IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 7/24/2013

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 7/24/2013

TweakTown

QuakeCon 2013 will include Quake Live and Doom tournaments, get your trigger finger ready
I've always wanted to attend QuakeCon, but that's what you get when you live in Australia. Well, the organizers of the event have unveiled the lineup of tournaments, which includes Quake Live and Doom.

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There will be tournaments divided into three categories, up first we have the Intel Quake Live Duel Invitational Master, which will pit known professionals and top Quake Live competitors against each other in an exclusive tournament. We will have up to 32 of the world's best Quake Live players competing for $18,000 in prize money, with competitors being hand-picked by event organizers.
The second competition will be a Quake Live Clan Arena 3v3 tournament, which is open to all. Up to 32 teams will participate in a single elimination bracket, with the top two teams duking it out in the grand finals. There will be $6,000 up for grabs in this tournament.
Finally, we'll see a Doom 20th anniversary challenge, where gamers will compete in a free-for-all match for prizes that include $1,000 for the champion. Registration for QuakeCon 2013 is open now, which will be held in Dallas, Texas between August 1-4.

Leaked camera interface of the upcoming Moto X arrives online
We should expect the Moto X to be fully unveiled on August 1, but between now and then we'd like to share the camera interface with you. Android Police have an awesome exclusive here, showing the very clean, slick camera interface.

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The control wheel that swipes in from the left hand side has been updated, which definitely looks better than what Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean has now. Swiping in from the right will take you into the Gallery, something that I quite enjoy on my Nexus 4. There's also a "SLO" icon, which will take you into a slow-motion video mode.

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Android Police go into some great detail on the Moto X's new camera interface, and we suggest you definitely take a look.

Both next-gen consoles constantly record your gameplay, with the recording ability being pushed as being 'social'
Earlier today we reported about the Xbox One recording the last five minutes of your gameplay, but now Sony have confirmed that the PS4 will keep a 15-minute buffer of your gameplay.

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The PS4 goes a little further, though, with a dedicated social "Share" button built directly into the controller. We have no idea if gamers will actually use these functions yet, but it would be nice to go back through your last few minutes of gameplay for sharing purposes. I wonder if it records all of the audio through the various microphones, and Kinect?

Samsung releases more details on their new Exynos 5 Octa processor
A few days ago we reported about Samsung's new Exynos 5 Octa processor, but now we have some more details on the system-on-a-chip (SoC).

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The new refreshed 5420 variant of the SoC is based on Mali-T628 MP5 silicon and features four ARM Cortex-A15 cores running at 1.8GHz and four 1.3GHz Cortex-A7s in an ARM big.LITTLE configuration. Samsung are claiming that the refreshed 8-core SoC features 20% more CPU processing power, too.
We also have dual-channel LPDDR3 at 933MHz, which will provide the processor with an insane 1.49GBps of bandwidth, which will help out with that Full HD Wi-Fi display support. Image compression technology is involved, which will help save battery power and use efficient multimedia loading, pushing out more hours of use with high resolution displays.
We don't know which devices will be powered by these new 8-core, energy-efficient processors, but that information should arrive in the coming weeks.

Verizon rolls out new 500Mbs FiOS Quantum internet tier package, will cost $369 per month
Today Verizon launched its fastest Internet package ever on its FiOS Cable and ISP service. FiOS' new Quantum Tier is capable of 500Mbs downstream and 100Mbs upstream, which is blazingly fast when compared to any other Internet connection package offered by Verizon. In true form the company has placed a premium on the new service which will set you back $369 per month. When combined with a residential cable package the new Quantum service will only cost you $309.99.

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The new uber fast service would not be from Verizon if it didn't include a two-year service agreement although the company does say that users can purchase the service in a month-to-month basis without an annual service agreement but they failed to provide any pricing structure for that plan. Verizon says that the new Quantum tier will be available in all markets where FiOS is installed but not everyone will have the service until sometime next year.

