Android rumored to see voice commands baked all over the OS
We are expecting an update to Android any day now, something we should see unveiled at Google I/O in a couple of months time. But, it looks like Google is going to bake in much more powerful and ever-present voice commands into its mobile OS.
On top of the improved "OK Google" commands, we should expect a new navigation bar that will replace the home button with a "Google" item. Tapping this would start a search without having to utter a word. When you need to go back to the main screen, you could use the "recents" key, too.
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ASUS shows off its first SSD, the HyperXpress SSD
ASUS has teamed up with Kingston to build its first SSD, the HyperXpress SSD. The ASUS HyperXpress SSD is built into a 9.5mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor drive, featuring the SATA Express interface - something that ASUS' upcoming motherboards will feature.
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Buried copies of Atari video games found in New Mexico landfill
Hundreds of Atari video game cartridges, including "E.T.," were found in a landfill located in Alamogordo, New Mexico. All other discoveries will be recorded for a Microsoft-funded documentary that will be available for Xbox gamers before the end of 2014.
"We found something," said Zak Penn, famed movie director, after a cache of video games was discovered. "For anybody who doubted, there's a whole heck of a lot of games down there. We just saw them!"
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3D printing predicted to reach $16.2 billion in 2018
The 3D printer market topped $2.5 billion worldwide in 2013, and analysts believe that number will balloon drastically, reaching $16.2 billion by 2018, according to research from Canalys. 3D printing technology became more prominent over the past year or two, but the printers and materials are still relatively expensive.
"This is a market with enormous growth potential now that the main barriers to uptake are being addressed," said Tim Shepherd, Canalys senior analyst, in an interview with SiliconValley.com. "As it matures, there is clear and substantial potential across numerous sectors, such as engineering and architecture, aerospace and defense, and medical (particularly in the fabrication of custom prosthetics), for 3D printing to have a dramatic impact within five years."
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Android malware that mines for bitcoin found on Google Play store
While the bitcoin cryptocurrency remains popular among supporters, trying to mine bitcoins effectively has proven difficult. However, cybercriminals are hijacking everything from smartphones and tablets to servers in their effort to cash in on distributed computing and mining. And these hijacked apps are now being found in the Google Play store, with users downloading these apps before they are spotted.
Cybercriminals are finding Android's open source architecture - and the Google Play store - great assets in their effort to steal information and compromise users. A recent Iowa State University (ISU) data breach, which opened up to 30,000 to potential identity theft, was caused by criminals trying to hijack servers to mine for bitcoins.
"Your phone is running low on battery and it seems to be working harder than usual," security firm Lookout noted. "Would you ever suspect that it was secretly mining bitcoin for someone you don't know?"
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Smartphone kill switch dead in the water, thanks to California senate
After an extended discussion on the Senate floor, California legislators shot down mandatory smartphone kill switch legislation pushed by Sen. Mark Leno and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon. Leno plans to ask the Senate to vote on the bill again in the near future, hoping to sway a few more lawmakers before the second vote.
Smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers have been hesitant to embrace kill switches, though have agreed to offer voluntary solutions starting after July 2015. The addition of smartphone kill switches would help consumers save up to $2.6 billion per year, with metropolitan areas continuing to see a rise in smartphone robbery and theft.
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Google rumored to expand its Fiber coverage with Wi-Fi services
It looks like Google is set to expand its Google Fiber service again, with Google Fiber-capable cities receiving letters stating those cities are candidates for Fiber coverage, which mentioned a Wi-Fi service.
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Galaxy S5 launch sales have reportedly beaten iPhone 5S launch figures
As it stands right now, a new infographic states that Samsung has sold more Galaxy S5 smartphones on the day of its launch than Apple did iPhone 5S smartphones when it launched last year.
From here, we know that Samsung had great launch day sales of the Galaxy S5, where it hopes to ship 35 million Galaxy S5 smartphones in Q2 2014 alone. Apple on the other hand, just announced it had sold 43.7 million iPhone's in its last quarter - but those 43.7 million iPhone's are all iPhone's sold - iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, and so on. Right now, Samsung seems to be really putting the pressure on Apple.
