IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 7/25/2013

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 7/25/2013

TweakTown

EA and DICE pass 4 million Battlefield 3 Premium subscribers, Origin now features over 50 million users
EA have come out with a little bit of bragging today, where they are celebrating two things. First, their Battlefield 3 Premium service nwo features over four million subscribers.

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Secondly, Origin boats over 50 million users, which is a huge milestone in such a short amount of time. Rewinding the clock back to January, Battlefield 3 Premium only had 2.9 million subscribers, so they've gained over 1 million subscribers in just 6 months time. Back in October of 2012, Origin had just 30 million users, which is a huge increase of 20 million users in a little under a year.
Considering Origin launched in June 2011, it has only taken two years to amass 50 million users.

Dell unveils their new UltraSharp 32, a 32-inch 4K display that will arrive later this year
I'm still looking forward to unboxing my first 4K, or Ultra HD, display, but until then I can only dream. But, during SIGGRAPH this week, Dell unveiled their new UltraSharp 32.

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Dell's UltraSharp 32 is a 32-inch 4K-capable display that features an IGZO-based 3840x2160 display. Beautiful. Dell has opted for an aluminum stand, which replaces their usual plastic-based stand in previous models. The usual height adjustment is at play, and the UltraSharp 32 is jam-packed full of display inputs.

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We have miniDisplayPort ports, HDMI, a built-in USB hub and an SD card reader. Dell haven't told us how much we can expect it to suck from our bank accounts just yet, but we should all prepare for Q4 of this year, just in time for the holidays.

Oculus VR and IndieCade join forces for a three-week gaming event called VR Jam
I've used Oculus Rift HD and I really just don't want to go back to normal reality, but I guess I have to. Oculus VR, the company behind Oculus Rift, and IndieCade are teaming up for a three-week long gaming event called VR Jam.

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VR Jam will get developers together in order to create content for Oculus Rift. VR Jam starts on August 2, and ends on August 25 with two categories to compete in. The first of which is 'Selected Developers' and the second, 'Open Call.' Selected developers will compete against hand-picked teams of 10, while Open Call pits any independent developer to register and compete.
Oculus VR and IndieCade will don their judging hats, with winners being announced on September 19. Games will be scored by their innovation and virtual reality design. As for prizes, there will be more than $50,000 in total with a $10,000 prize for the winners of either category. Registration, rules and everything else you need to know about VR Jam is available on Oculus VR's website.

The Sims 3 to set their watches forward with a new 'Into the Future' expansion pack
There are countless expansion packs for The Sims, but get ready for yet another one. The Sims 3 will soon enjoy another expansion pack that will introduce the future into the game, called "Into the Future".

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Into the Future will have your sims going into the next century, where hoverboards, jetpacks and food synthesizers are all part of the game. Current-time Sims can also "meet their descendants", which is a very cool feature. This feature will also open the door to huge time paradox scenarios - something I'm looking forward to hearing about.
EA didn't stop there, as they also announced Sims 3 Movie Stuff pack, which adds "Western, Comic Book Blockbuster and Creepy Features" props into your hands. Both expansions are coming soon.

Apple's iTunes generates $3.9 billion of revenue in Q3 alone
We posted earlier about Apple's record iPhone sales for Q3, among their strong earnings, but iTunes' revenue was also strong. Year-over-year revenue is 25% higher, at $3.9 billion for Apple's Q3 2013.

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Last quarter, iTunes pulled in a record $4.1 billion in revenue, so they've seen a slight slump in sales. Maybe this is because streaming services like Spotify are slowly but surely chomping into Apple's digital sales through iTunes? Apple CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, has said that over 1 billion TV episodes have been downloaded since iTunes opened its digital doors to the public.
Each day, iTunes pushes out over 800,000 TV shows and 350,000 movies. Apple are definitely enjoying good times with iTunes, but are those good times coming to an end, slowly? We'll find out over the coming months.

Start your engines... Sony have just greenlit a Gran Turismo movie
With a Need for Speed movie coming out in the near future, it looks like Sony may have felt a little jealous without their own feature film based on a driving franchise. Well, the Japanese company have just greenlit a feature film based on their super popular Gran Turismo series.

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You wouldn't guess who saw potential in the series, with Dana Brunetti and Mike De Luca being the producers on board. They've previously worked on The Social Network and 50 Shades of Grey. They have obviously seen that Gran Turismo has sold over 70 million copies in the last 15 years, so we know it's a huge title.
What could it be about, exactly? It could go in the direction of the Aaron Paul vehicle (pun intended) Need for Speed, or it could turn into what the Fast & Furious franchise is now - fast cars, over-the-top action and hundreds of millions of dollars in box office revenue.

SanDisk releases new USB drive that can wirelessly connect to your smartphone
Today, SanDisk released a new storage device that is able to wirelessly connect to your mobile devices to share files. Dubbed the Connect, the device is able to connect with up to eight devices wirelessly, with up to 4 devices being able to add and remove files from the drive simultaneously. SanDisk says that one need not worry about security as users are able to add password protection to the files.

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The connection is made through a new mobile app developed by SanDisk that is compatible with iOS, Android, and Amazon's Kindle Fire. SanDisk says that the device can stream video to up to three devices at the same time making this somewhat of a portable media server. The new device is able to stream up to four hours on a single charge and boasts a wireless range of 150 feet. A 16GB version will retail for $49.99 while a 32GB model will run you about $60.

Xbox Live service experiencing ongoing outage, down for some Xbox 360, Windows 8 and Windows Phone subscribers
Microsoft appears to be having issues today with its Xbox Live service. The company says that some members are currently unable to sign in to their Xbox Live accounts and they have a team engaged with fixing the issue. When visiting the current status page, users are prompted with a notice that says the outages is affecting Games for Windows Live, Windows 8, Windows Phone, the Xbox 360, and Xbox.com.

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After trying to sign into my Xbox Live Account, I was greeted with an error, and also experienced a similar error when trying to connect to Xbox Live via a Games for Windows Live game. Microsoft says that those who are trying to post or view messages on Xbox.com may experience issues as well. Additionally, some 360 owners are currently unable to watch video content or listen to streaming music from their consoles.

LeakedTT: Sony's next-gen flagship Xperia i1 seen in leaked images from China
Images surfaced today of Sony's upcoming Xperia i1, the company's next-gen flagship Android smartphone that is said to feature a 20-megapixel rear camera. The images surfaced on Chinese website Sina Weibo and were introduced to the Western world by website Gadget Helpline. The images depict a very Xperia-like device that is quite flat with very minute rounded corners. The supposed 20-megapixel camera can be seen in the top left-hand corner on the rear of the camera with what appears to be a fairly large lens as far as smartphones are concerned.

