IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 12/18/2014

Rockstar teases Grand Theft Auto V's online heists mode for early 2015
Rockstar is finally teasing Grand Theft Auto V's online heists mode, something it will update for gamers in early 2015. The online heists mode adds four-player missions to the multiplayer side of GTA V, where gamers can plan, prep and pull off a big heist.

The developer has delayed the online heists mode multiple times now, promising that it would be released with the re-release of GTA V on the PS4 and Xbox One last month, but missed that too. Producer and Lead Mission Designer on GTA V, Imran Sarwar, explained that Rockstar delays its content when it's "not at the level we expect of ourselves."

The new mode will launch with "five unique strands" that will feature over 20 missions, and around 20 hours of gameplay. Sarwar added that the heists mode has taken so long to get out because they were much harder to build than the team originally thought. The idea behind the new mode was to create "multi-tiered missions in which players would work cooperatively with their individual strengths - ensuring that each player was important" reports Polygon.

Sarwar continued, saying "As it turns out, creating missions of that complexity for multiple players at the same time was much more difficult than we anticipated and every time we thought we were close, something would send us back to square one. Having already let players know of our intentions with heists, every setback only increased the pressure to make sure we got them right. All of these projects are linked and require the attention of our core team at all times, so despite our best efforts, we simply wound up needing more time to make sure every one of these projects was as good as it could possibly be."

We should see the online heists mode launch early next year, where it will hopefully launch with the PC version of GTA V which launches on January 27, 2015.


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Yet another patch for Halo: Master Chief Collection, promises lots
343 Industries has released another patch for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which promises to fix various issues found within the first-person shooter extravaganza.

The update will improve the "reliability" of matchmaking, while ensuring the split-screen, local multiplayer friends are always-on the same team when playing Halo 2. Microsoft has chimed in, saying that TMCC's new update should also improve the stability across the game's menus, campaign playlists, matchmaking and custom games.

If Halo is going to be around for another 30 years, they might want to get their games a little more stable, instead of taking weeks upon weeks of updates to even get them up to release worthy.


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Mad Catz announces new tractor controls for Farming Simulator
Mad Catz has announced is is creating a custom Saitek-branded farm control for the most dedicated players of Giants Software's Farming Simulator. Yes, there's a farming simulator, and there are controls coming out for it.

Mad Catz's Saitek team are working on a wheel that is tilted upwards, with a high degree of rotation, with the handy little knob at the bottom - just like the real-life farming machines have. Saitek is also reportedly working on a custom side panel with a front loader control stick, and other buttons and switches that is sure to make the Farming Simulator experience that much more real.

The new controls for Farming Simulator are due out sometime in the pre-holiday 2015 season, and will work with Farming Simulator 2014, 2015 and all future releases.


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NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan II vs AMD Radeon R9 390X in leaked benchmarks
According to the latest rumors, the upcoming NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan II has been benchmarked against the Radeon R9 380X and R9 390X. These are just rumors right now, as all three of these cards have not been announced yet. Even the name Titan II could change to Titan II, or Titan Extreme. AMD on the other hand could change their cards to 399X, or 400X or anything out of the norm from what to expect.

The details on the cards from the poster on Chiphell state that the Fiji XT and Bermuda XT (380X and 390X respectively), will be manufactured on Globalfoundries' 20nm process. The Titan II on the other hand will arrive as the GM200, which will supposedly come in two flavors: a cut down version with 21 MM units and a total of 2688 CUDA cores. A "full fat" version will arrive at a later date with an increased amount of SMMs and CUDA cores.

When it comes to performance, the GM200-powered GPU from NVIDIA will be 34% faster than the GeForce GTX 980. On the AMD side of things, the R9 390X will be a huge 65% faster than the R9 290X, which will feature liquid cooling that was rumored all those months ago. Performance wise, the next-gen GPUs are packing a massive punch.

Power consumption numbers, while rumored and most likely very early, have the GM200 (or Titan II) consuming 225W of power. The R9 380X uses slightly less than that, with both GPUs consuming more power than the GTX 980, even with the help of the 20nm process. The R9 290X 4GB still leads, with closer to 300W of power usage.


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Amazon Echo teardown reveals the speakers impressive internals
Amazon's Echo speaker is still super fresh, but iFixit seem to get their hands-on these devices first, with a beautiful teardown revealing the internals of this smart speaker.

