
Building on the momentum of its current line of solid state hybrid drives (SSHD), Seagate Technology plc today announced it will begin shipping its third-generation of SSHD products. Featuring the Seagate Laptop SSHD, 7 mm-high Seagate Laptop Thin SSHD designed for the thinnest and lightest laptops in the industry, and the all-new Seagate Desktop SSHD, the line of drives will deliver blazing-fast performance and high-capacity at an affordable price.
Boasting solid state drive (SSD) like speed and hard disk drive capacity, the new Seagate Laptop and Laptop Thin SSHDs are the most affordable way to increase your laptop performance. With storage performance up to 40 percent faster than previous generations, the Laptop and Laptop Thin SSHDs can add as much as 30 percent to total system performance - regardless of the processor inside the system. These products also enable system builders to build high-performance, high-capacity systems, including new thin and light laptops, at mass-market price points.
Seagate SSHD technology is up to 5 times faster than a standard 5400RPM notebook hard drive. Boot a laptop in less than 10 seconds with the powerful combination of Windows 8 and SSHD technology. In fact according to PC Mark Vantage tests every action related to getting information from storage is faster- booting, loading files and applications, and running computer-based tasks.
With a massive 1TB of capacity available, the Laptop SSHD provides the space needed to download, store and stream rich media content such as gaming or high-definition video without sacrificing performance or responsiveness. And with a 500GB option measuring only 7mm-high, the Laptop Thin SSHD can be incorporated into most ultra-thin, ultra-sleek laptop systems.
"Seagate's engineers have really out done themselves this time. Our new SSHDs serve up your favorite content with the lightning-fast performance you have to experience to believe. With these new drives it's like adding a turbo-charge to your PC, without having to sacrifice capacity, at a price that's easy on your wallet," said Scott Horn, Seagate's vice president of marketing. "Now consumers can create, store and consume digital content like a pro without having to spend like one."
"Seagate's SSHD technology reinforces our focus on delivering the most reliable PC solutions in the industry," said Kirk Schell, vice president, commercial PC group, Dell. "Dell plans to incorporate Seagate technology across an array of our next-generation products so our customers can benefit from the quality, performance, responsiveness and increased capacity these SSHD's can provide."
"By incorporating Seagate's SSHD technology into our product offerings we are able to address customer demand for greater speed, shorter boot up and response times, optimum storage capacity and better battery life, all at a lower price point," said Jerry Gross, vice president, Lenovo global procurement. "As we continue to drive PC innovation in today's markets we look forward to integrating this SSHD technology into a number of our PC families, providing an excellent blend of value and performance for our customers."
New Seagate Desktop SSHD- Ultrafast Performance in a Desktop
With the Seagate Desktop SSHD, users can now experience SSD-like performance while enjoying the capacity of a desktop hard drive- all at a fraction of what a similar size SSD costs. The Desktop SSHD enables a desktop system to boot in seconds not minutes for an "instant on" experience, run favorite applications faster or simply breathe new life into an aging desktop PC. The Desktop SSHD will perform up to 4 times faster than other desktop HDD-based storage alternatives, as measured by PC Mark Vantage benchmark software, regardless of the CPU inside.
Using Seagate's own breakthrough Adaptive Memory technology, to identify and store only the most critical data a system needs to go fast, the Desktop SSHD serves up high-performance without a high price tag. As a result, the Seagate Desktop SSHD will cost you just slightly more than a standard hard drive while delivering dramatically faster performance.
The Seagate Desktop SSHD features up to 2TB of massive capacity and 8GB of NAND Flash making it ideal for accelerating the most commonly used PC applications and delivering extreme desktop performance with all the storage capacity needed for any computing scenario.
"Our customers want the highest storage capacity with the ability to access their data easily and quickly," said Fredrik Hamberger, vice president, consumer PC business, HP. "Integrating Seagate's SSHD solution into our rapidly growing portfolio of industry leading PCs will offer our customers a superior experience while running multiple applications."
"Whether you're into video editing, music or gaming, with Seagate's new Desktop SSHD you can now have your cake and eat it too," said Kevin Wasielewski, CEO and co-founder of Origin PC. "With SSHD technology you don't have to sacrifice massive capacity when you choose faster performance. SSD-like speed, hard drive capacity-all at an affordable price-makes the Seagate Desktop SSHD a perfect choice for gaming enthusiasts like me."
For more information on Seagate Solid State Hybrid Drives please visit this page.
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OCZ Technology Launches New VXL 1.3 Software at CeBIT 2013
OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the general availability of the next release of its popular VXL Cache and Virtualization Software. VXL 1.3 has evolved its synchronous data mirroring capabilities and automatic server failover mechanisms to enable 'SAN-less,' highly available, fault tolerant environments based entirely on virtualized host flash. The ability to provide uninterrupted service for business-critical applications even during severe system failures is a requirement for IT managers of any sized data center, and ideally suited for virtualized database deployments, email servers, or cloud computing applications.