The phone is said to feature a five-inch full HD 1080p display and a 2.2 GHz quad-core QUALCOMM Snapdragon 800 processor alongside 2GB of RAM. The imaging sensor is said to be Sony's 1/2.3-inch ExmorRS which could produce images that sort of rival Nokia's Lumia 1020. Additionally, the phone will have a 3000mAh battery as well as 16GB of internal storage which can be augmented by a standard microSD card. The Xperia i1 is expected to be announced on September 4 at the IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany

AT&T posts $32 billion in revenue and $3.8 billion in net income
Following both Apple and EA games, AT&T posted their Q2 2013 financial report today with stronger numbers over the same quarter a year ago. During the second quarter, AT&T saw $32.1 billion in total revenue, which is looking pretty good when compared to the same quarter in 2012 in which the company posted $26 billion. Net income for the second quarter totaled $3.8 billion, which amounted to about $0.71 per diluted share.

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"This was a solid quarter for revenue and customer additions across our key growth platforms," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. "Our 4G LTE network is the fastest and the most reliable in the nation, and deployment is ahead of schedule. That contributed to a step-up in postpaid subscriber gains, and strong mobile data revenue growth of nearly 20 percent. Growth in U-verse and strategic business services also continued to be strong - adding to our momentum."

The company posted several highlights in the report:

The company added 551,000 postpaid subscribers and 632,000 total subscribers for the quarter. That included nearly 400,000 wireless-enabled tablets.

Total wireless revenue, including device sales, totaled $17.3 billion, up 5.7 percent. Service revenue accounted for $15.4 billion of that, with data service totaling $5.4 billion, up nearly 20 percent from a year earlier.

More than a third of customers are on LTE, with roughly two-thirds on one of the two "4G" networks (either LTE or HSPA+).

The company now has more than 13 million people on one of its Mobile Share pooled data accounts, with more than 15 percent of those customers migrating from an unlimited plan. More than 25 percent of Mobile Share accounts are using greater than 10 gigabytes of data.

More than 70 percent of smartphone customers are on some sort of tiered data, rather than unlimited data, plan.

In its TV business, AT&T added 233,000 subscribers to bring its total base to more than 5 million for the first time.

EA releases new Need For Speed Rivals trailer
Today, EA Sports released an extended version of the trailer it showed off at E3 for its upcoming game Need for Speed Rivals. The new trailer is one minute and 45 seconds long, which is about a minute longer than the original version, and places a lot of emphasis on the cops-versus-racers aspect of the game. Unlike previous Need for Speed games, players can now choose to play as a racer or as a cop when stepping behind the wheel of a new vehicle.

The trailer shows that the game will be sent in an entirely open environment, which will allow players to make the most of their high powered vehicles. Additionally, a series of difficult challenges will be presented for the player to complete, which will add collectible items to their inventory. Throughout the game players must maintain a healthy rivalry with the law in order to earn more street cred.

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Apple posts record iPhone sales amidst strong Q3 earnings
Today, Apple announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2013. The report says that Apple managed to post a revenue of $35.3 billion with a net profit of $6.9 billion, which equates to $7.47 per diluted share. This means that Apple's profit is down by nearly $2 billion over the same quarter in 2012. The company said that international sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter's revenue.

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The Cupertino based company sold 31.2 million iPhones during the third quarter alongside 14.6 million iPads and 3.8 million Macs. Overall, only the iPhone sales were up as during the same quarter last year Apple managed to sell 17 million iPads and 4 million Macs. The company's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the company's common stock which will be payable on August 15, 2013 to all shareholders who own stock before the close of business on August 12, 2013.
"We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014."
"We generated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are pleased to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases," added Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO.

Electronic Arts post Q1 2014 financial report, things looking fairly solid for the game publishing giant
EA released its earnings report for Q1 of the fiscal year 2014 today, and the numbers are looking pretty good for the game publishing powerhouse. The company posted a total net revenue of $949 million, which was down about $6 million from the same quarter in 2012. EA said that their gross profit was up $5 million from the previous year at $755 million. Additionally, the company had total operating expenses of $522 million, which brought their net income to $222 million, up $1 million from Q1 of 2012.

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"EA had a solid quarter driven by continued digital growth and disciplined cost management," said Executive Chairman Larry Probst. "We are also executing on a clear set of goals for leadership on mobile, PC, current and next generation consoles."
"EA delivered first quarter EPS above our guidance through a combination of revenue growth, phasing of expenses, and cost control," said Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen. "We are reaffirming our annual non-GAAP guidance of $4 billion net revenue and $1.20 earnings per share."
EA went on to post an extensive list of their highlights and metrics from Q1:

EA was the #1 publisher in Western retail markets in calendar year 2013, and the #1 global publisher in the iOS game market in the June quarter.

EA received 116 E3 awards from over 220 industry nominations, including 8 out of 15 awards from the official E3 Game Critics. Battlefield 4â„¢ won a total of 21 awards at E3, including GameSpot's Best of E3 award, Need for Speedâ„¢ Rivals was named Best Racing Game, and NHL 14 took the honors for Best Sports Game. Titanfallâ„¢ from Respawn Entertainment won six major awards, including Best of Show, Best Original Game, Best Console Game, Best PC Game, Best Action Game and Best Online Multiplayer.

The Simpsonsâ„¢: Tapped Out recorded its highest revenue quarter* in Q1 since launching in August 2012.

EA's mobile and handheld digital revenue generated $103 million* in the quarter, a 30% year-over-year increase in digital net revenue.

Real Racingâ„¢ 3, the #1 racing title on iOS, has generated more than 45 million downloads, and has averaged over 2 million daily active users since launching in March.

The Battlefield 3â„¢ Premium community continues to grow with over 4 million members to date.

FIFA 13 digital net revenue topped $70 million* in the quarter, a 92% increase versus FIFA 12 in Q1 FY 2013.

FIFA Online 3 digital net revenue in grew 88%* in the first quarter compared FIFA Online 2 in the prior year, and was the #1 online sports game in Korea based on revenue and traffic.

EA signs publishing agreement with TenCent for FIFA Online 3 in China, with details to be announced in an upcoming joint press release from EA and TenCent.

EA's Originâ„¢ platform for downloading digital games has registered over 50 million users, including 22 million mobile users.

