IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 20/02/2014

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 20/02/2014

TweakTown

The full trailer to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is here!
Some of you may not have heard about this movie, but Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel's new movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - in fact, it's the tenth installment in the MCU. Check out the trailer below.

It looks great, and continues to humor that fills the other Marvel movies such as Iron Man, The Avengers and Thor. Guardians of the Galaxy is directed by James Gunn who directed Super and Slither - movies you may not have seen, but you should. Guardians of the Galaxy is a star-studded flick, as usual, with Chris Pratt in the leading role with Avatar's Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro.

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Guardians of the Galaxy reaches cinemas on August 1, 2014.

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Gear rumored to feature Tizen OS
Samsung is expected to unveil a refreshed Galaxy Gear smartwatch at Mobile World Congress later this month, but the latest rumors hitting the Internet state that the new wearable device will feature Samsung's much-touted Tizen operating system.

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Tizen is in a perfect position to land itself on smartwatches, with Samsung being one of the development partners on the OS. Samsung can scale Tizen down in terms of its feature set to better accommodate the new Galaxy Gear. If Samsung does go down this road, it won't mean it's abandoning its relationship with Google over Android, but it is spreading its wings and not using a full-blown mobile OS on a device that simply doesn't need it.

Thief reboot is 1080p on PS4, 900p on Xbox One
The Thief reboot arrives on February 25, but it looks like the PlayStation 4 will be the console of choice for the stealth title. The PS4 will run it at 1080p, while its competitor, the Xbox One, will only run Thief at 900p.

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Square Enix recently sat down with Eurogamer, where it explained that the difference between the two versions isn't that big of a deal. Thief director, Nicolas Cantin, said: "You really need good eyes to see the difference". Cantin added that the Xbox One version of Thief "is as good as the PS4 version".
Cantin did explain that the big difference here is between the new consoles, and the previous generation units, he explains: "We put more detail in, more special effects. But at the same time, we kept the same gameplay experience with the current-gen and the next-gen versions".

NVIDIA released 334.89 WHQL drivers along with newer GTX GPUs
After releasing GTX 750, 750 Ti and GTX Titan Black video cards, NVIDIA released 334.89 WHQL drivers. The chipmaker claims that the new driver has performance optimizations of up to 19%, along with 12 new and improved 3D Vision profiles and 6 new SLI profiles.

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According to the release notes, the 334.89 WHQL drivers have introduced fixes for certain games and applications, such as fixing low frame rate, frame drops and shuttering issues in Deus Ex Human Revolution- Director's cut, losing ambient occlusion while sprinting in Half Life 2 and providing 'Enable SLI' option in its control panel for GTX 460 in SLI. Another notable fix was for NVIDIA ShadowPlay, as the older drivers caused certain games to crash or lock up with 3-way/Quad SLI setups.
NVIDIA also pointed out certain issues with the newer WHQL drives, such as Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag and Warframe unable to use GPU PhysX acceleration on Maxwell GPUs with 32bit operating systems, though NVIDIA also points out that Ubisoft will release a game patch in March for Assassin's Creed IV, whereas Digital Extreme would release a new patch very soon.
According to NVIDIA, the following games have gained performance from GTX Titan, GTX 780 Ti, GTX 780 and GTX 770:

Up to 19% in F1 2013
Up to 18% in Sleeping Dogs
Up to 16% in Hitman Absolution
Up to 15% in Company of Heroes 2
Up to 10% in Assassin's Creed 3
Up to 7% in BioShock Infinite
Up to 6% in Sniper Elite V2
Up to 5% in Total War: Rome 2

The following games have SLI profiles:

Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry
Assassin's Creed Liberation HD
Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut
Gas Guzzlers
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
The Crew

The drivers can be installed from the following Link:

Desktop:

Windows XP 32bit
Windows XP 64bit
Windows 8/7 32-bit
Windows 8/7 64-bit

Notebook:

Windows 8/7 32bit
Windows 8/7 64bit

Hackers exploit ASUS routers, gains access to connected drives
Hackers have exploited an 8 month old flaw in ASUS routers. This exploits allows the hacker to access the data stored in a storage drive that connected via the USB port of the router.

