Apple must continue to improve cybersecurity as attacks increase
Several high-profile cyberattacks launched against Apple have revealed OS X and iOS aren't as secure anymore, with criminals trying to compromise both operating systems. Enterprise workers are at risk because of Apple taking a "whack-a-mole" approach to security, which is a major threat with sophisticated spear-phishing attacks.
Sophisticated cyberattacks target most major technology companies, but Apple previously was left relatively unscathed from most malicious code. However, cybercriminals want to find strategies to steal information and conduct data breaches, with a specific focus on compromising iPhones and iPads in the workplace.
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King's Quest reboot footage unveiled, goes for a new 3D art style look
During The Game Awards in Las Vegas last night, we were greeted to the trailer to the new King's Quest. In this trailer, we find out that there is a new 3D art style, which I personally don't know that I liked, yet.
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The Order: 1886 receives more gorgeous trailer footage
The Game Awards has provided us with a wealth of game-related posts today, where we continue on with the world premiere trailer to The Order: 1886. The Order: 1886 is a PlayStation 4 exclusive title, which takes place in a Victorian London-type world, and is a cover-based shooter.
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CD Projekt Red lets you play as multiple characters in The Witcher 3
The Witcher 3 is getting closer and closer to release, but we've just received a tsunami full of game announcements, reveals, gameplay footage and much more. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt doesn't escape this, with its new "Elder Blood" trailer, below.
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Sony shows off Uncharted 4 gameplay footage on the PS4 at 1080p 60FPS
Sony has shown off the first gameplay footage to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, which is an exclusive to the PlayStation 4, at its own PlayStation Experience event. The footage can be viewed in the video below.
Naughty Dog did promise us 1080p at 60FPS a little while ago, so it's good to see them mostly hitting the target here with Uncharted 4 on the PS4. For now, enjoy that nice, long 15-minute video of Uncharted 4 on the PlayStation 4.
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The Legend of Zelda for the Wii U shown off by Nintendo
Nintendo hasn't been having the best time with its Wii U console, but there was a decent spike in sales when they released Mario Kart 8. Well, I think we're going to see another system seller in The Legend of Zelda for the Wii U, something the company showed off during The Game Awards in Las Vegas last night.
Apples grow on trees, with Nintendo teasing you can pick them off the trees, and eat them. Some will notice that the game is running very fluidly, hitting 60FPS. Nintendo has promised The Legend of Zelda for Wii U, stating it is arriving next year. They also teased that the new Star Fox is coming to the Wii U before Zelda arrives in 2015. I kinda want that game, well, now. Please, Nintendo?
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EA is giving away three free PlayStation games over the weekend
EA is feeling generous this holiday season, with the company giving away three free PlayStation games. The reason? They're celebrating this weekend's PlayStation Experience event.
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Apple rumored to launch the iPhone 6S alongside Watch early next year
The latest rumors about the Apple Watch are surfacing, where some are suggesting Apple will launch the new iPhone 6S alongside its first wearable when it launches early next year. This would break its tradition, where it launches flagship iPhones each September.
The Mail Online reports: "The new schedule is expected to stagger the releases of two devices in 2015 to capitalise on sales. Apple could release the iPhone 6S to people who want to upgrade to a slightly cheaper model, before announcing its flagship iPhone 7 in the autumn". I don't see why the iPhone 6S would be the "cheaper model", as it could start offering multiple handsets like its competitors do. When it comes to the iPhone 7 though, I think we'll see some changes, big ones.
Firstly, the bottom of the iPhone has some major underused space next to its Home and TouchID button. This could be used better, with some concepts pointing toward this part of the phone turning into software buttons, which would bring it in line closer to Android, but stepping over the line by making the center of it the hardware button, while the surrounds of it are software touch buttons. Secondly, the camera should receive an injection of a next-gen sensor, most likely thanks to Sony. There should be more, but these two things would make for a much improved handset.
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Sony hackers threaten employees' families through e-mails
Sony is not having a good week, with the hacking scandal reaching Sony Pictures Entertainment employees, and their families. Employees of the company have received e-mails from these hackers, directly threatening their families. Sony has reportedly told these employees to turn off their smartphones after receiving the e-mail.
