IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 9/13/2013

Thursday, September 12, 2013

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 9/13/2013

TweakTown

Remedy Entertainment scoops up ex-president of Epic Games, Mike Capps
Mike Capps left his position as president of Epic Games last year, and has now joined Remedy Entertainment's board of directors. You might remember Remedy, as the developer behind Quantum Break and the smash hits Max Payne and Alan Wake franchises.

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Remedy CEO, Matias Myllyrinne has said: "Like any team, I think a good board is a combination of different kinds of skill sets, and different kinds of strengths that really come together. That's the way, in my experience, the best teams work. Obviously Mike has a tremendous track record in the games industry. He's been very successful and has proven himself over and over again."

Apple to unleash the iPhone to China Mobile's 700 million subscribers
China Mobile is the world's largest mobile provider, with an astounding 700 million subscribers. Apple has been talking with the Chinese provider, where it has finally reached an agreement with China Mobile.

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The Wall Street Journal has reported that China's Telecom Equipment Certification Center has approved the iPhone to run on China Mobile's network. China Mobile's TD-LTE bands (38, 39 and 40) are being pushed onto its fourth-generation network, and will work on certain models of Apple's new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C smartphones.

4K TVs to halve in price within twelve months claims UK retailer
One thing that needs to happen to Ultra HD TVs is the price needs to come down to an affordable level so that they go more mainstream, and according to one UK retailer, this should happen within the next twelve months.

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Jonathan Marsh Head Buyer at John Lewis spoke exclusively with TrustedReviews, where he said: "We are going to see big steps in 4K next year. At the moment there is a premium associated with 4K and we have seen that since launching the first 4K TVs a couple of months ago. However, as we've seen these technologies mature, they have come down in price and become much more affordable very quickly."
We have already seen numerous TV manufacturers unveil, and release a few 4K-capable TVs, but pricing is still quite high. Once we see some new screen sizes, with the average being 55-inch or so, come down, this will drag the price down with it. Marsh continues: "With more OLED next year, we will new sizes come to the market which will also bring the price point down to a more manageable level. At the moment all the 4K TVs are pretty big and around 55-inches. The natural step is that we will see 46-inch models developed for next year."

HP unveils its new colorful Chromebook 14, will retail for $299
IFA 2013 - Earlier today HP releases the Chromebook 14, an Intel Haswell based Chromebook that will be available in three distinctively vibrant colors. The new Chromebook 14 will feature a 14-inch screen, 16GB of built in storage and will include 2 years of free 100GB Google Drive cloud storage.

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Connectivity includes an HDMI port, one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port. 802.11bgn Wi-Fi is included and HP will toss 200MB of free T-Mobile Data per month for 2 years. HP says that we will see the new Chromebook 14 hit store shelves this holiday season and it will retail for just $299.99. For a basic internet surfing, email checking, photo browsing device, it is hard to beat the $300 price tag, but at the same time, there are Android tablets with much more internal storage for the same pricing point.

KFA2 unveils its new GeForce GTX 780 HOF edition GPU
Today KFA2, Galaxy's premium brand of graphics cards, released its all new GeForce GTX 780 HOF Edition GPU. The company says that each of the new GTX 780 HOF GPUs are hand-picked and then given an incredible factory overclock of 1058MHz. This makes the card as much as 20-percent faster than a standard GTX 780.

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The company has added a new Hybrid Vapor Chamber Heat Pipe Cooler that is said to transfer heat 30x more efficient than copper. Twin 90mm fans are specially designed with grooved blades to reduce noise while increasing cooling efficiency. In a press release, KFA2 said that the GTX 780 HOF edition has been completely redesigned and populated with the highest quality components possible.

Most notable of these are the CHiL CHL8318 top-of-the-line VR11.1 compliant digital PWM and IR3550 PowIRstage DrMOS 4.0 compliant chipset, which together create a powerful 8 + 2 phase circuit with 90-percent efficiency capable of delivering an awe inspiring 480 amps of current to the GPU. Other additions include high quality POSCAP capacitors with 2X longer lifespan and high current Coiltronics inductors. The PCB itself is a custom white substrate with 10 layers for optimum signal routing.