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This vulnerability was found by a researcher called Kyle Lovett in June 2013. Kyle also published an article on how this exploit works, followed by a temporary fix such as disabling FTP and AICLOUD. He pointed out in the article that more than 40,000 ASUS routers with USB port(s) for attaching storage drives are at potential risk.
Some users have also found a txt file in their connected drives left by the hackers. The text file contained a following message educating users with exploited routers:

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After referring to this potential exploit, ASUS claimed that this vulnerability is not an issue at June 2013. Though company did provide a new firmware since last week, those who haven't updated their router's firmware could already be exploited. The known affected models are: RT-AC66R, RT-AC66U, RT-N66R, RT-N66U, RT-AC56U, RT-N56R, RT-N56U, RT-N14U, RT-N16, and RT-N16R.
It is seriously recommended that people who are using these routers should update their router's firmware.
The hacking group shared a list of about 13,000 IP address of people using such routers from ASUS. http://pastebin.com/ASfYTWgw and also a torrent link with a list containing information of about 10,000 files.

Mobile World Congress 2014 to be absent of any new Windows Phones
It appears that Microsoft, Nokia, and other Windows Phone partners have chosen to not unveil any new Windows Phone devices or software updates at this years Mobile World Congress being held next week in Barcelona Spain. Instead Microsoft will hold a media even on Sunday before the show kicks off, but is not expected to announce anything new about Windows Phone 8, or unveil any new devices.

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Instead, Microsoft is reportedly holding back to make a major Windows Phone push at its own Build developers conference that will be held in April, in San Francisco, California. There Microsoft, Nokia and other Windows Phone partners are expected to launch several new devices, and if rumors are true, we may even see a new version of Windows Phone entirely. Unfortunately I feel that April is too long to wait as MWC sees lots of world wide coverage, and without any new Windows Phone products, Android is guaranteed to steal the show.

Irrational Games, makers of Bioshock, calls it quits and will close
In a weird turn of event's, the developer behind the Bioshock franchise has abruptly closed up shop and dissolved the company. Irrational Games has been around for almost two decades, and as of today, the company is no more. It's parent company, Take Two Interactive will form a new team around Irrational Games founder, Ken Levine, which will focus on a new genera of gaming with a much smaller development team.

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"While I'm deeply proud of what we've accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we've done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers," said Levine. "In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience."
Bioshock fans need not worry though, as Levine says that Irrational Games will release a the final DLC for Bioshock Infinite titled "Burial At Sea," but Levine will sever all ties with the Irrational team. Take Two says that those laid off from Irrational will have the opportunity to take on new opportunities within Take Two Interactive, and that Levine will aid in helping staff find jobs at other companies.

Korean designers create head-mounted display with augmented reality
Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) hope to push the augmented reality and wearable electronics market to the next level with its K-Glass product. The device is a hand-mounted display and if the wearer walks up to a restaurant, the daily menu and 3D images of food are displayed.

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Based on sound, video, graphics, and GPS, K-Glass users suddenly are thrust into an interactive and live virtual environment.
"HMDs will become the next mobile device, eventually taking over smartphones," said Hoi-Jun Yoo, KAIST Professor of Electrical Engineering, in a statement. "Their markets have been growing fast, and it's really a matter of time before mobile users will eventually embrace an optical see-through HMD as part of their daily use. Through augmented reality, we will have richer, deeper, and more powerful reality in all aspects of our life from education, business, and entertainment to art and culture."
There is a significant amount of interest in augmented reality, though consumers are still patiently waiting to see how the hardware and software apps continue to develop.

Samsung unveils information on Android 4.4 update for Galaxy devices
US-based Samsung owners have been eagerly awaiting an update on when their mobile devices may get the Android 4.4 KitKat treatment, and today Samsung gave them just that. In an announcement earlier today, Samsung said that several of its devices will be getting KitKat soon, but a timeline on just exactly when the update might arrive was not disclosed. Samsung is sure to make several big announcements surrounding when each device will get updated to 4.4 during the 2014 Mobile World Congress though.