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New 'high-performance' Battlefield 4 to stop rubber-banding issues
EA and DICE are finally getting around to solving the rubber-banding issues that have plagued Battlefield 4 since its launch. DICE said at the beginning of the month that it had plans to upgrade the BF4 servers as the developer was "unhappy" with the performance when rubber-banding came into play.
DICE's VIce President and General Manager, Karl Magnus Troedsson said: "While the process took longer than we would've liked, we wanted to be 100 percent sure it was done right and that the long-term solution was properly in place".
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Organizations unable to keep up, and cybercriminals are winning
Cybercriminals have a large arsenal of different methods and tools to compromise users and corporations, but 92 percent of 100,000 security incidents analyzed by Verizon can be traced to nine basic attack patterns.
The following are listed as the nine most typical threat patterns: miscellaneous errors such as sending an email to the wrong person; crimeware (various malware aimed at gaining control of systems); insider/privilege misuse; physical theft/loss; Web app attacks; denial of service attacks; cyberespionage; point-of-sale intrusions; and payment card skimmers.
In addition, cyberespionage has increased more than three-fold year-over-year, and that type of criminal behavior is likely to continue. Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks also have increased, with cybercriminals able to launch attacks with very little expense.
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Microsoft shipped more Xbox 360 units to retailers than Xbox One in Q3
The Microsoft Xbox One game console might have surpassed 5 million units sold, but only managed to ship 1.2 million units to retailers during the third quarter. Astonishingly, the older Xbox 360 outsold the Xbox One for the quarter, as Microsoft continues to struggle to woo consumers to buy its newest game console.
Meanwhile, Sony is having trouble keeping its top retail partners stocked with the PS4, as the Japanese company topped 7 million units sold. Moving forward, Microsoft will have to shake up its Xbox One bundle further, as Titanfall - which has sold fairly well - didn't lead to a massive sales increase that game analysts warned Microsoft might not see.
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Unreal Engine 4 supports PS4 and Xbox One; will support Linux, SteamOS
Epic Games recently released its 4.1 update where it provided details of its plans that will help any independent game developers who wish to make a game using Unreal Engine 4.
They've also mentioned in its notes that it will be providing full support for SteamOS and Linux, therefore giving more choice and platform options for indie developers. This move made by Epic will provide easy options for those game developers who wish to have their games powered by Unreal Engine 4 beyond Windows powered PCs, and even for Sony PS4 and Xbox One.
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HTC's head of design calls it quits, will go back to self employment
The man responsible for designing the two best smartphones ever made is stepping down from his position today. Scott Croyle, HTC's lead industrial and user experience designer has announced that he is leaving HTC after 6 years. Croyle says that he is departing from HTC to work on his own projects, but will continue working on HTC designs independently.
"Drew Bamford is an experienced and talented leader at HTC with solid track records in leading and building our user experience team," HTC said. "Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in product development and user experience, Drew will lead HTC Creative Labs and focus on innovative new products and user experience strategies."
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Elon Musk confirms Falcon 9 achieve soft touchdown, but lost to storm
Today, SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk, announced that the company's Falcon 9 rocket's boost stage had successfully achieved a soft landing in the Atlantic Ocean, a major milestone for private spaceflight. This milestone will enable SpaceX to reuse the fuel container as well as some rocket parts which will save the company millions and allow for quicker turnaround times between launches.
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Companies need to understand: employees don't care about BYOD security
Executives including chief information officers (CIOs) are increasingly concerned about 'bring your own device' (BYOD) security principles, while employees don't tend to care. A recent survey found that 15 percent of employees believe they have minimal responsibility in keeping company data secure if stored on personal smartphones, tablets, or laptops, according to a survey from Centrify.
Employees largely don't want to use a personal device and work-issued smartphone, and if they don't take responsibility for corporate information, companies will use intrusive software - and sometimes brick or remotely wipe lost or stolen devices. BYOD will continue to be a complicated matter for companies and employees to try and sort out for a mutual benefit on both sides.