KFA2 has also added a new Hyper Boost button that acts as a hardware supercharger and increases core clock speeds by up to 8-percent. The company says that multiple world record benchmark scores have been broken already by just using this button. In my opinion, this is one of the best looking GPUs on the market aside from a GTX TITAN. The all white PCB combined with the mech-styled cooler creates a look that just screams power!

LeakedTT: Images of Amazon's new 7-inch Kindle Fire HD surface
Amazon's upcoming 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is not much of a secret, but today new images of surfaced on the web clue us in on exactly what it will look like. BGR.com has obtained leaked images of the device that show it to be skinned in plastic with a rather large volume rocker button on the upper right-hand chamfered edge. The power button is located in the same position on the opposite side.

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Additionally the device features a very prominent Amazon logo on the back, and what appeared to be a pair of speakers on the top chamfered edge. The device is said to feature a 1920x1200-pixel HD display, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, and 2GB of RAM. Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth handle connectivity, while cellular radios are available on upgraded models. The device will come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions but no word on pricing has been released.

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OCZ Technology will expand its R&D facility in Orange County, CA
In a release earlier today, OCZ Technology announced that it would be expanding its Research and Development center in Orange County, California in an effort to expand its focus on enterprise development of the company's next-generation SSDs. Instead of building a new facility, the company will be moving its R&D division to a larger facility in Irvine, California.

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"Orange County, California has a rich base of engineering talent covering semiconductors and storage that makes it a viable location for us to expand our design center," said James Tout, SVP of Global Engineering for OCZ Technology. "With a leading and widely recognized portfolio of SATA, SAS and PCIe-based solid state solutions, we believe that the opening of our new OC-based design center will attract the professional resources and talent we need to create leading-edge, next-generation enterprise products for the storage industry."

Rockstar says GTA Online will feature over 500 mission at launch
It's no doubt that GTA V is the most highly anticipated game of the year, maybe even the decade. With over $250 million in production, Rockstar has put a lot of effort into the games online mode. During an interview with website Game Informer, Rockstar Games CEO Leslie Benzies said that Grand Theft Auto Online would feature over 500 missions on launch day.

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Benzies went on to say that Rockstar plans to utilize GTA Online to create an entire Grand Theft Auto universe that will incorporate everything Rockstar has done, and will do in the future with the series, and then let players freely move between the different worlds. This means that as time progresses we could see other GTA maps pop-up such as Liberty City, Vice City, and even London could make an appearance.
"We've always wanted to create a world with the complexity of a single-player Grand Theft Auto game with the addition of real players. We wanted a world where people could spend years without getting bored of playing the same content over and over," said Benzies. "I think we've managed to achieve something very close to our dream."

Rockstar says GTA V Online will feature over 500 mission at launch
It's no doubt that GTA V is the most highly anticipated game of the year, maybe even the decade. With over $250 million in production, Rockstar has put a lot of effort into the games online mode. During an interview with website Game Informer, Rockstar Games CEO Leslie Benzies said that Grand Theft Auto V Online would feature over 500 missions on launch day.

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Benzies went on to say that Rockstar plans to utilize GTA V Online to create an entire Grand Theft Auto universe that will incorporate everything Rockstar has done, and will do in the future with the series, and then let players freely move between the different worlds. This means that as time progresses we could see other GTA maps pop-up such as Liberty City, Vice City, and even London could make an appearance.
"We've always wanted to create a world with the complexity of a single-player Grand Theft Auto game with the addition of real players. We wanted a world where people could spend years without getting bored of playing the same content over and over," said Benzies. "I think we've managed to achieve something very close to our dream."

Kim Dotcom challenges 100 CoD players to a match for charity
Today Kim Dotcom announced that he would take on 100 Call of Duty gamers at the Digital Nationz Expo in 1v1 matches. Dotcom says that for every single player he beats he will donate $100 to charity. While this may seem a little backwards, Dotcom is one of the best call of duty players in the world and by pledging $100 for every player he beats the charity stands to receive more money.

