IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 11/04/2013

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 11/04/2013

TweakTown

iPhone 5 has helped Apple beat Q2 estimates Apple may be lying on the street, bleeding from their various wounds to their stock prices, but this hasn't stopped iPhone's from selling like iHotcakes. According to Canaccord Genuity analyst, Mike Walkley, Apple have sold more iPhone's than expected during the March quarter.

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Walkley has now adjusted his full-year EPS estimates to $43.86 from $43.59, and sees Apple selling 37 million iPhone's in the March quarter, up from his previous estimate of 34.5 million.ii

Google Play Music extends to seven new countries Google has announced that there are now seven new countries that Google Play Music has extended into: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Portugal. This now allows users to buy music through the Google Play Store on both the web or their Android device, as well as the cloud associated with their Google account which will hold 20,000 songs for a user.

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The streaming service is made available to 10 devices at a time, with the settings allowing a user to tune the authorization and deauthorization of devices. You can check it out by downloading Google Play Music from the Google Play Store.

Elysium trailer arrives, looks to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the year If you're like me, you've been waiting patiently for Neill Blomkamp's second movie, Elysium. His first movie, District 9, was a smash hit, and now the director is ready to launch his second movie which is due out in August.

It also stars District 9 actor Sharlto Copley, with Jodie Foster playing a government official. The trailer above doesn't show you too much, but what it does show you is enough to impress, that's for sure. Elysium is set in the year 2159, where two classes of people that exist, the extremely wealthy (today's equivalent of the 1%) who live on a perfect, man-made space station called Elysium. The rest? They live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth.

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The full synopsis, is below:

In the year 2159 two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard line government official will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn't stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

Before the PS4, third-party developers were told the PS4 could feature 4GB of GDDR5, were surprised to see 8GB It was only at the unveiling of Sony's PlayStation 4 that third-party developers discovered there was 8GB of GDDR5 RAM inside of the machine, as they were told that the PS4 would only come with 4GB of GDDR5 previously.

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These developers even received development kits before the PS4 was announced, and were still not aware of the bump in RAM until the PS4 reveal. Just Add Water's CEO, Stewart Gilray, spoke with VideoGamer.com, teasing that they're working on a mystery title for the PS4, said that third-party developers were told that the PS4 would feature just 4GB of RAM, but were very surprised when the PS4 system lead architect, Mark Cerny, announced the 8GB of RAM cranking along inside of the PlayStation 4. Gilray told VideoGamer.com:

We were told [PS4] was 4GB originally. And we first knew it had 8GBs when Mark said at the event's stage, 'And it has 8GB of memory.' We'd had kits at that point for a good while.

Gilray suspects that a few of the bigger, first-party developers knew the PS4 would feature 8GB of RAM before the PS4 reveal. He continues: "It's a fantastic amount of memory. especially DDR5 memory, because it's so fast you don't have to have everything there at once. You can swap it in and out instantly, effectively. But when they said 8GB it was like, 'Ooookay.'"

Google Street View Hyperlapse by Teehan+Lax will take your breath away, before blowing your mind It's no secret, Google Street View is one of the most revolutionary products ever developed. It has changed the way we search for locations to shop, view homes for sale, and has even helped me pick out dining locations close to a hotel I stayed at in Las Vegas.

Today a design firm based out of Toronto, Teehan+Lax, has released a new and innovative way to put all of those Street View images together into a very awe-inspiring time lapse journey. The experiment has several pre-built "Hyperlapses" of things like crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, but the true awesomeness comes when you create your own Hyperlapse by selecting two points on a Google map and letting the service build a custom hyperlaps of what that road trip would look like.

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Creating your own is quite simple. Just set a point A and a point B and the site will then stitch together all of the Google Street View images taken along that path. I was able to quickly create a Hyperlapse of a trip down US #1 in the Florida Keys. The actual site uses lower quality images, and a very fast frame rate to reduce load times. The entire source code is available on Github (source #3) with examples so users can create their own custom Hyperlapse engines.

Facebook integrates new emotion selection tool Facebook announced this morning that it has begun rolling out a new emotion selection feature on its status box. Users can select between a full list of emotions or share what they are watching, listening to, reading, drinking or eating.

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The new tool is only available in the US at the moment and the complete roll-out is expected to take several days. Facebook says that it wants to funnel conversations a bit to better convey what a user is doing, thinking or feeling. Facebook wants you to actively link to an artist, food brand or even brewery when composing your status in hopes of drumming up more marketing revenue when those pages see increased traffic from your status updates.

Google releases redesigned Play Store for mobile that greatly improves discovery This morning Google announced that it has redesigned the Play Store in an effort to improve application discovery and simplify purchasing. The new Play Store has a very minimalist look that is sleek and refined. [imgsbs]1[/imgsbs] [imgsbs]2[/imgsbs] The new look will begin rolling out to Android phones and tablets that are running Froyo or higher. If your device does not upgrade today, Google ask that you be patient, as the roll out is expected to take several weeks before it is fully complete.

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Google says that the new Play Store "focuses on bigger images that jump off the page." Similarly themed content is grouped together, and as you move down the page, new recommendations continue to appear, so there is always more to see and explore.

Pandora passes 200 million registered user milestone Despite a recent decision to put a cap on how much time free users get, Pandora has grown to over 200 million users with 1.5 billion hours of music listened to every month.

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Those numbers cover the total number of US users to date, and more than half of them were added in the last two years. That equates to over 100 million new users since 2011. The service sees about 67 million active users per month, which in itself is a staggering number. Pandora streams 200 million songs before 10AM every day, features more than 100,000 unique artist, and more than one million songs in its library. Roughly 140 million Pandora subscribers use the service on their mobile devices. In an interview with TheNextWeb, Pandora Founder Tim Westergren, had the following to say:

"We started this company to help people discover and enjoy music they love, and to help artists reach and grow their audiences. Only in our wildest dreams did we imagine what it would become. It is now clear that radio is changing, and that's great news for music fans and for the tens of thousands of working artists who now have a home on the air."

Microsoft looking to integrate two-factor authentication into Outlook.com accounts Microsoft is said to be in the works of integrating two-factor authentication into its Outlook.com mail service. LiveSide is reporting this morning that security enhancements are being prepped, along with a new authenticator app for Windows Phone.

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Google and Apple both already use two-factor authentication processes when you access their services and is the reason that you sometimes have to answer security questions when logging in from a new device. I won't get into how they both work here, but Microsoft's system appears to use the Authenticator App to generate the authentication codes. LiveSide is also reporting that the new authentication system will not work with Microsoft Accounts that have been linked together, which means that users must un-link multiple accounts. The Authenticator app is already available for download in the Windows Phone Store, so it looks like two-factor authentication for Outlook.com is on the way soon.