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Facebook launched NewsWire, a new service designed for journalist
Finding interesting news stories on Facebook has become increasingly hard to do over the last few years, and that is mainly due to the dilution of the news feed caused by so many useless and noninformative pages. Today Facebook launched a new service that is aimed at making it much easier to find what news stories are trending on the service, and it's called FB NewsWire.
"In Storyful, we're excited to have found a partner with a track record of understanding both the potential of the social web as a key resource for media as well as the tools that newsrooms need to utilize it. We're confident that their news expertise and best-in-class editorial team will help make it even easier for journalists to use compelling social content from Facebook in their newsgathering and reporting," Facebook said in a release. "News is finding a bigger audience on Facebook than ever before. Journalists and media organizations have become an integral part of Facebook, which is visible in features like Trending Topics, improvements to Pages, and recent changes to News Feed. Publishers are seeing the results of our commitment, with referral traffic from Facebook to media sites growing more than 4x in 2013, and we're excited to deepen our relationship with media organizations and journalists in the days to come."
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Silicon Valley companies settle poaching case, employees should win
Google, Apple, Adobe and Intel have recently reached a settlement that accused the four Silicon Valley companies of collusion, with each company promising not to poach employees from one another. The class-action lawsuit was originally filed in 2011, and was the brainchild of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, designed to help keep wages lower.
"This settlement should result in much higher salaries for folks who are in high-demand positions," said Rob Enderle, Enderle Group principal analyst, in a statement to the San Jose Mercury News. "You will start to see bidding wars between companies, and those will start to drive salaries up."
Companies in Silicon Valley, which has fierce competition for trained tech workers, also have turned to poaching efforts at commuter ferry and shuttle stops.
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China the leading source of cyberattacks, new report confirms
The Chinese government is routinely blamed for cyberattacks, especially against U.S. and other western nations, and the country is still the top source for attacks, according to a report from Akamai. China amounted for 43 percent of attack traffic, which is an astonishing lead ahead of the United States at 19 percent, research found.
However, not all attacks from Chinese-based IP addresses are likely from cyberattackers within the country - since the nation has seen an explosion in mobile and PC Internet use, many hijacked systems are compromised from hackers located elsewhere.
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FTC says that ban on direct sales of Tesla vehicles is bad policy
In the mid 1900's most states adopted laws that forced car manufacturers to only sell their vehicles through independent local dealers instead of through their own sales dealerships. While these laws prevented market domination of a single manufacturer, it has become a hinderance for smaller manufacturers such as Tesla to get their vehicles sold in many states. Today the Federal Trade Commission finally voiced its opinion on the banning of direct Tesla vehicle sales by several states.
Tesla sold just 22,000 cars last year which is barely a fraction of the 15 million total sales the entire new car industry sold. In the post, the FTC says that that number hardly makes Tesla a serious threat, and these lawns need changing. "What it could represent is a real change to the way cars are sold that might allow Tesla to expand in the future and prove attractive to other manufacturers, whether established or new ones that have yet to emerge, and consumers. Efforts to litigate, legislate, and regulate to eliminate Tesla's perceived threat have forced it to battle jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction for the simple right to sell its automobiles directly to consumers," the statement continued.
Unfortunately, the regulations are on a state-by-state basis and the FTC has no control or influence on getting these laws changed. This means that for the foreseeable future, states who have big car dealer lobby's will continue to ban the direct sale of Tesla vehicles. The only thing that looks to be a viable solution for Tesla now would be to offer dealer franchises to independent salesmen in those states.
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Microsoft now officially owns Nokia's devices and services division
As announced earlier this week, Microsoft has finally closed the deal on its acquisition of Nokia's devices and services division. Todays finalization sees Microsoft take full ownership of the Nokia Lumia line of smartphones, something the company says is pivotal in taking Windows Phone to the next level. Microsoft says that it will continue to support the Nokia Asha and Lumia X line of non Window's phones, but it is still unclear if they will release any new non windows phone models.
Stephen Elop, Nokia's former CEO and now head of Microsoft Hardware said: "As Microsoft and Nokia Devices and Services come together as an expanded family, we will unify our passion, dedication and commitment to bringing you the best of what our joint technologies have to offer."