Another innovation in this new version of VXL allows IT managers to pre-load the cache with critical data at pre-determined schedules to ensure that important data is available on SSD flash at the precise time it is required by the application.
This advancement is particularly well suited for business intelligence and data analysis applications, and in particular, for columnar database deployments where the periodic collection of data to a distributed flash cache enables real-time online analysis. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) applications benefit as well with the ability to alleviate boot storms or expected peak usage at specific times.
"We have been deploying OCZ's VXL Software (with OCZ Z-Drives) to enterprise data centers since their very first version, and have seen IT administrators resolve an expanding range of data access requirements with this solution," said Alexander Ruebensaal, Managing Director, ABC Systems AG Switzerland. "We are very pleased with this latest release of VXL and its expanded functionality addresses the real-world needs of our enterprise customers who are transforming their data centers through the use of on-host flash."
"Our customer base has been a great resource in making sure that VXL's functional roadmap is built around the specific real-world caching and virtualization needs when deploying flash in the enterprise," said Dr. Allon Cohen, Vice President of Software and Solutions for OCZ Technology. "This release of VXL Software continues to evolve 'the next frontier' of flash virtualization by providing enhanced capabilities to enterprise caching and advanced support for virtualized services."
Enhanced capabilities within VXL 1.3 Software enable OCZ Z-Drive R4 PCI Express (PCIe) SSD flash volumes to be virtualized and synchronously mirrored, so they are continuously available to support advanced High Availability (HA) and end-to-end Fault Tolerance (FT) services from within the virtualized host without the need for any back-end SAN or storage appliance. This approach yields no data loss and no virtual machine (VM) downtime even during complete server failures.
To enable 'SAN-less' virtualized services, VXL 1.3 Software synchronously replicates flash data through mirroring between Z-Drive R4 PCIe cards residing on redundant servers, keeping two live identical copies of the VM data, down to the last bit. The net impact of this SAN-less, flash-only infrastructure is that the virtual environment becomes significantly simpler to manage, and since all data is stored on Z-Drive R4 SSD flash inside of each server, flash-level storage performance and lower power and cooling is enabled.
For enterprise caching, VXL Software features a unique 'business-rule' pre-warming cache engine that adapts the flash cache to the activity cycles in the data center to determine peak I/O performance needs at certain times. This enables IT managers to automatically pre-warm the cache in advance of important and demanding jobs, assuring that relevant application data resides on the cache when the application needs it. VXL 1.3 Software evolves this capability even further with a new cache warm-up scheduler that enables IT managers to identify repeated access patterns and set periodic time schedules to preload critical data to cache, assuring that the critical data on SSD flash is available at the exact time it is needed by the application.
OCZ's new VXL 1.3 Software will be demonstrated March 5th through March 9th in the company's exhibit at CeBIT 2013 (Hall 2, Stand E43), and is now being deployed at select customer sites. With this general availability announcement, existing VXL Software customers with support contracts will be able to upgrade to this latest release through their OCZ enterprise support contacts.
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RAZER AND RIOT GAMES LAUNCH LEAGUE OF LEGENDS COLLECTOR'S EDITION PRODUCTS
CARLBAD, Calif. - 6 March 2013 - Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, today announced a partnership with Riot Games to produce official Collector's Edition peripherals for League of Legends, the world's premiere PC gaming title.
As the only mouse on the planet optimized for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) gaming, the Razer Naga Hex features six large, mechanical thumb buttons and a custom League of Legends logo and detailed rune script on its scroll wheel. Gamers can pair the mouse with a League of Legends-branded Razer Goliathus mouse mat designed to enhance swift movements during the fast-paced lane wars across the Summoner's Rift, and they are now available at http://www.razerzone.com/league-of-legends.
"We're ecstatic to be able to bring to market peripherals that are custom-designed for domination in the most competitive e-Sports title today," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. "Partnering with Riot Games is a step forward for hard-core PC gamers everywhere. We have been strong supporters of the League of Legends scene since its inception and continue to sponsor some of the world's top teams."
Razer currently sponsors defending World Champions Taipei Assassins, as well as Counter Logic Gaming, Evil Geniuses, and Korean power-house KTRolster, making Razer the peripheral brand of choice by most in the professional gaming circuit.
With 32 million active monthly players online, League of Legends has taken the PC gaming world by storm. In terms of hours-played-per-month, League of Legends is the most played video game in the world today.
About the Razer Naga Hex League of Legends Collector's Edition:
Gear up with the right items and dive into combat fearlessly with the Razer Naga Hex League of Legends Collector's Edition MOBA and action-RPG gaming mouse. In place of the award-winning 12-button thumb grid MMO gamers have come to love with the Razer Naga, the Razer Naga Hex features 6 large thumb buttons optimized specifically for MOBA and action-RPG user interfaces. Spells, abilities, and items from these games can be mapped directly onto the 6 thumb buttons for extraordinary game control.