WhatsApp clears up rumors about Google acquisition - they're not selling Over the weekend rumors began to surface about the popular messaging platform WhatsApp considering a buyout from Google for $1 billion. This morning WhatsApp is speaking out about those rumors.

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In an interview with AllThingsD, WhatsApp's head of business development Neeraj Arora dismissed all the rumors saying that the company is not entertaining any offers from Google, or anyone else. This news makes me quite happy as I use WhatsApp almost more than my standard text messaging app to keep in contact with friends and family who are overseas. TweakTown wants to know how much you use third party text messaging applications like WhatsApp. Let us know in the comments below.

ASUS begins shipping $149 7-inch MeMO Pad Android tablet Back in January at CES there was an influx of new 7-inch class Android tablets that all promised to compete with the ASUS made Google Nexus 7. Most notably was an offering from ASUS called the MeMO Pad, which was designed as direct competition for the Nexus 7.

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This morning in a statement to the media, ASUS announced that it has begun shipping the $149 7-inch tablet to retail channels. Featuring 16GB of on-board storage, the MeMO Pad can add more storage via an SD card capabilities, which is something the Nexus 7 cannot do. The MeMO Pad runs on a VIA WM8950 dual-core chip, and its 7-inch display has a resolution of 1024x600 that supports 10-point multi-touch. A 4270mAh battery provides up to seven hours of use while WiFi, Bluetooth, and a Micro USB port provide connectivity. The Android Jelly Bean powered ASUS MeMO Pad is available now in stores like Amazon, GameStop and Fry's Electronics in grey, pink and white.

Get ready to wave goodbye to support for Windows XP, IE6 and Office 2003 Come this time next year, support is going to end for Windows XP and a few other pieces of software from Microsoft. The other software joining it is Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003, these programs will lose their extended support on April 8, 2014.

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Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 2 will end its support on the same day, but with newer Service Packs, it will continue to be supported. The big issue here is that roughly 38% of people on the Internet are still using Windows XP. Not all of these users will jump over to a new OS in the next year, so we should see a large portion of the Internet continue to get slapped with malware. I think we'll see Microsoft crumble under pressure and extend the support for Windows XP, unless they were to suddenly have surge of old consumers upgrading to new PCs or operating systems, which is doubtful with the way Windows 8 is performing.

Google Fiber rollout has cost $100 million so far Google's rollout of their gigabit broadband Internet service, Google Fiber, has cost the Mountain View-based company around $100 million so far. We've now got Carlos Kirjner and Ram Parameswaran of Bernstein Research estimating that the gigabit Internet rollout has cost Google $94 million total so far.

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The estimate that Google have spent $42 million in Kansas and $52 million in Missouri. The analysts have the idea that the Austin rollout will cost around the same amount as the Kansas City, but they have remained skeptical on a nationwide build out. They added:

We remain skeptical that Google will find a scalable and economically feasible model to extend its build out to a large portion of the US, as costs would be substantial, regulatory and competitive barriers material, and in the end the effort would have limited impact on the global trajectory of the business.

The number of teenagers who text when driving have doubled since 2010 The number of teenagers texting whilst driving has doubled since 2010, with every two out of five teenagers texting while driving. The information has come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

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The agency found there are more than 600,000 drivers use their cell phone when driving, where around half, or 48.6% of all drivers in the US have admitted to answering a phone call, and one in four admitting to placing a call. There are laws in place within some states in the US for distracted driving or using a mobile device when driving - with 39 states enacting the law. These laws have not been completely effective in preventing accidents. Around 6% of drivers have claimed they were involved in a crash, and 7% in near-crash situations within the past year. 2% of which admitted to using a mobile phone and 3% specifically sending or reading a tex message.

Antitrust allegations against Google in the EU popup, Android takes the stand Google have enjoyed their fair share of antitrust accusations in Europe, but now the New York Times is reporting that new anti-competitive allegations have been levied against Android. This new complaint was filed by Fairsearch, whose members include people from Microsoft and Nokia among other companies.

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The group are claiming that Google are using Android as a way to push consumers into using Google's apps instead competitors' software. Fairsearch are pushing the fact that Google forces OEMs who use Android to place apps like YouTube and Gmail into hot places on the desktop. This is just the beginning of yet another antitrust lawsuit, so we should see Google respond shortly.

Sony to roll out DualShock 3 controller support to Xperia phones Sony are poised to add system level support for their DualShock 3 controllers to their Xperia-branded smartphones. A user would be able to wirelessly connect their controllers without root or hugely complicated setup procedures, using just a USB OTG cable for the initial setup.

All you would need to do is plug the controller into your Xperia device's USB port, turn it on, enter the device settings and then just enable the controller. Once there's some talk between the device and the PC, you'll need to unplug the controller and then you'll have the ability to use it through Bluetooth. At the moment there's no news on whether this will jump across to non-Xperia-branded smartphones, but I'm sure it'll just be time for now. Games that support a controller are obviously the way to go, but this isn't a big problem.

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Want to see a live action Street Fighter series, fund its Kickstarter If you're a fan of Street Fighter and have a spare dollars to see a web series of it made, you might want to open your wallet to a Kickstarter page on it. Joey Ansah, is behind it, where he is the director, writer and creative guru behind Street Fighter: Legacy and along with Christopher Howard, they need $950,000 to get a prequel series they're calling Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist off the ground.

Street Fighter: Legacy was produced and released on YouTube around three years ago, mostly as a proof of concept to show that a live action version of Street Fighter would look great, if it were done right. The video saw eight million views, with a 98.7% approval rating. Ansah has said that Assassin's Fist has been in development for around three years, with the team purchasing the option from Capcom last year with plans to fund the film through independent investment. If the Kickstarter isn't successful, the team could lose the funding they've already received, pushing production back into 2014.

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Google Babel for Gmail screenshots leaked out Images have popped up onto the Internet of the purported Google Babel for Gmail, with Techradar getting their hands on a bunch of screen captures of the web interface for the upcoming Google unified messaging application, Babel.

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It looks like a rehash of Google Chat for Gmail, with a better looking interface for the sign-in, as well as new features within the program itself. It looks like we could expect some photo sharing abilities with Babel, a mandatory Google+ login, and a feature to start a Google+ hangout directly from the chat. This could be a total fake right now, so don't put much faith into this right now.

Tumblr for Android gets updated, overhauled interface included If you're a Tumblr fan, and an Android user, you'll be glad to know there's an updated app available on the Google Play Store. The latest app overhauls the user interface, with the scrolling lists and static squares now a thing of the past.