The "Guardians of the Peace", or GOP, are the hackers behind the scandal, but we don't know their identities yet. North Korea has been a suspect for a while now, with the malware that broke into Sony's network looking like malware used in an attack in Seoul last year, as well as the Shamoon "wiper" malware.
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Galaxy S6 to feature 8-core CPU, 3GB of RAM and Android 5.0 Lollipop
According to a new leak, the Samsung Galaxy S6 might feature an 8-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of flash storage, a 20-megapixel rear-facing camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and Android 5.0 Lollipop.
If Samsung wants to gain back missing customers, or sell a boatload more Galaxy S6 handsets, I think we need more than just pure hardware. Offering stock Android handsets would be a big start, as they'd secure the Nexus crowd, and some radical new technology and features wouldn't go astray, either.
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Google removes any and all Pirate Bay related apps from Play Store
Google has removed The Pirate Bay Proxy, The Pirate Bay Mirror, PirateApp, and The Pirate Bay Premium from the Google Play Store, e-mailing the respective developers behind the apps telling them their precious applications had been removed.
The apps themselves are described as providing mobile-optimized access to The Pirate Bay, with some of the applications including a proxy site to get around the various blocks put up by various service providers. Google adds that these apps are in violation of the IP provision of its content policy. One e-mail sent to a developer said: "REASON FOR REMOVAL: Violation of the intellectual property and impersonation or deceptive behavior provisions of the Content Policy. Please refer to the IP infringement and impersonation policy help article for more information".
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Red Dead Redemption 2 rumored to feature co-op play, with 2015 release
According to "an insider" at Rockstar Games, there is a sequel in production to Red Dead Redemption 2. What's so special about RDR 2? According to the rumor, it will have a heavy emphasis on cooperative play, which would be a very, very big change.
We shouldn't be surprised that it is riding onto the Xbox One and PS4, but we should be surprised at the lack of a PC version. Considering the total craziness surrounding the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V, you'd think Rockstar would've learned by now, that the PC audience is huge. Hopefully this changes closer to Red Dead Redemption 2's announcement, and release.
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Metal Gear Online debuts at The Game Awards, out in 2015 with MGS V
We knew it was coming, but today it's here: Metal Gear Online has been announced. Metal Gear Online is the online side of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and was unveiled today at The Game Awards.
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Dying Light requires 8GB RAM, 40GB HDD and a GeForce GTX 670 minimum
Techland has revealed the PC requirements for its upcoming zombie shooter, Dying Light. Dying Light will have PC gamers needing, at a minimum, an Intel Core i5-2500 at 3.3GHz, or an AMD FX-8320 at 3.5GHz. Not only that, but you'll need 8GB of RAM, 40GB of free HDD space, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 or AMD Radeon HD 7870.
A 64-bit version of Windows is required as a minimum, with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 all being supported.
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Aussie gamers want the bible banned after GTA V is pulled from shelves
After a hectic week of Grand Theft Auto V being pulled from Target shelves, and then Kmart Australia following through with the same action, Australian gamers are now petitioning to have the Bible banned. Yes, that Bible.
It continues, adding: "Target, you pride yourself on being a family company, caring for local communities, and have a strong ethical sourcing policy. How can you do this while contributing to hostile and callous attitudes toward victims of violence and, more broadly, to all women?". The petition finishes by asking: "Please put ethics before profits and make a strong statement that you do not condone sexual violence, sexual exploitation or the abuse of women as 'entertainment'".
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Supermicro AOC-S40G-iQ2 Review: A Low-Power 40GbE NIC
Introduction
We've talked a lot about 10GbE technology with product reviews on switches and network interface cards over the past two years. 10GbE deployment costs are shrinking. ASRock just announced the first workstation class motherboard with onboard 10GbE, a product that costs as much as a single 10GbE NIC did just a few months ago. Over the next year, we'll continue to see 10GbE prices slip, but that isn't the only exciting trend.
Intel recently released the company's successor to the X520 / X540 10GbE controller products. The new XL710 (40GbE) and X710 (10GbE) controllers use less power than the products they replace, and the XL710 40GbE controller uses less power than any other 40GbE card on the market today. This is big news for datacenters where power consumption from thousands of servers dominates Opex.
Supermicro is no stranger to datacenters, so it comes as no surprise that the company is among the first to release a product based on Intel's new XL710 network controller.