Validated with some of the top MOBA pro-gamers in the world, the Razer Naga Hex's 6 thumb buttons are constructed with a mechanical key infrastructure to provide faster key actuation. This allows you to attack quicker than enemies, which can make all the difference in high-pressure battle arenas.
Price:
U.S. $89.99
Availability:
Razerzone.com - Now
Worldwide - March 2013
Product features:
6 MOBA/action-RPG optimized mechanical thumb buttons
11 total programmable buttons
Special switches in buttons for 250 clicks-per-minute
10 million click life cycle
Ergonomic curved design
Razer Synapse 2.0
5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G Laser Sensor
1000Hz Ultrapolling/1ms response time
Approximate size : 116 mm / 4.57 in. (l) x 78 mm / 3.07 in. (w) x 42 mm / 1.65 in. (h)
Approximate weight: 134 g / 0.30 lbs.
For more information about the Razer Naga Hex League of Legends Collector's Edition, please visit http://www.razerzone.com/licensed-and-team-peripherals/league-of-legends-razer-naga-hex/.
About the Razer Goliathus League of Legends Collector's Edition:
The Razer Goliathus League of Legends Collector's Edition gaming mouse mat is engineered to exceed the exacting demands of the world's top professional gamers. Its slick speed-enhancing surface blends high acceleration with razor-sharp responsiveness to give gamers the fastest, smoothest glide while maintaining lane domination.
Price:
U.S. $19.99
Availability:
Razerzone.com - Now
Worldwide - March 2013
Product features:
For more information about the Razer Naga Goliathus League of Legends Collector's Edition, please visit http://www.razerzone.com/licensed-and-team-peripherals/league-of-legends-razer-goliathus-speed-edition/.
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ZOTAC Embarks on New Era of Digital Media Sharing
HONG KONG - Mar. 4, 2013 - ZOTAC International, a global innovator and leading manufacturer of graphics cards, mainboards and mini-PCs, today embarks on a new era of digital media sharing with the StreamBox and RAIDbox accessories that eases sharing digital audio, video and image files.
The ZOTAC StreamBox bridges the gap between mobile devices and television sets to enable easy broadcasting of audio, video and image files from Android smartphones, tablets and notebooks via the industry standard DLNA protocol. Display mirroring capabilities are available for select Android mobile devices via Miracast compatibility.
"We focused on making the ZOTAC StreamBox easy to use for users of all skill levels. All a user needs to do is connect to the ZOTAC StreamBox via WiFi and launch a DLNA-compatible application such as the free Realtek AirFun app and begin sharing your music, movies and images," said Carsten Berger, senior director, ZOTAC International. "Advanced users can take advantage of screen mirroring features found on select devices too."
Users that desire lightning-fast external storage in a pocket able form factor can opt for the ZOTAC RAIDbox customizable USB 3.0 storage enclosure. The ZOTAC RAIDbox accommodates up to two mSATA SSD drives and lets users select the best storage mode to suit their needs whether its maximum performance with RAID 0, enhanced data security with RAID 1, independent drives with JBOD or a simply span data in the BIG mode.
"The ZOTAC RAIDbox makes creating your own external storage device easy. A user simply needs to install their own mSATA SSD modules inside the ZOTAC RAIDbox and plug it into a USB 3.0 port," Mr. Berger added. "The tool-less design makes customizing the ZOTAC RAIDbox easy as well."
The ZOTAC StreamBox and RAIDbox enable users to easily share digital media whether it is to a group of people in front of a television set or to other users. No matter what your digital sharing needs are the ZOTAC StreamBox and RAIDbox are perfect for users of all savviness.
It's time to play with the ZOTAC StreamBox and RAIDbox!
ZOTAC StreamBox DM01
ZOTAC RAIDbox UD10
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Enermax Introduces TRIATHLOR Series of PSUs, Successor to Popular Modu82+ PSU Series
March 5th, 2013, Taipei - ENERMAX, leading PC case and power supply brand, has introduced their TRIATHLOR series of power supply units, the successor to their popular Modu82+ series of PSUs.
The Modu82+ has been one of the most popular power supply series ever. End users from all around the globe have appreciated this Enermax PSU because it focused on the pure essentials of a power supply: durable components, silent operation and stable performance. No wonder that Enermax has sold this series continuously from 2008 until 2013. Now, after new technological progress, the time has come to say goodbye to the Modu82+, and welcome the new Enermax TRIATHLOR series.
TRIATHLOR Series: Long Term PSU Design
Enermax engineers have dismissed short-term market trends and concentrated on the development of a PSU design that will run over many years. The two versions of the TRIATHLOR series, the TRIATHLOR and TRIATHLOR FC PSUs are the real deal and, they come in a classic black housing. But don't judge these PSUs by their simple cover: The TRIATHLOR series is equipped with latest Enermax technology. The manufacturer has spared neither costs nor effort to develop a product that meets the highest standards in terms of performance capability and quality. For example only the highest capacity Japanese capacitors are used to give a consistent and high quality build.