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Transcend releases JetDrive SSD upgrade kits for MacBook
One of many storage and multimedia product manufacturer Transcend has launched JetDrive upgrade kits for MacBook systems. The upgrade kit is made specifically for professional photographers, videographers and graphic artists. Just like standard upgrade kits, these also come with an SSD/HDD to USB 3.0 enclosure, screw driver for T5 and P5 screws and even a travel pouch.
It also comes with JetDrive Toolbox which uses S.M.A.R.T. data to display health status of the Transcend JetDrive SSD. These drives are backed by 5 year warranty support and the enclosures have warranty support of up to 2 years. In JetDrive 420, Transcend lists its performance numbers- Sequential Read up to 485MB/s and Sequential Write up to 410MB/s. The Jetdrive 500 is assured with Sequential Read of up to 495MB/s and Sequential Write of up to 427MB/s.
The drive offer support for MacBook as old as late 2008 model, ranging from Mac mini, MacBook, MacBook Pro to its Retina and air counterparts. The compatibility list for the drives are as follows:
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Xapo shows off bitcoin debit card, expanding cryptocurrency offerings
Xapo, the company best known for creating bitcoin vaults, also has introduced a new bitcoin debit card, in an effort to attract more consumers to the popular cryptocurrency. Instead of debiting money from a checking account, however, the Xapo card takes money from bitcoins - a digital card is free, but consumers wanting a physical card will have to pay $15.
The cards should ship within two months, and Xapo is partnering with banks in the U.S. and Europe, using Visa and MasterCard networks.
bitcoin is slowly but surely going mainstream with casual consumers, and supporters hope to see the cryptocurrency shake up the current financial world.
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Coordinated Health hit by second data breach due to stolen laptop
An employee at Coordinated Health had a password-protected laptop stolen from a vehicle in Pennsylvania, and now 700 patients are at risk. A total of 733 victims are at risk, with names, addresses, birthdates, insurance information, and Social Security numbers exposed - with law enforcement made aware of the breach.
It seems ridiculous how frequently stories are published where sensitive information is found on a flash drive, external HDD, or laptop - even if password-protected - which is later lost or stolen while outside of a company building. The exact role of the employee is unknown, though it seems unlikely that many people should have access to sensitive patient information away from the office.
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Android 4.4.3 should include a redesigned Dialer app
Google will soon roll out Android 4.4.3 KitKat, but as usual, we don't know what do expect. The latest report suggests that Google will push through a major redesign of its Dialer app.
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Frank & Oak offer 'near-future aesthetic' Watch Dogs clothing line
Watch Dogs is getting closer, where we've seen a tease of the multiplayer side of the open-world game from Ubisoft, as well as a look at the digital trip Spider Tank vehicle, heck we even heard about a possible sequel to Watch Dogs. Now there's news of a 12-piece men's clothing line from Frank & Oak.
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Captain Phillips (2013) Blu-ray Movie Review
Captain Phillips (2014)
Although it wasn't major news in Australia, in 2009, American news networks went crazy for the true story of Captain Richard Phillips, after his container vessel was boarded by Somali pirates and he was taken hostage for days on a tiny enclosed life boat. The following year, Phillips published his story in A Captain's Duty, which serves as the basis for this dramatization.
Captain Phillips is a gripping, edge-of-the-seat thriller, which despite the outcome being reasonably obvious, nevertheless does not let up for its two-hour duration. Director Paul Greengrass, a reliable and accomplished director with an interestingly eclectic filmography, directs Captain Phillips with both style and gritty realism.
Video
Captain Phillips is encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression and presented in the intended aspect ratio of 2.40:1.Utilizing a combination of film and digital stocks, heavy digital grading, and significant stretches of "night for day" shooting, it's a wonder how Sony got this film looking so great, let alone consistent. Mastered at 4K resolution and downscaled to 1080p, Captain Phillips looks rather marvelous, with a pleasing amount of fine detail visible in every shot, be it the cold sheen of brushed metal or the sweat of a brow. Color balance is good, even eye popping at times.
With almost the second half of the film taking place in darkness, it's reasonably obvious that the digital grading has skirted between boosting contrast to avoid black crush and attempting to diminish noise and grain. Whilst the odd shot has what I would term "heavy grain," probably due to a manufactured push in, overall, this is very well handled.