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The list given this morning includes: The Galaxy S III, Galaxy S III mini, Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S 4 mini, Galaxy S 4 Active, Galaxy S 4 zoom, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Mega, Galaxy Light, Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, and Galaxy Tab 3, all of which will receive Android 4.4 KitKat at some point in the very near future. Unfortunately even if Samsung releases all of the updated this week, it will still be weeks before carriers complete certification and release the OTA updates to their customers.

Hackers targeting nursing homes, seeking medical and payment info
Hackers are targeting nursing homes in an attempt to compromise electronic medical records and payment information, according to a recent report, with a focus also on hospitals and individual doctors' offices.

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A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal found information from the Bronx Center for Rehabilitation & Healthcare center, Campbell Hall Rehabilitation Center and Glengariff Healthcare Center, all in New York, where hackers reportedly uploaded information about how to access each facility.
One facility saw passwords from 2007 posted, which were changed after a new database was implemented, while the Bronx Center previously migrated to a new security vendor. Even though it looks like older and outdated information was posted, it's still a chilling wakeup call to all companies trying to protect patient confidentiality, especially as more records are stored off-site in the cloud.
Hackers find older citizens to be an easy target, as many don't frequently check banking or credit card statements, have available cash on-hand, and can be easily manipulated to steal information.

RumorTT: Apple / Tesla talks most likely about new battery factory
Yesterday we posted a news story about a top-secret meeting between Elon Musk and Apple executives, that sparked many rumors about Apple's possible acquisition Tesla Motors, but today a little more light has been shed on the meeting and its topic. Sources tell TweakTown that the meeting was not about an acquisition, but rather a partnership to bring a new-age battery manufacturing facility to the US.

rumortt_apple_may_be_preparing_to_buy_tesla_motors_from_elon_musk

It's no secret that Tesla has been spending millions on new battery research to ultimately invent a new battery to power its Model S and upcoming Model X vehicles, and it appears as if that research is close to paying off. Sources tell us that the recent meeting between Tesla Motors and Apple were to discuss a partnership that would build a next-generation battery manufacturing facility right here in the USA. Not much is known about the type of batteries that may be manufactured, but chances are good that it is based on Lithium technology.
With backers such as Elon Musk, and record breaking growth on the stock market, one does have to ask why Tesla would need Apple's help, and the answer is quite simple. To minimize risk... Apple has tons of cash just sitting idle in banks, and Tesla knows that they have also been looking at more efficient battery technology. When you really sit back and think about it, Apple is the perfect investor and partner for a new state-of-the-art battery manufacturing facility, and Tesla apparently wants them on board.

US Navy embraces lasers and electric guns on ships
The United States Navy is ready to begin rolling out next-generation futuristic weapons that sound like something out of your favorite Sci-Fi movie - but will play an important role in the development of modern warfare.

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The new laser system will be deployed on the USS Ponce later this year, and can be controlled by a single person. The laser will be used with a focus on defense against aerial drones, speed boats, and any type of threat to allied warships. Although it's cheaper than missiles or traditional smart bombs, and can fire continuously at targets, it won't be as effective in poor weather conditions.
In addition to the laser, Navy officials want to deploy an electromagnetic rail gun by 2016, which could one day replace regular firearms - and include the ability to launch projectiles almost seven times the speed of sound, according to military sources.
Installing new weapons systems on US military ships helps the Navy "fundamentally change the way" warfare is conducted on an evolving battlefield.

HTC will begin replacing some shattered phone screens for free
Anyone who has ever owned a smartphone has experienced that moment of anxiety that follows immediately after their phone falls to the ground. The first thing that goes through your mind is something along the lines of "I hope the screen did not shatter...," and the very next though that crosses is how much it will cost you to repair or replace the device. Fortunately, HTC feels your pain, and starting today, any new phone purchases will be covered under HTC's Advantage Warranty Plan in the event of a screen shattering event.

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The newly amended plan will cover replacing or repairing any HTC One, HTC One Mini, and HTX One Max devices that suffered screen damaged that were purchased on or after February 18th. The company states that the screen repair on these devices will be free of charge, and as an added bonus HTC Advantage guarantees that each new device will receive timely updates to its Android operating system for up to two years after its US launch date.