Trailing twelve-month non-GAAP digital net revenue was up 28% to a record $1.72 billion.

RumorTT: LG is building G-branded tablet, smartwatch and smartglasses
Today, trademark filings by LG were spotted by website PocketDroid that point to the company's future plans of developing a smartwatch, tablet, exercise band, and even something that might rival Google Glass. The filings were all placed under the company's use of the letter G, which denotes LG's high-end products. G Pad, G Watch, G Glass, G Link, G Band, and G Hub were among many of the names that were trademarked today and they all may very well be linked to current products in development.

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Obviously, the G Pad would refer to an G-branded tablet that would most likely run Android, while the G Band would function similar to Nike's Fuel band. G Watch most certainly refers to the smartwatch LG is said to be currently developing, while the G Glass sound like the most interesting product of all. This means that LG could be working on its own version of Google Glass.
It is important to note that company's file for trademarks every day and more times than not, they are simply filing to protect their brand from squatters or other companies who might brand their product in a similar fashion to confuse consumers into thinking their product is associated with another company's brand. Simply put, LG may have filed for these trademarks just to protect the G brand or preserve them for products we may not see for many years.

Motorola and Verizon unveil new Droid lineup at event today
Today, Verizon and Motorola teamed up in a press event to officially announce Verizon's newly refreshed lineup of Droid smartphones. Over the last month, we've seen many leaks surface about the phones and it appears that most of them were correct. The announcement included the new Droid Ultra and Droid Maxx, which are the follow-up devices to last year's Droid Razr HD and HD Maxx.

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The two new phones bring forth some impressive new features and hardware specs. The Droid Maxx is said to have an insanely impressive battery life of up to 48 hours, yet it still only measures in at 8.5mm thick. The Ultra comes in thinner at 7.2mm. Both phones apparently feature a 10-megapixel rear shooter that sports an f/2.4 lens which allows for superior low-light performance.

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Additionally, both devices feature a five-inch 720p OLED display which in a way makes up for the resolution letdown. Both phones make use of the new touchless control system that has been reported in so many Moto X leaks. This new feature lets users make phone calls, get directions, or activate other functions by voice rather than having to physically pick up and unlock their phone.
Both phones run Motorola's new X8 SoC which is an 8-core chip that features two application processors, four graphics cores, and a single contextual computing core followed up by a single natural language processing core. Verizon says that the Droid Ultra will retail for $199 with a two-year contract, while the Maxx will cost consumers $299 on the same contract.

Google adds Mount Fuji to Street View, now scale the slopes from your desk
Today, Google has announced that it has added Japan's tallest mountain to its list of places you can visit using the company's Street View service. Yes, that's right, arm chair mountain climbers are now able to scale the heights of Fuji while never leaving the comfort of their air-conditioned office.

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The addition of Mount Fuji to Google Street View comes shortly after the mountain was named an official World Heritage Site by UNESCO earlier this year. Officials expect record numbers of climbers to visit the mountain this year and Google agreed to help prepare those climbers by expanding its growing collection of panoramic imagery available in Street View.

Setsuo Murai, head of Geo Partnerships for Google Japan, wrote on the company's official blog:

The Street View collection covers the highly popular Yoshida trail that takes hikers up the mountain, the full walk around the crater at the top, and the quick zigzag descent. We hope these 14,000 panos of new imagery will give climbers a sense of the terrain to expect under their feet - especially all the night-time climbers who shuffle up in the dark to see the sunrise at the crack of dawn.

LeakedTT: Motorola Moto X pricing unveiled by industry insider
Unlike the little boy and the dike, Motorola is unable to plug the leaks that keep popping up around its next-generation Moto X Android-based smartphone. Today, several new leaks popped up that give us insight to some exciting new features that most likely will never be available on Android phones developed by other companies.

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First up, we have a sort of breaking news leak which comes from industry insider "C Technology," who has a fairly high accuracy average when it comes to leaking details about unannounced mobile devices. According to them, the new Moto X will sold at an unprecedented value with an off contract price of $299 for the 16 GB model and $349 for the 32 GB version.

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Additionally, the new Moto X will feature various sensor-driven functionalities that other Android phone manufacturers are not utilizing such as a new swipe function will that will display your camera settings or image gallery. These images come by way of the AndroidPolice and show off the Moto X's new camera app.

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Seagate launches world's first SSHD for enterprise use
Seagate announced today that the Enterprise Turbo SSHD, a drive which has been in use with IBM in their Series X servers for over a year. This SSHD has 32GB of flash onboard that allows the SSHD's, in capacities up to 600GB, to produce twice the IOPS performance from its 10,000 RPM's than a 15,000 RPM HDD. The SSHD provides up to 900 IOPS in random performance and comes with a standard five year warranty.

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The massive speed increases are due to the tiered caching at the I/O level, accelerating 'hot data' via the flash layer inside the SSHD. This boost in performance will provide gains in performance with fewer devices, lowering the overall TCO of the storage solution. The Enterprise Turbo SSHD will provide radical acceleration in mission-critical applications such as big data analytics, virtual desktop infrastructure, and database and transaction processing. Key features of the SSHD include:

Fastest Enterprise Hard Drive- boasts ultra-fast speed with up to 3X the increase in random performance over standard 15K-RPM drives.
Industry's First Enterprise SSHD- delivers transparent SSD-like performance to most heavily accessed data.
Ultimate Capacity- features up to 600GB of capacity- the highest enterprise performance drive available today.
Affordably Priced- yields 3X the current mission critical HDD random performance at an HDD-comparable price.
High-Reliability- provides enterprise endurance and reliability

Tiered infrastructure, with SSDs serving as cache for large banks of HDDs, are becoming increasingly popular in the datacenter. The Enterprise Turbo SSHD bridges the gap between HDD and SSD, allowing for a one-drive solution in an environment where there is usually a requirement for multiple types of drives to perform caching duties.

RumorTT: Samsung will release a smartwatch in September
A new report this morning is suggesting that Samsung is ready to beat Apple to the punch on releasing a smartwatch. Patently Apple is claiming that Samsung will show off its very own smartwatch in September ahead of the annual IFA trade show which is held in Berlin, Germany.

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Dubbed the "Samsung Gear," the smartwatch will be shown off during a press conference in which we will also see the Galaxy Note III unveiled. Although the report cites no sources, we do know that Samsung is developing a smartwatch, and we've even seen leaks of the device's supposed interface. If Samsung does debut the Gear a little over a month from now, it will beat Apple in the smartwatch race by more than a year, which puts it in a very good position for market dominance.

