IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 21/04/2014

Motorola rumored to release the Moto E, an even cheaper, thinner phone
The next couple of months will be an important time for the smartphone industry, and more importantly, the mid-range handset market. Motorola already has a cheap handset on the market in the form of the Moto G, but it looks like the company - now owned by Lenovo - is working on an even cheaper smartphone dubbed Moto E.

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Moto E will reportedly sport a 4.2-inch 720p display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of on-board storage. This will be joined by a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1900mAh battery. When comparing the Moto E against the Moto G, the Moto E has a slightly smaller screen, half the on-board storage, half the processor cores and slightly less battery.
But, we should see the Moto E sliding in at just 6.2mm - noticeably thinner than the Moto G at 11.6mm, and a price of around $230 off-contract. This comes in off the heels of Google being rumored to be unveiling a new Nexus smartphone soon, priced at under $100.

Wireless power is close, 40 smartphones powered simultaneously at 5m
Wireless power is something I simply can't live without, but I can only charge one or two devices at once. But, over in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, scientists have used something they call the Dipole Coil Resonant System to charge 40 smartphones simultaneously, even if the power source is up to 5m away.

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We already know about MIT's Coupled Magnetic Resonance System (CMRS) which was unveiled in 2007, which used a magnetic field in order to charge devices - but it had an envelope of 2.1m. CMRS had some major technical limitations for commercialization, most of which haven't been solved: "a rather complicated coil structure (composed of four coils for input, transmission, reception, and load); bulky-size resonant coils; high frequency (in a range of 10 MHz) required to resonate the transmitter and receiver coils, which results in low transfer efficiency; and a high Q factor of 2,000 that makes the resonant coils very sensitive to surroundings such as temperature, humidity, and human proximity".
Chun T. Rim, a Professor of Nuclear & Quantum Engineering at KAIST, along with his team, developed the "Dipole Coil Resonant System" or DCRS. This system is for an extended range of inductive power transfer, at up to 5 meters between transmitter and receiver coils. Professor Rim's solution to CMRS' problems are all but solved with DCRS.
The technology is capable of powering "a large LED TV as well as three 40 W-fans can be powered from a 5-meter distance" according to to Professor Rim. He continues: "Our technology proved the possibility of a new remote power delivery mechanism that has never been tried at such a long distance. Although the long-range wireless power transfer is still in an early stage of commercialization and quite costly to implement, we believe that this is the right direction for electric power to be supplied in the future. Just like we see Wi-Fi zones everywhere today, we will eventually have many Wi-Power zones at such places as restaurants and streets that provide electric power wirelessly to electronic devices. We will use all the devices anywhere without tangled wires attached and anytime without worrying about charging their batteries".

Google wants developers to be smarter about the design of their apps
Google I/O isn't far away, but now the Mountain View-based giant is warning its developers to work more on the design of their apps. The warning fires have been shot, so we should see some big changes at the event in June.

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Google's Staff Designer and Evangelist, Nadya Direkova, took to a blog post saying: "When Google launched, it was a crisp white page with a simple search box. You might not have thought there was much in the way of design, but its appearance underscored two of our most important principles: simplicity and usefulness".
The company wants its developers to emphasize design as they consider the best way to develop and distribute their apps and services. Google's Director of Developer Relations, Billy Rutledge, said in a blog post that the goal Google has it to help developers "build and prove your app from start to finish".

Sony has great things to say about DayZ when talking about H1Z1
Sony Online Entertainment President, John Smedley, participated in a Reddit AMA, where he talked about the similarities between the upcoming MMO from the company H1Z1, and the already popular DayZ.

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He said: "Not going to give some politically correct dodgy b.s. answer. H1Z1 is a survival in a Zombie Apocalypse game. So is DayZ. They have made a brilliant game (first I might add). So sure. We're another Zombie Apocalypse game. Call it what it is. But our goal is to make ours fun, accessible, hard core and super, super deep".
Smedley continued: "This is our take on the Zombie Apocalypse with a lot of friends and hopefully some great enemies both living and dead. We're proud to be up front and say we love DayZ and the job they've done and we hope they enjoy what we make, too". H1Z1 does have quite a big difference when held up against DayZ, where it will allow gamers to create "structures, forts and towns" to stop the zombies from coming in. H1Z1 will also feature "a deep in-game economy that is heavily dependent on crafting. Players will be able to become manufacturers ... sell bullets, arrows ... etc. The in-game economy will be entirely player driven".
H1Z1 arrives on Steam Early Access in the next couple of weeks for just $20, after which it will launch sometime in the near future on the PlayStation 4.

Google rumored to unveil a new mid-range Nexus, priced at under $100
The Nexus 5 is already one of the most competitively priced smartphones on the market, at just $349 directly from Google. But the latest rumors of a new Nexus smartphone that would sell for under $100 should scare Samsung, Apple and every other smartphone maker.

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A new report from Chinese publication MTKSJ says that the new Nexus smartphone would feature a MediaTek processor to keep costs down, versus the Snapdragon processor found in the Nexus 5 for $349. There's not much else known about the cheap smartphone, but it would make sense as Google ramped down the required RAM on Android - could that have been a hint of things to come from Google?

Nike rumored to abandon FuelBand, fires the hardware team
It looks like Nike is done with its FuelBand wearable, with reports surfacing that the company has let go of most of its hardware division, and that the company will be stopping production of the hardware completely.

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There was a 'slim' version of the FuelBand expected toward the end of the year, but most of the 70 or so hardware employees have been let go. The anonymous network Secret.ly saw someone post a rumor last week, which read: "The douchebag execs at Nike are going to lay off a bunch of the eng team who developed The FuelBand, and other Nike+ stuff. Mostly because the execs committed gross negligence, wasted tons of money, and didn't know what they were doing".
But, Nike has just launched the Fuel Lab, which is think tank for connected devices based in San Francisco. We could see the company release an API for its software services, partnering up with a company to build the hardware while Nike provides the software.

OnePlus One could see wood, carbon fiber, denim back covers
The OnePlus One smartphone is shaping up to be one of the surprise announcements this year, but there are some new leaks which make the cheap smartphone sound even better.

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OnePlus is set to release some removable back covers that will change the entire look of the One smartphone. Why? Because these covers will come in some interesting designs: wood, carbon fiber and denim. We will find out more when the OnePlus One smartphone is officially unveiled on April 23.

OnePlus One, a powerhouse smartphone alternative, for under $400
In a world dominated by the Galaxy S5 and iPhone, most other devices that aren't from the big players on the market don't really get a mention. Well, the OnePlus One smartphone might change all of that.

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The company has said that the One smartphone would be "the most beautifully designed handset ever," which are some mighty big words. The OnePlus One packs some flagship hardware, starting with a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm's brand new Snapdragon 801 SoC clocked at 2.5GHz, 3GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera thanks to the Sony Exmor camera sensor, a 5-megapixel snapper up front, LTE Category 4 modem with global LTE connectivity, a 3100mAh battery and 16-64GB of on-board flash storage.
In terms of specs, the OnePlus One smartphone sounds like a winner. On the software side of things we have CynanogenMod, which is a nice touch as it's not just the same old Android + UI skin like everyone else does. The OnePlus One will be released into 16 markets including: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States. Where it will customers over, is its price: $400.
Considering the Galaxy S5 is $650 or more, and the new HTC One M8 is $700, the OnePlus One might have consumers lining up for its smartphone on specs and pricing alone. We will see the official announcement on April 23, which is just a few days away.

U.S. government, militants engaging in social media dialogue
The U.S. government is engaging global terrorists on Twitter and other forms of social media, trying to open up dialogue with jihadists and supporters. It also has proven to be a useful tool to try and stifle recruiting efforts before would-be jihadists convert to radical Islam and potentially carry out attacks.