Inside of the 10-inch tall Echo, we have three circuit boards and a bunch of processing chips which are found between two speakers and a bass reflex subwoofer. Texas Instruments silicon chips are found inside for controlling most things from the ring of LED lights, stereo playback and digital signal processing. SanDisk make an appearance with 4GB of flash storage, Samsung provides 256MB of RAM, while Qualcomm finds its way inside of the Echo speaker with a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module.

Some eagle eyed readers might note that we haven't talked about a processor yet, because Echo has its processing done in the cloud. This is an impressive feat, and shows that the future of the cloud is very bright. Amazon's Echo, which is still an "invitation only" device right now, is getting some decent reviews from users so far.


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Massive 6.7GB patch for Assassin's Creed: Unity promises massive fixes
Ubisoft only delayed the patch yesterday, but the company has announced that the forthcoming patch for the still broken Assassin's Creed: Unity weighs in at a huge 6.7GB.

The massive patch is currently being pushed out to Xbox One and PS4 users, while the PC version of the patch is coming soon. Ubisoft has explained the patch on the website for Assassin's Creed as "Part of the team's effort to enhance frame rate for players involves replacing and updating portions of the Paris city map where we are seeing issues. This explains the large size of this title update (6.7 GB). However, since a large portion of the patch replaces existing files the net increase to the game's overall size will be less than 6.7 GB."

So the developer is trying to say that they've replaced large chunks of the map where there are various performance issues, which to me, would mean the game is broken? It's not a patch that fixes various problems, but replacing physical parts of the map to help performance? What the hell happened, Ubisoft? The patch notes are quite large, but you can check them out here.


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First lawsuit targeting Sony Pictures over data breach now filed
Sony Pictures Entertainment is being sued by two former employees, being blamed for not doing enough to keep employee personal information safe. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, with the former employees seeking monetary damages and class-action status.

"Sony failed to secure its computer system, servers and databases, despite weaknesses that it has known about for years, because Sony made a business decision to accept the risk of losses associated with being hacked," according to the lawsuit.

Considering SPE was reportedly told that its network wasn't fully secure, it's not too shocking to hear they have been targeted by one lawsuit. Former employee Michael Corona worked for the company from 2004 to 2007, while Christina Mathis worked there from 2000 to 2002. Corona and Mathis both had their personal information compromised.


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TAG Heuer plans to compete in smartwatch market, create partnerships
TAG Heuer plans to jump into the smartwatch market to compete with Apple and other competitors, as the wearable market accelerates. The company started on its wearables industry about four months ago, creating several partnerships, while also exploring potential acquisitions. TAG Heuer plans to wait until it has a working product to present to the public, which could take until late 2015 at the soonest, the company says.

"Smartwatches represent a challenge to the Swiss watch industry that is comparable to the appearance of quartz technology," said Guy Semon, Tag Heuer general manager. "We cannot ignore this tsunami that is coming closer."

The smartwatch market should increase in popularity next year, as more tech companies and watchmakers dive into wearables.


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Snowden's surveillance disclosures helping change user behaviors
Millions of Internet users have changed their Internet behavior and are doing more to keep their own personal data secure from possible surveillance, according to a survey from the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). The survey revealed 64 percent of respondents have increased privacy worries over just one year ago, as the NSA, GCHQ, and other organized surveillance programs target Web users.

Following former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's leaks, 39 percent have done more to increase their privacy protections.

"But it is absolutely extraordinary that 750 million people are disturbed enough about their online privacy that they will represent to a survey-taker that they did something about it," said Bruce Schneier, a security expert, in a statement published by BBC.


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ASUSTOR launches new 2 and 4 bay NAS products
ASUSTOR has announced the launch of their new 50T and 51T NAS products. There are four new high-performance models that leverage the Intel Celeron 2.41Ghz dual-core processor and a more powerful Celeron 2.0Ghz quad-core processor. The processors also feature turbo functionality to provide higher burst speeds during peak processing activities. Each model comes with either 1GB or 2GB of SO-DIMM DDR3L memory, which can be upgraded to 8GB for more discerning users.

The new products come with the ADM 2.3 operating system, which was recently optimized to deliver a more refined interface. The models support HDMI and S/PDIF, allowing the NAS units to operate as the hub of the home entertainment system. Other features include smart system sleep and instant wake mode, which helps keep power costs down. Both models come with a 3 year warranty and are available now from dealers. We will be posting a review of the units soon in our NAS section.