Rock Stable at All Loads
Unusual for power supplies of this price range is the integration of an expensive DC-to-DC conversion technology. It effectively reduces the energy loss and significantly improves voltage regulation. By generating secondary voltages (3.3V and 5V) through the 12V rail, the Enermax TRIATHLOR further saves space on the circuit board and achieves a better air circulation inside the PSU. As an interesting side effect of the DC-to-DC design, the power supply is able to keep stable voltages even at 0W load. This so-called "Zero Load Design" solves compatibility issues with the energy-saving functions of modern and graphics cards and CPUs like those that use the C6 power state.
Silent Cooling by Enermax
Thanks to innovative technologies like the patented Twister fan bearing, Enermax has built up an excellent reputation in the cooling market. Products like case fans or CPU coolers have become a pillar of Enermax's business. For some time now, Enermax has applied the same successful cooling solutions in its power supplies. In this regard, the new TRIATHLOR series is no exception: The manufacturer integrated a 12cm T.B.Silence fan that is actually one of the best-selling case fans in Europe. With its patented Twister bearing, their own-brand product guarantees a smooth and frictionless operation with a minimum lifetime of 100,000 hours. The smart RPM control of the TRIATHLOR series regulates the speed depending on the inside temperature and the particular PSU load. Being virtually inaudible at 500 or 900 RPM (depending on the model) right up to 50 per cent load, the new Enermax power supply will delight all silent PC enthusiasts.
FC = Flexible Cable Management
The TRIATHLOR FC is the version that provides a well thought out future proof cable management system with many connectors to power all possible hardware configurations for possibly upcoming new CPU and GPU 10P and/or 12P connectors. Sleek flat, black colored modular cables simplify the cable routing inside the case. Enermax provides at least three 6+2P (8P) PCI-E connectors per model and relies on a Multi-Rail design with two massive 12V rails that generate up to 99 per cent of the total PSU power. In this way, the TRIATHLOR FC can even support strong multi-GPU gaming systems.
You can find more technical information and product photos about the TRIATHLOR FC at: http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1&lv0=1&lv1=62
And the TRIATHLOR: http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1&lv0=1&lv1=61
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Introducing the Patriot AERO Mobile Hard Drive - Carry, Share, and Stream Your Full Media Collection
FREMONT, CALIF., USA - March 5th, 2013 - Patriot, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage, and mobile accessories today announces the next generation in its ecosystem of wireless storage solutions, the AERO wireless mobile hard drive.
Load up, go mobile, and share. With the ever expanding tablet and smartphone landscape, the AERO is the definitive mobile storage solution that allows you to take your full media collection on the go and stream to any tablet, smartphone, or laptop. The Patriot AERO truly lets you share content to your mobile devices like never before, even if you don't have access to the internet or cloud storage.
Create the ultimate entertainment hub in the palm of your hand. Using the free Patriot Connect App, available on Google Play, Apple App Store, and the Amazon Appstore, the AERO can wirelessly connect and stream high definition content simultaneously to 5 tablets or smartphones. The Patriot Connect Application also suports 3rd party media player Apps to break free from proprietary file formats, giving total flexibility to how content is consumed. The AERO also features an internet pass through access point, allowing multiple devices to share one IP connection while accessing data.
"With the exponential growth in the sales of tablets and smartphones, consumers are taking their world mobile with the desire to carry and view more content on their portable devices," said Mike Kroll, Sr. Director of Product Management at Patriot. "In regards to storage, this demands major product evolution and Patriot is on the forefront of design and innovation. With the launch of AERO, I am proud to say Patriot has the largest and most compelling mobile storage lineup; from full featured all-in-one solutions to the award winning Gauntlet Node wireless enclosure."
Pricing and Availability:
The AERO mobile hard drive is shipping in early April, with an MSRP of $199.99 for 1TB capacity and $159.99 for 500GB capacity.
Specifications
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GIGABYTE Partners with GosuGamers for the Latest News of IEM World Championships
Taipei, Taiwan, 5th March 2013 - GIGABYTE, the world's leading premium gaming hardware manufacturer, is proud to announce a new partnership with the eSports community GosuGamers for the upcoming IEM (Intel Extreme Masters) World Championships, a competitive gaming event that kicks off during CeBIT. The event will be hosted in Hannover, Germany from March 5th to 9th, featuring the most renowned competitive games, namely StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and League of Legends, all of which will be broadcasted live and in high definition.
"IEM is a heart-stopping and high-stress competition", said Eddie Lin, Marketing Director of GIGABYTE's Graphics Card Marketing Division. "We are glad to form a partnership with GosuGamers, one of the most reputed eSports communities, to bring all the excitement of the upcoming gaming events with top professional gamers from all over the world competing for the championship titles."
"We are extremely excited that we can team up with GIGABYTE and share the experience of breaking our coverage records with Intel Extreme Masters this year. With the support of such a well-known gaming hardware maker like GIGABYTE, we surely will ensure you get the best entertainment and in-depth content of this spectacular eSports showdown," said Mathias Schmedeshagen, Chief Operating Officer of GosuGamers.