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Terrorists often rely on the Internet to communicate, share videos, and taunt western forces - and although intelligence officials follow the chatter opening lines of communication is still relatively new.
"We are actually giving al Qaeda the benefit of the doubt because we are answering their arguments," said Alberto Fernandez, State Department Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CCSC), in a statement to CNN. "The way I see it is we are participating in the marketplace of ideas."
Terrorists, especially groups like Al-Shabab in Somalia, use social media to help reach out to new recruits - even in the United States - to fly to Somalia to fight the government and UN peacekeepers.

Mt. Gox supporters hope to revive the company, with creditor blessing
Supporters of Mt. Gox and the bitcoin currency hope to resurrect the defunct bitcoin exchange by wooing creditors to avoid liquidating current assets.

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Just days after Mt. Gox said it won't try to rebuild the company - and invites creditors to liquidate - Mt. Gox faces a rather uncertain future.
"We need your help to stop a liquidation, which would be good neither for Mt. Gox creditors nor bitcoin's reputation with the general public and regulators," according to supporters of the new movement.
An investor group, however, does have support from creditors, and hopes to convince the court to allow it to revive Mt. Gox:
"The Tokyo district court recognized that it would be difficult for the company to carry out the civil rehabilitation proceedings and dismissed the application for the commencement of the civil rehabilitation proceedings," according to a court-appointed administrator.

Michaels admits to data breach, 2.6 million customers at risk
Crafts store Michaels confirmed that as many as 2.6 million customers, totaling almost 7 percent of customers paying with debit and credit card, were affected by a data breach that began last year.

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Customer information exposed includes card numbers and expiration dates, though the store didn't confirm if names, addresses and PIN numbers were also breached. Since the news of the breach earlier this year, the popular arts and crafts store has removed the malware and reportedly boosted security to try and prevent future incidents.
In addition to Michaels, its Aaron Brothers subsidiary also suffered a data breach affecting around 400,000 debit and credit cards.
"Our customers are always our number one priority and we are truly sorry for any inconvenience or concern Michaels may have caused," said Chuck Rubin, Michaels CEO, in a press statement. "We are committed to assisting affected customers by providing fraud assistance, identity protection and credit monitoring services. Importantly, with this incident ow fully contained, we can assure customers this malware no longer presents a threat to shoppers at Michaels or Aaron Brothers."

Nokia warns of possible faulty chargers shipped with its Lumia 2520
Nokia has suspended sales of its Lumia 2520 tablet in Europe over concerns of a faulty charger that may have shipped with some devices. The charger in question carries the model number AC-300 and was shipped with Lumia 2520 devices in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Any 2520 users who have this charger are advised to cease use of the charger immediately.

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More than 30,000 chargers are affected including about 600 "travel chargers" sold as optional accessories here in the US. Nokia Lumia 2520 chargers that are bundled with US versions of the phone are not included. Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Smart Devices at Nokia, said "We apologise to the owners of the Lumia 2520, and we are working with urgency to minimize the inconvenience."
A statement on the Nokia website shows that the issue was discovered internally in a quality control process. "Under certain conditions, the plastic cover of the charger's exchangeable plug could come loose and separate. If loose and separated, certain internal components may cause an electric shock if touched while the plug remains in the live socket" the statement notes."

The Dark Web just got darker with a new Google-like drug search engine
The so-called Dark Web is one of the few places on the Internet that I rarely visit, which is mostly because I have no reason to visit the type of websites it caters too. With sites like Silk road and other illegal sites populating this seedy corner of the web, it is no surprise that someone has developed a search engine to make it easier to find the illegal stuff you might be searching for.

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"I noticed on the forums and Reddit people were constantly asking 'where to get product X?' and 'which market had product X?' or 'who had the best product X and was reliable and not a scam?'" Grams' creator, Gramsadmin, said in an interview with Wired. "I wanted to make it easy for people to find things they wanted on the Dark Net and figure out who was a trustworthy vendor."

Grams has been online since last week, and appears to sever solely as a search engine that queries multiple drug and gun exchanges located on the Dark Web. The search engine is only accessible through the TOR browser and list search results with prices per product listed. Users can change the denomination to the currency of their choosing including Bitcoin, USD and more. It was only a matter of time before something like this popped up, and I am willing to bet that it will not be the last time it happens.

Atari Minimum crafting combat game coming to PC
If you are a fan of Minecraft, you may be familiar with some of the mods out there that turn the game into a shooter of sorts. Atari is getting a game ready called Minimum that reminds me a lot of Minecraft focusing heavily on crafting, but having a lot of third-person shooter aspects as well.

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In Minimum, players will use blueprints and acquire the materials needed to build their own weapons and armor. Once those weapons and armor are done, players will wear it into combat. As you kill more enemy players, the armor and weapons power up making the character more powerful.

Minimum was created by TimeGame Studios. When the company went bankrupt, Atari stepped in and kept this interesting game from failing. The game will launch for early access this spring and you can sign up at the source below for more details on the game.
"Since its founding, Atari has been at the forefront of making creative and engaging games that resonate with the gaming community," said Fred Chesnais, Chief Executive Officer, Atari, Inc. "Minimum continues on this track by offering unique third-person combat gameplay combined with depth of blueprint crafting that will allow players to compete against each other for hours on end using a multitude of weapons. We're proud to bring Minimum to Steam and share this exciting game with fans that have eagerly awaited the launch."

HTC says optical zoom will land in its smartphones in the next year
A lot of people are replacing a point and shoot camera with the camera in their smartphones. Some smartphones have cameras that are better than others. One of the things that most smartphone cameras need help on is the optics. HTC is working on that right now and teasing with a few details.

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HTC's Symon Whitehorn is the camera expert for the smartphone maker and he says that HTC is hard at work on bringing optical zoom to smartphone cameras. We have seen optical zoom in smartphone cameras before, but Whitehorn says that the tech needs some tweaking.
Whitehorn isn't offering much in the way of specifics on when we will see these fancy optical zoom cameras from HTC. All he is saying is that HTC plans to have optical zoom camera smartphones in the next 12-18 months. He also notes that HTC is working to perfect the front camera and wants to be the king of selfies.

Like a company on Facebook and forget about future legal action
Throughout the course of modern day history, companies have paid billions to lawyers to come up with elaborate plans to prevent consumers, workers, and other companies from having the right to file a lawsuit against them. Today we have learned that cereal maker, General Mills, has quietly slipped in a clause within its privacy policy that bars consumers from bringing forth litigation on the company if that individual uses a coupon offered by the company, enters a sweepstakes, or even "Likes" the company on social media.

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The new policy states: "Anyone who has received anything that could be construed as a benefit and who then has a dispute with the company over its products will have to use informal negotiation via email or go through arbitration to seek relief, according to the new terms posted on its site." This is also known as "forced arbitration."
General Mills is clearly trying to avoid costly lawsuits such as one last year over packaging of a product that resulted in $8.5 million in settlement fees. The new policy is forcing consumers to enter into arbitration which means that your lawyer and their lawyer will meet in a room somewhere, and hash out how much compensation, if any, will be given to you. With companies sneaking in clauses like this into their privacy policy and forcing US citizens to give up rights, it may be time to rethink who you give your money too.

Weekly Giveaway: Fractal Design Arc Cases Giveaway (Global Entry!)
We have teamed up with Fractal Design who is giving away three of its various Arc computer cases.
This week we will have three lucky winners that get a chance at taking home an ARC Mini R2, ARC Midi R2 or ARC XL.