MulticoreWare releases its x265 project into the open source universe
It is safe to bet that any video professional, enthusiast, or even home theater junkie has heard of and most certainly used the H.264 codec which has become the de facto standard for compressing high-definition video. H.264 uses very complicated algorithms that help accelerate the decoding process, which in turn reduces energy consumption and allows for higher bit rates. Yesterday, we participated in a briefing on the new X265 and HEVC encoder project that is being tackled by a company called MulticoreWare.

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The X264 encoder remains one of the leading H.264 encoders on the market and it resides under both the open source GNU GPL license as well as a commercial license which is designed for companies that wish to inject their own proprietary code without having to release it into the open source community. With Ultra HD Video beginning to flow in, H.264 was just not delivering the performance needed for high bit rate, high quality output. This is where H.265 comes in the play along with MulticoreWare.
High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), aka H.265, is being designed to replace H.264 and the official standard was released just over a month ago. And today, MulticoreWare announced its commercial open source project around the x265 encoder. The company has released the source code for x265 and it is available for download at Source #1 below. The x265 encoder is already highly parallel and supports all of the big instruction sets including FMA3/FMA4, AVX, and AVX2.
We have been given a pre-alpha build of the x265 encoder to play around with and use in some of our benchmarking. I had the chance to play around with the encoder some over the weekend and while I have not done any official testing, I'm quite impressed, although my puny 4 core AMD Phenom X4 processor peaked the entire time. I can say that the other editors here at TweakTown are super excited to begin using x265 in our benchmarks.

Google are responsible for 25% of North America's Internet traffic
Just how powerful are Google in the US, well, according to the latest data from analytics firm Deepfield, very powerful. The Mountain View-based giant provide over 25% of all North American Internet traffic.

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Just three years ago, Google accounted for just 6% of North American traffic, and is now driving as much traffic in as Facebook, Instagram and Netflix, combined. This is something that truly astounds me. Deepfield says that 60% of all Internet-connected devices connect with Google at least once a day. These devices include PCs, mobile devices, consoles and other devices.
This number would be even bigger if it counted just PCs and mobile devices.

LG to unveil their G2 smartphone on August 7 in NYC
LG are set to unveil their new flagship smartphone, the LG G2. The G2 will be unveiled at an event being held in New York City on August 7. They've shown off a quick glimpse of the G2, below.

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The LG G2 will arrive with some impressive specifications, including Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 SoC quad-core processor clocked in at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, back-mounted volume controls, a 5.2-inch 1920x1080-pixel display and on-screen buttons. We'll hear a bunch more on the G2 on August 7.

Apple sees Mac sales drop for the third consecutive quarter in a row
We've seen PC sales stumbling, with so many parts of the machine being blamed - Windows 8, manufacturers, smartphones, the GFC, and more. But, it looks like Apple's Mac business has hit a little bit of a snag, too.

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AppleInsider have some numbers from research firm NPD, which forecasts a 5% drop in Mac sales for Q2 2013. The same data has Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster, saying that Mac sales dropped around 5% in the US, and 5% across the world compared to the same quarter of 2012. June was a bad month for Apple, where Mac sales dropped by a staggering 12%.
If NPD's data is correct, this is the third consecutive quarter in a row for stumbling Mac sales. In Q1 2013, Apple saw a 1.7% year-over-year decline in sales, and in Q4 2012, Apple saw a 21% reduction in Mac shipments.

Sony drops by the FCC with the PlayStation 4
It looks like the FCC have enjoyed the presence of a Sony PlayStation 4 developer kit last week, but have received the consumer version of the next-gen console quite recently.

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The federal documents show off the PS4's polished exterior, with a note that there's a "max clock frequency" of 2.75GHz. There's not much else to write about, but there is a very labels stating "Made in China" and "Made in Japan". We are to expect the PlayStation 4 to grace our gaming hands later this year.

Samsung to launch their 55-inch curved OLED TV in the US this week, close your eyes and hand over $15,000
If you've got a spare $15,000 laying around, and let's face it, who hasn't these days* then you should consider buying Samsung's 55-inch curved OLED TV that is set to launch in the US this week.

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The South Korean electronics giant are set to send the 55-inch curved OLED HDTV to "select dealers" in the United States this week. One of which will be New York-based Value Electronics, who says their shipment is already on its way. Prepare your credit cards, folks, because $15,000 for a single TV is quite insane.
*ultimate form of sarcasm.

Thermaltake SMART 750-Watt 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Review

Introduction

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Thermaltake is most certainly known for quality in their high-end power supplies. We've reviewed quite a few of them here at TweakTown and have been quite pleased with them. We've also started taking a look at some of their lower-end offerings to see if they are just as worthy of your hard earned cash. About a month ago, we took a look at the EVO Blue 2.0 and were relatively pleased, even if it was a bit on the expensive side for what it delivered.
Today we have another mainstream unit from Thermaltake. The SMART 750W is most certainly meant for those that are on more of a budget, as it is significantly cheaper. It also lacks a few features from higher-end units such as modular cables, Over Temperature Protection, and a 50C power rating. There are quite a few out there that simply don't demand the absolute best out of their power supplies and just need something that works. That's right where the SMART series from Thermaltake fits in, so let's dig into this unit and see if it is just what the doctor ordered for those trying to save some coin.

Specifications, Availability and Pricing

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Thermaltake's SMART 750W features a single 12V rail capable of delivering 62A of power or 744W. Both the 3.3V and 5V rails are rated for 25A each with a maximum combined output of 130W. The 5VSB rail is rated for 3A or 15W. Maximum combined output for the power supply is 750W.

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As stated above, the Thermaltake SMART 750W lacks a few features that we usually see from Thermaltake, but this is where you'll see several of the cuts needed to lower the price of a unit. The SMART 750W features SCP, OVP, OCP and OPP, but it does lack OTP. This isn't a huge deal so long as you make sure there is adequate airflow in and out of your case. The SMART 750W has all native cables and they are all of the flat ribbon type, including the motherboard connector. The Thermaltake SMART 750 W power supply is rated for 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency, but not for 100% continuous output at 50C. Instead, it is rated at 40C, which should be plenty for most of what this power supply should see throughout its life.
Thermaltake has an MSRP of $89.99 on the SMART 750W power supply. Some quick searching will save you quite a few bucks, dropping the price down to $65.99 shipped from CostCaptain at the time of writing. That easily makes the Thermaltake SMART 750W power supply one of the cheapest 750W units on the market. Thermaltake backs the SMART 750W with a five year warranty.
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SilverStone PP04, PP05, PP06, PP07, CP06 and CP09 Power Supply Accessories Review

Introduction

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There are quite a number of reasons to get into power supply accessories when doing some case modding. The first reason is to tidy things up on the inside. If you can clean up the cable clutter, you can increase airflow and reduce the temperatures inside your case by quite a bit. Aside from that, many do it for the aesthetics. Whether you're doing it to please yourself by taking pride in your work or to show off your awesome rig through the window in your case, the power supply can add or remove quite a bit from what you're trying to accomplish.