To redouble the enjoyment of all the gaming enthusiasms, GIGABYTE is pleased to invite all the GosuGamers readers to participate the "GIGABYTE GosuBet Contest". By betting on IEM World Championship matches, everyone will have a chance to win the best gaming hardware back home! GIGABYTE and GosuGamers will be giving out GIGABYTE Radeon HD7950 WINDFORCE Edition (GV-R795WF3-3GD) graphics cards, Aivia Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboards and Aivia Krypton Dual-chassis Gaming Mice to ensure the most realistic gaming experience for the best betting winners. The top three bettors for IEM related bets in both League of Legends and StarCraft II categories will get awarded for their scene insights. Stay tuned!
Contest Prizes:
GV-R795WF3-3GD
Aivia Osmium
Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Aivia Krypton
Dual-chassis Gaming Mouse
For the GIGABYTExGosuGamers IEM World Championship Tournament Hub, please visit:
StarCraft II: http://play.gosugamers.net/events/94-iem-world-championship-hanover-sc2
League of Legends: http://play.gosugamers.net/events/95-iem-world-championship-hanover-lol
For the "GIGABYTE GosuBet Contests", please visit:
SC2: http://gosugamers.net/starcraft2/news/22980
LOL: http://gosugamers.net/lol/news/22983-gigabyte-iem-cebit-gosubet-competition
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GIGABYTE.VGA
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Genius Introduces The Ultimate Gaming Combo - KMH 100
Genius today announces the ideal toolset for professional gamers - KMH 100 - is now available in the US and Canada. This 3 in 1 GX Gaming Series combo brings together some of the elite products of the GX Gaming Series: Maurus Black gaming mouse, Imperator gaming keyboard and Lychas gaming headset.
Featuring numerous customizable features, Maurus gaming mouse gives gamers a personalized experience. The Scorpion UI (User Interface) lets you set up and save to 21 macros, giving you a competitive edge in the heat of battle. Maurus' buttons, with default settings of left, right, middle with scroll, next page, and last page, are programmable giving gamers even more customizable control. Additionally, the over-clocking SG Core i engine lets gamers adjust the dpi to four different levels (450/900/1800/3500) directly from the mouse.
Maurus gaming mouse not only gives you personalized control when hunting down your foes, but also provides a smooth, stable connection with a comfortable design. The non-slick rubber coating ensures a firm grip when moving the mouse violently back and forth.
With 6 programmable keys under 3 game profiles, Imperator gaming keyboard allows gamers to assign up to 18 macros. The included UI makes it easy to manage and customize your macros. Once programmed, gamers can cast spells or execute specialized commands in a single keystroke.
When not gaming, users can take advantage of the seven easy access media keys including instant mute for simple control of movies, videos, and audio. Imperator gaming keyboard has an optimal 3.8mm key travel distance resulting in perfect elasticity. During long gaming sessions, the palm rest support helps gamers stay comfortable.
Ideal for LAN parties and competitions because of its individual ear cup volume control, Lychas gaming headset is easy to carry around with its the swivel ear cups and foldable design. When both of the ear cups' volume is turned up, this GX Gaming headset not only provides clear and accurate audio for a tactical advantage in any combat situation, but the large 50mm drivers also prevent distraction from background noises.
The in-line control box lets gamers easily tweak the master volume and mute the microphone in-game. Mounted on the left ear piece, the omni-directional microphone can be simply rotated out of view when not in use. And the adjustable headband fits comfortably on any gamer.
Individual components' highlights:
Imperator Gaming Keyboard
Maurus Black Gaming Mouse
Lychas Gaming Headset
The KMH 100, 3 in 1 GX Gaming Series Combo, is now available in the US and Canada for the suggested retail price of $129.99.
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ECS Updates its G24 All-in-One Desktop
ECS today proudly announces the exclusive touch based All-In-One PC - G24, with a elegant and versatile design. In order to support the latest interface of Windows 8, ECS G24 has considered all the design and components to meet the Windows 8 requirements, including edge-to-edge 23.6" touch panel, 10-finger touch capability, realistic audio display and full HDMI capability. The unique of sleek and neat design is perfect for business productivity and also home entertainment platform.
ECS G24 is an ideal central station for medical sector and health center with its larger display, high resolution and friendly touch screen. The slim and elegant design makes G24 a perfect digital signage platform for public information, advertising and promotion in shopping malls and chain stores, which can take full advantage of your business. The delicate touch screen can swipe the programs freely and also become an intelligent platform for information sharing and entertainment.
ECS G24 also comes up with a series of interchangeable ECS Thin Mini-ITX motherboards in order to fulfill the wide range of application for various segments. Equipped with full HDMI capability, G24 strengthens the application of tablet PC, smart phone and notebook. Besides general PC usage, with TV tuner kit, G24 turns into your second TV at home.
Moreover, ECS G24 is the world's first All-in-One PC with a hot swap bay on the right side of the display. Users can easily switch optical drive device to 2.5" portable hard disk and grab data to go whenever needed. ECS G24 is the latest all-new customized AIO system that meets the needs of next generation desktop computing.