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The Arc XL brings forth a balanced combination of airflow, water-cooling and high-performance component configurability in a minimalistic and sleek full-tower form. Its strength lies with the extensive cooling options allowing the possibility to install multiple video card set ups into a supercharged system.
The case is filled with smart features such as simple-clean dust filters, integrated fan controller, flexible hard drive mounting, window side panel and plenty of space for tidy cable routing. It also comes equipped with three high quality Silent Series R2 fans contributing to maximum airflow straight out of the box.
Rules and Conditions
Step 1 - Like TweakTown's Facebook Fan Page at http://www.Facebook.com/TweakTown. Your like will be confirmed.
Step 2 - Like Fractal Design's Facebook Fan Page at http://www.Facebook.com/FractalDesignNA. Your like will be confirmed.
Step 3 - Like this News Post!
Step 4 - Like and Share this post!
Step 5 - Make any comment on the same post!
Step 6 - Sit back and hope you are a winner - good luck!
Disclaimer
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to TweakTown and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for selecting and contacting a winner.
- Giveaway runs from April 18, 2014 until April 25, 2014 at 10:00pm GMT +8:00 - no entries will be taken into consideration after that time.
- If you are a winner, you will be asked to provide your full name, address and telephone number for shipping via Facebook message. These details will only be provided to the company participating in this giveaway. If you do not claim your prize within two weeks, it is forfeited.
- For this weekly prize, anyone in the world can enter. You don't pay the shipping charges, but you are responsible for any taxes.

Airbulb Color hits Kickstarter, plays music and changes color
An interesting LED light bulb has hit Kickstarter called the Airbulb Color. As you can probably gather from the name, the bulb can change colors to suit your mood and you control it from an app on your smartphone.

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The bulb has three white LEDs and three RGB LEDs inside. The colored lights aren't the big features of the Airbulb Color, the big features is an integrated wireless speaker. With the wireless speaker built-in and the RGB LEDs, the light can strobe disco style in time to your music or you can pick the color for mood lighting.
If you want one of these bulbs, you will need to cough up $55 or more with delivery expected in December 2014. That cheap version isn't a color bulb. To get the color bulb, you will need to pay $65 or more. The project is seeking $100,000 and so far has raised only a bit over $70,000. If the project doesn't fund, the money pledged goes back to the backers.

Hitman Go brings Agent 47 to iPhone and iPad
If you are a fan of shooting games that also require a bit of stealth and finesse to win, you may be familiar with the game Hitman. There has been a bunch of games in the franchise over the years with the last one being Hitman: Absolution. If you are an iOS mobile gamer a new mobile Hitman game has landed.

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The game is called Hitman Go and it is different from the other games in the franchise. Rather than letting you choose a path to victory, this game is a turn-based game that focuses on getting from point A to point B undetected.

Each move made by the player is met with a move by the enemy so gamers have to think ahead. Hitman Go does have weapons in it. It's not clear if those weapons are the sort that the player gets to use or if they are there as dressing for the scene. Hitman go is available now for iOS for $4.99.

HTC hires former Samsung marketing exec on three-month contract
It looks like HTC is desperate, with the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer hiring Paul Golden, who was previously in a marketing position at Samsung. With HTC continuing to experience all sorts of obstacles in front of it being successful, this is an important bit of news.

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Golden has been hired by HTC on a three-month contract, where we're sure he'll come in and talk to the company about how to better market its smartphone against the likes of Samsung and Apple. HTC's just-released One M8 has been met with positive reactions from both the press and consumers, but I don't think it has been a big enough success for HTC against Samsung - which is set to ship a massive 35 million Galaxy S5's in Q2 2014 alone.

GoPlug wants to be your new tech-infused backpack
I'm a massive fan of portable batteries, reviewing countless models over the last year or so - but powered backpacks? That's where it's at. Josh Cross, based out of Salt Lake City in the US, has unveiled the GoPlug bags - power that moves with you.

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Cross took to Kickstarter, offering up various bags and devices for tech users that are on the move. For the early bird pricing of $159 ($179 after) you can get the GoPlug Computer Bag that also comes with a Swag Pack. The GoPlug Computer Bag features a patent pending mobile outlet that packs 115V, 60Hz of power that is good to drive right up to 80W.
Inside, there is one 360-degree rotating AC outlet, two front-facing USB outlets to charge various smartphones and tablets, and a rechargeable 12V LiPo battery. The bag itself has organization parts galore, padded hip panel for added comfort, an adjustable shoulder strap and grab handle, and much, much more. There are other backpacks on offer on the Kickstarter page, as well as bags aimed at photographers.

Netflix teases season two of Orange is the New Black for June 6
Orange is the New Black is one of my favorite shows, so my personal recommendation is: if you haven't watched it, do it. You will not regret it, but Netflix has just unleashed the full trailer to season two, something you can watch below:

It looks great, continuing off of the massive cliffhanger of the first season. Orange is the New Black's season season debuts on June 6, where Netflix will do what all networks should do: making all of the episodes available at once.

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Keep your friends closer with Facebook's new 'Nearby Friends' feature
Facebook has just rolled out a new "Nearby Friends" feature which joins a bunch of other location-broadcasting apps that are already available. Nearby Friends will allow you to see which of your Facebook friends are close to you.

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The new feature is an opt-in option, where you'll have to enable it on your account. The service will let you see which of your friends are nearby, but you can turn the location tracking off whenever you want. Both you and your friends will need to have it enabled in order to see each other on the map, but once it is activated on both sides, you'll receive a push notification telling you that your friend is nearby.

Microsoft sells 5 million Xbox One units, Sony is now in the lead
Sony has shipped over seven million PS4's to retailers and consumers, but today Microsoft has announced it has sold over five million Xbox One consoles around the world. This means that Sony is in the lead by two million consoles.

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Considering both consoles have had some great exclusives, with Titanfall on the Xbox One and inFamous: Second Son on the PS4. There should be a bump in numbers when we see the sales of the Titanfall bundles with the Xbox One, but it is early in the next-gen console war. It should be an interesting picture after E3, and the holiday season at the end of the year.

Toyota will launch its hydrogen fuel cell-powered car next year
Next year is going to be a big year for both the automotive market, and more specifically, Toyota. The Japanese giant will be offering up a new hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle in 2015.

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The new car will be a mid-sized saloon, something the company compares to its current Avensis, and will feature a high-density fuel stack that will be capable of 500 miles from a single tank of fuel. But, according to Toyota's European President Didier Leroy, fuel cell technology will take a while to become common: "To help that happen we will bring a reasonable number of cars to Europe. The volume will be limited, but they will be visible on the streets".
Toyota has teamed up with BMW to boost its fuel cell research and development, where Toyota Europe's second in command saying the company would pioneer the technology, pointing to Toyota's position in the widespread adoption of hybrid drivetrains. He said: "There is of course a long way to go, as with any game-changing technology, but remember the same was said about hybrid only 10 years ago. Toyota is ready to back and lead this change, so we will be pioneering fuel cell step-by-step".
He continued, saying that hydrogen fuel is easy to store, and that it's better at capturing renewable energies than batteries, and that it can be produced anywhere. He finished with: "Taking these facts into account reinforces how Toyota is convinced fuel cell can deliver our ultimate goal of zero emissions and sustainable transport".

The Passion of the Christ (2004) Blu-ray Movie Review

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

It's probably this time every year that casual audiences are reminded of this Mel Gibson passion project (no pun intended), which 10 years ago transcended poor pre-release buzz to captivate audiences worldwide and become a box office bonanza of $600 million. Not bad for an R-rated movie about religion.