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If you do it right, the above picture is something that is achieved through a lot of hard work and planning. The problem is that many don't want to go through that much work or they just might not have the tools and knowledge to make it happen. We previously published a guide on DIY Cable Sleeving, but what if you simply don't have the time or still aren't confident in your abilities to make things turn out the way you want them to?
SilverStone has a few possible answers to this, whether you own a SilverStone power supply or not. They offer both kits and extensions in various colors that will help most accomplish a much cleaner and better looking case interior.

PP04 Kit

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First up on the plate is the PP04 kit. This kit is simply an extension of the 24-pin Main and ATX 4+4 connectors. These won't help with sleeving, but they will help with routing your cables. I can't count the number of times I've tried to route cables behind a motherboard tray only to find that things were just a few inches short of being able to keep things tidy while still making the connection, especially on the ATX 4+4 pin cable.

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The cables aren't sleeved or labeled. They are simply an extension of what you've already got. What you see is what you get. Nothing more, nothing less.

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Both cables will give you an additional seven inches of cable to play with. The MSRP for the PP04 cable kit is $12.99. These are fully compatible with any standard ATX power supply.

PP05 Kit

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Sometimes things are just way too long and you're left with a rat's nest of cables in the middle of your case. It not only looks ugly, but it blocks clean airflow. The PP05 short cable kit will solve that. It is designed for all SilverStone Strider power supplies.

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The back gives us the cables that are available on the inside along with their connectors and lengths.

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The cables inside are sleeved with standard nylon mesh, but you can tell they are much shorter.

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This chart gives you a good idea of exactly what is provided by the kit. There is still enough here to power a pair of video cards, along with plenty of drives. The PP05 cable kit will set you back $24.99.
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NVIDIA Appoints Former PepsiCo. Exec Dawn Hudson to Its Board of Directors
NVIDIA announced today that it has named Dawn Hudson, former CEO of PepsiCo's $6 billion North American beverage business and a veteran product-marketing executive, to its board of directors. Hudson, age 55, is vice chairman of Parthenon Group, an international strategy consulting group. Until 2009, she spent 11 years at PepsiCo in top marketing, strategy and management roles.

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Previously, she spent 13 years in marketing, advertising and branding strategy, holding leadership positions at major advertising agencies, including DMB&B (D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles) and Omnicom. "We are delighted to have Dawn join NVIDIA's board of directors," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer, NVIDIA. "She has been a senior executive at one of America's great companies and has extensive experience as a company director." Hudson has served on the boards of Lowe's Home Improvement Co. for 12 years; Allergan Inc. for five years; and Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. for two years. She has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College. Her appointment expands NVIDIA's board to 10 members.

Former ARM CEO Joins Micron's Board of Directors
On the 17th of July, Micron Technology announced the appointment of Warren East to the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately. East served as CEO of ARM Holdings PLC from October 2001 to July 1, 2013. "We are extremely pleased to welcome Warren to our Board of Directors," said Micron CEO Mark Durcan. "Warren transformed ARM during his tenure as CEO, and we are confident his contributions will strengthen our board."

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East, who also serves as director of De La Rule PLC, joined ARM in 1994 and later became Vice President of Business Operations. Within three years, he was appointed to the Board as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to ARM, East was with Texas Instruments. "I appreciate the opportunity to serve with the Micron team," said East. "With the acquisition of Elpida, Micron is well-positioned to be a growing, dynamic leader in semiconductor memory and a critical contributor to the success of customers in the storage, mobile and computing markets." East is a chartered engineer, Distinguished Fellow of the British Computer Society, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute. He earned bachelor and master degrees in Engineering Science from Oxford University and an MBA and honorary doctorate from Cranfield University.

HP Unveils New Z Workstations, Expands Z Portfolio With Performance Displays
HP today announced the first professional monitors of the new Z Display family as well as new entry-level Z Workstations that offer reliable and flexible workstation performance at PC-like prices. HP is continuing to drive innovation across an evolving workplace with the introduction of the HP Z22i, Z23i and Z24i IPS Displays. Offering outstanding image accuracy and mission-critical reliability, the HP Z Displays are optimized for use with HP Z Workstations. HP Z Displays are ideal for engineers, architects, designers and photographers who require image accuracy at an affordable price.

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Building upon HP's award-winning Z series of workstations, the new HP Z230 Workstation, available in a tower or small form factor (SFF), is built for demanding application workloads. The HP Z230 is a great choice for knowledge workers and specialists, design engineers and creative designers who require rock-solid reliability at an affordable price. Designers using applications like Autodesk AutoCAD and photographers using Adobe Photoshop will benefit from the new functionality of the HP Z230.

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"Our customers want products that are designed and engineered to meet the most demanding computing and visualization needs, and HP's Z moniker has become synonymous with meeting that challenge," said Jeff Wood, vice president, Worldwide Product Management, Commercial Solutions Business Unit, HP. "The new HP Z230 Workstations and Z Displays meet these workload demands at an affordable price, and demonstrate HP's leadership in providing solutions for professional solutions at all levels."
Maximize productivity with HP Z Displays
The HP Z22i, Z23i and Z24i IPS Displays offer outstanding image accuracy, exceptional adjustability and mission-critical reliability optimized for professional use in commercial environments. Built with IPS Gen 2 panels, HP Z Displays deliver a power savings of nearly 26 percent compared to HP's first-generation IPS technology products.
The new displays provide excellent coverage of the sRGB color space -- the standard color space for the web, and for the majority of engineering, creative and professional applications -- with the HP Z22i and Z23i offering 95 percent coverage, and the HP Z24i offering 99 percent coverage. The displays also feature accurate colors across wider viewing angles compared to previous displays, improving team collaboration.
HP Z Displays are ENERGY STAR qualified and EPEAT Gold registered. All three displays feature an HP four-way adjustable stand and are TCO Certified. The HP Z22i and Z23i also have achieved the TCO Certified Edge designation, which recognizes innovative products at the forefront of environmental and ergonomic stand design for optimal user comfort.
Reliable workstation performance and scalability at an affordable price
Designed for heavy 24/7/365 workloads, the HP Z230 Workstation series delivers next-generation processor and graphics technologies in two redesigned chassis -- a compact, yet expandable, tower offering, and a capable small form factor. Both offerings were designed with expandability and scalability in mind. The HP Z230 Workstation has earned a wide range of ISV certifications to deliver improved performance.
The HP Z230 Small Form Factor Workstation is ideal for environments with limited space, and provides flexibility for businesses and enterprises to upgrade components as needed. High-performance and productivity options for both the Z230 Tower and SFF include the latest Intel Xeon processors(2) and discrete graphics options that support as many as six independent displays, enabling immersive and productive work environments.
Pricing and availability
The HP Z22i, Z23i and Z24i Displays are available today for starting prices of $239, $259 and $399, respectively.
The HP Z230 Workstations start at $999 for quad-core configurations, and are expected to be available worldwide in August.