Xbox One said to continually record the last five minutes of gameplay of every game
Today Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox One will continually record the last five minutes of gameplay for any game that you're playing. The company says that this is so you can share any last-minute achievements, feeds, or skills after the game has ended. We knew the console would already create clips automatically when you unlock achievements which can then be shared with your friends, but the recording of the last five minutes of gameplay is entirely new news to us.

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"The idea is you're always recording. The last five minutes of any game you're playing is always being stored locally on your hard drive," said Ken Lobb of Microsoft Studios during an interview with GameSpot at Comic-Con 2013. This means that you can use command such as "Xbox record that" which will instantly save the last 30 seconds of gameplay or you can choose to trek through the full five minutes of footage to edit down to the key parts.

Leap Motion to leap onto retail shelves on July 28th
Today Leap Motion launched what is being billed as the "Worlds most accurate 3-D motion control technology." The software allows people to control their computers with natural hand and finger gestures much in the way that motion tracking WebCam software works. Alongside the software they launched, the company opened up its AirSpace platform, a sort of App Store that is exclusive to the Leap Motion controller.

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The company also announced that beginning July 28 the actual Leap Motion Controllers will be available for purchase in Best Buy stores across the United States at a price point of $79.99. Customers in the UK are able to purchase from Amazon and the company has partnered up with ASUS and HP to offer bundled packages with select computers from each manufacturer.

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Leap Motion went on to say that at launch the Airspace Store contained over 75 applications that were purpose built by developers and more than four countries. The apps range from free to paid and spans the width of many categories. The Leap Motion controller works with computers running Mac OS X 10.7 or 10.8, Windows 7 and Windows 8. It requires a minimum of an Intel Coreâ„¢ i3 or AMD Phenomâ„¢ II processor, 2 GB RAM and a USB 2.0 port.

Gateway unveils new laptops, also updates their lineup of desktops
Today Gateway announced two new versions of its NE series laptops as well as updates to its DX, SX, and ZX desktop PCs. The company released new 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch versions of the NE series that are slimmer than the previous models and now feature AMD A4 and A6 processors. Additionally, the company now offers both laptops with up to 1 TB of storage.

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The companies desktops did not change much aesthetically but as far as internals go there have been some pretty significant updates. The SX and DX desktops now feature Intel's fourth-generation Core, or "Haswell" processors, or AMD's A Series of APUs. Furthermore the company released a new version of its all-in-one One ZX desktop that features a 3GHz Pentium processor and a 21.5-inch LCD.
The new 15.6-inch NE will be sold at a pricing point of $380 while the 17.3-inch model will retail for $450. The entry-level DX desktop will run $289 while the smaller SX starts at $398, and the all-in-one will lighten your wallet by $530. The company also introduced a new KX Series of desktop displays that start at $99 for a 19.5-inch screen.

Ubuntu unveils new 'Edge' smartphone, looks to crowdfunding to finance the manufacturing
Amidst a massive security breach, Canonical today unveiled plans to build a ultra high-end smartphone that would run both its own Ubuntu Mobile OS as well as the latest version of Android. Unfortunately manufacturing a smartphone in any quantity is quite the financial undertaking and not one that Canonical appears to be fully ready to tackle itself. The company has turned to the crowdfunding website Indiegogo to offer its supporters an easy way to preorder their phone.

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So how much does it cost to produce 40,000 units of a new smartphone? Apparently $32 million will just about do the job. The company launched its Indiegogo campaign today, and will run for the next 30 days. Supporters can land an Unbuntu Edge of their own for $600 today only and tomorrow the cost of entry will rise to $830. There are also 50 "One of a Kind" numbered edition Ubuntu Edge phones being offered but they will cost you $10,000 a pop.

Additionally, an enterprise bundle of 100 phones is being offered for the low price of $80,000. Those who funded this level will receive additional access to best-practice workshops as well as 30 days of online support to help IT managers integrate Ubuntu for Android into the workplace. Also for those who wish you just donate a little to the project there is a $20 funding option which will land you your name on the founders page.