Following the final hours of Christ before his crucifixion, The Passion of the Christ draws primarily on the four "Passion" gospels of the Old Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to detail the excruciating torture and death that was bestowed upon the son of God, in order to fulfill biblical prophecy and allow mankind to repent their sins in the eyes of God.
Presented in non-chronological order, the film begins with Jesus (Jim Caviezel) praying with his apostles, while Satan (Rosalinda Celentano) attempts to subvert the course. Following the payment of 30 pieces of silver, one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot (Luca Lionello), betrays him with a kiss, which sets in motion a mob trial led by corrupt Jewish leaders who accuse him of apostasy and heresy. Bought before an initially unwilling Pontius Pilate (Hristo Shopov), Jesus is soon condemned to death by the stake.
The Passion of the Christ certainly is not the most accessible motion picture of all time, partially due to the use of English subtitles to translate the use of Aramaic and Hebrew spoken languages; significant bloodshed and violence that culminated in an R rating; and wider issues, including the increasing unpopularity of organized religion, especially in younger demographics. That aside, it's a remarkable picture that is at all times entertaining, compelling, and overwhelmingly true to the passages of the Bible known to billions on Earth today.

Video

The Passion of the Christ is encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression and presented in the intended aspect ratio of 2.35:1.
Filmed on 35mm and finished in a 2K digital intermediate, when such technology was in its infancy, Passion of the Christ certainly looks good in 1080p. Whilst the image is frequently tinged with heavy filtering and color grading that accentuates golden and blue tinged hues, there's an abundance of image detail--perhaps a little too much in some of the film's more graphic sequences.
There's a reasonable amount of film grain on display, but I suspect this is due to a combination of artist intention and resultant from low light shooting, rather than any encoding deficiency. Black levels are reasonably good, but perhaps a little too slanted to dark greys for my liking. I didn't detect any encoding errors--a healthy bitrate is retained throughout, and there was no issue with film artefacts.

Audio

The Passion of the Christ is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 at 24 bits.
Director Mel Gibson took a controversial decision to eschew English dialogue and have the actors speak a combination of tongues, including Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic. Well, controversial is not quite the word--everyone just assumed he had gone nuts. The Blu-ray includes this original track and includes English subtitles below the image frame, in a relatively ugly font. In keeping with the Director's wishes, there is no English dubbed track.
Passion of the Christ comes with a reasonably aggressive and impactful track that heightens the force of emotional impact. Surround usage is kept quite high, although some of the effects do draw attention to themselves at times. Bass effects are quite generous, but are cohesive to the track in general.

Extras

Rather than squash the compression of the main feature disc or re-encode the standard definition features on a second Blu-ray disc, the distributors have chosen to simply include the second DVD disc of bonus features from the previously released DVD version. Let's take a look at what's here.
First up are the massive Four Audio Commentaries: one by Director Mel Gibson, Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, and Editor John Wright; another with Producer Stephen McEveety, Visual Effects Supervisor Ted Rae, and Make-Up and Visual Effects Artist Keith Vanderlaan; a "Theological Commentary" with Director Mel Gibson, Language Consultant Father William Fulco, and Theologians Gerry Matatics and Father John Bartunek; and a final track consisting of an isolated score with commentary by Composer John Debney. I'm pretty sure that after listening to all the tracks, you will not only be an expert on the film, but also be quite well versed in the bible passages. The thing to take away from the tracks featuring Mel Gibson is just how deeply religious, quite eloquent, and knowledgeable regarding his faith he is.
The centerpiece of the DVD disc is the 21-part, 100 minute long By His Wounds, We Are Healed: Making The Passion of the Christ, which unsurprisingly given its length is allowed to go into substantive detail regarding the key points of production. This is a superb documentary that details Mel Gibson's $30 million gamble. Even the film's sensitive area of marketing gets a look in.
Next up is the five-part, 60 minute long documentary The Legacy: A Historical and Cultural Retrospective of the Crucifixion, which is perhaps a little more wide-ranging than the name implies.
The Below The Line Panel Discussion is a 13 minute sit down discussion that rounds up some of the principal artists to discuss their craft, interspersed with film footage to illustrate certain points. A notable absentee is Mel Gibson himself. Sadly, this is too short to really impart any knowledge.
Finally, we have two Theatrical Trailers, two TV Spots, and some Still Galleries divided up into logical segments.
PRICING: You can find the The Passion of the Christ Blu-ray for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The The Passion of the Christ Blu-ray for $9.49 at Amazon.
Canada: The The Passion of the Christ Blu-ray retails for CDN$9.99 at Amazon Canada.

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PAPAGO GoWatch 770 Sports Watch Review

Introduction and Specifications

PAPAGO is not a household name, so you've probably clicked into this review because you're the curious type, or you're in the market for a sports watch. I'm not going to lie; I didn't know about the company until I was contacted by them, but I was more than happy to check out their latest sports watch, the GoWatch 770.
It's an interesting device, and coming in hot on the heels of my review of Sony's beautiful SmartWatch 2, it was a hard sell. I'm not the most outdoorsy person, nor am I the most active (apart from having a 3-year-old super-active daughter to keep up with).
This didn't stop me from testing the GoWatch 770 in its element, but there definitely has to be a warning here: you only want to be interested in the GoWatch 770 if you're an active person. This is a Sports Watch, and not a smartwatch after all.
First off, let's see what comes in the box.

TweakTown image papago_gowatch_770_sports_watch_review

In the box, we have the GoWatch 770 itself (duh), a quick manual, warranty details, and the unique charging cable that attaches to the GoWatch 770 in a strange fashion--something we'll take a look at soon.

The front of the GoWatch 770 looks great, as the styling of the sports watch has a yellow and black theme all the way through. On the front, we can see that there are five buttons: lap (and back), mode (and power on/off), back and forward, and OK.

On the rear of the watch, there's not much going on at all, but we can see the usual details. To the right, we have four little silver bits of metal--that's where the charger latches on, which we're going to look at now.

This is the charger. Normally it's a microUSB connector, but PAPAGO has gone for something proprietary. This is something I didn't like about the GoWatch 770, but we'll show you how it connects in the image below.

As you can see, it attaches on quite strong. Once it's on, it's really on and it isn't falling off easily.

On the left side of the watch, we have the lap and menu buttons.

On the right, we have the back and forward buttons, as well as the yellow OK button.

As you can see above, the specifications are quite good. We have a screen resolution of 144x168, waterproof goodness, up to 18 hours of recording time, GPS capabilities, and much, much more.
Now that you know what's going on, we'll talk about the software side of things. PAPAGO has invested some time into the software, something that is quite important on a sports or smartwatch.

The PAPAGO GoWatch 770 works with both Windows and Mac, so you're not just left to using Windows, as Apple's Mac OS X platform is incredibly popular these days.

Once you start downloading it, you're on your way.

Once the software is installed, you can check for a new version of the software or update the GoWatch 770's firmware.

Using the PAPAGO GoWatch 770

Coming off my review of the Sony SmartWatch 2, which felt incredibly comfy to wear, the GoWatch 770 felt really weird on my wrist. I tried and tried to tweak it, thinking it was my wrist--I have quite thin wrists--but it wasn't. The GoWatch 770 just felt odd on my wrist, and never comfortable. Not a good start.
The GoWatch 770 itself is made from some great materials and feels like a quality device on your wrist. With the sports watch being waterproof, you can go for a run and sweat like crazy without worrying that you're going to damage the GoWatch 770.
Thanks to its GPS capabilities, the GoWatch 770 can be used as a trip tracker, something that other devices can't proclaim. This isn't something I did, but if it's something you're interested in, it's a big selling point for PAPAGO.
Importing your data from the GoWatch 770 into the GoLife Run software is incredible easy, where you need to download and install the software (as we showed above), and once that is done, you simply connect the watch to its USB connector and plug it into your computer.
Once the GoWatch 770 is up and running on your computer, it will import all of the data from the watch, throwing it into your GoLife Run account. From there, it will show you all of the data from your walking, running, or jogging trips.