Apple Reports Third Quarter Results
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter's revenue.

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The Company sold 31.2 million iPhones, a record for the June quarter, compared to 26 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 17 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.8 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the year-ago quarter.
Apple's Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the Company's common stock. The dividend is payable on August 15, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2013.
"We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We are really excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014."
"We generated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are pleased to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO.
Apple is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter:

revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion
gross margin between 36 percent and 37 percent
operating expenses between $3.9 billion and $3.95 billion
other income/(expense) of $200 million
tax rate of 26.5%

AOC Unveils New 16-inch Portable USB Monitor with USB 3.0 and DisplayLink
AOC, the worldwide leader in display technology, and DisplayLink, the leading provider of USB Graphics technology, announce the new AOC E1659FWU, a sleek and portable 16-inch monitor that receives both power and signal through a single USB 3.0 cable. The monitor easily connects to laptop and desktop computers to provide a quick, simple solution for dual monitor setups, which can increase productivity by up to 50 percent.
Using DisplayLink technology, the AOC 16-inch USB 3.0 Monitor provides portable convenience allowing users to benefit from a second display in the office or home, at meetings and in hotel rooms. The monitor can be easily used almost anywhere - from coffee shops to trains - with the added benefit of not needing to carry heavy AC adapters and power plugs.

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Compatible with both Mac and PC, the USB 3.0 Monitor has a 15.6" viewing window that supports 1366 x 768 resolution at 60 Hz. The slim piano black, highly portable monitor is almost 13 mm thinner than the previous model and easily converts from landscape to portrait view using its secure, foldable metallic stand. Powered by DisplayLink's USB 3.0 silicon and software, the E1659FWU allows for seamless usability via a single USB cable with increased bandwidth and power. The E1659FWU comes with its own monitor carry case for complete flexibility when traveling and easily fits in most notebook bags. Set to ship in August, the E1659FWU monitor is now available for pre-sale at Amazon.com for $139 MSRP.
"When developing the new model of our popular 16-inch Portable USB Monitor, we listened to our customers to include updates like a slimmer profile, a protective carrying case and USB 3.0 technology for faster transfer speeds and improved image quality," said Chris Brown, AOC Global Marketing Manager. "We're happy to continue our relationship with DisplayLink, ensuring interoperability for IT managers with the considerable installed base of DisplayLink enabled devices, while also providing a low power solution perfectly matching our customers' needs."
In addition to being ideal for dual monitor setups on-the-go, the E1659FWU allows users to present easily in public meeting spots such as coffee shops by extending a smaller laptop's screen onto the 15.6" display, eliminating the need to gather around one screen. The monitor can also be used for digital photo frame applications.
"We're excited to expand the product portfolio with AOC and to power their latest USB 3.0 portable monitor," said John Cummins, Vice President Sales and Marketing for DisplayLink. "The growing diversity of platforms from PC, Ultrabooks, tablets and products like Surface Pro can all benefit from a second display, and the new E1659FWU makes this easy via a single USB cable only."
Every AOC monitor is manufactured to meet the most stringent green standards. Along with being mercury free, AOC's industry-leading LED display technology allows for a powerful and crystal clear display while minimizing energy consumption.
Specifications

15.6" viewable image size, diagonal

Brightness: 200 cd/mÂ² (typical)

Contrast ratio: 500:1 (static)

Response Time: 5 ms

Max. Resolution: 1366 x 768 @ 60 Hz

Input Signal: USB 3.0

Colors: 16.7M

Power Consumption: 7 Watts (Max.)

VESA 75 mm wall mount compliant

Plug & Play: PC/MAC compatible (Software included)

Special Features: USB 3.0 Powered, Energy Star and EPEAT certified, carrying case included

Seagate Unveils World's Fastest Enterprise Hard Drive
CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ:STX), a world leader in storage solutions, today announced it is shipping the world's fastest hard drive- the Seagate Enterprise Turboâ„¢ SSHD. The industry's first enterprise solid state hybrid drive (SSHD), the Enterprise Turbo SSHD combines the capacity of a hard drive with solid-state flash enabling high-speed performance for mission critical data.

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Setting a new standard in mission critical performance, the Enterprise Turbo SSHD provides up to a 3X increase in random performance over existing 15K-RPM drives and is available with up to 600GB of capacity. By unifying the best of solid-state and magnetic technologies, Turbo improves tiered storage performance combining accelerated speed with hard disk drive (HDD) high-capacity.
"Typically the most demanding mission critical applications for 15K drives have improved performance by compromising on capacity and cost per GB," said Rocky Pimentel, Seagate executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer. "With the Enterprise Turbo SSHD, we deliver a no compromise drive that provides high-speed performance while enabling customers to leverage all of Turbo's capacity. The result, a combination of performance and capacity that we believe represents a new paradigm shift for mission critical, enterprise storage- a real game changer in storage solutions now and for generations to come."
IBM is using Seagate SSHD Technology
Over the past year, Seagate and IBM have been putting an enterprise SSHD prototype through its paces. After months of testing in Seagate and IBM labs, the first enterprise SSHD has been introduced as an option for the IBM System x servers. For more information, click here.
Storage Performance Council benchmarks confirm Seagate SSHD technology as performance leader:
Based on preliminary performance testing using standard system benchmarking tools, a 10K-RPM version of enterprise SSHD boasts IOPS over 2X better than a standard 600GB 10K-RPM hard disk drive. The end result is much improved and more cost effective performance for servers running mission critical applications such as big data analytics, virtual desktop infrastructure, and database and transaction processing. For more on the preliminary Seagate enterprise SSHD performance benchmarking click here for Storage Performance Council benchmarks.
The Enterprise Turbo SSHD enables lower cost server and storage configurations, making it appealing for OEMs and system builders who demand the highest, scalable performance at an affordable cost. It also delivers up to 3X the current mission critical HDD random performance at an HDD-comparable price. An extremely efficient and economical storage solution, the drive provides significantly improved $/IOPS.
The drive fine tunes storage tiering by caching at the I/O level, thereby addressing performance gaps and bottlenecks often found in tiered system environments. It also offers a self-encrypting drive option to maximize security for data-at-rest.
Key features of the Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD include:

World's Fastest Enterprise Hard Drive- boasts ultra-fast speed with up to 3X the increase in random performance over standard 15K-RPM drives.