Key Features for the AS5002T and AS5004T

• Intel® Celeron 2.41GHz Dual-Core Processor
• 1GB DDR3L RAM (Expandable to 8GB)
• 2 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
• 3 x SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (5 Gb/s) Ports
• 2 x USB 2.0 Ports & 2 x eSATA Ports
• 1 x HDMI 1.4a Ports
• 1 x S/PDIF Port
• Infrared Receiver
• Supports RAID Volume Management
• Supports Hard Disk Hot Swapping and Online RAID Migration
• Maximum Supported Capacity of Hard Disks: 12TB/24TB

Key Features for the AS5102T and AS5104T

• Intel® Celeron 2.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
• 2GB DDR3L RAM (Expandable to 8GB)
• 2 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
• 3 x SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (5 Gb/s) Ports
• 2 x USB 2.0 Ports & 2 x eSATA Ports
• 1 x HDMI 1.4a Ports
• 1 x S/PDIF Port
• Infrared Receiver
• Supports RAID Volume Management
• Supports Hard Disk Hot Swapping and Online RAID Migration
• Maximum Supported Capacity of Hard Disks: 12TB/24TB
• Disk Tray Locks
• LCD Panel (AS5104T)

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Sony hackers threaten terror attacks against movie theaters in US
The ongoing drama for Sony Pictures Entertainment took a dark turn on Tuesday, with the hacker group responsible issuing a terrorist threat when 'The Interview' hits theaters. It would seem the threat is working, as some movie theater operators are considering pulling the movie.

"We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places 'The Interview' [will] be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to," the hackers said in a statement. "Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001."

The group also recommended people stay away from theaters after the movie is released.

Meanwhile, SPE CEO Michael Lynton is aware of the threat and sent an email to employees: "We are aware of the latest threat and are working closely with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Please remain vigilant."


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Fitbit refutes accusations new Charge design causing skin irritation
Fitbit denies the materials that compose its Charge fitness wearables are behind reports of skin irritation. Fitbit has told customers they shouldn't be worried about Charge, with a small number out of thousands users complaining of any skin irritation - but after a large number of reports related to the company's Force, there is increased concern.

The Force wearable was held together with an adhesive that was behind the wearable discomfort, but Fitbit switched things up and started using screws to hold the housing and band together.

"The reactions we are seeing with Charge are not uncommon with jewelry or wearable devices that stay in contact with the skin for extended periods," Fitbit said in a statement to TODAY. "According to our consulting dermatologists, they are likely from sweat, water, or soap being held against the skin under the device, or from pressure or friction against the skin and should resolve quickly when users take a break from the device, usually within hours or days."


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Google blacklists 11,000 WordPress sites hit by SoakSoak malware
Google has blacklisted 11,000 domains because of a new malware campaign targeting compromised WordPress websites. It's possible that the SoakSoak campaign has hit more than 100,000 WordPress-powered websites, the Sucuri Web security company noted.

"The biggest issue is that the RevSlider plugin is a premium plugin, it's not something everyone can easily upgrade, and that in itself becomes a disaster for website owners," Sucuri noted in a blog post. "Some website owners don't even know they have it, as it's been packaged and bundled into their themes. We're currently remediating thousands of sites, and when engaging with our clients, many had no idea the plugin was even within their environment."

Sucuri has a free site scanner that will be able to determine if your WordPress website is compromised. If compromised, site operators must locate code added to wp-includes/template-loader.php and purge suspicious looking code.


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Corsair Neutron XT SSD pricing announced
Corsair is one of the companies that helped forge the third-party SSD ecosystem as SSDs entered the mainstream. The new Neutron XT is a continuation of that theme, but leverages the new Phison quad-core S10 controller. Phison and Silicon Motion have been grabbing SSD controller market share as we await new competitive products from SandForce and Marvell. The SSD also features Toshiba A19nm 2bit MLC NAND.

Chris posted the Corsair Neutron XT SSD Preview as an early look at the new drive, but withheld final scoring until concrete MSRP information was available. Corsair has released the MSRP guidelines just in time for the holiday season. The 240GB SSD is $149.99, the 480GB is $269.99, and the 960GB weighs in at $539.00.

Chris will be circling back with the full review soon, so stay tuned, but the initial performance testing looks very good. Development continues on DEVSLOP and Slumber functionality, which will boost battery life in laptops. The Neutron XT is geared for those in performance segment, and at roughly $0.56 per GB it will compete directly with the Samsung 850 Pro. With top speeds of 100,000 / 90,000 IOPS read/write the Neutron XT certainly has the grunt power to deliver great performance. The Neutron XT will be available in January.