What's Hot

Filled With Features: PAPAGO has packed its GoWatch 770 with a bunch of features that should have even the most adventurous person intrigued. The GPS capabilities, data recording, and ease of use are all a great part of the total experience with the GoWatch 770.
GPS Capabilities: The GPS capabilities of the GoWatch 770 are great; it tracks virtually every step of your travels, and it is even compatible with Google Earth, so you can get some serious tracking details going on. The NSA would be proud of this one.
It Looks Great: The yellow and black style that PAPAGO has gone for is great; it did look great on my wrist, it just didn't feel that great, something we'll talk about below.

What's Not

It's Simply Not Comfortable (for me at least): This is something that could be personal, but the GoWatch 770 was not comfortable for me. Other than my testing, I couldn't wear it out for long periods of time like I could with other smartwatches.
For something that is built for being a sports watch, you would think it would be as comfortable as possible, but maybe this is just me. It's something you need to test on your wrist before you jump into it.

Final Thoughts

PAPAGO has quite the sports watch on offer with the GoWatch 770. Sure, it's not perfect, but even the big boys are having troubles with their smartwatches and various wearables. Nothing is perfect these days, but PAPAGO does more good than bad with its first foray into the wearable world.
If you're after a sports watch that is waterproof, with truly awesome GPS capabilities and a great look, then you should consider what PAPAGO has on offer with the GoWatch 770.
But a word of caution: you should really try before you buy because of its design; I simply couldn't recommend it to anyone without trying it first, as it was really uncomfortable for me. Other than that, PAPAGO has crafted something quite amazing here, something I'm definitely going to be keen on version 2.0 if it ever arrives.
PRICING: You can find the PAPAGO GoWatch 770 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The PAPAGO GoWatch 770 (Blue) retails for $154.60 at Amazon.

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Punchtec Ord Bot Hadron 3D Printer Review

Overview of the Ord Bot Hadron 3D Printer from Punchtec

3D printing has been a passion of mine for the better half of the last decade. Over that time, I have had the opportunity to build and use just about every design of 3D printer that has been released, but the Ord Bot Hadron design is one that has eluded me...until now.
A couple of months back, I decided that the time was right to start writing 3D printer reviews, and the Ord Bot Hadron has the honor of being the first review of its type here at TweakTown. I would like to thank Punchtec for sending in its Ord Bot Hadron in for review as it has completely changed my mind about certain aspects of 3D printing.
The Ord Bot Hadron design is based on a 3-axis design that utilizes MakerSlide structural components for strength, rigidity, and a smooth, uniform surface to guide the axis on. The Punchtec Ord Bot Hadron was designed by Panchy Rivas, an electrical engineer, whose passion for robotics inspired him to create one of the best desktop 3D printers ever made.

The Ord Bot Hadron's design makes it ideal for quick access to multiple colors of PLA filament, and its "Free Floating" platform allows for easy object removal. A build envelope of 8" x 8" x 6" puts it into the same class as a Mendel Max 1.5, Makerbot Replicator 2, or any of the other 200mm-class desktop 3D printers.
One of the key points of the Ord Bot Hadron is the fact that the entire printer is fully open source, something that is very important to me when choosing a 3D printer. Being open source means that the design is ever evolving; the firmware, electronics, and control software are also being updated by the community regularly. It also means that the consumer has access to the source code and can freely modify it to fit their needs without worry of a lawsuit, or breaking any expensive warranties either. However, modifying the Ord Bot without approved changes will most likely break its warranty.

Specifications

3D printing out of the box in minutes. It took me just 15 minutes to setup and get my first print going.
Easy to install software with preconfigured profiles for PLA and ABS. Windows, Mac, and Linux version available for free download.
Very fast because of its rigid MakerSlide frame, max print speed: 400mm/sec, which is the fastest 3D printer I have ever used.
Build area 190mm x 190mm x 150mm (8in x 8in x 6in) in a very small footprint.
Dimensions of printer: 18? x 19? x 15 3/4? (WxDxH) without spool holders, Weight: 5.89kg (13lbs). Very light and can be carried by a single handle on the top of the printer.
Filament Sizes: standard 1.75mm
Power Requirements: 110-220 VAC. Can be used with any power in the world. (you may need a plug adapter)
Fully open source, meaning that you will be on the leading edge of technology through software updates on the site and have the capability to make your contributions to the open source community.

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DriveSavers Data Recovery Site Tour - Your Data, Recovered

Introduction

One of the hardest concepts for anyone to accept is the fact that all drives fail. Every storage medium, including your phone, USB stick, HDD, SSD, or CD/DVD, will eventually fail. This is not a probability; it is a certainty. All data storage components have an expiration date, but unlike the milk in your refrigerator, you don't know when that date is.
The data storage industry has done their best to try to give us a guideline for when this failure will occur. Unfortunately, the best methods are still just fuzzy math. MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and AFR (Annual Failure Rate) measurements give us a generalized impression there is a looming failure, but even these can be misleading. An MTBF of 1.2 million hours does not guarantee the drive will function for 136 years of continuous operation. MTBF isn't an actual counter that can be relied upon to predict drive life. Some consider AFR, which is a probable percent of failures per year, as a more reliable statistic. In truth, even the manufacturers cannot agree which is the best measurement.

TweakTown image drivesavers_data_recovery_site_tour_your_data_recovered

Regardless of the measurements, nothing can predict when a storage device will die, or when we will personally do something to speed the demise of our precious data. Dropping a cell phone in a bucket of paint doesn't mean the data is gone, just that our precious transport method is compromised.
The team at DriveSavers Data recovery can recover data from all types of data storage devices, from HDDs and CD/DVDs to NAND-based storage devices, such as phones, tablets, USB drives, and SSDs. The wide range of data recovery services also extends into RAID and other parity-based storage systems. SMB, SOHO, and datacenters also rely upon DriveSavers to recover lost data from SAN and NAS systems.

If you ask a data storage professional what is the safest device to store data on, their first response will likely be "several." The key to securing your data is multiple copies, on multiple devices, and preferably at multiple locations. Unfortunately, the majority of people do not take the time to follow a strict backup regimen in their daily lives, and this often comes back to haunt them. Even more surprising, many times the companies and corporations we trust with our data also fail to keep timely backups.
Consumers and companies alike have been turning to DriveSavers Data Recovery to save their data since 1985, and they truly have a unique story and a refreshing outlook on the human aspect of a very technical job. Let's start with what happens the moment someone loses data on a device, and follow the life of the device through the DriveSavers process.
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Project M.A.R.V: The Multi-Rotor Aerial Reconnaissance Vehicle, Part 1

Project M.A.R.V - Part 1

Remote-controlled helicopters, airplanes, cars, and trucks have always been something that I have been highly interested in, and while I have not been active in the RC hobby for several years now, recent events have piqued my interest once again. With the introduction of multi-rotor helicopters over the last couple years, I have been growing quite anxious, and now the technology has grown to be both cheap enough and good enough for me to easily reenter the hobby.
With very little knowledge on the subject of multi-rotor aircraft, I have spent the last few months researching the different types of DIY multi-motors. A close friend of mine just happened to mention a YouTube channel that features a wealth of videos on this very topic, and low and behold, the company that produces the video has an entire series on DIY multi-rotors. Below is a video that shows off some of the AnyCopter Quad Copter I am going to sort of build.