Ubuntu user forums hacked, 1.8 million user credentials stolen
Over the weekend, the Ubuntu forums went down after a massive security breach resulted in over 1.8 million user credentials being stolen. Canonical made a decision to put the forums in maintenance mode in an attempt to ward off any further attacks. The company says that the attackers managed to get away with every user's local username, password, and email address that was stored in the Ubuntu forum's database.

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The company says in the passwords were stored as salted hashes instead of plaintext, but they still recommend that you change any and all passwords that were used on other services such as email, Facebook, or other forum accounts in which you might have use the same password. Canonical says that Ubuntu One, Launchpad, and other related services were not affected by the breach and users of those services need not worry.

AT&T is set to introduce 300MB and 2GB shared data plans on July 26
Today, AT&T announced that it will be launching two new Mobile Share plans later this week on July 26. The new plans are designed to make data access more affordable for customers who might not need a high allotment of bandwidth. For just $20 a month, users with feature phones can have 300MB of data which will allow them to check their email and perform other less data-intensive actions on their handset.

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A new 2GB plan was also introduced that is expected to fill the gap for users who use more than 1 GB of data per month. This plan will run smartphone users $50 plus the additional $45 for unlimited talk and text. AT&T says that their mobile share plans make it easy for customers to manage their data, voice minutes, and texting without needing to keep track of multiple plans.
"Our customers are living mobile lives, and our new Mobile Share plans give them even more options to design a plan that meets their unique needs," said Mark Collins, senior vice president voice and data products, AT&T Mobility. "Now, even more customers are able to enjoy the full benefits of their device, on the nation's fastest and most reliable 4G LTE network, at a great value."

New reports suggest that Google now accounts from 25% of all North American Internet traffic
As far as Internet-based corporations go, Google is about as big as they get, and rightfully so as the company offers up so many useful tools that many of us use in our daily lives. Today, we learned just how big Google actually is; a new report from Deepfield that was recently released says that based on the numbers Google represents 25 percent of all North American Internet traffic. This means that it is bigger than Facebook, Netflix, and Instagram combined in terms of bandwidth served.

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"What's really interesting is, over just the past year, how pervasive Google has become, not just in Google data centers, but throughout the North American internet," says Craig Labovitz, founder of Deepfield, the monitoring company that did the study. Just three years ago, traffic to Google only accounted for about 6 percent of all Internet traffic.
Over the past year, Google has had to add tens of thousands of servers to its ranks to handle this massive growth and has built data centers on four continents within the last few years. Google has even gone as far as adding thousands of servers to ISPs around the world, called Google Global Cache Servers, that store the most popular content from Google's network such as a YouTube video that might be going viral, popular apps on the Google Play Store, or even a trending topic on Google+. These allow this content to be served to you faster than it would if it was all stored in a central location.

New report suggests that Apple is testing larger iPad and iPhone designs
Earlier this morning, the Wall Street Journal posted a report that claims that Apple is testing a large format iPad as well as an iPhone with a much larger screen. The Journal cited officials that work with Apple's Asian suppliers. The report went on to say that the larger iPad would feature a screen that is slightly less than 13 inches. Supposedly an iPhone with a screen larger than 4 inches is also in the works.

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As always, these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt as talks of a larger iPad and iPhone have been popping up ever since both products were released. It seems like every month we hear a new rumor about a new mystery iPad or iPhone that features a super large-screen. The report went on to say that Apple has already entered into mass production of a new iPad that sports the same 9.7-inch screen as the current model, but is much thinner and lighter.

LGBT gaming conference "GaymerX" is set to take place on August 3 and 4
Formerly known as Gaymercon, this year's GaymerX gaming conference will be taking place during the third and fourth of August in San Francisco. For those who have never heard of the event, it is a gaming conference that focuses in on the gamers within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The official site describes GaymerX as a "weekend of fun and socializing," suggesting that "until now, there has never been a safe space for LGBT geeks and their friends to come together, discuss LGBT theory in games as a community, and party as one."