Specifications, Pricing and Availability
The specifications sheet covers the basics, but as you'll see, there is more to the Fortville controller than the initial specifications show.
Based on Intel's XL710 'Fortville' controller, the AOC-S40G-iQ2 is a PCIe 3.0 x8 (eight-lane) 40GbE network interface card with two QSFP+ ports. The card is half height and half length (HHHL) for use in tight environments. An assortment of standard features are listed on the specifications, such as iSCSI remote boot support, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet. Things get interesting when you get into the full feature list.
With an eye towards next generation datacenters, the Supermicro AOC-S40G-iQ2 supports technologies geared toward virtualization, like stateless offload VXLAN, NVGRE, and Geneve for overlay networks. These technologies now make it possible to distribute network traffic to many CPU cores.
The new features are nice, and will increase the density possible for virtual environments, but the greatest feature is the power consumption. The new Supermicro 40GbE NIC should use around 3.6 watts under typical workloads, and see peak power at just 4 watts. This is a large reduction from Intel's previous generation 10GbE network controllers that used around 14 watts for dual 10GbE.
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Dragon Age: Inquisition Xbox One Game Review
The game begins with the peace between the Magi and Templar factions being shattered by a large explosion which takes out members of the chantry who had brokered the peace deal. The land of Thedas is again on the verge of civil war with those who seek revenge and / or power able to now execute their plans. You play a Herald, a chosen character who builds a team of warriors known as the 'Inquisition'. Who you add to your party is entirely up to you and decisions you make directly affect this world as you play through the game with a number of crucial decision points present throughout.
When it comes to the gameplay as per most Bioware games, there are primarily three sections; combat, narrative, and overall universe management. This is very much a game that mixes the combat up with some interesting narrative sections to play through. For example, without spoiling too much, there is a section where you need to perform a dance to impress a royal family. At times, when you think the combat is dragging on a bit, Bioware mixes it up with something new. Along with this, there is also a War Council that you need to convince to explore new areas, take on new missions, and find new mission objectives. To do this, you gain power by completing side quests or performing particularly well in conversation with key NPCs.
The combat itself can be played in two modes; either real-time or in a more tactical view. Which mode you take on is of course personal preference, but there are times in the game where the challenge is such that the tactical view becomes a must. In the tactical view, you can give commands to your non-player controlled characters (you can switch to these characters whilst the gameplay is frozen) that can lead to more co-ordinated attacks.
In the real-time mode, you can also do this, but it's a bit more frantic with less time to think. This is one area where Bioware has managed to meld the best of each of the previous games into something that should please everyone. One thing which really frustrated us and in some ways made no sense was the inability to get to the manage character screen during combat to change weapons - a small thing, but frustrating nonetheless.
The world the game is set in is massive. There are numerous areas to explore and more are found when performing tasks with the War Council. The opening area, the Hinterlands, has enough content for around ten hours of gameplay and that represents only a small area of the game. You will visit huge castles, forests, snow covered areas, and others before the epic story of the game wraps up. This is a game that if you do not rush, will take you around fifty to sixty hours to complete. And aside from the opening section if you get bored in one area, there will generally be many others to explore, gaining power and building the prestige of the Inquisition.
The game also features multiplayer, and as you would expect, it's quite a bit different to the single player mode. Played with friends via co-op, the multiplayer mode puts a number of limitations on you as a character to ensure that you need to work together as a team for success. For example, you will have limited access to weapons and potions, and along with this, you can only succumb to the enemy three times before its game over - in single player, other NPC characters can revive you.
PRICING: You can find Dragon Age Inquisition - Xbox One 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: Dragon Age Inquisition - Xbox One retails for $59.99 at Amazon.
Canada: Dragon Age Inquisition - Xbox One retails for CDN$67.99 at Amazon Canada.
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Halo: The Master Chief Collection Xbox One Game Review
With the release of the third console from Microsoft, the Xbox One, it was a bit surprising to see that no Halo game was made available, and in fact, we have not seen a Halo game released since 2012. So, to fill in the game, 343 Industries has produced The Master Chief Collection. A collaboration of Halo 1 through to 4. However, if you are not a super fan, is there enough here to warrant buying the games again?