I decided to go with the AnyCopter (http://flitetest.com/articles/anycopter-hub-build) design for several reasons. The first being that the FlightTest guys release all of their design files and bill of materials list freely on the Internet, and the second being that it seemed to be powerful enough to allow me to do both First Person View (POV) flight, as well as being able to support the weight of a GoPro camera and GPS tracking module. Finally, I wanted something that was easily repairable as I know I will crash the quad-copter many times before I master its flight.
As I said, AnyCopter design is very appealing to me as it is quite configurable and easily upgradeable when you want to add more rotors to the setup. The hosts of FlightTest have actually laid out everything you need to build an AnyCopter, including a bill of materials, build instructions, and even the laser cut parts if you want to take the easy route. They even offer an entire chassis kit that includes the motor mounts, landing gear, arms, and chassis, but that is just too easy for me. While I could take this easy route out, I prefer the route less taken and want to DIY the chassis myself.

While I do not have access to a laser cutter, I do have a few 3D printers just laying around that I wanted to utilize when building my quad-copter, and after a quick search on Thingiverse, I found someone who had taken the AnyCopter design and recreated it roughly in 3D form and exported the STL files for quick and easy printing. This left me with just a need to source the mounting hardware and 1/2-inch square wooden dowels to use as the arms. For this project, I am keeping a complete build list on GitHub, and there you can find a complete Bill of Materials, with links and prices to all the hardware, code, and files needed to build your own 3D printed AnyCopter.
Other than simply building a multi-rotor from scratch, I have several other projects that will tie into this as a way to give me a few more projects to play around with over the next few weeks. Obviously, the main goal is to build the quad-copter and get it up in the air. Secondly, I would like for it to be able to capture video while in flight. Additionally, I would like to be able to track the flight path of the quad-copter using a DIY GPS data logger that I will build. Finally, I really would like to be able to fly the quad in FPV mode and use it to capture some amazing aerial footage of some local buildings and natural features.

To reach this goal, I have partnered up with Hobby King and PAPAGO to help fund the project. Hobby King is hooking me up with all of the electronics needed for this build, including motors, radios, speed controllers, batteries, and the flight control board. I am also going to be covering a few of their DIY multi-rotor kits over the next few months. PAPAGO has sent me one of their new GoLife Extreme action cameras to handle the in-flight video recording. This is an excellent camera to use because of its rugged and robust design that allows it to withstand a beating as well as survive a crash in the event I put the copter into the ground.

For the GPS data logger, I will be utilizing the TinyDuino series from TinyCircuits. The company's founder has already built something similar to track his cat's position during his time spent outside. When you combine the TinyDuino's size with the readily available code for this project, it makes for the perfect solution for my GPS data logging needs. I will utilize my 3D printing capabilities to design and print a case for this project that is capable of mounting directly to the quad-copter's frame.
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PLX Technology Site Visit - ExpressFabric Demonstration

Introduction

TweakTown image plx_technology_site_visit_expressfabric_demonstration

PLX Technology Inc. has been developing leading I/O interconnect silicon and software since 1994. Many associate PLX Technology with PCI Express switches and bridges, but they also manufacture USB controllers, legacy PCI bridges, and consumer storage controllers. Their PCI Express switches and bridges are a common component on server motherboards and other products, and they have a commanding 70 percent market share in this field.
PLX has provided the catalyst for explosive PCI Express technology advancements. They sampled the first PCIe switch in 2004, and their first PCIe Bridge followed soon after. By 2007, they had shipped over 1 million PCIe chips, and have now evolved into a company that churns out over a million units per quarter and has sold 100 million ports.
PLX Technology is developing PCIe Gen4, but also qualifying the ExpressFabric converged fabric. The advent of hyperscale and cloud computing has spurred a re-imagination of datacenter architecture. Disruptive technologies and Open Compute initiatives are challenging the old way of thinking and delivering designs purpose-built for optimum efficiency. The emergence of software-defined datacenters (SDDC) and software-designed storage (SDS) requires new designs that allow total control of resource allocation.

Today's datacenter rack is inherently inefficient. Each server has its own CPU, DRAM, networking, and storage equipment. External shared storage is connected via HBAs and HCAs utilizing switches and interconnects. Network access is achieved using a similar method. Each server has its own LOM or NIC connection to the datacenter network.
Each individual server is essentially its own fully functioning ecosystem, but this is not an efficient design.
A new holistic approach is required that leverages the benefits of each subsystem independently. Let's take a look at a short video that explains PLX Technology's ExpressFabric concept, and then take a closer look at the details of ExpressFabric.
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WD MyCloud EX2 Two-Bay Consumer Cloud Storage Review

Introduction

As far as network storage is concerned, two and four bay appliances sell like hotcakes. Recognizing this, Western Digital, having previously launched MyCloud EX4, went to the drawing board to refine their cloud storage solution. The end result of this refinement is the product we have in house today, the MyCloud EX2.
The MyCloud EX2 features a design some will be familiar with. With the exterior, we have something that compliments the MyBook lineup, a tried and true design that most of us love for its simplicity and elegant curves. Internally, the drawing board comes into play. Here we have an upgraded SoC in the form of the Armada 370 operating at 1.2GHz, alongside 512MB of DRAM, with a single Gigabit Ethernet port placed on the back of the unit and dual USB 3.0 ports rounding out the I/O connections.
This new two-bay storage solution is available in 4TB, 6TB and 8TB capacities, all of which are setup from the factory in RAID 1. There is also a diskless option available from WD.

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

MSRP for the WD MyCloud EX2 in the 4TB capacity is set at $369.99, while the 6TB model is listed at $469.99 and the 8TB at $569.99. The Diskless option can be had for $199.99.
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Sentey Revolution Pro Laser Gaming Mouse Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

While all of our previous introductions at TweakTown about Sentey were typically dealing with either a chassis or a PSU, it seems we may have been missing out. Since we last heard from Sentey to look around at what chassis designs we wanted to review, there was little to no talk of what peripherals were on offer. After what seemed like a year or two, we were contacted again out of the blue to have a look at one of their latest mice to hit the market. We graciously accepted the sample, and we are now here to show TweakTown readers what Sentey peripherals are about as we take a spin around this product.
Just at a quick glance, it seems that Sentey has been very busy since the last time their product list was checked. Since then, there has been a minor explosion of peripherals coming in the form of five mice, as many keyboards and headsets, and even four mouse surfaces to use with their mice. It seems we did in fact miss out on quite a few products, but today that changes as we were sent the Sentey Revolution Pro, a laser based gaming mouse that offers unique ideas and implementations, but it still comes in a familiar and comfortable design.
Given the Revolution Pro is the first I have ever seen a peripheral from Sentey, I am not quite sure what to expect. With little hype on forums or in flash ads, there really isn't much to base an opinion off of. This is what employs people like me, and without any blinders on as we tour the Revolution Pro, we hope it is as good as what the Sentey site and all of its literature there touts this mouse to be. We'll see if there is true value or if this is just a flash in the pan.