Audio
Captain Phillips is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, at 24 bits.Featuring a powerfully resonating track that sound designers have tailored to place the viewer smack bang in the thick of the action, Captain Phillips comes to Blu-ray with an impressive track that exceeds expectations.
I did have to concentrate a little harder than usual to pick up a few lines of dialogue, but I'm willing to put this down to intention rather than flaw. The front soundstage handles most of the action; however, there is a huge amount of rear separation and directional effects.
The low frequency track is very powerful indeed. Probably too powerful. I had to turn down one of the subwoofers that is set to reference levels because it was simply too overbearing. Your experience may differ.
Extras
From the outset, it looks as though Sony went a little light on special features with Captain Phillips, but digging in a little proves that's certainly not the case at all.First up is an Audio Commentary featuring Director Paul Greengrass who rides the track solo and provides some useful and not so useful information, with infrequent gaps in between. Greengrass is not the most engaging commentator of all time, but from a sheer 'film school' perspective, you could do much worse than listen to his thoughts.
Next is the nearly hour long Capturing Captain Phillips, which is split over three logical features. This is a really fascinating feature that first looks at the real life event, extrapolated by news footage from the day, the memoirs that inspired the movie, and the development of the script and filming on the high seas--no CG here, folks. I was particularly interested to see footage of the film's finale, which was apparently filmed unscripted, which just goes to show how talented Tom Hanks and his co-stars are.
PRICING: You can find the Captain Phillips 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 Captain Phillips Blu-ray retails for $22.30 at Amazon.
Canada: The Captain Phillips Blu-ray retails for CDN$27.99 at Amazon Canada.
Australia: The Captain Phillips Blu-ray retails for $39.99 AUD at Mighty Ape Australia.
New Zealand: The Captain Phillips Blu-ray retails for $44.99 NZD at Mighty Ape NZ.
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Cinema Movie Review
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
From the first Iron Man feature in 2008, their acquisition by Disney the following year and a record breaking $1.5 billion box office haul from 2012's The Avengers, Marvel Studios has continued to grow from strength to strength, with hit after hit, allowing not only a license to print cash in their own right, but also exponentially increasing the value of all their associated properties. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chris Evans returns as the all-American hero, but does the sequel play it safe or attempt to shake up the formula? Read on, dear reader...
Not only does it implicate many members of SHIELD that we've come to know, but also involves a figure from Rogers' past - the ramifications of which will ripple through the Avengers initiative and bring the organisation and its leadership to its knees.
I don't want to dwell too much on the film's surprises (some of them admittedly poorly kept), but I can't stress enough how the events of this film will significantly alter the intricate world that the studio has spent eight films developing. With this in mind, it's disappointing, but probably unsurprising that after all the espionage, conspiracy and political intrigue that precedes it, the last quarter reverts back to form as a typical blow-em-up actioner, indistinguishable from any other. It's a shame too, because the slow burning set-up was wonderfully executed.
Whilst the introduction of minor characters such as the Falcon, portrayed by Anthony Mackie seems to be stretching the film a little too far, many more significant threads left hanging from the first Captain America are addressed in The Winter Soldier, which in many ways acts a solid pay off for both the first film and as a continuation of The Avengers, to be explored further in next year's The Rise of Ultron.
Where that goes with The Winter Soldier's game changer is anyone's guess, but as always, stay for the post credits coda for a sneak peek. I'll be there, no doubt.
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Limefuel Blast L156X 15,600mAh External Portable Battery Review
Introduction & Specifications
This is the second Limefuel external battery through our labs, and it falls more in favor of the battery. Since my last review on the L240X 24,000mAh model, I took both the L240X and the L156X out from Australia, all the way to the US.
I even took a portable 6000mAh model around with me and charged that battery up from the L156X. This way, I always had a portable battery with me for when I was out, and the bigger battery in my backpack, for charging up my smartphone or NEX-6 to 100 percent...constantly.
It was a great way to be always-on-the-go without having to rely on power sockets at all. It made my backpack a charging hub of sorts, where I could throw it over my shoulder and go, knowing that I have days and days of portable battery for my smartphone and camera.