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The user interface is now gorgeous, and deserves your eyeballs' attention. Not only has Tumblr for Android received a fresh dab of paint, but there are some very slick animations, too. Pull to refresh is here, as well as tap a button to post and you'll see things bouncing and popping around, making the Tumblr for Android experience a better looking experience. Grab Tumblr for Android from the Google Play Store, here.

Navy successfully destroys drone with laser weapon set to debut in 2014 The Navy has successfully completed a test of its upcoming laser weapon system that is set to debut in 2014. The laser system successfully shot down a drone. We have embedded video of the test below for your viewing pleasure:

Previous experiences with laser technology haven't been so successful. Part of the issue is that high-power lasers are large, require massive amounts energy, and large amounts of cooling. There have been some experimental laser weapon systems mounted in airplanes and on ships. All I can think about is how cool lasers are. Pew, pew! Pew, pew!

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California court rules it's illegal to check maps while driving A California court has ruled that it's illegal for drivers to check mapping applications on a smartphone while driving. This does not preclude drivers from using navigation systems that are built in to a car. This ruling comes after a driver argued he was using a phone for directions rather than texting or talking.

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According to vehicle code 23123, drivers are not allowed to use a smartphone while driving. The ruling states:

This case requires us to determine whether using a wireless phone solely for its map application function while driving violates Vehicle Codesection 23123. We hold that it does. Our review of the statute's plain language leads us to conclude that the primary evil sought to be avoided is the distraction the driver faces when using his or her hands to operate the phone. That distraction would be present whether the wireless telephone was being used as a telephone, a GPS navigator, a clock or a device for sending and receiving text messages and emails.

Drivers are still able to use in car navigation systems. Drivers are also able to use voice controlled systems, so this means iPhone users can use Siri to get directions.

EVGA sets 22K record score in 3DMark Fire Strike, three other scores EVGA and "k|ngp|n" have set new world records in 3DMark Fire Strike. The four records have been achieved using a single EVGA TITAN GPU and a pair of TITAN's in SLI. The four records were set in the 3DMark Fire Strike and 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme benchmark with both single and dual-GPU setups.

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#1 3DMark Fire Strike (SLI) = 22,054
#1 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (SLI) = 11,559
#1 3DMark Fire Strike (Single Card) = 14,600
#1 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (Single Card) = 7,308

EVGA also made use of an upcoming EVGA X79 Dark motherboard. k|ngp|n also made use of their Precision X 4.0 tool for overclocking the GPUs. You can see EVGA's records in the Futuremark 3DMark Hall of Fame.

News Corp threatens to take FOX network to subscription only if Aereo prevails in lawsuit News Corp, owner of the FOX network, has threatened to start charging for the network (i.e. take it to cable-only) if Aereo prevails in its current lawsuit. News Corp, along with numerous different TV networks, sued Aereo over their renting of Internet-connected TV antennas.

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The networks allege that this is an unlawful rebroadcasting of their content. The courts, however, ruled that it was legal because Aereo uses one antenna per viewer. News Corp's COO Chase Carey has threatened to move FOX to a subscription model if Aereo wins in court:

We need to be able to be fairly compensated for our content. This is not an ideal path we look to pursue, but we can't sit idly by and let an entity steal our signal. We will move to a subscription model if that's our only recourse.

Virginia Lam, a spokeswoman for Aereo, e-mailed the following statement:

It's disappointing to hear that Fox believes that consumers should not be permitted to use an antenna to access free-to-air broadcast television.

AppGratis pulled from AppStore over push notification abuse The free app per day app, AppGratis, was pulled from the App Store yesterday. Many assumed that AppGratis was pulled from the App Store because of Apple's new 2.25 clause regarding apps that promote other apps in a similar manner to Apple's own store.

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2.25 Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.

Apple has confirmed that AppGratis was pushed out of the App Store because it violates clause 2.25. Apple added that it also violates clause 5.6 that prevents using Push Notifications for advertising and promotions:

5.6 Apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind.

T-Mobile confirmed to be getting HTC One on April 19 Along with AT&T and Sprint, T-Mobile has been confirmed to be getting the HTC One on April 19. This news comes courtesy of Best Buy who posted the HTC One online for $249 with contract or $699.99 without. T-Mobile will also offer up the HTC One for $99 without a contract, but you'll need to make monthly payments.

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HTC has been downgraded to a second-tier company, resulting in component supply shortages and delays in the launch of the HTC One device. These delays have resulted in the HTC One being released near the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S IV and the rumored release of the iPhone 5S.

ASUS Radeon HD 7790 DirectCU II OC Overclocked Video Card Review

Introduction

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While ASUS is a name we hear quite a bit here at TweakTown, it's been a while since the name has been used in reference to a video card. That changes today with the new ASUS HD 7790 DirectCU II OC that we have on hand. With AMD and NVIDIA both releasing new mid-range models that are really heating up that mid-$100 range, we're seeing a bunch of new mid-range offerings in for testing. While from the AMD side we've already looked at retail versions of the new HD 7790 from Sapphire and GIGABYTE models, we've only looked at the GTX 650 Ti Boost in its reference form. We've got some retail offerings of the GTX 650 Ti Boost in for testing, but today we're going to be looking at the ASUS HD 7790 DirectCU II OC. The formula as always will be very standard with us starting with the package. Once we've done that we'll move onto the card itself. From the card we'll move onto the specifications side of things, and like the GIGABYTE card we looked at the other day, we've again decided to overclock this ASUS offering due to the fact that the out of the box clock speeds are very similar to that of the Sapphire model we reviewed earlier. We'll quickly cover the testbed, the cards that are in our graphs today and then get stuck straight into the performance to see just what we're able to get out of the ASUS HD 7790 DirectCU II OC.

Package

[imgsbs]03[/imgsbs] [imgsbs]04[/imgsbs] Checking out the front of the box you can see the main information you'd expect with the model, amount of memory, the fact it's an OC model and some information about the cooler. The back of the box expands on some of the main features, which includes the DirectCU II cooler. On the left hand side you can also see a picture of the card and a rundown of the connectivity.

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Moving inside there's not a whole lot to the bundle. We've got the standard setup guide along with a CD which includes the driver and the GPU Tweak software. You can also see we've got a DVI to VGA connector and a CrossFire bridge to round things out. ... Read the rest in your browser!