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iPhone 6, 6 Plus supply increasing, but demand still extremely high
The Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are extremely popular smartphones - demand has been very tight, and supply constraints have eased only slightly. However, supply still hasn't caught up with such strong demand, with 56 percent of models available in store as of Friday, December 12, according to figures compiled by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Mid-November statistics indicated there was only little supply, and Munster predicts it will be close to the end of the quarter before the numbers reach 80 percent supply.

Apple previously said it didn't have interest in larger-screened iPhones, but reversed its decision after Google Android smartphones began to take over. Each new generation of iPhone tends to do well, but the large screen devices have captured a large amount of attention from Apple enthusiasts.


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ViewSonic VX2880ml 28-inch 4K 30Hz Monitor Review

Introduction

Before I started working at TweakTown, I worked at a retailer Down Under, selling high-performance gaming PCs and the associated technology and software to go with it. ViewSonic was never really a brand that people wanted against the likes of Samsung, LG or Dell when it came to monitors, but there were always sparkling stars in ViewSonic's lineup that sold well.

One of the monitor that I sold truckloads of was the ViewSonic VX2835vm, which was a 28-inch 1920x1200 LCD monitor with a single HDMI and VGA port included. At the time, it was priced for a little under $1000 - but this was back in 2007. Since then, we've had seven years go by, but the resolution on 28-inch monitors hasn't really changed.
We've been swaying back and forth from 1920x1080, which became the new norm of LCD resolutions, to 2560x1440. 4K, or Ultra HD, is finally penetrating the market thanks to huge drops in panel costs. We've seen the 4K monitor push begin with prices of these monitors hitting $600-$700, which opens up an entire new market of consumers - those who didn't want to spend multiple thousands of dollars on a new high-res screen can now spend under a grand, and still get a kick-ass screen.
What we have here today with the ViewSonic VX2880ml, is a cheap 4K-capable LCD with some interesting options on the back. But I don't want to go into that just yet, so let's cover the basics.

Specifications and Pricing

The ViewSonic VX2880ml is a 28-inch 4K monitor based on a 30Hz LCD panel, with a resolution of 3840x2160. We have a 5ms response time, a contrast ratio of 1000:1 backed up by a dynamic contrast ratio of 50,000,000:1. We have three different inputs on the back: DisplayPort, mini DisplayPort and HDMI with the latter being a version 1.4 port. This means that all three ports are capable of driving 3840x2160, which is really quite nice to see. Normally we're locked to one or the other.
Not only do we have a DisplayPort, but we have two. Why two? Because one of them is an output, that allows for DisplayPort-capable monitors to be daisy-chained. This allows you to plug the DisplayPort cable into the VX2880ml and then your PC, with another cable going between your VX2880ml and another DP-capable screen.
There are two 2W speakers on the monitor, a 3.5mm jack for audio, and an external 90W power adapter. On the back we have a VESA mount, too. For those who want to plug in their mobile devices, ViewSonic has provided an HDMI (MHL) port.
Unfortunately, there's no height adjustment or portrait abilities, but we do have a slight pivot to play with. Enough to move the monitor on an angle if it wasn't at the right angle, which is about what I expected from a monitor at this price with 4K abilities.

In the box, we have the monitor itself, an adapter, power cable, DisplayPort cable, mini DP cable, MHL cable, USB 3.0 cable, Quick Start guide, ViewSonic Wizard CD-ROM (with the box contents being different to each market). The one that I received here in Australia didn't include the MHL cable for example.
When it comes to the dimensions and weight, we have: 659mm x 510mm x 240mm (or 25.9 x 20 x 9.44 inches). This all arrives in a package that weighs 4.6kg (or 10.1lbs).
ViewSonic has priced the VX2880ml quite competitively, with it on Amazon for $499.99, down from its original price of $831 - which I think is far, far too high. Near $500 is a perfect price for this display, so let's hope it doesn't go above that in the near future.
PRICING: You can find the ViewSonic VX2880ml 28-Inch 4K Ultra HD Monitor 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 ViewSonic VX2880ml 28-Inch 4K Ultra HD Monitor retails for $499.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The ViewSonic VX2880ml 28-Inch 4K Ultra HD Monitor retails for CDN$564.99 at Amazon Canada.
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HP Expands Reseller Agreement With SAP, Leveraging HP Fortify to Further Help Customers Manage and Reduce Security Risk
HP today announced that SAP will resell HP Fortify application security software as part of its quality assurance solutions portfolio. SAP is now offering the solution under the name SAP® Fortify software by HP to help customers quickly identify and address software vulnerabilities.