Using the Limefuel Blast L240X
As I said above, I actually travelled from Australia to the US for an event, where I really needed to test out some new chargers. Why not test the new Limefuel Blast L156X? I had the Blast L156X and L240X both charged to 100 percent, and I took my Nexus 5 and Sony NEX-6 camera, both exclusively charged through the L156X.
I didn't have to charge up my Blast L156 until around day eight of my trip, but I only did this to ensure that I had a full charge ready for my time in San Francisco. I charged it to 100 percent, and I had enough charge for three more days of much more intensive use of my devices, as well as the massive 20+ hour trip home on the plane and in airports.
I was using my Nexus 5 as a 4G mobile hotspot, so it was draining much quicker than normal, meaning I charged it and had it plugged up to my Blast L156X even more. I still achieved those three full days of use and on the plane with the Blast L156X powering through to Australia.
15,600mAh of mobile charge is always something that is going to be great, but the Blast range of devices does it in style, too.
What's Hot
It's Not As Big As You'd Think: Like its even bigger brother, the L240X, the L156X should be big considering its 15,600mAh of mobile battery, but it's not. It's also not heavy. I was lugging it around in my backpack along with the L240X without any strain.
What's Not
No Retractable/Built-in Cables: This is something that I will include in every review that doesn't have retractable or built-in cables. I'm hoping to see Limefuel include these in its next iterations.Final Thoughts
Limefuel has blasted onto the mobile battery scene with some truly great mobile batteries, with the new L156X being no exception. We have 15,600mAh of portable charge, enough for even the biggest of smartphones like the Galaxy Note 3 from Samsung.
If you're after a new charger, I highly recommend you take a look at Limefuel's great range of mobile batteries, and if the Blast L156X fits your price range, don't think, just buy!
PRICING: You can find the Blast L156X 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 Blast L156X retails for $49.99 at Amazon.
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Silicon Power Armor A30 1TB USB 3.0 External HDD Review
Today, we have a product designed to be durable and, at the same time, offer generous capacity at 1TB. The Silicon Power Armor A30 is a portable storage solution equipped with a USB 3.0 connection and durable plastic housing. This solution has increased durability thanks to the silicone rubber that surround the internal drive and enclosure.
Compatibility of the Armor A30 extends to modern Windows operating systems and Mac OS X 10.5+.
MSRP of the Silicon Power Armor A30 in the 1TB capacity is listed at $119.99 with a three-year warranty
The Silicon Power A30 in the 1TB capacity is a great solution for those needing a decent amount of capacity in a durable storage device. During my time with it, I did happen to have some unfortunate events with the drive, during which I knocked it off my desk while it was plugged into my PC and even dropped it while I was preparing the unit for images. After all of that, the unit still worked perfectly, and I wasn't able to hear any awkward drive clicks or anything that would otherwise raise an alarm that the drive may be bad.
Performance of the drive was pretty good as well, and we actually were able to hit 120 MB/s read with the drive, which is no small feat for a 2.5-inch hard drive. Write speed of the drive came in at that same 120 MB/s mark, and price/performance put this solution near the top of our charts as well.
MSRP of the Silicon Power Armor A30 is set at $119.99 with a three-year warranty. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the Silicon Power Armor A30 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 Silicon Power Armor A30 retails for $74.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Silicon Power Armor A30 retails for CDN$146.18 at Amazon Canada.
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D-Link DHP-601AV 600Mbps Powerline Starter Kit Review
The D-Link 601AV is a powerline solution capable of delivering 600Mbps through your home's existing electrical lines. Each of the endpoints feature gigabit Ethernet connectivity while also supporting power save mode for low energy consumption. When the powerline adapters are at work, D-Link says they consume just 3.7 watts.
MSRP of the D-Link DHP-601AV is set at $99.99 with a one-year warranty.
The D-Link DHP-601AV is a great solution for those wanting to extend their wired network without the ability to run massively long lengths of Cat-5. Yours results will certainly vary based on the quality and age of your home's electrical wiring along with the amount of junctions and devices plugged in.