Grace Digital Encore Wi-Fi music system features alarms and more
It's been a while since we talked about Grace Digital. The company is known for making a number of Wi-Fi streaming music players with an eye towards online radio and other content. The company is back with a new Wi-Fi music player that would be at home next to the bed. The music player is called the Encore.

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The Encore is fitted with a special tweeter and woofer arrangement for clear vocals and deep bass. The Encore connects to online radio and other content via Wi-Fi network in the home or office. You can save your favorite internet radio stations to a preset for easy access. The device supports just about any internet radio station you can think of along with Pandora, SiriusXM, Rhapsody, and Live365.
The Encore has enough storage to save 100 of your favorite stations to memory. It also has seven alarms with an adjustable sleep timer and a large snooze bar. Other features include a headphone jack, RCA output, and RCA aux-input.
The Encore also has a USB port allowing you to plug in your smartphone to recharge. The USB port can also be used to access music on flash drivers or other storage devices. If you don't have a Wi-Fi network in the home or office, an optional USB to Ethernet adapter can be used. The Encore Wi-Fi Music System is available now for $249.99.

Harman Kardon rolls out Soho headphones and Esquire wireless speaker
Harman Kardon has been around for a long time and has a reputation for making speakers and other radio gear that sounds good and looks really cool too. Harman Kardon makes the cool Nova speakers that we talked about back in November. These speakers have a cool clear case and NFC tech crammed inside.

harman_kardon_rolls_out_soho_headphones_and_esquire_wireless_speaker

Harman Kardon is back with a couple new products being unveiled, including a set of attractive headphones called the Soho and a wireless loudspeaker called the Esquire. The Soho headphones are Android compatible and have an inline mic and remote. That means you can control your music without taking your smartphone out of your pocket or bag and make and receive phone calls.
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The Soho headphones fold flat making them only 1.25-inches thick and easy to take on the go. They are available in white, black, and brown colors for £169.99. The Esquire wireless loudspeaker is aimed at people wanting to share their music with a large group.
The Esquire has controls on the top that allow you to control track and volume when needed. The speaker also has integrated NFC, Bluetooth, and a 3.5mm stereo input. The normal retail price for the Esquire is £229.99.

CyberpowerPC unveils new Elite Gaming Series around new NVIDIA GPUs
Today, CyberpowerPC announced the launch of a new series of PC gaming systems that are built around NVIDIA's newest GPU's; the GeForce GTX 750, GTX 750 Ti, and the massive new flagship GTX Titan Black. CyberpowerPC says that beginning today, its customers can add these new GPUs to high-performance rigs such as the new Zeus Mini small form factor series, Zeus EVO, and Fang III systems.

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"For CYBERPOWERPC customers looking for the perfect balance of performance, sleek design and groundbreaking technologies the GeForce GTX TITAN Black edition is a masterpiece in design and engineering. The new Black edition increases performance by 15 percent while retaining the whisper-quiet acoustics and cool thermals. Any CYBERPOWERRPC system built with this GPU can power your most extreme games, and even 4K and multiple monitors at 25 x 16, with high-speed double precision and 6 GB of frame buffer memory," the company said in a release. CyberpowerPC says that systems featuring the GTX 750, GTX 750 Ti and GTX Titan Black edition start at $649, $699, and $1749 respectively.

Chroma Musical FPS game coming from Rock Band creator Harmonix
If you are a fan of music games, you probably played Rock Band at one time or another. This game was a competitor to Guitar Hero and added in drums and vocals on top of the guitar rhythm play. Rock Band isn't particularly popular any more.

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Way back in 2010 Viacom sold off Harmonix and we haven't heard much form them in a while. Harmonix has now announced that it is working on a new video game. Like the other games that the company is known for, it will be music based.
The new game won't have instruments that let you play as Rock Band did. Oddly, the new game is described as a musical FPS title. The game is called Chroma and it is being produced in cooperation with Hidden Path. If you are familiar with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, you are familiar with Hidden Path's work.
Chroma will be a free to play game and is being built with the Unreal Engine. That should mean decent graphics. The idea behind the game is very strange, the players will be able to run faster and jump higher when they move in rhythm to the music being played. The game is also said to change the landscape based on music being played. The game is in alpha stage now and no ETA on launch is offered.