Crucial M500 960GB SSD Review

Introduction

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The Tera-Era has officially begun. Today Crucial starts launches the highly anticipated M500 product line and with it comes the first 1TB SSD in a consumer 2.5" form factor. The M500 series uses Micron's new 20nm NAND flash that can fit up to eight dies per package. The high density is what allows Crucial to stuff 1TB of space into a compact 7mm case. You may have noticed the new capacity size, 960GB. Crucial is following Link A Media Devices and SandForce with over provisioning, reserving space for background tasks to increase performance. The new capacity sizes for M500 are 960GB, 480GB, 240GB and 120GB, a change from previous Crucial SSDs. At CES Crucial didn't hesitate to tell us about the 960GB's $600 price. After a brief discussion we walked away thinking the other capacity sizes would scale evenly, but that didn't work out like we expected. There are four capacity sizes and the prices are reasonable - 120GB ($129.99), 240GB ($219.99), 480GB ($399.99) and the 960GB that we're reviewing today. Certainly, there's some room here for Newegg, Tiger Direct and other e-tailers to move the MSRP after a few weeks on the market and we suspect that will happen quickly with the lower capacity sizes. Let's take a look at the specifications and I'll explain. ... Read the rest in your browser!

BioShock Infinite Benchmarked with AMD EyeFinity at 5760x1080

Introduction

Our fourth adventure in EyeFinity testing is with Irrational Games' BioShock Infinite. As a big fan of the original BioShock, and their spiritual predecessor System Shock, I was ecstatic to hear about BioShock Infinite. The game has been optimized well on PC, with multi-monitor support built directly into the game.

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Also included within the game is a built-in benchmark, which is quite amazing to use. This is something all games should have, so shame on you developers for not following in Irrational Games' direction. First off we'll actually show you the benchmarking system Irrational Games have opted for, which is an old school command prompt tool. You can choose from a multitude of settings - from Ultra down to Very Low, custom resolutions, your aspect ratio and more. [imgsbs]01[/imgsbs] [imgsbs]02[/imgsbs] [imgsbs]03[/imgsbs] [imgsbs]04[/imgsbs] Let's get into it shall we? For your information, I'm running: - Intel Core i7 3770K @ 4.8GHz - Corsair H100 Hydro Cooler - Corsair Force Series GT 240GB SSD - ASRock Z77 Extreme 9 motherboard - Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X OC Edition (x2) - Lian Li PC-T60 Pitstop - Corsair Dominator Platinum - 16GB kit of 2133MHz DDR3 RAM - Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 - AMD Catalyst 13.2 beta 7 drivers I'd like to extend a big thank you to Sapphire, Corsair and ASRock for supplying the parts for this machine, I couldn't write this article or any future articles without this hardware! It's a seriously nice machine, and really powers through what I do each day. I've got the CPU clocked up to remove any potential CPU-based bottlenecks, the RAM is at stock speeds and everything else is at out-of-the-box settings.

Benchmark Results

What we've done with BioShock Infinite is run it at two different graphic presets. The first of which is the Ultra preset with Diffusion Depth of Field - this is a little more stressful on the GPU. We've run the same Ultra preset, but without the DDoF and then both of these tests with CrossFire. These tests were then run once more, but with two more monitors hooked up for some EyeFinity action - and then once more with CrossFire with EyeFinity. In between, we offer a look at overclocking - where we run all of the above benchmarks and presets with our GPUs overclocked. You'll see below, our results:

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As you can see, a single Radeon HD 7970 provides stellar performance in BioShock Infinite at 1080p. We are seeing 95 FPS with the Ultra preset on a soft overclock. Enabling Diffusion Depth of Field knocks this down to 73 FPS, which is still above the fluidity of 60 FPS. Even at stock clocks, we're seeing 84 FPS and 64 FPS for Ultra and Ultra w/DDoF. The single card doesn't do too well with EyeFinity at 5760x1080, where we see the overclocked HD 7970 pushing out just 37 FPS at Ultra on our overclock, and just 27 FPS with DDoF enabled. At stock settings, the performance isn't too much worse, dropping down to 32 FPS and 24 FPS for Ultra and Ultras w/DDoF enabled. Overclocking your GPU seems to provide BioShock Infinite with some decent gains, where we see around 10% across the board in each scenario (with and without DDoF and single monitor/EyeFinity). Let's move onto some CrossFire results.

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CrossFire really helps with BioShock Infinite, providing nearly double the frame rate over the single HD 7970. With two overclocked Radeon HD 7970s, we're seeing 151 FPS at 1080p, which is amazing. Enabling DDoF knocks this down to 126 FPS, but we're still over that magic 120 FPS number. EyeFinity with the overclocked HD 7970s in CrossFire is great, where we see 68 FPS with the Ultra preset and 52 FPS with the DDoF enabled. The stock HD 7970s in CrossFire are still great, giving us a little under 10% the performance of the overclocked HD 7970s. 60 FPS can still be enjoyed at 5760x1080 at Ultra detail on CrossFire HD 7970s.

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Overall, CrossFire provides some great performance improvements - especially for those who want to enjoy the most eye candy at 120 FPS on their 120Hz-capable monitors, like myself. If you wanted to have 120 FPS at 5760x1080, you would need to start thinking of four-way CrossFire, which is much more expensive. 60 FPS at 5760x1080 with two HD 7970s is still good in my book, and 151 FPS at 1080p is a great achievement. Now if I only had time to play the game! ... Read the rest in your browser!

Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [08 April 2013] Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!

Intel 335 Series 180GB SSD Review

Introduction

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Over the last three months we back tracked and covered 128GB class SSDs after all but dismissing their existence for nearly a year. After installing Windows 8 on a SuperSSpeed S301 SLC 120GB SSD, I think it was a mistake. Windows 8, like every version of Windows before it, takes more space than its predecessor used. As we're shown in the past, SSDs slow in a linier fashion to the amount of data on the flash. Knocking out half the storage capacity with your OS and Office isn't a good way to start out with your new SSD, because it also means nearly half of your performance goes with it. The 180GB capacity size isn't rare, but not every company builds products in this capacity size. For the most part, when you see a 180GB product, 90GB as well, a LSI SandForce controller is involved. That's exactly what Intel used on the 335 Series, but unlike previous Intel SSDs, the 335 uses new Intel 20nm NAND flash. This is our second look at the 335 Series. We tested the 240GB model when the series first hit the market and found its performance was better than the 330 Series and really liked the notebook battery life. Let's take a look at the 180GB part now. ... Read the rest in your browser!