The 100 open slots are filling up fast with some big names from the gaming industry. Naughty Dog's Benson Russel, Epic Game's Joy Hosfelt , and even Crytek's producer Michael Reid has signed up in an attempt to beat the infamous Kim Dotcom. Digital Nationz will be taking place between September 28th and 29th at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Motorola surpasses 100,000 Moto X per week milestone at US factory
In and recent interview with Reuters, Motorola CEO, Dennis Woodside, confirmed that the company is now shipping 100,000 units of its new Moto X Android-based smartphone every week. This is quite a challenge as the company took a unique approach with the Moto X by allowing customers to configure customized color combinations, pre-installed wallpapers, and even a custom welcome message that is seen when you first wake up the phone.

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"When you set up to ramp a factory you need a plan, and we have shipment targets we need to make with our carrier partners, and where we need to be right now is 100,000 units and that's where we are," Woodside said. What makes this number even more special is that Motorola produces the Moto X right here in America in a factory near Dallas Texas.
Companies like Samsung, HTC, and Apple may balk at shipments of less than 500,000 units a month, but with Motorola posting a $300 million loss last quarter, and the decision to manufacture the phones here in America, I feel that Motorola is off to a heck of a comeback. Hopefully we will see some truly innovative phones coming out Motorola now the Google appears to be fully steering the ship on its course.

Apple TV to get software update on September 18th alongside iOS7
On September 18th, Apple will be releasing a major software update for its Apple TV set-top box alongside its rollout of iOS 7. While not much is known about the update we do know that it will allow content purchased from the iTunes Store to be played on an Apple TV that does not own the content. At the moment users have to load the content onto a mobile device for playback on an Apple TV via airplay loosely similar to how Google's Chromecast works.

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While many Apple TV aficionados were let down yesterday when the Cupertino-based company did not release a new set-top box, this update, when combined with the addition of new apps for VeVo, The Weather Channel, The Disney Channel, and The Smithsonian Channel, Apple TV fans should be happy at least for a few more months. Personally I love my Android-based Pivos XIOS DS media center which does everything Apple TV does, but some much more as well. Toss the $45 Chromecast into the mix, and I see no need for an Apple TV.

GoPro releases Studio 2.0, makes editing video easier than ever
GoPro recently released its second generation of video editing software for its Hero line of wearable action cameras. GoPro says that there Studio 2.0 software is designed to make it easier than ever to create professional-quality videos from the content captured on your Hero 1, Hero 2 or Hero 3 camera.

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The new software features templates that include music, edit points, slow-motion effects an additional features that allow users to create high quality edits of their action footage. Additional features include the ability to trim, edit and mix video clips, add titles, music, audio track, and can even adjust the level of fisheye you wish present in your video.

Additionally users can adjust playback in fast or slow motion, and the software allows users to export still frames from the video in full resolution. The software allows users to create videos from time-lapse photo sequences as well as edit immersive 3-D videos ever created on the company's 3D Hero system. The software supports GoPro, Canon and Nikon constant frame rate H.264 mp4 and .mov formats.

Acer unveils first Chromebook sporting an Intel Haswell processor
IDF 2013 - Today Acer announced that it will be previewing its first Chromebook that features an Intel processor based on the Haswell microarchitecture platform at the 2013 Intel Developer Forum. Acer says that this third-generation Chromebook is the result from close collaboration between Acer, Intel and Google, and combines the best technology with exciting new innovation to usher in a new era for the Chromebook market.

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"The value proposition of the Acer Chromebook line resonates with consumers, education and a growing number of businesses, as more work is done by teams that collaborate, create and connect using a wide and varied range of apps for learning, research, fun and work," said Arif Maskatia, chief technology officer, Acer America. "The new Acer Chromebook will inspire greater innovation for developers and in turn, for our customers in numerous markets."
"The latest Chromebooks with Intel processors based on the Haswell micro-architecture enable sleek new designs with amazing battery life and improved performance," said Navin Shenoy, Vice President, PC Client Group, General Manager, Mobile Client Platform Division, Intel.
With Chromebook's getting more powerful while remaining energy efficient with every new generation, they are becoming very attractive to users who need a light, portable solution for an on-the-go lifestyle. Personally I am considering picking up one myself to use at conferences, and as a photography companion on photo shoots.