Industry's First Enterprise SSHD- delivers transparent SSD-like performance to most heavily accessed data.

Ultimate Capacity- features up to 600GB of capacity- the highest enterprise performance drive available today.

Affordably Priced- yields 3X the current mission critical HDD random performance at an HDD-comparable price.

High-Reliability- provides enterprise endurance and reliability.

Additional information on the Seagate Enterprise Turbo SSHD can be found by visiting http://www.seagate.com/www/turbo.

Genius Releases GX Gaming Maurus X Mouse in North America
Genius today launches the GX Gaming Series Maurus X, a stylish FPS/RTS gaming mouse, in North America. With its large, ergonomic design, customizable lighting, six buttons, and quick-change DPI function, the Maurus X will help gamers stay a step ahead of the competition in today's highly competitive gaming world. Larger and heavier than the original Maurus, the Maurus X is designed for maximum comfort, so gamers can play for hours without experiencing any wrist or hand soreness. And thanks to its 50g (1.8oz) metal weight, precision movements can be executed with ease.

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Performance Plus Style
The Maurus X not only performs like a high-end gaming mouse, it looks the part too. The rear logo and mouse wheel light up in a bold red, and the intensity and pulse rate can be modified. Meanwhile, the top of the mouse features a polished black and red surface, while the sides have textured, rubbery grips for total control.
Assign Up to 8 Macros
All six buttons, plus the scroll up/scroll down mouse wheel inputs, are fully customizable, so gamers are able to assign up to eight macros. The intuitive Maurus X GUI makes creating macros a breeze, and also lets users quickly switch between five profiles.

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Adjust DPI on the Fly
Changing the DPI on a mouse has never been easier. With a press of a button, gamers can adjust the DPI from 800 up to 4000. Plus, with its overclocking SG-Core-i sensor and up to 1000hz adjustable polling rate, the Maurus X provides highly accurate targeting even at low DPI settings.
Price and Availability
The Maurus X is currently available in North America for the suggested retail price of $49.90.
Technical Specifications:

Image processing: 6400 fps
Acceleration: 20 G
Motion detection: 60 IPS
Lift height: 1-5 mm
Dimensions: 12 x 8 x 4 cm (4.7 x 3.2 x 1.6 in.) (L*W*H)
Weight: 178 g (6.3oz)

Be Quiet! Releases Premium Sleeved Power Cable
Be Quiet!, the market leader of power supplies in Germany for seven consecutive years*, introduces its brand new premium sleeved power cables, with custom lengths and various connector options. By covering every single wire of the cable with a sleeve, be quiet! again offers a unique premium look inside the PC.

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Regular power supply cables are generally medium in length to fit most PC enclosures. However, to set up a very small Home Theater PC or a very large desktop PC most power supplies will be fitted with an unsuitable cable length. But even in the normal cable length some users often do not have the desired connectors on the cable. To solve this problem, be quiet! produces premium power cables with many different connector and length variations. Whether you want a compact 30 cm power cable with only one connector or need a meter-long cable with connectors for three SATA drives and a HDD connector, be quiet! now offers all these possibilities.

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Instead of just bundling all five wires together and putting them into a sleeve, be quiet! has decided to separate each and individually sleeve every wire. The result is a fantastic looking cable with a lot of flexibility compared to a stiff regular cable. Not only are be quiet! cables bundled with high quality mesh material, but also sleeved with black wires beneath the mesh, so the optical impression of the cable is perfect in all situations.
be quiet! Power Cables come in five alternative versions with numbers of SATA connectors available ranging from one to four. There is also a variant with a regular HDD connector at one end, which comes with an additional HHD-to-floppy adaptor. Every cable version is available in two lengths, with distances to the first connector varying between 300 and 600 millimeters. All cables are compatible with the latest be quiet! PSU series from Dark Power Pro P8, Straight Power E9, Pure Power L8 and the upcoming Power Zone.
be quiet! offers a full three years of warranty and Power Cables are presently available for recommended selling prices of between six and ten euros.

NVIDIA Unveils New Flagship GPU for Visual Computing
NVIDIA today unveiled the visual computing industry's new flagship technology - the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 GPU, the fastest and most capable GPU ever built. NVIDIA today also launched a new line of professional graphics GPUs for mobile workstations, delivering the highest levels of performance and graphics memory ever available on mobile platforms.
The Quadro K6000 GPU delivers five-times higher compute performance and nearly double the graphics capability of its predecessor, the NVIDIA Quadro 6000 GPU, and features the world's largest and fastest graphics memory.

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Combining breakthrough performance and advanced capabilities in a power-efficient design, the Quadro K6000 GPU enables leading organizations such as Pixar, Nissan, Apache Corporation and the Weather Channel's WSI division to tackle visualization and analysis workloads of unprecedented size and scope.