NZXT Kraken X60 280mm AIO CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

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Not that long ago now we took a look at the Kraken series and more specifically the X40. What we saw then is that the Kraken series of AIO coolers, while being a bit loud, now shares top honors amongst AIO coolers with the Swiftech H220. Considering the radiator is a bit smaller when we discuss surface area with the Kraken X40 compared to the H220, and that the H220 used two fans to obtain that level of efficiency, there is a lot going for the Kraken coolers. I know we could even improve on the X40 results by adding a pair of fans by at least a couple of degrees, and that takes results right on into the custom kit temperatures. I think the day has finally arrived where a closed loop AIO can really start to take on custom water kits, and with most of the old issues well in the past, there is no reason to shy away from these systems to cool your processor. As with any AIO that has been released outside of the "big two" companies making all of them, they come in some sort of pairs. Since we looked at the single 140mm radiator, a thin version, there are two routes to take to offer a more efficient version. The first way is to thicken the single 140mm radiator to give you double the surface area of the fins, but with a thicker radiator come issues with finding a fan really capable of getting all the way through with anything left in the tank. This is why they come with a pair of fans in most cases, because with one fan, they don't get the air flow they need. The other way to go is to offer a double radiator, or in the case of NZXT, they offer a 280mm by 140mm radiator in this new release. With what I have seen from the X40, the Kraken series is already in the top of the game, and with the new larger radiator, I can only think that the Kraken X60 we are looking at today is going to kick some ass and take names as it climbs higher up the chart. To be honest, I am not expecting this unit to go right to the top, but I know the larger design has to be worth a few degrees over the X40, and that is promising enough to make me excited to try it. Hang tight as I work my way through all the aspects and features that this new X60 has to offer as we then get to the meat and potatoes of the results and see just where the Kraken X60 stands. ... Read the rest in your browser!

SilverStone Nitrogon NT06-PRO C-Style CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

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When the original concept to this design was released, the NT06E was a C-Style cooler that had performance in mind, above and beyond anything else. The cooler stood 82mm tall without any fans on it and was 106mm tall once you added a fan. Since black was so hot then, the sides of the cooler had plates attached to apply the cooler name while adding some style, but the fins and the heat pipes were all left in their natural state. At that time, another concern was to be able to fit in the SUGO SFF cases, and while the NT-06E was good for that then, SilverStone has really pushed the boundaries of just how small a case can be and still provide all the necessary things. With the trend to "smaller is better" as more and more SFF chassis roll off the assembly lines, SilverStone found the NT06E a bit lacking. While it was a solid contender in its day, as the world evolved around it, they soon saw the need to take this design back to the drawing board. Quite a few things got addressed with this retake on an older idea. For one, noise was a big concern, and they didn't want this to be the loudest thing in the PC, specifically with most SFF chassis sitting very close to the user. The second and really most important thing was to reduce the overall height of the cooler without disregard for the thermal efficiency. Although there is a slight twist on the way this cooler is to be cooled, I get why it was done, but more on that later. The cooler we are just about to get real up close and personal with today is the SST-NT06-PRO from SilverStone's Nitrogon series of coolers. While the cooler addresses all the things I just mentioned, they also upgraded the looks of the PRO to give it a distinct look when placed next to its aging brother. Considering some of the awkward layouts inside of quite a few SFF chassis designs, this cooler is kept short, and the fan is to be used under the fins blowing up and out of the CPU cooler. The main reasoning to this concept is to try to eliminate the hot air from recycling into the motherboard, but another reason this concept can work well, is that SFF chassis designs put the PSU over the CPU in a lot of layouts, so essentially you can use the fan from your PSU to aid in the CPU cooling when things are too tight for anything other than an AIO offering. Enough about how, when, and why this is all coming about, I say it's time to jump right in with both feet and see how well this little cooler holds up to our abuse. ... Read the rest in your browser!

Noctua Introduces NH-U12S and NH-U14S Single Tower CPU Coolers Noctua today presented the latest models of its award-winning NH-U series of quiet single tower CPU coolers: Whereas the NH-U12S comes equipped with the renowned NF-F12 120 mm fan and succeeds the highly popular NH-U12P SE2, the NH-U14S is the series' first 140 mm model and uses the new NF-A15 140 mm fan. Both models feature a new, slim design that ensures easy RAM access and maximum compatibility with tall memory modules. "The original NH-U12 and NH-U9 were the first Noctua products we brought to the market and the NH-U series has been a cornerstone of our success ever since", explains Mag. Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). "Representing the next generation of this venerable legacy, the new NH-U12S and NH-U14S are the result of almost 10 years of continuous development and optimisation. Both models mark a significant improvement in performance, convenience and compatibility."

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Due to its fine-tuned design and the class-leading NF-F12 120mm FocusedFlow fan, the NH-U12S further improves the renowned quiet cooling performance of the NH-U12P SE2. The NH-U14S features a large, six heatpipe design and comes equipped with the NF-A15 140 mm fan. This allows it to best the quiet cooling performance of all other U-series coolers, making it Noctua's most efficient single tower cooler to date. Both the NH-U12S' NF-F12 and the NH-U14S' NF-A15 fan support PWM for convenient automatic speed control through the mainboard. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced from 1500 to 1200 rpm using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptor for even quieter operation.

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The NH-U12S and NH-U14S feature a new, slim layout that has been conceived to provide maximum RAM compatibility: With a fin depth of only 45 mm, the NH-U12S will not overhang the RAM slots even with two fans installed. This gives the user full access to the memory modules on all current CPU sockets and guarantees 100% compatibility with tall heatspreaders or optional memory fans. The NH-U14S features a 52 mm slim design tailor-made for LGA2011 and does not overhang the RAM slots on this platform. Topped off with the trusted, pro-grade SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system, Noctua's proven NT-H1 thermal compound and full 6 years manufacturer's warranty, the NH-U12S and NH-U14S are complete premium quality solutions that combine superb performance, high compatibility and quiet operation. Pricing and availability The NH-U12S and NH-U14S will be available shortly at suggested retail prices of EUR 59.90 / USD 64.90 (NH-U12S) and EUR 69.90 / USD 74.90 (NH-U14S).

NETGEAR Debuts the R6250 802.11ac WiFi Router NETGEAR, Inc., a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, is expanding its market-leading family of next-generation 802.11ac wireless products with the R6250 Smart WiFi Router. The industry's newest router to support the upcoming 802.11ac wireless standard, the R6250 is designed for customers who want the best possible 802.11ac WiFi performance but don't feel the need to have the fastest 802.11n WiFi performance in the 2.4 Ghz band. The router includes Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB 3.0 port so that you can make the most of the outstanding performance it delivers with 802.11ac WiFi. The NETGEAR R6250 is ideal for HD streaming to multiple devices, including the latest smartphones with 802.11ac, such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.