Steam to begin allowing friends and family to share games
Steam has just announced a new service that will allow close friends and family members to share their libraries of games with each other. The service will not however be available to everyone in the beginning. Next week the company will launch Steam Family Sharing and limited beta form while they iron out the bugs.

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Steam Family Sharing is designed to allow close friends and family members the ability to play each others games while the earning their own Steam achievements and storing their own saves in the Steam Cloud. This new feature is enabled by authorizing a shared computer to your steam library, and Steam says that up to 10 devices may be shared per account at any given time.
Unfortunately not all steam games will be able to be shared such as some third-party games that require a separate key to play. Additionally subscription-based games will not be able to be shared either. Shared games can only be played by one user at a time, meaning you and your friend cannot use the same shared game to go head-to-head against each other.
"Our customers have expressed a desire to share their digital games among friends and family members, just as current retail games, books, DVDs, and other physical media can be shared," explained Anna Sweet of Valve. "Family Sharing was created in direct response to these user requests."
Steam says that if the owner of a shared game wishes to play the game while his friend is playing the same game on a shared account, the user who is playing the shared game will be notified in game and will be given the option to purchase the game or quit playing. Once the original user has completed his gaming session, the shared user may then resume playing.
Finally steam says that borrowers will have access to the lenders DLC, but will not be able to purchase DLC for a base game they do not own. However, any player may purchase, trade, earn or otherwise acquire in-game content while playing a game, but the in-game content cannot be shared between account.

BlackBerry's downward spiral continues, lays of dozens of sales staff
On Monday BlackBerry was forced to lay off several dozen members of its US sales team as the company continues its downward spiral amidst massive financial woes. The news came in from the Wall Street Journal which cited information from sources close to the company.

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BlackBerry has been on a continued downward slope for several years now, and things took a drastic turn for the worse when the company's new mobile OS, BlackBerry 10, failed to meet industry expectations. The company's flagship smartphones the Z10 and Q10 also failed to compete with their Android, iOS and Windows Phone competitors, which is led to the company putting itself up for sale.
A spokesperson for BlackBerry told the Wall Street Journal that they "Can confirm a small number of employees were laid off" on Monday, but declined to give any further details. It's my opinion that BlackBerry will be sold off to either Samsung or Apple, and will see its hardware division tossed to the side with one of the two companies porting BlackBerry's enterprise software over to their platform in an effort to gain enterprise market dominance.

Apple's stock drops amidst investors concerns over costly iPhone 5C
Following yesterday's launch of Apple's next-generation iPhones, the company saw its stock drop more than 5-percent this morning shortly after the markets opened. The drop saw Apple's stock dipped below $466 per share, and was the direct result of UBS, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Bank of America all downgrading their ratings on the company's stock.

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Of course a drop in investor confidence was also a major factor as many feel that the so-called "cheaper" iPhone 5C was just not cheap enough. Investors were hoping for a low-end model that would be able to compete with cheaper Android phones in emerging markets such as China. Unfortunately the news that the iPhone 5C would cost Chinese customers more than $700 (roughly two times the monthly salary of those who work in the factories that make the iPhone) was just to astronomically high for most consumers in the country.
"The lower-priced iPhone 5c may not be priced low enough, in our view, which could limit incremental penetration of the midrange smartphone segment," writes Mark Moskowitz, an analyst at JP Morgan. At the time of this writing Apple's stock had dipped to almost a 7-percent drop since closing yesterday.

G.Skill widens its RipjawsZ lineup with 15 new DDR3 quad-channel kits
This morning extreme performance memory manufacturer G.Skill announced the addition of 15 new DDR3 quad-channel memory kits to its award-winning RipjawsZ lineup of high-performance memory modules. The new kits are designed and optimized for Intel's new Core i7 LGA-2011 and X79 platform otherwise known as Ivy Bridge E.

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G,.Skill has significantly raised the clock speeds of the new Ivey E friendly RipjawsZ quad-channel DDR3 kits to unprecedented levels. The company says that the new 16GB (4x4GB) kit will run at 2933MHz while the 64GB (8x8GB) kit speeds along at 2666MHz. In the image below you can see the 2666MHz 64GB kit validated using an Intel i7-4960X CPU on an ASUS X79-Deluxe motherboard.