Google Chromecast to get screen mirroring via AllCast app
If you are a big fan of the Google Chromecast device, it will be getting a new trick soon. The Chromecast was designed to shoot content like photos, music, and video form the Android device to your big screen in the living room. Soon the Chromecast will get the ability to mirror screen content.

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That should mean that anything seen on the screen of the Android device could be seen on your big screen. That means everything from your home page to your favorite game app presumably. The ability to mirror the screen will be coming via the AllCast app.

There will be a bit of lag, as you would get with other screen mirroring solutions like Miracast. The lag isn't expected to affect the ability for users to watch videos. There are a few things that we don't know just yet about the screen mirroring experience.
Namely, it's unclear exactly what resolution and frame rates are supported. While the screen mirroring feature is coming to AllCast, it is unclear exactly when it will be available. When it is available, users will have to buy the premium version of the app to get screen mirroring. For more information on the device, check out our Chromecast review.

Digital Storm now offering NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Black GPUs
Following this mornings announcement from NVIDIA, boutique PC builder, Digital Storm, has announced that it now offers all three of NVIDIA's new discrete graphics solutions in its line of custom gaming PCs. Digital Storm is offering both the GTX 750 and GTX 750 Ti, as a low-cost HD gaming solution to lineup. If Ultra-HD 4k gaming is more your style, Digital Storm is also offering NVIDIA's new flagship, the GeForce GTX Titan Black, the world's fastest GPU.

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"HD gaming is the new standard and Ultra HD is not far behind with 4K displays already available for $800," said Rajeev Kuruppu, Digital Storm's Director of Product Development. "This is an exciting time for gamers and we're thrilled to incorporate NVIDIA's new cards into our systems to deliver the stunning graphics and advanced gaming experience our customers demand." Digital Storm went on to highlight a few of its PCs that pair up great with these new offerings.

The Aventum II, with its supercar inspired nickel-plated copper piping solution, is the ideal pairing for the TITAN BLACK. Combined with three huge 420mm radiators, the liquid cooling system is as efficient as it is beautiful and fully capable of unlocking the maximum performance potential of bleeding edge components like the world's fastest video card.

Gamers looking for small form factor PC (SFF) to deliver Ultra HD graphics need look no further than the Digital Storm Bolt II - a liquid cooled Steam Machine hybrid featuring both Steam OS and Windows. With double the cooling power of its closest competitor, Bolt II differentiates itself from other SFF and Steam Machine systems by focusing on delivering the best graphics possible and refusing to compromise on performance.

Microsoft and DocuSign team for eSignature support in Office 365
If you have ever had someone send you a digital document that you had to sign and a fax machine wasn't handy, you know what a pain this is. You have to print the document, sign it with a pen, scan it back in, attach it to an email, and then email it back. Microsoft has announced that it is teaming up with DocuSign to streamline the process of signing digital documents.

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Microsoft and DocuSign have teamed up to bring the ability to digitally sign documents in Office 365. Office 365 is the online subscription version of the Office productivity suite. The long-term deal will definitely streamline the singing of digital documents.
Under the new deal, users of Office 365 will be able to apply digital signatures to documents from within Office 365. The app for digital signatures will be tightly integrated into Word, SharePoint Online, Outlook and more.
The Microsoft agreement that brings DocuSign support is a good thing for subscribers and helps add value to the subscription productivity suite to set it apart from free alternatives like Google Docs and others. It's unclear when the digital signature integration will be made.

CoinTerra unveils new PCIe GSX I bitcoin mining card
There are two basic ways that you can get your hands on bitcoins. You can buy them with real-world money and hope that the value goes up in the future and you can make a profit. The other way is to get your hands on some PC hardware that will allow you to mine your own bitcoins. The mining process is resource intensive and isn't fast, but you can make money if you are successful.