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Be Quiet! Announces DC1 Thermal Interface Material
be quiet!, market leader for power supplies in Germany for seven years in a row*, announced today the availability of the new high performance thermal compound DC1. The new paste is the logical extension of the award-winning cooler portfolio of the German company. With its excellent heat conducting properties and its extremely simple handling, the paste is suitable for both normal users and Overclockers.
Through the perfect combination of metal oxides and silicon the new be quiet! thermal compound DC1 has a theoretical thermal conductivity of about 7.5 W / mK. Thus it offers several degrees Celsius advantage over conventional thermal compounds, as used for example in many ready-build-systems. Overclockers can also improve their results with the DC1. Thanks to a wide temperature range of -50 to +150C, DC1 is suitable for various cooling methods.
Its unique composition allows the paste to be applied easily. be quiet! 's DC1 comes in a handy syringe, which allows for a neat and tidy application onto the CPU die. For a perfect and planar layer of thermal compound there is an extra enclosed spatula. A syringe with 3 grams of be quiet!'s DC1 costs EUR 6.49 and is available in stores now.
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ZOTAC Unleashes New FireStorm Overclocking Utility
ZOTAC International, a global innovator and leading manufacturer of graphics cards, mainboards and mini-PCs, today releases a new version of ZOTAC FireStorm, a user-friendly overclocking utility with advanced features that enable enthusiasts to finely tweak and tune their ZOTAC GeForce series graphics card to extract every ounce of performance available.
"We wanted to create an overclocking utility that novices and enthusiasts can use to tweak and tune their ZOTAC GeForce series graphics cards. ZOTAC FireStorm is the result and enables users to adjust the GPU and memory clock speeds, voltage and fan speeds," says Carsten Berger, senior director, ZOTAC International. "Enthusiasts with the latest ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN graphics card can take advantage of display overclocking too."
DOWNLOAD: ZOTAC FireStorm v2.0.0
ZOTAC FireStorm includes GPU monitoring capabilities to let users keep an eye on GPU temperatures and fan speed of their ZOTAC GeForce series graphics card. Advanced users can monitor the GPU load, voltages and available GPU memory of their ZOTAC GeForce series graphics card with FireStorm as well.
It's time to play with ZOTAC FireStorm!
General details
Novice capabilities
Advanced capabilities
Up to 5 performance profiles
ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN exclusive
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Barnes & Noble to Celebrate NEA's Read Across America with Special NOOK� Offer, Storytime Events & Activities in Stores Nationwide During March
New York, NY - February 26, 2013 - Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced that Barnes & Noble stores across the country will celebrate the National Education Association's (NEA) Read Across America annual reading motivation and awareness program with a special NOOK offer, Dr. Seuss Storytime events and activities storewide during the month of March.
The "Hats Off to Reading" celebrations will include a reading of Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, fun "cat-tivities" provided by Random House, and treats from the Barnes & Noble Cafe. Events will feature demonstrations of The Cat in the Hat interactive NOOK Book and other Dr. Seuss titles, as well as fun Dr. Seuss apps available in the NOOK Store, a sure-fire way to keep even the littlest fans enthralled.
Additionally, as a thank-you for supporting literacy and reading, customers attending any Barnes & Noble Read Across America event will receive a $25 NOOK gift card with the purchase of NOOK HD, perfect for experiencing Dr. Seuss's interactive Read to Me NOOK Books, apps, and even movie favorites like The Lorax on NOOK Video in beautiful HD clarity. NOOK HD offers everything customers want in a tablet, with millions of books, apps, movies, TV shows, magazines and more on its must-see full HD 7-inch screen. Offered in the colors "Snow" and "Smoke," and featuring great battery life and expandable memory for even more storage, NOOK HD is available for $199 (8GB) and $229 (16GB), and is now an even greater value with a free $25 NOOK Gift Card (limit 5 per customer).
"While most of the NEA's Read Across America events are traditionally held on March 2 to honor the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss, we gave our booksellers the option of hosting it anytime in March so they could join local teachers, librarians, literacy organizations and families at events being held in their communities," said Sarah DiFrancesco, Director of Business Development for Barnes & Noble. "It's so enjoyable seeing kids' faces light up as they experience the world of literature. And there's no better advocate for learning and imagination than Dr. Seuss," she added.
Customers interested in attending this event may contact their local Barnes & Noble or visit the Barnes & Noble Store Locator (http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com) for store locations and details. Events are free and open to the public. No purchase is required to participate.
NEA's Read Across America also provides NEA members, parents, caregivers and children the resources and activities they need to keep reading on the calendar 365 days a year. In cities and towns across the nation, teachers, teenagers, librarians, politicians, actors, athletes, parents, grandparents and others participate in NEA's Read Across America activities to bring reading excitement to children of all ages. Over 45 million people participated in 2012.