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Additionally G.Skill has taken advantage of the new Ivey Bridge E processors and has lab tested DDR3 memory speeds up to 3000MHz that proved to be stable on air cooling. The image below shows the company's 3000MHz 16GB proof of concept using an Intel i7-4960X and an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.

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G.Skill's new quad-channel DDR3 kits range from 16GB all the way up to 64GB spanning over 15 different kits. As with all G.Skill memory products, the new kits come with a lifetime warranty, and the company's technical team is always ready to provide customers with complete, comprehensive technical support via online forms, telephone conversations and email.

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Console gamer creates petition to not see GTA V on the PC
Grand Theft Auto V is pretty much ready to be inserted into gamers' consoles, but PC gamers are having to twiddle their thumbs while the biggest and baddest GTA game yet will most likely never see the light of day on the PC.

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One console gamer has taken to Change.org to start a formal petition for Rockstar Games to never release GTA V on the PC. Trevor Phillips is behind the petition, starting that GTA V shouldn't be released on PC "so PC gamers can learn their lesson and stop stealing games." Yes, that's his actual reason. The petition has just 80 signatures compared to the 339,723 people who want to see GTA V on the PC.
I truly expected Rockstar Games to not release it on PC because they have a huge console following, but considering the developer started off on the PC, especially with Lemmings and the original GTA games, you'd think they'd release their biggest title on the PC. After all, Max Payne started off on the PC, and they released Max Payne 3 on both consoles and PC and it did quite well.

Google opens the doors to its Moto X factory on Google Street View
Google did something great for the United States when they decided to make the Moto X smartphone on US soil, but now anyone in the world can visit the factory that Google's latest smartphone is made in.

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The Mountain View-based everything giant opened the doors to its Moto X factory in Fort Worth, Texas, unveiling a bunch of 360-degree panoramic images of the Flextronics factory that pumps out over 100,000 Moto X smartphones each and every week. Sensitive information is of course blurred out, but you can still check out the factory which looks quite cool.

PayPal Beacon, a new USB dongle for hands-free payments
PayPal has just announced Beacon, a USB dongle that paves the way for a new generation of hands-free payments. The tiny USB dongle works with Point-of-Sale systems such as Booker, Erply, Leaf, Leapset, Micros, NCR, PayPal Here, Revel, ShopKeep, TouchBistro and Vend. All you need to do is plug into a power source and your brick-and-mortar store is ready for hands-free payments.

PayPal's Beacon uses Bluetooth LE to detect when a shopper enters the store and if they have the PayPal app installed on their device. The company ssays that Beacon won't be able to track customers' locations as they shop, but it will display an image of the shopper on the PoS system. When the customer is ready for the purchase, a verbal confirmation is all that is required to complete the transaction.

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I don't like the security on Beacon, as it requires just your voice for authorization but the company has said that it is using multiple levels of trust in the application. This gives the customer the control of which retail stores can acknowledge their presence in the store, and which stores are capable of using automatic payments. PayPal also gives the option of providing the consumer with a pending payment notification, where they have to confirm it on-screen before it is authorized.

RumorTT: Sony to release Xperia Z1 mini, a smaller high-end handset
Geez, IFA 2013 finished just a few days ago and we're already hearing rumors of a new smartphone coming from Sony. The news is coming from a forum post on Digi-wo, who has confirmed the specifications of an upcoming shrunken Xperia Z1 smartphone.

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The Xperia Z1 mini (the name we're going on for now) would feature a 4.3-inch 720p display, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal flash storage and that huge 20.7-megapixel rear-facing camera that is one of the hottest features on Sony's Xperia Z1 smartphone. These specs are similar to the Xperia Z1 specs, so it looks like it is just a shrunken Z1, and that ain't a bad thing.
The source says that the Xperia Z1 mini would be unveiled by the Japanese giant at CES in January next year.

Hong Kong's CSL tests out LTE Advanced, pushes 300Mbps
This is all being done while I'm on a piddly 8Mbit ADSL connection in Australia, which costs me $149.95 per month. LTE Advanced is being tested in Hong Kong, with 300Mbps LTE Cat 6 radio network being tested throughout Hong Kong by Hong Kong's CSL.