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With a powerful dual-core 800 MHz engine to enable combined WiFi connections at Gigabit speeds up to 1600 Mbps (300 Mbps @ 2.4 Ghz 802.11n + 1300 Mbps @ 5 Ghz 802.11ac), the R6250 Smart WiFi Router offers optimal wireless coverage for large homes. It also has a new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, capable of transferring data from your hard drive up to 10 times faster than a USB 2.0 interface. These features make the R6250 ideal for enabling your increasingly connected digital lifestyle. The R6250 is particularly useful as the network hub for families with eight or more WiFi devices, and works especially well with dual-band WiFi devices such as the Apple iPad and iPhone 5. "At NETGEAR, we recognize that your home network today has become increasingly complex and must support multiple diverse Internet-enabled devices - smartphones, tablets, computers, game consoles and more - with an ever-expanding library of digital content," said Sandeep Harpalani , NETGEAR Director of Product Marketing for Core Networking. He added, "802.11ac is the wireless standard you need for your network to cope with the growing demands you're placing on it for smoother HD video streaming and low-latency online gaming. The R6250, our newest addition to the 802.11ac WiFi router lineup, will help your network achieve the high performance you expect to support your increasingly digital lifestyle and premium WiFi devices - now, and for years to come." The upcoming 802.11ac wireless standard (www.netgear.com/80211ac) is the world's fastest WiFi, providing Gigabit WiFi speeds so you can download web content faster and synchronize large video or music files more quickly. The increased speed of 802.11ac technology is ideal for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets by providing three times the performance for a similar amount of battery consumption of devices using the current 802.11n WiFi standard. As a result, many companies, such as Samsung and HTC, are now releasing smartphones with 802.11ac WiFi, with additional 802.11ac-enabled smartphones, tablets and TVs from other leading manufacturers anticipated to debut in the coming year. The NETGEAR 802.11ac Product Family January 2013 Retail Tracking Service data from global information company The NPD Group shows NETGEAR to be the market share leader, in both units and dollars, in 802.11ac wireless routers. The new NETGEAR R6250 Smart WiFi Router joins the growing NETGEAR family of next-generation 802.11ac products:

The R6300 WiFi Router (the industry's first 802.11ac router), that supports approximate combined WiFi speeds up to 1750 Mbps
The new R6250 WiFi Router, that supports approximate combined WiFi speeds up to 1600 Mbps
The R6200 WiFi Router, for approximate combined WiFi speeds up to 1200 Mbps
The A6200 WiFi Adapter, a first-to-market 802.11ac dual band WiFi USB adapter that enables consumers to easily upgrade their existing PC or laptop to 802.11ac performance
The D6300 WiFi Modem Router, with a built-in ADSL2+ modem for approximate combined WiFi speeds up to 1600 Mbps
The D6200 WiFi Modem Router, with a built-in ADSL2+ modem for approximate combined WiFi speeds up to 1200 Mbps

All devices in the next-generation 802.11ac product line, including the new R6250, are backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n to provide optimal interoperability with legacy WiFi devices and for maintaining maximum performance on Wireless-N networks. Here are some of the additional advanced features of the NETGEAR R6250 Smart WiFi Router that you will enjoy:

NETGEAR genie: This free app for PCs, Macs, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets enables home users to control, monitor, repair and manage their home networks easily through a simple, elegant dashboard. NETGEAR customers can download the utility at http://www.netgear.com/genie or from the Google Play or App Store.
NETGEAR MyMedia: The NETGEAR genie app provides the ability to find photos, video or music files anywhere on the network and play them on any DLNA media player.
AirPrint Support: The NETGEAR genie app enables you to print to any USB or networked printer directly from an Apple iPad or Apple iPhone.
Guest network access: The guest network prevents other people from seeing and accessing your household's computers, printers, storage devices and other home network devices.
NETGEAR EZ Mobile Connect: This is an incredibly easy way to enable your guests' smartphones or tablets to connect to your home Wi-Fi network, simply by scanning the QR code from the genie WiFi screen without typing in security keys or SSIDs.
NETGEAR ReadySHARE Printer: This feature makes it easy for the router to turn any existing USB printer into a fully functional networked printer that is fully compatible with Macs and PCs.
Media Server-DLNA: The router is DLNA-ready and can stream to any DLNA-compatible device in your house, including the latest smart TVs, Blu-ray players, media players, game consoles, handheld devices, tablets and more.
NETGEAR Live Parental Controls: This is a centralized, flexible, and reliable parental control solution for all the devices on the network, including Macs, PCs, smartphones and tablets, for a safe online environment for children and teenagers. No subscription is required.
Automatic WiFi Security: The router comes with wireless security turned on out-of-the-box, complete with a pre-configured network name and password, protecting home WiFi networks by default.
Easy installation: There's no CD required, so you can set up the router with smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks and even a MacBook Air.
USB port: The R6250 Router features one USB 3.0 port, offering up to 10 times faster USB hard drive access as compared to USB 2.0. It can support a USB hard drive for storage or a printer, to wirelessly access and share within the home.
AC Beamforming-Ready: Smart, signal-focusing technology boosts the speed, reliability, and range of your 802.11ac WiFi connections. A firmware update available in early summer will support NETGEAR Beamforming+, which recognizes the location of a wireless device on your network and directs the WiFi signal directly at the device, constantly checking and tracking moving devices such as your mobile phones and tablets. This targeted approach improves WiFi performance at long range and enhances video streaming and the online gaming experience.

Pricing and Availability The NETGEAR R6250 WiFi Router is available now via major retailers and online at an MSRP in the U.S. of $169.99.

G-Technology Launches Industry's Most Flexible Storage Solution G-Technology, a leader in delivering premium storage solutions for audio/video production, photography and the creative professional market, announced today the first solutions in its new Evolution Series family - the G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt, and the G-DRIVE ev and the G-DRIVE ev PLUS external hard drive modules with USB 3.0. Together, they provide quick content transfers for photography, 2K and 4K digital cinema workloads with easy storage expansion, high performance and high reliability in a user configurable solution. The G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt is the only two-bay solution with interchangeable and rugged storage modules that have the flexibility to be taken into the field and used as true standalone external drives.