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Back in December, we talked a bit about the BIOSTAR mainboards that the company was positioning for bitcoin mining. Another new bit of bitcoin mining hardware has now turned up from a company called CoinTerra.
CoinTerra has unveiled its "affordable" bitcoin mining card called the GSX I. I say "affordable" because the GSX I sells for $1599, which is hardly affordable in my book. Compared to other mining options that can cost many times that $1599, it is affordable though.
The GSX I uses a PCIe slot on a computer and has a USB connection. The card promises performance of 400 gigahash per second. The USB connectivity of the card allows the GSX I to be used with non-PC controllers. The card also has a CoolIT DCLC direct contact liquid cooling unit attached. The GSX I is designed to fit into a range of mid and full-tower cases. The mining card will be available in June.

Austin and Seattle to get first bitcoin ATMs in the US
Bitcoin is booming right now with the virtual currency worth a significant amount of real-world money. The success of bitcoin is a bit cloudy though with some countries deeming the virtual currency illegal, such as Russia. There have also been some issues with popular bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox stopping withdrawals in some instances.

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Mt. Gox has promised that withdrawals are coming back soon. While bitcoin is having some issues, the world keeps moving forwards. The US is set to get its first bitcoin ATMs soon. A company called Robocoin announced this week that it would be putting bitcoin ATMs in place in Austin, Texas, and Seattle, Washington.
The company says that the bitcoin ATMs will require the user to scan an official ID like a passport or driver's license before a transaction can be made. The ATMs will allow users to swap bitcoin for cash, deposit cash, and purchase bitcoins.
Users of the machines will also be able to transfer funds to and from a virtual wallet on their smartphone. While no word is mentioned, presumably Robocoin will get a percentage of each deal made. The company is based in Las Vegas, but put its first ATMs in place in Canada. Robocoin plans to install units in Asia and Europe as well.

NVIDIA unleashes the GeForce GTX Titan Black, the worlds fastest GPU
When NVIDIA first unveiled the GeForce GTX Titan to the world, it instantly became the must-have video card for every hard-core gamer and custom PC enthusiast on the planet. Fast forward to more than a year later, and the original GTX Titan is still considered a force to be reckoned with. This morning NVIDIA unveiled the new Titan Black, the successor to the original Titan, and the fastest GPU on planet earth.

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NVIDIA's new Titan Black is based on its Kepler architecture and boast an impressive 2,880 CUDA cores which equates to about 200 more cores than the original Titan. Stock clock speeds have also been increased to 889MHz, and 980MHz when boosted, which is slightly higher than the original Titan. 6GB of GDDR5 is addressed over a 384-bit memory bus, and just like its older brother, the Titan black is a massive power hungry beast. With a TDP of 250-watts, the GPU requires both a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector just to get the card up and running.

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Two dual-link DVI ports, one HDMI, and one Display Port 1.2 connector allow for multiple monitor connections, while several Titans can be chained together via NVIDIA's SLI connector. NVIDIA says that the Titan Black is about 10-percent faster than the original Titan and is capable of powering the most extreme games at 4K resolution and higher across multiple 4K compatible monitors. Just like its predecessor, the GeForce GTX Titan Black is expected to be priced in the $1000 USD range, and is available from OEMs such as Palit, and is also being featured at several boutique builders such as Origin, Digital Storm and Cyberpower PC.

Sony PS4 has sold 5.3 million units globally since launch
When it came to sales numbers for the last generation of consoles, the PS3 was typically outsold by the Xbox 360. Things are looking much different for the latest generation of game consoles with the PS4 outselling the Xbox One. Not all has been perfect in the PS4 launch story though.

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Some users had issues with their PS4 hardware early on and supply was so limited, they had to wait until 2014 to get replacement hardware. Sony PS4 developers are also having success with games for the PS4 console flying off the shelves with over 9.7 million games sold as of January.
Sony is taking the time to officially brag about the sales of the PS4. Sony has now sold over 5.3 million units globally. That number came in early February even though the console is not available in Japan yet. Japanese gamers have been waiting to get their hands on the console and that launch will certainly help sales.
"I am thrilled that so many customers around the globe have continued to select PS4 as the best place to play throughout and beyond the holiday season," said Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "We are delighted that according to the NPD Group's latest data, PS4 was January's top-selling console in the United States. The PS4 system's momentum just keeps growing stronger, and we are extremely grateful for the continued passion and support of PlayStation fans. February 22 sees the launch of PS4 in Japan, and I'm looking forward to Japanese fans sharing the excitement of the deep social capabilities and entertainment experiences only possible on PS4."