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The network achieved 300Mbps by aggregating their 20MHz carriers at both its 1800MHz and 2600MHz LTE bands. At the moment, there are no smartphones that feature LTE Cat 6 radios, so CSL partnered up with ZTE to create an oversized device that was used for demonstration purposes. You can see in the shot above, they used four very, very think antennas for the MIMO 2x2 implementation.
An FTP download speed of 172Mbps was achieved, which is a heck of download speed. If you're based in Hong Kong and wondering when you'd be able to jump on the 300Mbps service, you'll be waiting until early next year.

Google updates Google Play Music with genre radio stations
I've only just started playing with Google Play Music, finding myself not liking it all that much when compared to Spotify, but maybe I'm just used to Spotify? Well, the Mountain View-based giant has pushed out an update to its music-playing app, adding genre-based radio stations.

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There's also some improvements included to the download queue menu, but the new radio stations is the ticket here. They can be selected based on a bunch of pre-defined genres, where you can listen to them from a single tap from the Radio menu of the app. The update to Google Play Music brings it to version 5.2.1204L, and includes the option to pause, resume or cancel downloads that are ongoing.
This is a great option if you're running low on battery, or were about to leave the house and were connected to Wi-Fi and didn't want to eat into your download quota. You can grab the Google Play Music app here, if your smartphone or tablet hasn't already updated.

NZXT H230 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Introduction

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NZXT started way back in 2007 with their first "silent chassis" offering in the NZXT Hush. Back then, even in its day, there were all black cables and tool-less features that on top of the sound dampening materials inside of the door panels, put the Hush into the a bit ahead of its time category. A long time had passed, and along came the H2. Now there were some major updates to the internal case design to move along with the current offerings, but they kept the material inside of the panels. Fast forward to a few months ago, and we took a look at the H620 ultra tower that was more of a silent version of the wildly popular Switch 810 chassis design, but again addressed sounds being emanated for the chassis through the use of a doubled front door and sound dampening.
These all lead us to why we are here today, again looking at a silent chassis from NZXT. This time around it is their third try at a mid-tower design that follows right in line with the Hush and H2. Again things have been updated, and along with the current times, this chassis is available in both shiny black and shiny white finishes. Again the chassis' exterior gets a complete redo and is a design that only slightly hints at its predecessors, and is a chassis that can stand alone in its new design and layout.
As time has passed, there are quite a few things that are basic demands when people look for a new mid-tower chassis. Things like a painted interior is a must, USB 3.0 has to be there, removable or reorient-able hard drive bays, tool-less features, black cabling - the list can go on and on.
What we are going to see from NZXT today is a mid-tower chassis that hits all of the previous points, looks good doing it, stays silent with doubled front panel and sound absorbing materials being used, and as you are about to see, it won't hit the wallet that hard and is really an affordable mid-tower solution for the masses.
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Corsair Power Supply Sleeved Cable Accessories Review

Introduction

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We recently took a look at the power supply accessories that SilverStone had to offer and they had quite a bit to offer. They aren't the only ones on the market with power supply accessories though.
Corsair has their own line of cables and kits that are available in numerous colors and fit a wide variety of their power supplies new and old.

AX1200 Kit

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First on our list is a kit for the original AX1200. Corsair offers complete cable kits for the AX1200 in red, white, blue and black. Each kit retails for $39.99. All of these come in rather plain boxes that simply feature the Corsair logo on them.

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What you receive is a bag of cables just like you normally find in the box with the power supply.

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The kit Corsair sent for us was red. As you can see, all cables are fully and individually sleeved.

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Zooming in, we find that the shrink wrap on the ends are all fairly even. We can also get a decent shot at the sleeving used. Unlike the soft cloth like sleeving used by SilverStone, the Corsair cables are sleeved in harder nylon sleeving and is a little bit shiny.

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I'm still confused as to why the AX1200 only had six PCI-E cables to begin with. That being said, there are plenty of other connectors here to make you happy.
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HP Unveils Sleek and Colorful Chromebook
HP today announced the powerful HP Chromebook14, the first Chromebook powered by an Intel processor based on the Haswell microarchitecture, offering fast access to the web to tackle tasks while on the go, a large display and optional 4G for enhanced connectivity -- in a range of eye-catching colors.