Sentey delivers a specifications chart like they care about their customers and feel that they are knowledgeable. As we cruise down the list, we see the laser sensor offers 8200 DPI in 100 DPI increments, and it also offers four levels of settings that can be adjusted on-the-fly. They even mention the sensor by name as gamers are educated and are looking for the Avago ADNS 9800 sensor in products. It then covers the 1ms polling rate and 12,000 FPS frame rate. Then, after passing the 4D scroll wheel, it continues with the tracking speed and acceleration this sensor can track. The X- and Y-axis can be unlinked, there are nine buttons plus the DPI selector, and the software offers five profiles. The last bits of the top section cover the use of ceramic feet; that it offers five LED colors depending on the profile in use; that it has adjustable weights; and that it uses USB 2.0 for connectivity.
The lower section covers the gold plated USB 2.0 connection, cable length and type, the size and weight, and even the dimensions. What they don't cover is that this mouse is also feature packed in looks as well as the LED colors, and also a DPI indicator that is in easy view. They also don't mention that this design uses a mixture of shiny bits, matte bits, as well as rubberized bits to offer comfort in their design as well as grip. There is also a hidden surprise to the right side of this mouse; the surprise is where the side section will unlock and come off to expose weighting, and as an added bonus, there is even an optional side grip that the stock one can be replaced with to cover the weight tray.
It seems pretty simple to locate the Sentey Revolution Pro laser mouse. It took us all of about 5 seconds to open a browser, type in the name, press enter, and find listings of this mouse to go and buy from. At Sentey, they have the MSRP of $89.99 posted right on their product page for this product, but it did not take long to see it can be had for less, and in some instances, almost $15 less. As most mice seem to sell these days in the $50 to $100 range once it is marketed for gaming and not the basic email and Facebook "clicker," the pricing can be had right in the average. Here is to hoping the average pricing also comes along with an above average product.
PRICING: You can find the Sentey Revolution Pro for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Sentey Revolution Pro retails for $74.99 at Amazon.
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LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 External Storage Device Review

Introduction

Just before CES 2014, a lot of anticipation swirled around the tech scene as to who would release the world first Thunderbolt 2 enabled device. After all, Intel announced its Thunderbolt 2 spec to the public the previous April.
Right now, three months into the year, I can think of only a few companies that have a Thunderbolt 2 product on the market, and one of those happens to be LaCie. LaCie has enjoyed tremendous success with their excellent line of backup and not-so backup storage solutions. I say not-so backup storage solutions because the solution we are about to look at is an absolute screamer, tearing through data in milliseconds.
The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 is the next evolution of external storage solutions. It's capable of 1375 MB/s read and 1180 MB/s write in RAID0, and, with that kind of performance, I'm not so sure anyone would want to run it in RAID1. In fact, LaCie configures the LBD TB2 in RAID0 from the factory. Of course, the big reason this device is being marketed as the "World's Fastest Portable Storage" is the inclusion of two M.2 PCIe SSDs, both of which are 512GB and manufactured by Samsung.
Compatibility of the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 extends to OS X 10.8.5+, and, of course, you will need an available Thunderbolt 2 port for maximum performance, but it is backwards compatible to first generation Thunderbolt.

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

MSRP for the 1TB Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 is set at $1299.99 with a three-year warranty. Availability is slim-to-none at this point but should ramp up in the very near future as units make it to channel partners.
PRICING: You can find the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 (1TB) retails for $1,299.00 at Amazon.
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TRENDnet TEW-818DRU AC1900 802.11ac Wireless Router Review

Introduction

As of late, many networking vendors have stepped up releasing their high-end AC1900 wireless routers. As far routers go, AC1900 technology is the top-tier solution in today's market with simultaneous 2.4GHz 802.11n at 600Mbps and 5GHz 802.11ac at 1300Mbps.
Back at Storage Visions 2014, Chris Ramseyer sat down with Zak Wood from TRENDnet and discussed the very router we have in house today, the TRENDnet 818DRU.

The 818DRU features four gigabit Ethernet ports on the back for connecting your wired devices through copper, and an additional gigabit port for connecting your modem. We also have the inclusion of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports on the back with printing and storage device support.

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

MSRP of the TRENDnet 818DRU AC1900 wireless router is listed at $179.99 with a three-year warranty. Availability of the router is very high at this point with several retailers having it ready to ship. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the TRENDnet 818DRU for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The TRENDnet 818DRU retails for $179.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The TRENDnet 818DRU retails for CDN$216.01 at Amazon Canada.
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Ozone Strike Pro Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

Ozone may in fact be new to me as far as seeing what they have to offer, but in reality, they have been releasing products for gamers for some time now. With our first go with any of their products being the Neon mouse, things between us started off on a really good note. Along with that mouse, we were also sent the newest keyboard in their lineup to have a look at and express our opinion on, and today is the day we do just that.
There is an original to this latest design with the Ozone Strike mechanical keyboard. That keyboard was thick and chunky, had a removable wrist rest, offered a two-port USB hub along with audio pass-through jacks, and was only released with Cherry MX black switches under the keycaps. Other features like backlit keys, one millisecond polling rate, NKRO, and basic layout made for a great keyboard for gamers, or anyone really, as long as the drops of red coloring on the wrist rest wasn't too distracting for the usual typists out there. Thing is, times change, new ideas sprout, and companies find themselves thinking, "if I had the chance to do it all over I would do this or that?" That is exactly what we have going on today.
Ozone has sent along the Strike Pro mechanical gaming keyboard that is also backlit and heavily designed with gamers in mind. All around, the design has been revamped; they have made this version more compact and lighter. They now offer a choice of four Cherry MX switches, and while we do lose a USB 2.0 port in this design, the wrist rest is now an incorporated component of the frame.
There is plenty more that has changed from the Ozone Strike to their latest Strike Pro we are about to get into, but if you want to see what Ozone has delivered in full effect, you need to continue reading as we cover all of the changes and see how well this keyboard can stand up to the flood of mechanical offerings currently on the market.

The Strike Pro offers the typical 104-key US/English layout with single shot keycaps with rubberized coatings placed over Cherry MX red switches (in the version we were sent). Jumping ahead, we see that weight has been dropped from the 1550 grams of the Strike to now just 1300 grams; the height is reduced 6mm, and the width is much smaller this time, but the length from front to back has increased now that the wrist rest has been incorporated into the frame design. Not only are the key caps rubberized, but so is the top portion of the frame, delivering a clean, matte finish to the Strike Pro, and the coating also reduces fingerprints or marks in general. To connect this keyboard to an IBM PC or Windows compatible PC, there is a 1.5-meter braided cloth cable that has a pair of gold plated 3.5mm jacks for the audio and a gold plated USB 2.0 connection for the keyboard and USB 2.0 port on the back of the keyboard.
On a more technical level, there are some really cool features offered. This board supports NKRO over USB, or anti-ghosting, which means combined with the adjustable to 1ms polling rate, this keyboard should never miss a click. Along with Multimedia keys, Macro Keys, and the option to lock-out the Windows keys, we also have LEDs under each key cap. Most of the keyboard will illuminate with white letters and iconography, but the QWEASD keys to the left and the arrow keys at the lower right are backed with red LEDs making movement for gamers very obvious to find on the keyboard. The last major feature we should cover is the onboard memory. Since you can also reprogram key functionality as well as programming Macros via software, the 64KB of memory in the keyboard is handy to allow you to take just the keyboard and keep all of you favorite settings while out on the go.
Finding the Strike Pro is relatively easy at this point since its release. What we are finding is that most listings put this keyboard in a price range right at or just above the $150 mark. When considering I have seen everything from an $80 solution all the way up to and beyond $200, the Strike Pro is priced right in the middle against most of the competition out there today. Just knowing what we do so far, without trying anything out, the pricing seems very reasonable for what we are getting in the Strike Pro backlit mechanical gaming keyboard. All we have to do now is go over everything that Ozone has done and see if the Strike Pro is as good in reality as it looks on paper.
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Intel Reports First-Quarter Revenue of $12.8 Billion
Intel Corporation today reported first-quarter revenue of $12.8 billion, operating income of $2.5 billion, net income of $1.9 billion and EPS of 38 cents. The company generated approximately $3.5 billion in cash from operations, paid dividends of $1.1 billion, and used $545 million to repurchase 22 million shares of stock.