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This year's conference was funded by a Kickstarter Campaign that raised over $90,000. The event promoter says that the conference will feature booths, panels, and demos provided by large game publishing houses such as EA games. Microsoft will also be in attendance showing off its upcoming Xbox One console. LGBT rights groups such as GLAAD and The Trevor Project will be out in full force as well.
At the time of publishing, over 2000 tickets have been sold and the event organizers say that more will be sold at the door. Tickets are priced between $45 and $60 and there are red carpet VIP tickets available for the small price tag of $135 per person. We here at TweakTown would like to give a shout out to all our Gayming friends in the LGBT community, and wish you a fun and exciting GaymerX!

HTC is reorganizing its US operations in an attempt to curb the recent downtrend in sales
On Friday, HTC released its earnings report for the second quarter of 2013 and things did not look well for the company. The numbers show that profit took a nosedive during the second quarter and fell approximately 83 percent, while revenue declined 22 percent. These are usually numbers that indicate a company is heading for a hard and unfortunate brick wall. Fortunately, HTC recognizes this and has decided to reorganize its entire US operations.

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This morning, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that they have obtained an internal memo that unveils how the reorganization will go. President of Global Sales, Jason Mackenzie, will now head up all of US operations and former U.S. Boss Mike Woodward will now lead a new specialized unit dubbed "Emerging Devices" that will focus on innovating new HTC products and global distribution strategies.
"I want to thank these two outstanding leaders for their contributions to the success of the HTC One so far," Mr. Chou wrote about Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Woodward. "But as you know and would expect, we also need to do more. With the success of the One, we have many new opportunities both to expand current sales as well as to enter new distribution channels with new business models."

Samsung will launch its own developers conference this October called Samsung DevCon
Like all of the other key players in the tech industry, Samsung has decided to begin holding an annual developers conference in the US. This morning, Samsung announced that it would be holding its own DevCon in San Francisco this October. The company has just launched a teaser site that allows interested parties to sign up to be notified when registration officially opens.

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Samsung is billing the conference as a cross-platform, cross-product event in which the company will cover topics such as Android, TouchWiz UI, and Tizen, the up and coming alternative mobile phone OS developed by Samsung. Samsung says that DevCon will be an opportunity to engage with industry leaders and learn about new Samsung Tools and SDKs. DevCon will be held on October 27-29. If you are interested in attending Samsung DevCon 2013, you can head over to the signup page at Source #2.

RumorTT: Apple's new Mac Pro will likely ship to customers and retail stores in October
After speaking with a source that is said to be close to Apple, KitGuru said that they have learned that Apple's new Mac Pro would most likely ship to consumers and arrive for retail sales sometime during the month of October. They also stated that the Mac Pro would return to the UK around the same time after the line was removed from sale in 27 countries back in March of this year.

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The delay in release is said to be due to a shortage on E5 processors as well as their mating motherboards. Additionally, analysts are speculating that Apple is waiting on its new operating system Mavericks to be released as it currently is limited to 96 GB of memory. With the new Mac Pro offering up to 128GB of RAM, this makes perfect sense. Apple could also be holding off on releasing the new Mac Pro due to ongoing Thunderbolt 2 development which is said to wrap up sometime during Q3 of 2013.

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To further bait the rumor mill, Apple is said to be working on a 4K HDTV screen that will be geared specifically for professionals in the video editing field who would most likely also be purchasing the new Mac Pro's. Whether all of this is true or not is still a bit of a mystery and the only way to truly answer all of the questions is to wait around until October and see what Apple launches.

Nokia teases that "Something Big" is coming tomorrow via their Conversations by Nokia page
This morning on the Conversations by Nokia page, the company teased that "Something BIG is landing" tomorrow. The post was accompanied by a tangerine colored image with the Nokia logo in the center and was finished up by telling patrons to tune in tomorrow at 9am UK time for a big announcement.

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Nokia Said:

We can't tell you what it is yet. But we can tell you when. Tune in tomorrow at 9am UK time.
See you then!

So what is this big mystery? My best guess is that Nokia will most likely in a release a new tablet or announce yet another Lumia Phone. But honestly, both of those are just wild guesses and anything could happen. So keep checking back here at TweakTown for more info as it becomes available.