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The HP Chromebook14 boasts a large display, providing the immersive web experience and superb visual enjoyment that customers desire. The sleek, compact design -- available in Snow White, Ocean Turquoise and Coral Peach -- will be ready for the holiday season.
"There are customers telling us they are interested in new operating systems and in particular Chromebooks," said Ron Coughlin, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer PCs, Services and Solutions, HP. "We built the HP Chromebook to offer a great experience, choice and affordability, with a design that is truly unique."
HP Chromebook14 joins the HP SlateBook x2, the HP Slate7 and HP Slate21 All-in-One as part of HP's approach to offer the Google experience as part of a multiple operating system strategy.
Accessing digital life has never been easier
The HP Chromebook14 offers a fast and easy way for customers to connect to favorite websites in seconds. It also offers a gateway to the Google experience, including Google Chrome apps like Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive and Google+ Hangouts for smooth, immersive work and play.
Automatic software updates keep the browsing experience fast, fluid and current, while the HP Chromebook's 14-inch diagonal high-definition (HD) display delivers vivid color. The HP Chromebook14 also includes a 16 GB solid-state drive for fast start-up times. With the HDMI, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports and a combination headphone and microphone jack, customers can easily and quickly connect to displays and other devices.
With no contracts or commitments, certain models of the HP Chromebook include up to 200 MB of free data per month for two years of fast 4G mobile broadband service on the T-Mobile network. This incredible value allows customers to enjoy internet access without having to search for Wi-Fi.
Customers can easily access their content from any internet-connected device -- while at home or on the go -- with 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive for two years. Plus, users can visit the Chrome Web Store to customize their HP Chromebook14 by installing applications for work or play.
Pricing and availability
The HP Chromebook14 is expected to be available at hpshopping.com and select retailers in the United States before the holidays, starting at $299.99.

G.Skill Expands RipjawsZ Family with Fifteen DDR3 Quad Channel Kits
G.SKILL International Co. Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and superior solid-state storage, has added 15 DDR3 quad channel memory kits to its award winning RipjawsZ family optimized for new Intel Core i7 processor family for socket LGA-2011 and X79 motherboards. Optimized for the new Intel Ivy Bridge-E Core i7 processors, RipjawsZ series pushes quad channel DDR3 memory to the bleeding edge with rated speed of up to 2933MHz 16GB(4x4GB) and 2666MHz 64GB (8x8GB). G.SKILL RipjawsZ boldly goes where no memory has gone before.

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Stable Extreme Speeds of 3000MHz 16GB (4x4GB)
New processors mean new limits. G.SKILL testing lab raised DDR3 memory speed up to 3000MHz with stability - on air cooling! Below is 3000MHz 16GB proof of concept, on the Intel i7-4960X CPU and ASUS Rampage IV Extreme motherboard.
All G.SKILL memory products come with a lifetime warranty and the G.SKILL technical team is always ready to provide consumers with complete technical support via online forums, telephone and email.

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Micron and Intel Collaborate on Security Feature for Ultrathin Devices
Micron Technology, Inc., (Nasdaq:MU) today announced the availability of a replay-protected monotonic counter (RPMC) feature for their SPI NOR Flash memory devices, which are validated for future Intel Ultrabook platforms. The cost-effective 64Mb density is the sweet-spot solution currently available for immediate platform-enablement activities.