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Barnes & Noble Announces NOOK Special Savings Offer
New York, New York - February 26, 2013 - NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced a special limited time savings offer on the critically acclaimed NOOK HD+, the lowest-priced and lightest 9-inch full HD tablet. Starting Tuesday, February 26, through Monday, March 11, customers who purchase NOOK HD+ online at http://www.nook.com or at any of the nearly 700 Barnes & Noble stores nationwide will receive $50 in their NOOK account to purchase digital content from the expansive NOOK Store, including apps, magazines, newspapers, books, movies, TV shows and more. It's the perfect way for customers to start their NOOK library with the best in reading and entertainment.
The $50 credit will load to a customer's NOOK account within 3-10 days of registering that account to the new NOOK HD+. The free $50 credit must be used within 30 days of posting to a customer's NOOK account. See NOOK.com/50free for more details and Terms and Conditions.
NOOK HD+ offers everything that customers want in a tablet, with millions of books, apps, movies, TV shows, magazines and more on its must-see full HD 9-inch screen. At only 18.2 ounces (515 grams), NOOK HD+ is the lightest full HD tablet ever invented. Offered in the color "Slate," and featuring great battery life and expandable memory for even more storage, NOOK HD+ is available for $269 (16GB) and $299 (32GB), and is now an even greater value with a free $50 promotional credit when purchased at http://www.nook.com, or in-store at Barnes & Noble, between February 26 and March 11.
Both NOOK HD+ and the 7-inch NOOK HD deliver extraordinary experiences in the areas that tablet owners use most. The reading experience is unmatched, offering beautifully rendered text, magazines in spectacular HD and lightning fast page turns. NOOK Video delivers a growing and diverse catalog of favorite standard and HD movies and TV shows rendered in spectacular color and stunning definition from major studios and content providers including NBCUniversal and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The Web browser in NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ is super-fast, making it simple and smooth to surf favorite sites. The built-in email app offers an easy-to-use, clean format that supports a host of popular personal and work-related email services including Gmail and Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. NOOK Apps includes many of the most popular and bestselling top 100 app titles for tablets, including Angry Birds, Temple Run: Brave and Words with Friends, along with thousands of other popular apps and games.
NOOK HD+ is packed full with even more great tablet features, including:
Customers can visit http://www.nook.com or visit the NOOK Digital Shops and displays in any of Barnes & Noble's nearly 700 bookstores for more information. Barnes & Noble offers Always Free NOOK Support in all of its neighborhood bookstores, with more than 35,000 NOOKsellers across the country ready to assist customers with setting up their NOOK devices or choosing their next great read.
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LG DEMONSTRATES ITS FIRST TD-LTE DEVICE AT MWC 2013
BARCELONA, Feb. 26, 2013 - LG Electronics (LG) successfully co-demonstrated Time Division-Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) service at Mobile World Congress 2013 in partnership with China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator. TD-LTE is a telecommunications technology for 4G LTE networks that differs from the widely adopted Frequency Division-LTE (FD-LTE) technology. China Mobile plans to roll out the TD-LTE network in the second half of this year. The demonstration at MWC 2013 was conducted using a modified Optimus G, LG's flagship smartphone.
"TD-LTE has the potential to cover 2.7 billion people in Asia alone and today's demonstration proves that this technology is ready for consumers," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of the LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "LG is committed to offering a range of TD-LTE smartphones based on our unrivaled leadership in 4G LTE technologies."
LG will roll out TD-LTE-capable smartphones in China in the second half of the year when China Mobile launches its TD-LTE service.
For more information on LG's newest mobile products, visit the LG stand in Hall 3 of Fira Gran Via or visit the online newsroom at http://www.LGnewsroom.com/MWC2013.
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OCZ Technology to Showcase Next-Generation Enterprise Storage Solutions at CeBIT 2013
SAN JOSE, CA - February 25, 2013 - OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced that it will preview a variety of enterprise storage solutions at next week's CeBIT 2013 conference in Hannover, Germany. As a renowned global forum, CeBIT represents a great opportunity for attendees to be the first to see and experience the latest innovations in solid-state storage from an industry leader in enterprise SSDs, virtualization, and caching software. OCZ offers a complete suite of storage solutions that address VMware, Linux, and SQL Server platforms, and invites IT decision-makers who are evaluating or implementing solid-state storage in the data center to visit the Company's exhibit in Hall 2, Stand E43, from March 5th through 9th.
OCZ will unveil the next-generation ZD-XL SQL Accelerator, a culmination of enterprise hardware and software converging as one tightly integrated and optimized solution. The ZD-XL Accelerator addresses SQL Server database applications to not only ensure that the data for this implementation is right, relevant, and readily available on SSD flash when the SQL Server needs it, but also that the data is accessed with the highest possible I/O performance. For simple deployment and ease of use, this tightly integrated, optimized solution features 'implementation wizards' to guide DBAs so they can optimally manage data cached to the flash. While showcasing the ZD-XL solution OCZ will invite enterprise customers to become beta testers for this exciting solution.