Build quality of the 601AV kit was pretty good; the plastic housings of the endpoints felt quite good and durable, and the LED lights were enough to let me know the status of the units.
Performance in our testing was good, but it could have been better. This, as stated above, could directly reflect the quality of wiring in my own home, so we shall look for a better solution in testing devices like these. At its peak, we were able to reach 168 Mbps at location one and 70 Mbps at the furthest location.
MSRP of the D-Link DHP-601AV is set at $99.99 with a one-year warranty. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the D-Link DHP-601AV 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 D-Link DHP-601AV retails for $88.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The D-Link DHP-601AV retails for CDN$99.99 at Amazon Canada.
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Addonics eSATA PCI Express Add-On Card Review
Today, we will be looking at one of the latest add-on solutions to come from Addonics. The ADSA6GPX1-2E utilizes a PCI Express 2.0 x1 interface with dual eSATA ports available externally. What sets this cards apart from other on the market is its compatibility as a port multiplier. Port multipliers allow a single SATA connection to initialize up to fifteen drives at once.
Compatibility of the ADSA6GPX1-2E extends to Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, and 8. MSRP of the Addonics eSATA ADSA6GPX1-2E is set at $39.99 with a one-year warranty.
The Addonics ADSA6GPX1-2E is a great solution to those wanting an external eSATA connection with port multiplier capabilities. The build quality seems quite good, and I found no issues when installing the card or the drivers via the included disk.
Performance of the card was decent, and while it could be better, I do believe Addonics went with a command based switching port multiplier, which are typically geared towards capacity and not blazing performance. In our testing, we were able to achieve 357 MB/s read and 245 MB/s write, which isn't too bad and certainly plenty for those wanting capacity via eSATA.
MSRP of the Addonics 6GPX1-2E is set at $39.99 with a one-year warranty. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the Addonics 6GPX1-2E 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 Addonics 6GPX1-2E retails for $38.80 at Amazon.
Canada: The Addonics 6GPX1-2E retails for CDN$75.53 at Amazon Canada.
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ADATA Elite CE700 Wireless Charging Stand Review
Introduction and Specifications
ADATA isn't a company you would think of when in the market for a new wireless charger, but you might want to think twice about that after this review.
The ADATA Elite CE700 Wireless Charging Stand has a 5V/1.5A input and a 5V/1A output. Inside the box, you'll find just the CE700 itself, with a USB cable and User Guide--it's a light package, but there's not much else needed.
Using the ADATA Elite CE700 Wireless Charging Stand
I used the ADATA Elite CE700 Wireless Charging Stand in two situations: on my desk while I was working and when I went away for a few nights. When it's on my desk, it sits there plugged into a USB hub, keeping my Nexus 5 smartphone topped up with juice.
One of the stand out features that ADATA has baked into its wireless charger is that you can lay it down or stand it up. There are not many wireless chargers on the market that are vertical, so the Elite CE700 wins some points for that. It's quite handy having it stand on your desk, so your smartphone can be facing you when notifications or phone calls blast through.
What's Hot
Did I Mention Wireless Charging Is Awesome? It really is! I promise, once you go wireless, you'll never want to go back.
What's Not
Nothing. It's Close to Perfect: Sure, I could nitpick, but for $39.99, ADATA has done everything it could with the Elite CE700 Wireless Charging Stand. I couldn't ask for anything more in a wireless charger, apart from it being free and maybe materializing beer from nowhere.Final Thoughts
If you have a Qi wireless charging capable device, you need to definitely look at getting yourself the ADATA CE700 Wireless Charging Stand. Not only does it work incredibly well, but it is incredibly cheap. At $39.99, it's one of the cheapest wireless chargers on the market.
PRICING: You can find the ADATA Elite CE700 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 ADATA Elite CE700 retails for $39.99 at Amazon.
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OCZ RevoDrive 350 480GB PCIe SSD Review
Introduction
The RevoDrive product family is for prosumers, power users, and enthusiasts who demand the highest levels of performance. RAID 0 based products perform remarkably well at high queue depths and under heavy loads. Sadly, some of the tasks we do every day, the consumer tasks, can actually run slower with these products than expected. The trick to achieving the highest performance is to run workloads that take advantage of high queue depths. Some of the tasks include batch photo editing, audio / video production, multitasking consumer workloads, and VM systems.