LeakedTT: Updated Google Nexus 7 will hit Best Buy shelves next Tuesday for $229
At the moment, we're fairly positive that we will see Google's next-generation Nexus 7 tablet unveiled on Wednesday at a breakfast press event being held by the company. Fortunately for us, Google is not doing a very good job of keeping its refreshed Nexus under wraps. Today, a leaked image depicting the new Nexus 7 has appeared online as well as a full PR rendering of the 7-inch tablet.

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The image says that Google's Nexus 7 II will be available on Tuesday but does not give a specific date, although it is pretty safe to say that they are talking about Tuesday, July 30. It does give us a little more insight into the device and confirms that it will have a 1920x1200 resolution and will run consumers $230 for the 16 GB version.

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Making his second appearance this morning on TweakTown, mobile device leakster @evleaks has managed to get his hands on the official press rendering of the new Nexus 7 that shows us a number of changes that the made to the tablet. The device features speakers located at the bottom and top while the Nexus logo has been rotated into landscape orientation. The headphone jack has also been relocated, while the rear facing 5-megapixel camera remains in the top left-hand corner. Google is expected to reveal the full details of the new Nexus 7 along with other major announcements on Wednesday, July 24, so stay tuned to TweakTown for full coverage of the event.

Missed Comic-Con this year? No worries, because Tested.com has 800+ cosplay images to share
I have been to CES, Dragoncon, The Southeast Linux Festival, the WPPI Expo, and many other conventions over the years, but the one that has managed to evade me is the San Diego Comic-Con. SDCC is the mecca for geeks of all flavors--especially comic book fans--but over the years, it has become the premier showcase for cosplay fans to gather and live their dream of being their favorite superhero.

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I won't pretend and say that I want to go for the comic books; my entire motive to attend is to see all of the fantastic makers who have spent hundreds and thousands of hours designing and building their costumes from scratch. One of my biggest guilty pleasures is browsing the hundreds of galleries that pop up from Comic-Con every year. Fortunately for me and you, this year Tested's Norm Chan has posted a full gallery of over 800 cosplay photos that he took during SDCC.
The gallery contains some of the best cosplay I have ever seen and I am so pumped up that I am making it my goal to attend SDCC next year come hell or high water. Head over to link #2 and check out the full gallery and if you spot someone you know, send an email to Norm letting him know the person's name and include the image number as he is trying to name everyone pictured in the gallery. The images above are provided courtesy of Tested.com

Porn to be filtered by default in the UK says David Cameron
During a press event later today, UK Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to announce that all UK broadband accounts will have adult content filtered by default before the end of the year. These restrictions can only be removed by the account-holder calling up their ISP and specifically requesting that porn be allowed on their account. Additionally, public Wi-Fi providers will now be forced to advertise if they utilize the porn filter or if they have removed it.

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Cameron has also made it known that he wishes to outlaw what he calls "extreme pornography," of which the details are vague but we do know that it includes child pornography, and other extreme acts that are considered illegal in the UK. He will be requesting that the Child Exploitation and Online Protection center compile a "blacklist" of terms that might be used to search for such "extreme pornography." This was would then be used to block searches containing the terms. Additionally, ISPs have no choice in participating in the blacklist-filtering as Cameron says that they will be forced into action.

Top 10 TweakTown News Stories from the past week [22 July 2013]
Here are our top 10 news posts from the past week!

Yet more Motorola Moto X images leak ahead of next week's launch
Next Thursday, August 1, Motorola and Google will release their long anticipated next-generation smartphone dubbed the Moto X. This is a phone that we've been talking about since January, and if recently leaked benchmarks are any indication, the phone may just prove to be a huge disappointment. Fortunately, Motorola did take the time to focus in on designing an Android-based smartphone that can only be described as beautiful.

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Over the weekend, our favorite leakster @evleaks posted two sets of official PR images that show off what appears to be a very refined and very Nexus-like Moto X. A black render was first posted with a follow up of a white version that is said to be the official PR image. The front of the phone appears quite sleek with a very thin side bezel while the microphone appears to be offset to the left by centimeter or so.