The threat landscape is growing more sophisticated and targeted, making it critical to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. With the recent high frequency of breaches, organizations are now realizing the importance of proper application security testing, and the need for these solutions is continuously increasing.

As an expansion to a longstanding reseller relationship, SAP Fortify by HP helps address this need by enabling SAP customers to identify, triage and fix vulnerabilities in production applications, while also helping reduce risk by enabling security to be built-in during software development.

"An organization can suffer significant financial loss, business interruption and brand damage should it detect a vulnerability too late," said Jason Schmitt, vice president and general manager, Fortify, Enterprise Security Products (@HPsecurity), HP. "With SAP Fortify by HP, SAP customers can now enhance the management of their software security risk by enabling proactive security testing throughout the entire software development lifecycle."

Application security helps strengthen SAP's quality assurance portfolio of solutions, allowing users to Identify vulnerabilities early in the software development process, which is critical when attempting to combat potential cyber-attacks. Using static application security testing (SAST) analysis and dynamic application security testing (DAST) solutions from HP, SAP Fortify helps provide an immediate, accurate picture of software risk across the enterprise so customers can isolate problem areas within their organization as early as possible. The offering delivers detailed reference information on the vulnerabilities to both developers and testing teams with instructions for correcting issues, enabling them to quickly patch weak spots and to help prevent future concerns of a similar nature.

"SAP and HP enjoy a long-standing relationship with a strong focus on quality assurance," said Tom Roberts, global vice president, Third-Party Solutions, SAP (@SAP). "Offering software that integrates code-vulnerability analysis across the entire software life cycle, securing applications wherever they are deployed - on premises, in the cloud or on mobile devices around the world - is another important step in helping our customers increase productivity, lower costs and accelerate time-to-market."

SAP Fortify integrates with other SAP testing solutions, including the SAP Quality Center application by HP and SAP LoadRunner application by HP. It can also be used with the SAP Solution Manager application management solution to comprehensively manage software security issues across the enterprise.

Continued leadership in application security testing

HP was recently recognized as a leader in the application security testing market in the 2014 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing for its HP Fortify product. Gartner's leaders in Application Security Testing demonstrate breadth and depth of AST products and services. 1

Availability

SAP Fortify by HP is currently available worldwide. SAP, including all subsidiaries, has worldwide rights to sell and support HP Fortify as SAP Fortify by HP.

Additional information about HP Fortify is available here. Additional information about HP Enterprise Security Products is available at http://www.hp.com/go/esp.


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Func Adds New Version of the Popular HS-260 to the Range
Func is excited to announce an additional version of the popular Func HS-260 analogue stereo headset. The extremely popular Func HS-260 analogue stereo headset is now being offered with a white edition due to customer demand.

The Func HS-260 White Edition continues to feature the same comfortable design, extremely accurate sound image and added features of the removable microphone / detachable cord solution to ensure you have a well-rounded, multi-functional gaming headset.

The MSRP for the Func HS-260 White is $79.95 USD / €69,95. For more information, visit the HS-260 product page.


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Biostar Announces A70MGP Socket FM2+ Motherboard
BIOSTAR has released the latest mainboard based on the exclusive A70M chipset from AMD, the "A70MGP". The A70M is a value line chipset that supports FM2+ APUs, USB 3.0 and SATA3 and the BIOSTAR boards based on that chipset offer a better value versus price performance ratio compared to boards based on the A68H or A58 chipsets.

Although AMD has just recently launched the A68H chipset, which supports FM2+ APUs, because these new (exclusive to BIOSTAR) A70M boards support USD 3.0 and SATA3, they offer an upgrade level that is higher than the current entry-level A58 chipset boards.

Now BIOSTAR is exclusively offering A70M chipset motherboards that come with the same features as the A68H based boards but with lower pricing. The A70MGP is based on the AMD FM2+ socket design that will support AMD Multi-Core (x4, x2) socket FM2+/FM2 processors AMD A-series/ E2-series processors all in a Micro-ATX form factor.

Using the AMD A70M Chipset, the A70MGP gives you the options for small builds using the MicroATX form factor. It has 2 DIMM slots supporting up to 32Gb of DDR3 RAM and uses the newest SATA 6Gb/s bus which is twice the speed of current SATA 3G connections with 4 SATA connectors along with USB 3.0. There is also support for AMD Dual Graphics Technology, as well as support for full HDMI 3D 1080p.