CRYORIG R1 Ultimate CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

cryorig_r1_ultimate_cpu_cooler_review

While it may seem like CRYORIG popped up out of nowhere, it seems the company and their products have been an idea and concept for a long time; it has just taken them a while to get all the ducks in a row to launch the company successfully. By visiting their web page, you will also find out that they are absorbing people from some of the larger and greatly successful companies out there (like Thermalright, Phanteks, Prolimatech, as well as others), and are cooperatively putting together in a brain trust of sorts to try to deliver the best products available on the market today.
It also seems as if they are very humble with their roots in the overclocking scene, when top-tier products were coolers like the Thermaltake Blue Orb. With that in mind, it does seem that CRYORIG is equally as interested in feedback from users and the rest of the market, to be able to develop and deliver what they believe are some of the best coolers available on the market today.
What really strikes me as a reviewer is their ability to take that basic cooler design that anyone could build, and take it to the next level in many ways that a lot of companies do not address. Once you see these coolers, it really makes you wonder why these ideas have not been tried before. At this point we won't get into much detail on these ideas, but they encompass things such as DirectCompress Soldering, Heatsink Displacement Optimization, Jet Fin Acceleration System, Heat pipe Convex Align, and for the fans, they have High Precision Low Noise (HPLN) sleeve bearings. As we progress through the review, we will be sure to point out these systems, and explain how they make this cooler design more efficient than some of the more plain designs available on the market.
The cooler we are looking at today is one of two versions that will be released to the market soon. We are looking at their flag ship version today, the R1 Ultimate, but there is also the R1 Universal, which uses a thin fan on the front to allow the cooler to fit in more systems. Other than the R1 Ultimate having the thicker fan on the front, the only other way to tell them apart is the color of the fan shrouds; on the Ultimate they are black, and on the Universal, they are white.
While we have all seen a dual-tower CPU cooler before, you have never seen one with as much attention to detail, or as many "tricks" applied to the design; both of which allow this cooler to have the potential to be the best of the best in dual-tower designs. At this point, I would strongly urge you to continue reading to find out what all of these systems are, and what they do for the end result. You may just be surprised at what CRYORIG has delivered.
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Vantec NexStar 6G USB 3.0 Storage Enclosure Review

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External enclosures are simple devices that allow us to build and upgrade our very own storage solutions. Over the past few years, these devices have come with Firewire, eSATA, USB, and now they feature Thunderbolt connectivity.
The Vantec NexStar is one of the most popular and long living brands in the external storage market; going all the back to my beginnings as an enthusiast, I have always had at least one NexStar product in use. Today, we have the latest NexStar from Vantec in-house: the 6G.
The NexStar 6G is a 2.5" external enclosure featuring USB 3.0 connectivity, adorned by an aluminium exterior. Compatibility of the product extends to modern Windows operating systems, and Mac OS X 10.6+. Warranty is listed at one year.

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Looking over the scope of delivery, we found the USB 3.0 cable, along with needed installation screws, included with the NexStar 6G.

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The enclosure, as seen above, is a single piece aluminium design. The top of the enclosure houses the Vantec branding.

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The edge of the drive houses the USB 3.0 connection, with an activity indicator to the left.

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Sliding out the internal tray, we find the PCB ready to accept any 2.5" drive. The PCB on this device uses the ASMedia 1053 controller, with UASP support.

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To accurately test external enclosures, we utilize the SanDisk X110 SSD in the 256GB capacity. This drive is capable of 500 MB/s read, and 450 MB/s write, making it the perfect companion drive for testing external storage enclosures.

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Our read testing of the NexStar 6G went quite well. Above, you can see our test drive was able to reach just over 450 MB/s at its peak.