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Moving on to the rear we can very prominently see that the rear case material appears to be kevlar just like Google's Nexus 4. The camera is perched above what appears to be a Cree-based LED flash. To the right of the camera we can see a series of holes and what we suspect to be the grill which covers up a speaker. Also notable is that the phone appears to feature a microphone hole on the back and the audio jack appears to be placed dead center of the top of the phone. This leads me to believe that the USB charging port is placed opposite directly in the center of the bottom of the phone. I could be wrong, but I guess we'll find out in just over a week.

Apple acquire yet another company in the hope of repairing the mess that is Maps
Apple have been having issues with their Maps application ever since iOS 6 arrived, and they've been doing as much as they can to sort these issues out. Their latest step is acquiring online transit navigation service, HotStop.com.

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According to people familiar with the matter, Apple want to "scale back their relationship with Google". This is of course known, as Apple dropped Google as their navigation source in iOS 6, one of their bigger mistakes of the last couple of years. A nice fact is that Google Maps is the most popular free app on Apple's App Store, so that's saying something.

Moto X benchmarks hint at a mid-range smartphone, nothing overly special
We know that Motorola and Google are going to unveil the Moto X smartphone on August 1 in New York City, but now we have more of an idea of what to expect to be baked into Motorola's highly anticipated smartphone.

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I knew we weren't to expect anything in terms of a high-end handset, but I was hoping for something special at least. But according to Android Police, who have some photos of the AT&T Moto X "Ghost" which ran the AnTuTu and 3DMark tests. These results from the Moto X aren't that surprising, but we know it will arrive as a mid-range Android 4.2.2-based smartphone.
Inside the Moto X, we should expect a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM and a 720p screen. 16GB of on-board flash storage will be on offer, as will NFC. As for the cameras, we should expect a 10.5-megapixel rear-facer and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. As you can see, there's nothing to get crazy about, but we might not be seeing the whole picture here, either.
If Google and Motorola could offer this at $299, they could have something great on their hands. If they unveil it with Android 4.3, and something magic like Google Now, again, it would be something special. Right now, it looks like a mid-range smartphone.

SanDisk Extreme 64GB microSDXC Memory Card Review

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Many of us connect to the world through our smartphones. Daily tasks such as checking email, visiting your favourite websites and even listing unwanted items on eBay can all be achieved with the swipe of a finger. With the rapid growth of the smartphone and tablet markets, these devices have also taken more steady roles as our cameras and camcorders. One such example of this is Nokia's unannounced Lumia 1020, which is said to have a 41-megapixel camera. Therefore, today SanDisk has taken the next step in microSDXC technology offering the end-user tremendous speed without sacrificing capacity. All rolled up into one memory card, the SanDisk Extreme 64GB microSDXC.
Early this morning, I received my review sample of the card in question here today. Marketing specifications, while branding this card the fastest in the world, suggest it is capable of 80MB/s read and 50MB/s write. SanDisk also goes on to say this card is compatible with all mobile OS's and features a Class 10 and UHS Class I speed rating.

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Seen above, our sample was delivered in a black box with the SanDisk name embossed in the lower right corner.

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Upon opening the box, we were greeted with a full complement of accessories. To the left we find a macro and fish eye lens and the memory card and adapter to the right.

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Removing the foam from the box, we found instructions for mounting the lenses to your smartphone or tablet along with all the necessary mounting accessories.

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Here, I have mounted the fish eye lens to my Lumia 822.

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Looking over the card, we see it packaged in its usual plastic retainer.

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The card itself carries on the same gold and red scheme of previous Extreme products. At the bottom of the card we have markings for its capacity, at 64GB and UHS I speed rating.

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Looking at the backside of the microSDXC card, we find it using the standard 8-pin layout.
To test Compact Flash cards we utilize the same benchmarks we use for Flash Drives. These include CrystalDiskMark, ATTO and DiskBench. The card reader utilized in these test is the SanDisk ImageMate SDDR 289.