Specifications, Pricing and Availability
Today, we're testing the 480GB model with up to 1800 MB/s sequential read and 1700 MB/s sequential write speeds. Random performance for the 480GB model comes to 90k IOPS read and 140k IOPS write. OCZ rates endurance at 50GB per day for three years, the length of the warranty.
The RevoDrive 350 supports TRIM through SCSI unmap, so your idle time will help keep performance high when not hitting the drive with data writes.
The press deck included MSRPs for the new RevoDrive 350 family. The 240GB lists at $529.99, 480GB at $829.99, and the 960GB at $1,299.99. The prices are higher than purchasing two or four 128GB SSDs, but the RevoDrive is more than just a few SSDs slapped together. The drive has an onboard RAID controller that works with OCZ's Toolbox and simplifies installation. Intel's current prosumer / entry-level workstation chipset, X79, only has two native SATA 6Gb/s ports. The RevoDrive offers X79 systems the ability to run a high performance storage system without hassle.
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Crucial M550 512GB SSD Review
Introduction
The 512GB capacity size is the new sweet spot for capacity at affordable prices. When SSDs hovered around the $1 per GB mark, the price was out of reach for many, and the dollars didn't make sense. As drives moved closer to $0.50 per GB, this capacity size came to the top for capacity, price, and performance.
Specifications, Pricing and Availability
Crucial rates the 512GB M550 at 550 MB/s sequential read and 500 MB/s sequential write speeds. Random performance is 95k read and 85k write. The M550 goes beyond just performance, though. The new flagship brings host power loss protection to the consumer market as well as TCG Opal and eDrive support for hardware encrypted data security. The M550 also supports DEVSLP for newer systems, a very nice power savings feature that can increase notebook battery life on supported notebooks.
Newegg has all four-capacity sizes in stock. At the time of writing, the 128GB was at $99.99, the 256GB at $168.99, the 512GB model at $334.99, and the large 1TB model at $529.99. All M550 models have a three-year manufacturer's warranty, ship with a 7mm to 9.5mm adapter bracket, and Crucial provides Acronis data migration software via a download.
PRICING: You can find the Crucial M550 (512GB) 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 Crucial M550 (512GB) retails for $331.22 at Amazon.
Canada: The Crucial M550 (512GB) retails for CDN$336.99 at Amazon Canada.
Australia: The Crucial M550 (512GB) retails for $578.99 AUD at Mighty Ape Australia.
New Zealand: The Crucial M550 (512GB) retails for $616.99 NZD at Mighty Ape NZ.
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CalDigit Thunderbolt Station Docking Device Review
Today, we have in the house one of these docking stations from CalDigit in the form of the Thunderbolt Station. This solution interfaces with Thunderbolt to give you three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, gigabit Ethernet, and audio.
Compatibility of the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station extends to Windows 7 and 8 and OS X 10.8.4+. MSRP for the Thunderbolt Station is listed at $199.99 with a one-year warranty.
The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station is a device that really works quite well, especially for users that have a MacBook Pro like myself. This allows you to add additional USB 3.0 ports along with a gigabit Ethernet port that you otherwise would not have.
Build quality of the unit is superb, as is expected from a brand like CalDigit, and performance is pretty good as well. In our USB 3.0 testing, we reached good throughput with our Seagate 600 Pro at 350 MB/s read and near 300 MB/s write. Thunderbolt was able to be maxed out with our LaCie LBD at 820 MB/s read and 790 MB/s write.
As for the gigabit Ethernet and audio, I found the gigabit speed on the MBP to be quite capable and near 112 MB/s at its peak, while the audio was good but not quite as good as the built-in audio of the MBP.
MSRP of the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station is set at $199.99 with a one-year warranty. Current market pricing can be found below.
PRICING: You can find the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 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 CalDigit Thunderbolt Station retails for $199.00 at Amazon.
Canada: The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station (with 1 meter cable) retails for CDN$411.29 at Amazon Canada.
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