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In write testing, our test drive reached 430 MB/s at its peak. With these results, it's pretty safe to say that the Vantec NexStar 6G is capable of reaching the peak of USB 3.0 performance.
After working with the NexStar 6G over the past few weeks, I must say I am pleasantly surprised by the overall build quality of the unit. With the shell of the enclosure being aluminium, is does offer protection for whatever drive you choose to put inside, and at the same time, it also offers a bit of elegance. While the internal tray is plastic, it does not feel flimsy or otherwise cheap in its quality either.
Performance of the enclosure was quite good. We were able to reach peak read performance for USB 3.0, while write speeds came in just under the theoretical maximum at 430 MB/s.
Pricing of the Vantec NexStar 6G is set at $22.99 at the time of writing, with high availability. The warranty on the enclosure is listed at one year.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Reference Card Video Card Review

Introduction

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It has been a bit of a quiet start to the year when it comes to video cards. Both AMD and NVIDIA have chosen not to do much with new models. Today, though, we see NVIDIA expand the GTX 700 series with the release of a new mid-range model: the GTX 750 Ti 2GB.
While AMD chose to launch the whole R series of cards in a short period of time, NVIDIA has taken a different approach. To be completely honest, I'm not sure what's better. In the end, though, if NVIDIA was happy with what the previous generation model was doing at the particular price segment, then there's probably no need to add more models into the mix.
Set to launch with a starting price of $149, the new GTX 750 Ti 2GB is designed to go squarely against the R7 270X 2GB from AMD, which hits at a similar price point. With NVIDIA being quiet in this price bracket for months now, we're really looking forward to see what they bring to the table, especially since we feel that AMD has done such a great job when it comes to pricing the new R series of video cards.
Due to the fact the card is a reference one, we'll simply be moving on from here to the card itself. Once we've done that, it's on to the specifications before we get into the fun stuff: the performance.
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Larkooler SkyWater 330 Liquid Cooling System CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

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When it comes to water cooling components inside of your chassis, there are really only three angles of attack. First, and easiest, is of course to buy one of the many AIO solutions on the market, but there are only two units sold as AIOs that allow for any additional components to be added without voiding the warranty of said product. The second angle of attack is to buy all of the parts you need, and configure the loop yourself. With this method, you will need to invest time in finding compatible parts and components. You will also need to spend time thinking of everything you want to do; even down to the right clamps, the screws needed to mount fans, the screws to secure the radiator, even sometimes the method for mounting the pump.
You will also need to ask yourself whether you will go with a bay reservoir, a tube, or some sort of pump and reservoir combo unit. Many companies across the board now offer a third way to get into custom water cooling for your PC and its various components, and here is where Larkooler steps in.
Larkooler, like many other companies we have had the pleasure of working with, takes all of the guess work out of the whole ordeal, and will offer a kit full of everything one needs to get at least the CPU under a loop. Most companies offer forms of upgraded kits, where you can add other blocks as well; of course with a slight increase in the cost. Here, all of the thinking is done for you.
The company puts all of the components together, so you don't have to worry about the right diameter or thread of the fittings, whether or not the tubing fits with the fittings you picked, or whether or not you have the clamps, screws, or added accessories like a 24-pin jumper to help bleed the loop. When you are able to purchase a full kit in one box, the companies do all of the work for you, and make sure you are ready to go; without the need to go to the hardware or plumbing shops two or three times as you hunt down the parts you may have missed.
When we looked at the Larkooler website for the first time the other day, we saw that this is not their first rodeo. They have made other kits and separate water cooling components, long before this latest kit was sampled to us for testing. The SkyWater 330 Liquid Cooling System is just the latest and greatest of what Larkooler has to offer, and they were gracious enough to send it along, so we could see what it is all about.
After having seen a few of these kits (some great, and some that were almost there, but may have forgotten a thing or two), we know that the bar has already been set pretty high by companies like Swiftech and EKWB. Stick with us as we put this new SkyWater 330 through its paces, and see just how well Larkooler does in their new full kit, which is aimed at getting any user under water with the least bit of effort and planning involved.
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