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"In the first quarter we saw solid growth in the data center, signs of improvement in the PC business, and we shipped 5 million tablet processors, making strong progress on our goal of 40 million tablets for 2014," said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. "Additionally, we demonstrated our further commitment to grow in the enterprise with a strategic technology and business collaboration with Cloudera, we introduced our second-generation LTE platform with CAT6 and other advanced features, and we shipped our first Quark products for the Internet of Things."
Q1 Key Business Unit Trends

PC Client Group revenue of $7.9 billion, down 8 percent sequentially and down 1 percent year-over-year.
Data Center Group revenue of $3.1 billion, down 5 percent sequentially and up 11 percent year-over-year.
Internet of Things Group revenue of $482 million, down 10 percent sequentially and up 32 percent year-over-year.
Mobile and Communications Group revenue of $156 million, down 52 percent sequentially and down 61 percent year-over-year.
Software and services operating segments revenue of $553 million, down 6 percent sequentially and up 6 percent year-over-year.

Business Outlook
Intel's Business Outlook does not include the potential impact of any business combinations, asset acquisitions, divestitures, strategic investments and other significant transactions that may be completed after April 15.
Q2 2014

Revenue: $13.0 billion, plus or minus $500 million.
Gross margin percentage: 63 percent, plus or minus a couple of percentage points.
R&D plus MG&A spending: approximately $4.8 billion.
Restructuring and asset impairment charges: approximately $100 million.
Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles: approximately $75 million.
Impact of equity investments and interest and other: approximately $75 million.
Depreciation: approximately $1.9 billion.

Full-Year 2014

Revenue: approximately flat, unchanged from prior expectations.
Gross margin percentage: 61 percent, plus or minus a few percentage points, 1 percentage point higher than prior expectations.
R&D plus MG&A spending: $18.9 billion, plus or minus $200 million, higher than prior expectations of $18.6 billion.
Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles: approximately $300 million, unchanged from prior expectations.
Depreciation: approximately $7.4 billion, unchanged from prior expectations.
Tax rate: approximately 27 percent for each of the remaining quarters of the year.
Full-year capital spending: $11.0 billion, plus or minus $500 million, unchanged from prior expectations.

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Toshiba Announces Completely Redesigned Performance Laptops
Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced its completely redesigned line of its all-purpose performance laptops - the ultra-slim 15.6-inch Satellite S55, desktop replacement 17.3-inch Satellite S75 and highly mobile 14-inch Satellite E45. The laptops deliver powerful capabilities in a premium design built to increase productivity and provide an excellent entertainment experience.

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"These new laptops are designed to give power users and entertainment enthusiasts the power and versatility to do more with their laptop," said Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Full-featured, completely customizable with an all-new stunning design, these laptops provide the ultimate audio and visual experience for movies, games and more."

Premium Styling and Enhanced Entertainment
The new Satellite S Series features a stylish brushed aluminum finish and new thinner design. At less than 0.8 inch thin, the Satellite S55 is up to 29 percent thinner than the previous generation, and starts at just 4.6 pounds1, making it easy to carry and comfortable to use anywhere. The larger Satellite S75 offers more screen real estate for productivity, gaming and entertainment, and is available with a built-in rewriteable Blu-ray Disc drive2. The Satellite E45 is also less than 0.8 inch thin and weighs 4.6 pounds, making it highly portable and easy to carry.
The Satellite S55 and E45 also feature a new TruType keyboard with contoured, raised tile keys and optional LED backlighting that deliver a more comfortable and responsive typing experience - while a large clickpad keeps users in control of all their tasks, browsing and entertainment. In addition the Satellite S55t and E45t can be configured with a 10-point touchscreen, for easy interactivity and navigation with Windows 8.1.
The Satellite S55 and E45 can be configured with an HD (1366x768) or Full HD (1920x1080) TruBrite display and the Satellite S75 can be configured with an HD+ (1600x900) or Full HD TruBrite display. All are equipped with high-fidelity Harman Kardon stereo speakers enhanced by DTS Sound for an exceptional listening experience.
Premium Performance and Connectivity
The Satellite S Series and E Series are designed to help users get more done, delivering fast, smooth and responsive performance for enhanced entertainment and multitasking. The laptops can be configured with powerful 4th generation Intel Core i5 or i7 dual-core processors3, up to 16GB of DDR3L 1600MHz memory4 and up to 1TB of storage5. The Satellite S55 also supports the AMD A10 Accelerated Processing Unit. For faster gameplay and immersive image quality, the Satellite S55 and S75 can be equipped with optional AMD Radeon M7 M260 discrete graphics6 with 2GB of video memory.
The Satellite S Series and E Series laptops feature a full array of ports to accommodate for a variety of computing needs, including an HDMI port capable of 4K output in certain models and dual USB 3.0 ports7, one with USB Sleep & Charge technology8, which allow users to charge USB-powered electronics while the laptop is powered down. In addition, select Satellite S Series laptops include powerful wireless capabilities, such as ultrafast 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.0 and Intel Wireless Display9 enabling wireless content sharing to compatible large screen TVs.
Availability
The new Satellite S Series will be available on June 22, 2014, at major retailers, e-tailers and direct from Toshiba, starting at $698.99 MSRP10.
The new Satellite E Series will be available on June 22, 2014, exclusively at Best Buy, starting at $649.99 MSRP.

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ASUStor Announces Compatibility for ASUS Xonar Series USB DAC Devices
ASUSTOR Inc., a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, announced today that it has added support for USB digital-to-analog audio converters (DAC) giving ASUSTOR users the ability to use a USB DAC to increase the quality of audio output from their NAS devices. A USB DAC can be conveniently used in concert with ASUSTOR's SoundsGood music player App to provide users with a heightened listening experience featuring fuller and deeper sound. Featured in this integration of USB DAC devices are four models from ASUS. These models include the Xonar Essence III, Xonar Essence One, Xonar Essence STU and Xonar U3.

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"Today's NAS applications have evolved from the traditional storage and backup functions as demand for multimedia functionality has taken off," said Steve Huang, Product Manager at ASUSTOR. "ASUSTOR has made great efforts to support the increasing multimedia demands of NAS users by providing compatibility for a wide range of peripherals. With this integration of USB DAC devices, ASUSTOR users will be able to savor a fully enhanced hi-fi listening experience when playing music from their NAS."
The exclusive SoundsGood Web music player App was developed in-house by ASUSTOR and is available for all ASUSTOR NAS devices. Users can download and install SoundsGood free of charge from App Central. SoundsGood allows users to directly stream and play music from within ADM and allows users to create and edit playlists. Additionally, SoundsGood contains a built-in ID3 tag editor and also supports the showing of album cover artwork, giving users added convenience when searching, managing and editing their music content. Furthermore, SoundsGood features multiple options for audio output from the NAS* including connecting to an amplifier via HDMI, USB DAC output, output via Bluetooth speakers or output from speakers connected to the NAS's audio-jack. This provides a great deal of deployment flexibility to users, allowing them to select the output method most suitable to their needs. SoundsGood can also be used with the AiMusic mobile app which allows users to remotely stream music from their NAS while on the go. AiMusic supports both online and offline music playback and allows users to change tracks by shaking their device. AiMusic is currently available for both iOS and Android devices.
HDMI output is available on: AS-6, AS-3 and AS-2TE series devices.
Audio-jack output is available on: AS-3 and AS-2TE series devices.

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Available Tags:Motorola , Wireless , Google , Sony , hardware , smartphone , Nokia , HTC , Facebook , iPhone , iPad , Samsung , Microsoft , Xbox , Toyota , Blu-ray , 3D , Gaming , Thunderbolt , Router , Keyboard , Intel , Toshiba , ASUS , USB ,

Sunday, April 20, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 21/04/2014

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Video

Audio

Extras

Introduction and Specifications

Using the PAPAGO GoWatch 770

What's Hot

What's Not

Final Thoughts

Overview of the Ord Bot Hadron 3D Printer from Punchtec

Specifications

Introduction

Project M.A.R.V - Part 1

Introduction

Introduction

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

Introduction

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

Introduction

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

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