For more information, visit the product page.


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CRYORIG Soon to Release the H7 CPU Cooler for the Mainstream
CRYORIG, innovator of PC thermal peripherals, is preparing the second model in the H Series lineup, featuring H series standard HiveFin technology. Besides moniker HiveFin technology, the CRYORIG H7 will also incorporate Zero RAM Interference and many other great features found in previously announced CRYORIG cooling solutions. The CRYORIG H7 will be targeted at mainstream PC systems with limited CPU cooler height. Thanks to the total height of 145 mm, H7 will be able to fit almost all mid-tower cases.

The H7 will also kickoff CRYORIG's new line of 120 mm QF120 PWM fan series. New QF120 line of system fans will feature CRYORIG's proprietary Quad Air Inlet. The Quad Air Inlet is a system of four aerodynamic intake holes strategically placed on the four corners of the fan frame. It allows extra air intake from the sides of the fan frame to increase the total air output. CRYORIG's QF120 line will be released right after the H7 in three different configurations, such as "Silent", "Balanced" and "Performance." The Balanced version with the maximum fan speed of 1.600 rpm is included with the H7.

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Dell Networking Solutions Receive Department of Defense Unified Capabilities
Dell today announced several networking products within its portfolio have received Department of Defense (DoD) Unified Capabilities Approved Products List (DoD UC APL) certification. Specifically, the Dell S4810, S4820T, S6000 and Z9000 switches passed Interoperability (I/O) and Information Assurance (IA) testing to meet the DoD's stringent criteria for the certification, putting them on an approved product list for use within federal agencies.

To receive this certification, products need to be designed and built-in a way that complies with the DoD security functional requirements and security best practices. Given the DoD's rigorous testing, federal agencies often look to the DoD's Approved Product List when considering IT solutions.

"We are pleased to see that several of our networking products received this certification, knowing that they have undergone a rigorous, two-part assessment in order to be added to the Approved Products List for use in the Department of Defense," said Steve Harris, vice president and general manager, Dell Federal. "Because of this certification, Dell can support multiple data center technology platforms with a comprehensive enterprise hardware portfolio that includes storage, servers and now networking for defense customers, as well as others in the government space, giving them access to the full range of our end-to-end suite of hardware, software and services."

As part of the DoD UC APL testing process, products must pass I/O testing, which includes interoperability and functionality testing to ensure compliance and that products work with other vendors. The IA testing verifies the system complies with Security Technical Implementation Guidelines (STIG).

"When working with government clients, their networks need to be more than just fast and efficient. They need networks to be secure," said Harris. "Beyond security, we know that the right IT solutions can help an agency be more productive today and in the future. We anticipate that this latest certification will help us meet their unique needs now that we can offer them Dell's full end-to-end portfolio that includes our networking solutions."

Dell's networking solutions are built with the goal of making networking simpler - especially for federal customers. Dell helps federal clients build simple, manageable networks that enable and support the mission of their agency. Specifically, the full Dell Networking portfolio can enable customers to virtualize and converge infrastructure with fixed form-factor platforms and software-defined networking ready solutions. From top-of-rack and blade switches to high-performance 10/40GbE fabrics, Dell networking ensures access to critical applications through intelligence-based service levels and by adapting to changing traffic patterns.

Dell Products with DoD UC APL certification:



S4810

The Dell Networking S-Series S4810 is a high-density, 1RU 48-port 10GbE switch with four 40GbE uplinks and ultra-low-latency, non-blocking performance to ensure line-rate performance; complete with feature-rich Dell Networking OS and storage optimization for iSCSI, FCoE transit and DCB.

S4820T

The Dell Networking S-Series S4820T 1/10G BASE-T Top-of-Rack (ToR) switch is purpose-built for high performance data centers. By leveraging a non-blocking, cut-through (default mode is store and forward) switching architecture, the S4820T delivers line-rate L2/L3 features to maximize network performance.

S6000

The Dell Networking S6000 delivers high-density 40GbE switch (32 ports of 40GbE or 96 ports of 10GbE1 and eight ports of 40GbE) with high performance for ToR, MoR and EoR deployments. The S6000 includes feature-rich Dell Networking Operating System, VLT, and built-in network virtualization features with support for Dell Open Automation Framework.

Z9000

The Dell Networking Z9000 is a high-density 32-port 40 GbE Core Router/Switch in 2RU form factor; line rate, non-blocking, low-latency and lower power switch enabling a greener, faster data center; feature-rich Dell Networking Operating System.


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