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The RPMC feature in Micron's SPI NOR device is the first in a family of cryptographic primitives that will significantly enhance preboot security in cost-sensitive embedded, mobile, and personal computing architectures. The RPMC-enabled device facilitates critical nonvolatile data storage, while making systems resistant to rollback and replay attacks. It enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to further strengthen code/data storage in the boot memory and deliver more secure systems to customers.
Micron's 64Mb RPMC-enabled SPI NOR device supports nonvolatile storage and authentication needs that are critical to the chipset security implementation for future Intel Ultrabook platforms and is compliant with Intel's Serial Flash Hardening Product External Architecture Specification. The device, which is available in SO8W and W-DFN 0.8mm packages, also includes improved erase performance to increase throughput and lower the initial cost of manufacturing programming.
"This first-to-market RPMC feature, developed by Micron for our SPI NOR device, is an additional demonstration of our commitment to continuously meet application requirements and customer needs," said Jeff Bader, vice president of Micron's Embedded Solutions Marketing. "Our NOR Flash excellence, coupled with the leadership and expertise of Intel, make this device the best-in-class solution for the Intel Ultrabook and other future Intel-based platforms."
"I appreciate Micron's expertise in the SPI Flash device technology space and their support of the replay-protected monotonic counter feature for the Intel platform prototype validation," said Nitin Sarangdhar, Sr. Principal Engineer at Intel.
The 64Mb serial NOR Flash with RPMC feature is available now in production quantities. With this announcement, Micron is well-positioned to support the growth of ultrathin applications with a broad portfolio of DRAM, NAND, NOR, and SSD solutions. For more information, please visit this page.

NEC Announces the AccuSync AS222WM Monitor
NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announced today its new 21.5-inch AccuSync AS222WM desktop monitor targeted to small-to-medium-sized business users.

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The widescreen AS222WM offers a 25 percent reduction in power consumption due to the elimination of its predecessor's CCFL backlight. Mercury-free LED backlighting improves energy efficiency while enabling easy transport and wall mounting capabilities. The AS222WM is compliant with the latest regulations, including ENERGY STAR 6.0 and TCO 6.0, is EPEAT Silver rated, and includes ECO Mode and carbon footprint meter tools.
"NEC's AccuSync Series continues to give business users exceptional displays with which to accomplish their goals," said Kevin Christopherson, Director of Product Marketing for Desktop Displays at NEC Display Solutions. "With LED backlighting and its environmental certifications, the AS222WM display boasts a compelling total cost of ownership."
The AS222WM includes the following features:

21.5-inch, 16:9 wide screen LED-backlit LCD desktop monitor
1920 x 1080 native resolution
VGA and DVI-D connectivity
Tilt adjustability
Touch-integratable
Integrated speakers (1W x 2) with headphone jack
ECO Mode and carbon footprint meter
ENERGY STAR 6.0, TCO 6.0 and EPEAT Silver compliance

The AS222WM will be available in September 2013 at an estimated street price of $179 and ships with a standard three-year parts and labor warranty, including the backlight.

Synology Launches RackStation RS214
Synology today launched RackStation RS214, a 1U 2-bay rackmount NAS. Featuring easy data sharing and management, RS214 is specifically designed to serve growing businesses of any size, along with a myriad of office applications that enhance working experience and productivity. "With enhanced hardware architecture, advanced fail-proof mechanism, and comprehensive business solutions, RS214 provides users with an affordable and reliable solution at an optimal price/performance ratio," said Wayne An, product manager of Synology Inc.

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The RS214 is built to deliver optimal performance. Powered by a 1.2 GHz processor and Link Aggregation, the RS214 delivers an average over 70 MB/sec writing speed under RAID1 configuration in a Windows environment, and over 160 MB/sec reading. The built-in floating-point unit enhances the overall capability of the main CPU, enabling RS214 to work in higher efficiency when it comes to multimedia processing. With 512MB DDR3 RAM, twice the size of its predecessor, RS214 exhibits a surprising boost in multi-tasking performance, making it one of the best values in 2-bay rackmount NAS devices available today. With two USB 3.0 interfaces, RS214 greatly improves file transfer rate to external hard drives.
The RS214 is developed with attention to reliability. Dual LAN failover support ensures continual network service, while hot-swappable design facilitates easy and risk-free hard drive replacement. The brand new hard drive tray lock further secures your hard drives from unauthorized or accidental withdrawal. In addition, featuring a compacting design in 12-inch depth, the RS214 fits into 2-post rack and wall mount rack without additional rail kit.
The RS214 runs on DiskStation Manager (DSM) 4.3, an intuitive web-based operating system that provides a host of applications to bring better productivity at work. DSM 4.2, the last version, is the only NAS operation system being honored "Best Choice Award" and "Media's Choice Award" at Computex 2013.

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