Animation and Visual Effects - Pixar

"The Kepler features are key to our next generation of real-time lighting and geometry handling. We were thrilled to get an early look at the K6000. The added memory and other features allow our artists to see much more of the final scene in a real-time, interactive form, and allow many more artistic iterations."
Guido Quaroni, Pixar vice president of Software R&D

Product Styling - Nissan

"With Quadro K6000's 12 GB of memory, I am now able to load nearly complete vehicle models into RTT Deltagen and have stunning photorealism almost instantly. Instead of spending significant time simplifying the models to fit into previous hardware, we can now spend more time reviewing and iterating designs up front which helps avoid costly changes to tooling."
Dennis Malone, associate engineer, Nissan North America

Energy Exploration - Apache

"Compared to the Quadro K5000, the Quadro K6000 tripled the performance when running jobs on Terraspark's InsightEarth application. With jobs running in mere minutes, we can run more simulations and get better insight into where to drill. In this business, drilling in the wrong place is a multi-million dollar mistake, and the Quadro K6000 gives us the edge to make better decisions."
Klaas Koster, manager, seismic interpretation, Apache Corporation
Unprecedented Performance
The Quadro K6000 GPU is based on the NVIDIA Kepler architecture - the world's fastest, most efficient GPU architecture. Key performance features and capabilities include:

12 GB ultra-fast GDDR5 graphics memory lets designers and animators model and render characters and scenes at unprecedented scale, complexity and richness
2,880 streaming multiprocessor (SMX) cores deliver faster visualization and compute horsepower than previous-generation products
Supports four simultaneous displays and up to 4k resolution with DisplayPort 1.2
Ultra-low latency video I/O and support for large-scale visualizations

"The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 GPU is the highest performance, most capable GPU ever created for the professional graphics market," said Ed Ellett, senior vice president, Professional Solutions Group at NVIDIA. "It will significantly change the game for animators, digital designers and engineers, enabling them to make the impossible possible."
New Mobile Workstation GPUs
NVIDIA today also revealed a new flagship professional graphics GPU for workstation notebooks, the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M GPU. Delivering the highest levels of performance and graphics memory available on notebook platforms, the Quadro K5100M anchors a new line of workstation notebook graphics that includes the Quadro K4100M, K3100M, K2100M, K1100M, K610M, and K510M GPUs.
Quadro GPUs are designed, built and tested by NVIDIA to provide the superb reliability, compatibility and dependability that professionals require. They are certified and recommended by more than 150 leading software application providers worldwide.
Availability
The NVIDIA Quadro K6000 will be available beginning this fall from Dell, HP, Lenovo and other major workstation providers; from systems integrators, including BOXX Technologies and Supermicro; and from authorized distribution partners, including PNY Technologies in North America and Europe, ELSA and Ryoyo in Japan, and Leadtek in Asia Pacific.
The new Quadro mobile workstation graphics product line will also be available beginning this fall from major mobile workstation OEMs.

Black & White Coolers from Enermax Available Now
As black and white have become the new trend colours in PC market, many end users are looking for suitable components to complete their colour-coordinated system configurations. In response to the increasing demand, Enermax now launches two special editions of the very popular ETS-T40 CPU cooler series. The black or white finish of the heat sinks is based on an innovative, thermo-conductive coating which does not affect the cooling performance. Along with the in-house developments for an optimized air stream conduction (Stack Effect Flow, Vortex Generator Flow and Vacuum Effect Flow), the thermal resistance of the new coolers could be reduced to sensationally low 0.085C/W. That way, the ETS-T40 "Black Twister" (ETS-T40-BK) and ETS-T40 "White Cluster" (ETS-T40-W) with their relatively compact heat sink are able to keep pace with many high-end coolers.

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Silent and Powerful Fans
Due to their smooth and silent operation, the durable Twister bearing fans from Enermax (100,000 hours MTBF) belong to the most-wanted models at the market. The manufacturer sells a large number of fans with different types of speed control, in various sizes and colours. The new ETS-T40-BK and ETS-T40-W are equipped with one 12cm Twister fan which offers a wide RPM range (800 - 1,800/2,200* RPM) and can be easily adjusted according to the requirements of the particular CPU platform. The speed is controlled automatically via pulse-width modulation (PWM). The Cluster Advance fan of the ETS-T40-W further comes with the new APS function ("Adjustable Peak Speed"), which enables the change of the RPM range in three steps (Silent Mode: 800-1,500 RPM / Performance Mode: 800-1,800 RPM / Overclock Mode: 800-2,200 RPM). White (ETS-T40-W) or blue LEDs (ETS-T40-BK) complete the stylish design of the coolers and create a pulsing, eye-catching light inside the case.

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Full Support for the Upcoming Intel Haswell CPUs
The "Black Twister" and "White Cluster" support the latest AMD and Intel sockets including the LGA2011 and LGA1150 platforms for the most current Sandy/Ivy Bridge and Haswell CPU generations. Due to a well-thought mounting system, the installation of the coolers is easy and comfortable. Enermax delivers the new models with additional brackets for a second fan as well as with a small tube of performance-capable thermal grease from Dow Corning.
Availability and Prices
The new ETS-T40 models Black Twister and White Cluster will be now available for sale at a MSRP of 49.90 Euro incl. VAT.

Razer Rolls Out Orange Esports Edition Goliathus Mouse-mat
Razer, one of the world's pioneering supporters of eSports, and Orange Esports, Malaysia's premier eSports team, are proud to announce the launch of the Razer Goliathus Orange Esports edition mouse mat. Orange Esports is a Kuala Lumpur-based team founded in 2011 that boasts the best real-time strategy and first-person shooter players in Malaysia. Hugely popular in the South-East Asia eSports scene, Orange Esports has been a solid contender in Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), resulting in a long list of competitive achievements that underscore the team's dedication and outstanding skill level.

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"The level of energy and passion from Orange Esports is remarkable," said Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. "Launching the Razer Goliathus Orange Esports edition mouse mat is just the beginning of a great partnership. Razer intends to continue working closely with Orange Esports to raise their game and profile in the global arena." After two years of partnering with Orange Esports, the concept of the Razer Goliathus Orange Esports edition mouse mat was developed in response to numerous requests from both Razer and Orange Esports fans. The Razer Goliathus mouse mat, best known for its excellent durability and surface that enables accurate mouse tracking, is the essential must-have for Orange Esports players during tournaments.

razer_rolls_out_orange_esports_edition_goliathus_mouse_mat

"The Razer Goliathus mouse mat is easily one of the most iconic peripherals from Razer," said Frank Ng, Orange Esports CEO and founder. "We are the first eSports team in South-East Asia to have a team edition product and this is something we are extremely proud of."
Orange Esports has achieved fantastic results in various prestigious tournaments, most notably in WCG Malaysia 2012, WCG Asian Championship and G-1 Champions League, and they will be taking part in The International DOTA 2 Championships for the second consecutive year.
As a show of support for Orange Esports, each retail purchase of a Razer Goliathus Orange Esports edition mouse mat comes with a redemption card to unlock an exclusive in-game Orange Esports Dota 2 pennant. The Razer Goliathus Orange Esports edition mouse mat is now available for pre-order on Team Orange online store (http://orange2u.net) and will be available at all Orange Cyber cafÃ©s beginning 12 August 2013.

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