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Our first look over the card shows its storage capacity of 59.4GB formatted in the exFAT file system.

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In our ATTO testing, we found the Extreme 64GB microSDXC capable of 95MB/s read, followed by 61MB/s write. This puts the card well above marketing specifications of 80MB/s read and 50MB/s write.

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CDM showed similar results. We were able to achieve 95MB/s read and 60MB/s write in sequential testing. Random read and write speeds were also quite good at 77MB/s and 33MB/s, respectively.

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In our chart above, we find the SanDisk Extreme 64GB microSDXC sitting well above the competing product from Patriot Memory, in-fact we have a full 20MB/s separating the two cards in AVCHD testing.
This new addition to the SanDisk Extreme line-up is aesthetically pleasing as all its siblings, with the gold and red design. The addition of the lenses for your smartphone or tablet adds another dimension to the overall experience, allowing you to capture unique fish eye photos of your favourite landscapes or even a macro shot of that bee buzzing on the flowers in your garden, all while on the go with your smartphone.
Performance of the 64GB capacity was really good. In our ATTO testing, we managed to achieve well over marketing specifications, and the same can be said for CrystalDiskMark. DiskBench write testing put the new 64GB microSDXC on the shelf next to its SDHC and microSDHC counterparts, cementing the SanDisk brand in our charts.
At the time of writing, I was not able to find any retail availability, but as this card was just launched a matter of hours ago, we should start to see them pop up on stores shelves very soon. If we go by the pricing reflected in the press release, then you will be looking at $59.99 for the 16GB model working your way up to $199.99 for the 64GB capacity, which we tested here today, and all of which are covered by SanDisk's lifetime warranty.

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Raspberry Pi Camera Module Review and Tutorial Guide

Introduction

The Raspberry Pi Camera Board has finally landed after many months of anticipation. The module aims to inspire thousands of custom photo and video based projects from makers around the world.
Personally I have been waiting on my module ever since it was first announced. Fortunately being a member of the Element14 blogging team has its advantages and I was able to secure an early release model before ordering a production unit the day they were released.
In the name of full transparency this hands-on review is based on the production model I purchased and not the one sent out to the blogging team.

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The Raspberry Pi Camera Module.

The camera module utilizes the dedicated CSi interface, which is located behind the Ethernet port on the Raspberry PI.

Features and Specifications

The Raspberry Pi Camera Module is a 5MP CMOS camera with a fixed focus lens that is capable of capturing still images as well as high definition video. Stills are captured at a resolution of 2592 x 1944, while video is supported at 1080p at 30 FPS, 720p at 60 FPS and 640x480 at 60 or 90 FPS.

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The camera module measures in at just 25mm x 20mm x 9mm and weighs a mere 3 grams. This makes it ideal for projects such as hidden security cameras, high altitude balloon experiments, and even an onboard camera for RC car adventures. The camera is supported in the latest version of Raspbian, Raspberry Pi's preferred operating system.

1.4 µm X 1.4 µm pixel with OmniBSI technology for high performance (high sensitivity, low crosstalk, low noise)
Optical size of 1/4"
Automatic image control functions:
Automatic exposure control (AEC)
Automatic white balance (AWB)
Automatic band filter (ABF)
Automatic 50/60 Hz luminace detection
Automatic black level calibration (ABLC)
Programmable controls for frame rate , AEC/AGC 16-zone size/position/weight control, mirror and flip, cropping, windowing, and panning
Digital video port (DVP) parallel output interface
32 bytes of embedded one-time programmable (OTP) memory

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Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [22 July 2013]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!

Scythe Announces The Multi-Platform Card Reader Kama Reader USB 3.0
Japanese cooling expert Scythe expands its wide variety of PC accessories by a brand new card reader. Scythe's new 5-in-1 card reader supports all common media standards and comes with the extremely fast USB 3.0 interface. Thanks to the USB 3.0 port in the front of Scythe Kama Reader USB 3.0, users are able to utilize the full speed of externally connected devices such as USB sticks and Hard Drives.
The biggest advantage of the USB 3.0 interface is the high speed it allows. Compared to the USB 2.0 standard, storage media can surpass the limitations and finally unleash the real potential thanks to USB 3.0. Most USB 2.0 card reader were limiting the read and write speed to approximately 30 Megabyte per second, although the theoretical transfer-rates are often labeled with 60 Megabyte per second. USB 3,0 on the other hand allows theoretical transfer-rates above 600 MB/s, which pushes the limit higher, allowing really fast transfer of files.

