Red Faction: Guerrilla 5 Years-Later Review
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Noctua Adds New Fans and Accessory Kits
Noctua has announced two new case fan product lines at opposite ends of the spectrum, the redux line targeted at "price-conscious users" and the industrialPPC (Protected Performance Cooling) line targeted at "industrial heavy duty applications that require enhanced cooling performance and advanced ingress protection." The redux line comes from previous Noctua designs that are being reissued in more affordable packages. The redux line will have a light/dark grey color scheme while the industrialPPC fans will be all black. A total of 13 redux models will be available in 4-pin PWM and 3-pin configurations at sizes of 80mm, 92mm, 120mm, and 140mm with prices ranging from $14.99 to $19.90. The industrialPPC fans will be available in 2000 and 3000 RPM options at sizes of 120mm and 140mm with a price between $26.90 and $34.90. Noctua is also making a number of accessory kits available including anti-vibration mounts and extension cables.
Source: Press Release
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ECS Announces New Intel 9-Series Motherboard
ECS has announced the L337 Gaming Z97-MACHINE motherboard, bringing support for 4th and 5th generation Core i7, i5, and i3 processors to the Intel Z97 Express chipset. The board is targeted at gamers with a number of features to appeal to that specific market. A Hybrid Power design provides for enhanced overclocking ability due to MOSFETs that provide up to 90% power efficiency. An M.2 SSD interface gives users the ability to install drives with lengths of 42mm, 60mm, and 80mm. An ESS SABRE Premier Amplifier is combined with the Sound Blaster Cinema 2 to provide a high-fidelity audio experience for gaming headsets. The board also features 2-Way CrossFireX and native 4K Ultra HD resolution for your viewing pleasure.
Source: Press Release
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Cooler Master Unveils the V Semi-Modular Series PSU
Cooler Master has just introduced its newest lineup of power supply units, known specifically as the V Semi-Modular Series. These new power supplies are soon to be available in 550W, 650W, and 750W configurations, and come equipped with some impressive components and features. The Cooler Master V Semi-Modular power supplies feature 100 percent Japanese capacitors for increased longevity, semi-modular cabling for easy cable routing inside chassis, and the 80 PLUS Gold efficiency rating for reduced electricity consumption. Cooler Master is also providing the new Gold Guarantee for its new V Semi-Modular power supplies, providing technical support, replacements, and parts services for five years from the date of purchase.
The new Cooler Master V Semi-Modular power supplies will be available to purchase in North America starting on May 27, 2014.
Source: Press Release
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Solving Superconductivity Puzzles
I cannot guess if the people who discovered superconductors envisioned a future world as electrified as what we live in today, but those working on superconductors now most definitely are. These materials with the ability to transmit electrical currents without energy loss could revolutionize the world, if we could overcome one major issue. Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell University have made discoveries recently that may help bring superconductors out of labs and specialized equipment.
For certain materials to take on their superconducting capabilities they have to be cooled to temperatures well below what we live at. Even high temperature superconductors still require being chilled to below -100 ºC, depending on their critical temperature. Exactly what happens as a material approaches their critical temperature is not particularly well known or understood, and the appearance of behaviors that compete with superconductivity does not help matter. Among these behaviors are electron density waves, which restrict the direction of flow for electrons. To study it the researchers used a new, advanced spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscope capable of observing the positions of static electrons and the direction of moving ones. They analyzed multiple samples of the superconductor at various levels of doping, to determine what is happening.
The researchers found that as the doping increased, fewer electrons would be static, which is important as those immovable electrons are what were restricting the flow of those around them. Though it likely will not be this simple, optimizing the doping levels could make the transition to superconducting more efficient, and perhaps help raise the critical temperature..
Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory
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New Watch Dogs "101 Trailer" Breaks Down the Game's Various Features
Last week, Ubisoft released a "Character Trailer" that introduced us to five characters in the open-world hack-a-thon Watch Dogs. Today, we get a "101 Trailer", which is broken up into eight parts: Welcome, Hacking, Characters, Multiplayer, Companion App, Driving, Game Changers, and Ending. You can skip around to whatever section you'd like, or just sit back and watch the full nine-minute video. While the whole video is certainly worth a watch, at the very least you should check out the Game Changers section, which includes insane Digital Trips and hilarious retro mini-games!
Source: Ubisoft
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Portal and Half-Life 2 Arrive on NVIDIA SHIELD
While you could have always used GameStream to play Portal and Half-Life 2 on the NVIDIA SHIELD, now both critically acclaimed titles are available natively from Google Play and the TegraZone, designed specifically to work with the device. If you've never played either game, you owe it to yourself to do so. Portal is simply brilliant, while Half-Life 2 is my favorite game of all-time.
Source: NVIDIA Blog
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Microsoft Removes Xbox Live Gold Requirement for Various Services
Although owners of Xbox gaming consoles have long had to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription in order to access various applications like Hulu and Netflix, Microsoft has just announced that it is dropping that requirement. In a move to rework its offerings and streamline pricing and structure into a model that mimics those offered by Sony, Microsoft is allowing Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners to access various entertainment, gaming, and sports applications without a paid Xbox Live subscription. Some examples of services that are now available without Xbox Live Gold include ESPN, IGN, Machinima, MLG, NBA, Netflix, NHL, Hulu, Twitch, UFC, and YouTube.
Along with its recent announcement of offering the Xbox One without the Kinect, Microsoft is hoping to increase its sales with its latest announcement regarding Xbox Live Gold requirements.
Source: Xbox Wire
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Microsoft to Sell Xbox One Without Kinect for $399, Starting June 9
Back in August of last year, prior to the Xbox One's launch, Microsoft announced that it removed the Kinect requirement for the system to function, but failed to deliver a Kinect-free system for sale. Now Microsoft has announced that, beginning June 9, all markets where the Xbox One is sold will offer an Xbox One without the Kinect for an MSRP of $399, which of course brings it in line with the PlayStation 4's current price. I don't think it's any coincidence that the date coincides with Microsoft's E3 2014 Press Conference, scheduled for 930AM PT. For those that change their mind, a standalone Kinect sensor for Xbox One is not currently available, but will launch this fall.
In addition to the announcement of a new Xbox One SKU, Microsoft announced that Games with Gold will finally be making its way to the Xbox One this June as well. Unlike the Xbox 360 program where the games are yours for life, the Xbox One program will work like PlayStation Plus works, wherein you'll have to maintain your Xbox Live Gold subscription to access the games. The program will launch on the Xbox One with Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Halo: Spartan Assault, while the June games for Xbox 360 will include Dark Souls, Charlie Murder, and a bonus game of Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. Deals with Gold will also launch for Xbox One in June, starting with Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, and more.
Source: Xbox Wire
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Robot Taught to Catch Objects Out of the Air
It can be mildly satisfying to smoothly catch something that has been thrown to you, making it look like no effort was involved. Really though a great deal of effort is involved as our brains have to follow the trajectory of the object, predict its path, and move to intercept it. We learn how to do this by imitating others and trial and error, and now so has a robot at EPFL.
Normally for a robot to catch an object out of the air it will have to perform integration on multiple variables while reacting to the object's behavior. As you may guess, that takes time; too much time to actually catch the object. Instead of programming the robotic arm to react like that, the researchers instead used programming by demonstration and repeatedly tossed an object at the robot while someone manually moved the arm to catch it. Eventually the robot was able to act on its own to catch a ball, an empty bottle, a half full bottle, a hammer, and a tennis racket. The hammer and racket are special as their centers of gravity do not coincide with where they must be caught, while the half full bottle has a constantly moving center of gravity.
This robot and programming technique could have a number of applications from catching falling objects, to avoiding collisions, and even grabbing debris in space from a satellite.
Source: EPFL
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