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Whether in the field or in the studio, the Evolution Series design allows for various storage system configurations, including JBOD, RAID 1 (redundancy), RAID 0 (performance) or used as standalone external drives modules to meet the most demanding digital content workflow and data management needs. As capacity or performance needs grow, simply expand and scale by using more high-capacity, high-performance external hard drive modules with the same docking station for quickly creating camera card backups, easily separating and organizing projects, shuttling dailies or proxies, or delivering final work to clients. The G-DOCK ev also allows users to defer the cost of Thunderbolt across multiple hard drives. The G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt serves as the high-performance Thunderbolt hub for quickly copying data to as many USB 3.0 G-DRIVE ev external storage modules as needed for protecting, transferring, editing and distributing content throughout the workflow. For the Creative Pro, Time is Money Many creative professionals manage complex workflows and multiple stakeholders. Their storage solutions must simply work - protect and move data quickly and reliably throughout the workflow as movie directors, producers and photographers are on tight deadlines and cannot recreate that shot. There is no room for error as a full day's shoot on set or on location could be worth millions of dollars- no time to waste for lost data, or slow transfers or edits. The Evolution Series docking station and interchangeable and expandable external hard drive modules help meet the changing capacity and performance requirements of today's creative professionals. Collectively, the Evolution Series helps streamline the digital content workflow, making copying, transferring, editing and distributing content more efficient, scalable and reliable. G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt The Evolution Series G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt is a two-bay, hot-swappable JBOD media drive system with user-configurable RAID 1 (protected) or RAID 0 (performance). Unlike other two-bay solutions that only offer bare hard drive modules that cannot be taken into the field and used as true standalone external drives, the G-DOCK ev ships with two 1TB removable and portable G-DRIVE ev external hard drive modules with USB 3.0. The G-DOCK ev provides dual Thunderbolt ports for future external storage expansion and for daisy chaining with other G-DOCK ev solutions or other Thunderbolt-based devices. Customers can purchase more 500GB or 1TB G-DRIVE ev and 1TB G-DRIVE ev PLUS external hard drive modules for ultimate flexibility and scalability, using one G-DOCK ev system. The G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt comes in a stylish all aluminum design with a Kensington Lock slot and a three-year limited warranty. The G-DOCK ev is Mac-formatted out-of-the-box. The Thunderbolt cable is included. G-DRIVE ev External Hard Drive Module The Evolution Series G-DRIVE ev is a rugged USB 3.0, 2.5-inch, 7200RPM hard drive-based external storage solution with transfer rates of up to 136MB/s. Paired with an Evolution Series G-DOCK ev, or used as a standalone external hard drive, the G-DRIVE ev is flexible for use in the field or back in the studio when connected to the G-DOCK ev for quick data backups, duplication and transfers. The G-Technology G-DRIVE ev comes in a compact all aluminum enclosure, featuring USB 3.0 for plug-and-play connectivity to other computers and workstations, and a 6Gb/s SATA interface for connection to the G-DOCK ev. It is available in 1TB or 500GB capacities. G-DRIVE ev PLUS External Hard Drive Module The Evolution Series G-DRIVE ev PLUS external hard drive module with USB 3.0 delivers transfer rates up to 250MB/s, which can be paired with an Evolution Series G-DOCK ev, or used as a standalone external storage device. It provides the speed and flexibility demanded by today's creative professionals. The G-Technology G-DRIVE ev PLUS is a compact, 2.5-inch, 7200RPM hard drive-based external storage solution in an all aluminum enclosure, featuring USB 3.0 for plug-and-play connectivity and a 6Gb/s SATA interface for connection to the G-DOCK ev. The G-DRIVE ev PLUS comes in 1TB capacity. "When it comes to my storage needs, reliability, speed and capacity matter most," said Vincent Laforet , a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, filmmaker and G-TEAM member. "I depend on my equipment to work like a pro whether I'm shooting commercials for companies like Famous Footware or photos for The New York Times. As a G-Technology G-TEAM member, I've been testing an early sample of the G-DOCK ev and G-DRIVE ev and it's clear that G-Technology understands the demands of pre-production and post-production workflows. This is definitely an evolutionary approach in delivering storage solutions that help speed up the workflow." "Time is money when it comes to professional digital workflows. We've designed the new Evolution Series to meet the rigorous demands of the world's best content creators. The new Evolution Series makes it fast and simple to make backup or duplicate copies of digital content in a portable format for various team members involved in the post-production process," said Mike Williams , vice president and general manager, G-Technology/HGST Branded Business. "Providing a clear return on investment, the design of the G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt also lets customers invest in a Thunderbolt-based system with the flexibility to buy multiple G-DRIVE ev or G-DRIVE ev PLUS drives for customized, project-based workflows." The G-DOCK ev, which includes two 1TB G-DRIVE ev modules, will be available in May through G-Technology and its Premier Channel Partners for an MSRP of $749.95. Designed as a flexible and scalable ecosystem, additional 500GB or 1TB G-DRIVE ev modules can be purchased separately for a MSRP of $149.95 and $199.95, respectively. For increased performance the 1TB G-DRIVE ev PLUS modules can also be purchased separately for use with the G-DOCK ev with Thunderbolt. The G-DRIVE ev PLUS modules will be available this summer for $349.95 MSRP. To become a member of the new G-Technology Premier Partner Program, please visit: http://www.G-Technology.com. Targeting digital video, audio and photography-focused resellers, G-Technology's Premier Partner Program is exclusively dedicated to the creative professional storage market.

TSMC and Cadence Strengthen Collaboration on 16 nm FinFET Process Development Cadence Design Systems, Inc., today announced an ongoing multi-year agreement with TSMC to develop the design infrastructure for 16-nanometer FinFET technology, targeting advanced node designs for mobile, networking, servers and FPGA applications. The deep collaboration, beginning earlier in the design process than usual, will effectively address the design challenges specific to FinFETs -- from design analysis through signoff -- and will deliver the infrastructure necessary to enable ultra low-power, high-performance chips.

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FinFETs help deliver the power, performance, and area (PPA) advantages that are needed to develop highly differentiated SoC designs at 16 nanometers and smaller process technologies. Unlike a planar FET, the FinFET employs a vertical fin-like structure protruding from the substrate with the gate wrapping around the sides and top of the fin, thereby producing transistors with low leakage currents and fast switching performance. This extended Cadence-TSMC collaboration will produce the design infrastructure that chip designers need for accurate electrical characteristics and parasitic models required for advanced FinFET designs for mobile and enterprise applications. "The FinFET device requires greater accuracy, from analysis through signoff, and that is why TSMC is teaming with Cadence on this project," said Suk Lee, TSMC Senior Director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division. "This collaboration will enable designers to use the new process technology with confidence earlier than ever before, allowing our mutual customers to meet their power, performance and time-to-market goals." "Producing the design infrastructure necessary for these types of complex, groundbreaking processes requires close collaboration between foundries and EDA technology innovators," said Chi-Ping Hsu, senior vice president, Silicon Realization Group at Cadence. "In joining with TSMC, a leader in FinFET technology, Cadence brings unique technology innovations and expertise that will provide designers with the FinFET design capabilities they need to bring high-performance, power-efficient products to market."

Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [08 April 2013] Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!