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Kama Reader USB 3.0 combines all the features in a very compact chassis, measuring 102 x 25 x 123 mm (4.02 x 0.99 x 4.84 inch) and fitting into a commonly used 3,5 inch bay (8,89 cm). Both the card reader and the external USB 3,0 port are using the USB 3.0 interface, thanks to which only one 19-pin USB 3.0 header-pin connector needs to be plugged into the motherboard.
Scythe Kama Reader USB 3.0 supports a big variety of media formats such as CompactFlash, Microdrive (SD/SDHC/SDXC), Memory Stick (PRO, ROM, Duo, PRO Duo), MicroSD (SDHC, SDXC) and Memory Stick Micro. When using an adapter, which is not included, it is possible to connect even further media formats such as Mini-SD, Mini SDHC, MMC-Micro and RS-MMC! Kama Reader USB 3.0 is supplied with screws required for mounting into a 3,5 inch bay (8,89 cm) and a multi-lingual manual.
As of today, users are able to order the new Scythe Kama Reader USB 3.0 (SCKMRD3). Manufacturer's suggested retail price is set at 18,00 EUR (excl. Taxes).

Deepcool LUCIFER CPU Cooler Made Globally Available
Deepcool, the leading manufacturer of desktop CPU cooler, VGA cooler, DC case fan and Notebook cooler, officially released their first fanless CPU cooler-LUCIFER under the sub-brand GAMER STORM, which is named after the hero from the well-known and popular video game DotA (Defense of the Ancients) for Warcraft III. The most important skill of this cooler is to "Devour" the heat massively.

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Lucifer CPU cooler is designed to cool the mainstream processors in fanless mode to create a totally silent system; meanwhile, Lucifer is also capable of cooling high-end processors with the help of good airflow inside the case. The bundled 14cm patented rubber fan is able to enhance the cooling capacity of Lucifer up to 300W. And Lucifer also supports push-pull configuration.

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There're 6 heatpipes firmly soldered onto the copper base to enhance the heat conductivity from the processor to the heatsink. The heatpipes are specially placed asymmetrically to ensure good compatibility with the memory. The cooler has a massive surface and wide gap between the fins to allow quick heat dissipation in passive mode and fast airflow through in fan mode. The heatsink body is fully nickel plated to prevent from oxidation and increase durability of the product.
One 14cm PWM rubber fan is bundled in to increase the cooling performance. Users can use this fan as a case fan or use it to push/pull the cool air through the heatsink. With multiple clips, this cooler can support all mainstream processors including Intel LGA2011/1366/1155/1156/775 and AMD FM2/FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2.
LUCIFER will be available worldwide from August and the availability may differ in different regions. The suggested retail price of this cooler is $60. For more information, please check here.

Cooler Master Announces AMD FX-9000 Ready CPU Coolers
Cooler Master, a leading PC technology brand has tested its entire range of high-performance CPU cooling solutions and is proud to announce full support for AMDs upcoming FX9590 and FX9370 high-end processors. "All our high-end coolers are designed and built with headroom to support overclocking. We want our customers to get the most out of their system, and many of our coolers can actually handle even significantly higher thermal loads - so there is still some room to tweak the latest FX processors, especially with our liquid cooling units" said Sascha Krohn- Technical Marketing Manager at Cooler Master .

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Cooler Master is a leader in the PC cooling industry selling a wide range of CPU coolers ranging all the way from the incredibly popular Hyper 212 mainstream series, to high-end TPC Tower coolers equipped with vapor chambers and our Eisberg liquid cooling units - the only modular and expandable pre-filled LCS on the market.

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Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [22 July 2013]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!

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