Also included in OCZ's exhibition at CeBIT will be demonstrations to preview the upcoming VXL 1.3 Virtualization Software and LXL Acceleration Software with OCZ's innovative Direct Pass Caching Technology, which not only addresses VMware but is also optimized for Linux applications. OCZ is one of the few SSD providers with a robust portfolio of virtualization and caching software that combine the power of flash acceleration with the power of storage virtualization. This enables multiple virtual server loads to run concurrently on a single physical host, not only increasing CPU and memory resource utilization, but also simplifying deployment, high availability (HA), and maintenance of the server loads.
The next-generation of workstation PCI Express (PCIe)-based SSDs will also be available soon as part of the Company's award-winning Vector Series. These drives reside directly on the PCIe bus and will support four PCIe Gen2 lanes providing lower latency to data, faster file transfers and system boot-ups, expanded storage capacities, and an even quicker, more responsive experience over the already blazingly fast SATA 3.0-based Vector Series. The Vector PCIe Series will feature an advanced suite of flash management tools that deliver enhanced drive endurance and data, making it ideally suited for power computing, content creation, and workstation applications.
Join OCZ Technology at CeBIT 2013, Hannover, Germany, March 5th through 9th, Hall 2, Stand E43 from 9:00am to 6:00pm (local time).
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TP-LINK Preps Wireless Networking Product Lines for IPv6 Compatibility
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA (February 22, 2013) - IPv6 may no longer be a protocol without a product line thanks to a growing number of manufacturers designing and tweaking their products to support the next generation Internet standard.
As one of the most competitive providers of networking solutions, TP-LINK is carrying through with its plan to improve its routers to ensure compliance with IPv6. TP-LINK is ready with a family of new and established networking products that comply with IPv6 by default or through firmware upgrades.
With the increasing number of new devices being connected to the Internet, the number of available IP addresses using the original IPv4 standard has been depleted. In fact, all IPv4 addresses have been assigned and there are no new addresses left. The exhaustion of IPv4 addresses makes support for IPv6 essential to satisfy the growth of IP address users and also important for the next generation of Internet.
The IPv6 protocol offers a near-limitless number of addresses as well as many new services such as privacy, higher security, built-in multicasting, new QoS (Quality of Service), which brings superior usability and improved user experiences. With IPv6 every device has its own unique, globally accessible IPv6 address versus IPv4, which allows multiple devices to share the same IP address through NAT (network address translation).
"The implication of every device having a unique IPv6 address is a boon for both home networks and mobile networks where latency is a factor," said Lewis Wu, Country Manager of TP-LINK USA. "But, rather than rebuilding their systems, many carriers have stayed with IPv4 and NAT because they felt it was too costly to switch. That decision is becoming a mute point."
To benefit from the advances of the IPv6 technology, TP-LINK recommends its high-performance and IPv6 Ready dual-band routers. Current routers supporting IPv6 include the N600 TL-WDR 3500/3600 dual band router; the N750 TL-WDR4300 dual band gigabit router; and the N900 TL-WDR4900 dual band gigabit router.
TP-LINK also has a family of ASDL products that support IPv6, which includes the TD-W8968 300Mbps Wireless N USB ADSL2+ Modem Router; the TD-W8970 300Mbps Wireless N Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router; and the TD-W8980 N600 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit ADSL2+ Modem Router
All products support IPv6 features (such as DHCP, Static, PPPoE, 6to4 and 6rd), which are applied by Internet Service Providers. TP-LINK is actively researching and developing more transition mechanism technologies and is a member of the IPv6 Ready Logo Program, which brands products for IPv6 compatibility and interoperability. TP-LINK customers can visit http://www.tp-link.com/en/article/?faqid=482 for more information on TP-LINK IPv6-compatible products.
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iBUYPOWER Revolt - The Revolution Begins Shipping
February 25, 2013, City of Industry, CA - iBUYPOWER, a leading provider of high-performance gaming systems is proud to announce that its industry pushing Revolt is now shipping!
"We've waited long, anxious and excited to get our Revolts on the assembly line," said Darren Su, Senior Vice President, at iBUYPOWER. "We're ready to try something new, and we're hoping to move the industry forward, and inspire others to do the same. Revolt is the beginning of revitalizing an industry that cries out for innovation, and we hope enthusiasts, gamers, and people who just love technology will be inspired by Revolt as much as we are."
Those who have pre-ordered Revolts will be happy to know that their orders will begin shipping this week. iBUYPOWER is pleased to begin fulfilling orders immediately, and we've made substantial enhancements to our production facility to decrease build time, while maintaining a high-quality standard.
iBUYPOWER recently announced that its Revolt will be configurable with NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX TITAN, enabling gamers to experience the most spectacular visuals and performance. Along with TITAN, the Revolt is available in three default configurations, but users are free to customize their Revolts for a truly individualized experience using iBUYPOWER's system configurator.
Check out how you can configure an iBUYPOWER Revolt at http://www.ibuypower.com/revolt.
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