HighPoint Launches The Industry's 1st, Lowest-Cost 40-Port SATA 6Gb/s HBA April 2013, Milpitas, CA - HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a leading HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, announces the industry's first 40-Port SATA 6Gb/s HBA - the Rocket 750.

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HighPoint is proud to introduce our innovative SATA Aggregation Technology to the storage marketplace - this revolutionary architecture allows a single host adapter card to support up to 40 SATA hard drives, and represents the industry's lowest-cost mass SATA storage solution. The Rocket 750 is ideal for applications that require huge levels of storage capacity such as data Libraries, archiving and backup solutions, but need to maximize cost savings over SAS expander-based configurations. Powered by a PCIe 2.0 x8 host interface, 40 device channels, and HighPoint's Intelligent Storage Health Management Suite, the Rocket 750 is an ideal DAS solution for PC platforms and SMB server applications. Simplified Mass Storage Connectivity Direct Connectivity: 1 Channel per Drive - 40-disks from a single HBA! The Rocket 750's revolutionary HBA architecture removes the need for costly SAS expander devices and chassis backplane hardware, dramatically reducing up-front costs. The PCIe 2.0 x8 host interface and 6Gb/s SATA controller hardware deliver the ideal transfer bandwidth for applications focused on maximizing available storage capacity.

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Each device port supports up to four SATA hard drives: A single Rocket 750 is capable of supporting up to 40 4TB 6Gb/s SATA disks, for an unprecedented 160TB of directed-attached storage. The industry-standard SFF-8087 Mini-SAS connectors streamline installation, upgrade and maintenance procedures and ensure maximum compatibility with industry standard storage cabling, accessories & chassis hardware. Intelligent Storage Health Manager High-Density Storage Management at your fingertips - Instantly check the status of any storage device! HighPoint has long recognized the value of unified management services. While other affordable mass storage solutions make do with the operating system's default utilities, or the disk manufacturer storage related monitoring software, Rocket 750 HBA's include HighPoint's comprehensive management suite known as Intelligent Storage Health Manager (ISHM). This intuitive web-based interface is available for all major PC operating system platforms, and includes a wide selection of storage related monitoring and notification services.

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ISHM allows administrators to instantly check the status of all hosted storage devices, including available capacity, the condition of individual drives, and the health of the Rocket 750 HBA. The built-in SMART monitoring service provides real time data for each individual SATA hard drive, and actively records all warnings errors, and hardware related failures associated with each device to the central Event Log. ISHM allows administrators to login remotely via an internet connection or local network, and configure Email notification and alert services to keep abreast of changing storage conditions while in the field. Major Operating System Platform Ready HighPoint has developed a series of software suites that allow professional solution providers to quickly and easily integrate the Rocket 750 into all major PC operating system platforms including Windows 2012, 2008, 2007, and 8, Linux Distributions, and FreeBSD. Availability and Pricing The Rocket 750 will be available in April 2013 from our worldwide network of retail and distribution partners. MSRP: USD$ 739.00

Fusion-io Unveils 1.6 TB ioFX for Workstation Applications Fusion-io today announced that the ioFX workstation acceleration platform is now available with 1.6 TB of capacity, in addition to the original 420 GB form factor. The high capacity ioFX is ideal for video editing, computer assisted design (CAD), 4K and stereoscopic production, as well as digital intermediate (DI) finishing. "Digital production is undergoing a resolution revolution as production moves to 4K and beyond, while production budgets and deadlines continue to tighten," said Vincent Brisebois, Fusion-io Director of Visual Computing. "To overcome these opposing forces, the Fusion ioFX can help digital artists efficiently deliver creative work faster, even when faced with the most demanding production requirements. Fusion-io is proud to collaborate with industry leading software developers and hardware companies to deliver breakthrough acceleration for the tools used by professional artists worldwide."

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Based on the Fusion ioMemory platform trusted to accelerate data centers around the world, the 1.6 TB Fusion ioFX significantly improves workstation application performance. The Fusion ioFX removes traditional data storage bottlenecks to allow high performance CPUs and graphics processing units (GPUs) to operate at their full potential, enabling artists to composite, edit, playback and finish digital content with significantly greater speed and efficiency. The ioFX is also ideal for encoding, transcoding, particle simulations and working with large amounts of cached data. Connecting via PCI Express, the ioFX is also available in a 420 GB capacity to provide artists with choice in selecting the ideal capacity for their applications. To help professionals maximize the capabilities of today's powerful applications for digital content creation, Fusion-io has worked closely with the industry's leading entertainment hardware and software providers to optimize the ioFX for visual effects production. "NVIDIA GPUs provide powerful performance to professional workstations, which is further boosted with the ioFX high speed memory platform," said Greg Estes , industry executive, media and entertainment, NVIDIA. "ioFX dramatically increases the amount of high-resolution content that can be sent to NVIDIA Quadro graphics boards for processing at extremely high speeds, enabling better artist interactivity and, ultimately, better client satisfaction for our customers." "ASSIMILATE SCRATCH has earned its reputation for high performance by delivering 4K performance to DI and post facilities since 2007," said Steve Bannerman , VP of Marketing, ASSIMILATE. "The combination of SCRATCH and the 1.6 TB ioFX offers studio-grade performance to a far broader range of artists, even those reviewing dailies on set. Higher capacity acceleration is an ideal way to ensure maximum efficiency, either in post or on location, where meeting tight schedules is essential to staying within budget." "From accelerating 3D painting in MARI, to reviewing shots in HIERO, to compositing in NUKE, Fusion ioFX adds powerful acceleration that can significantly enhance our applications," said Bruno Nicoletti, Head of Technology and Founder at The Foundry. "All of our software is designed to remove as many technical barriers from production as possible, and Fusion-io acceleration takes that one step further with the ioFX integrated into artist workstations. As the amount of data artists work with in today's high resolution formats continues to increase, the ioFX can help creatives spend more time manipulating their work with much more interactivity than before." Fusion ioMemory software enables Fusion-io products to transparently deliver peak performance through an advanced operating system architecture that cuts through the latency introduced by hard drives and solid state disks. Fusion ioMemory products such as the ioFX also include Fusion ioSphere remote monitoring and management software, allowing IT teams to monitor and manage all Fusion-io solutions deployed throughout a studio from a single interface. NAB 2013 attendees can see the ioFX in action at a number of leading Fusion-io software and hardware Technology Alliance Program member booths. A complete list of locations is available on the Fusion-io blog. The 1.6 TB Fusion ioFX will be available in summer 2013. List price will be disclosed when the product is released. The 420 GB ioFX is available now from Fusion-io and Value Added Resellers around the world for a list price of $1995 USD. To order or learn more about the ioFX, please visit http://www.fusionio.com/iofx.

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