First of all, let's get the value for money argument out of the way. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is quite possibly the best value for money game you will ever purchase. It includes four of the best first person shooter games of all time, and the story so far of one of the most interesting game franchises around. Microsoft is asking you to shell out the full price for this one, but considering the content packed in (the game offers 4500 points of achievements just to give an idea of the size), that's not an unfair request in my opinion.
The games can also be modified by skulls that can be found and unlocked in the game world. Instead of just playing regular halo, you can add cheats or other changes to the game world. Again this really adds to the game, especially for those who have already played through the games already and want to mix it up a little.
When it comes to the game themselves, it really comes down to this; if you have not liked Halo in the past, then obviously The Master Chief collection is not for you. However, if you do have a liking for the franchise, what you will find is a game that at times can be a mixed bag. It is awesome that all the games are included in one package at 1080p and sixty frames per second, however, some of those games, especially Halo 1, really are showing their age. At the higher resolution, some of the graphics appear blocky and outdated. This is of no surprise, but when compared to something like Halo 4 in the collection, it really does not stack up well.
The other area where you will find huge amounts of value and entertainment is of course the multiplayer. Whilst in comparison to some recent games, Halo does have fairly slow paced gameplay in the multiplayer arena, it still remains tons of fun to play. As well as this, not only can you mix playlists up between games (that is on one map you may play a Halo 1 based map whilst next map might be from Halo 4), but the physics and nuances from each game has carried over.
This is not a situation where 343 has built one engine and ported all the maps. They have ported all the physics and other slight differences between the game, and it shows. This offers a massive challenge when the playlists contain maps from different games because you are always having to adjust to the new style of play. That said, it is a ton of fun and perhaps the best reason to pick this game up.
PRICING: You can find the Halo: The Master Chief Collection 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 Halo: The Master Chief Collection retails for $50.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Halo: The Master Chief Collection retails for CDN$68.39 at Amazon Canada.
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Sunset Overdrive Xbox One Game Review
However, Insomniac Games had proven in the past that it could produce quality titles and with Microsoft managing to lure it as an exclusive, Sunset Overdrive became one of the most anticipated games of the year for Xbox One owners. Thankfully for them, aside from a few slight hiccups, the game has been worth the wait.
Sunset Overdrive begins during the release of a brand new energy drink in the town of Sunset City. Rushed to market, Overdrive is the hip new drink that has failed to go through the correct testing and anyone that drinks it, turns into a mutant. After the launch party, the game picks up with you basically trying to escape the city, and with the help of a few quirky friends, try to get the truth behind the drink and why it causes people to turn into mutants. The story itself is not the strongest around, but it does get the job done and is interesting enough to make you want to play more.
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises, given the marketing campaign Microsoft has run with the lead male character, you can completely customise your avatar to be male or female with a whole bunch of different clothing. As you play more, additional clothes are unlocked, and whilst it's only a cosmetic change, it does allow you to play the character how you want to. Along with this, you can unlock 'Amps' by gathering items in the world and 'cooking' them.
Amps are power ups for your character that are triggered by the style meter. To build that meter, you need to move around the world in fluid motions and take enemies out stylishly, as the name implies. Movement is key in this game and generally if you are not continuously moving, you will be overrun by enemies in a very short space of time.
And that is a key word with Sunset Overdrive, fun. Right from the outset, the game clearly wants you to continuously feel like you are having fun playing it. Whether it be the humorous characters present throughout or the non-stop action, this game just generally puts a smile on your face - except for one key facet, tower defence. Sunset Overdrive includes a tower defence offshoot set in the evening where you can unlock more amps to play with. This was our most frustrating element of the game and did not really seem to fit.
Thankfully for the most part, despite sometimes overloading you with enemies, the game does not severely punish you for dying. Instead (except in the previously mentioned tower defence mode), you generally return very close to where you were battling and with your mission progress intact. This is actually a very smart move on the developer's part because it encourages you to try things that may seem stupid, but also keeps you from getting too frustrated with the game. Another master move was that if you happen to fall from a very high platform during a mission, instead of making you traverse all the way back up, the game will place you back near where you were before the fall.
Missions are generally found in hub style areas and usually culminate in a boss fight. Boss fights generally are not exactly fun to play, but in Sunset Overdrive, the combination of how crazy the bosses are, plus the low punishment for dying, makes it actually enjoyable to take them on. Finishing missions will give you badges to buy overdrives with that basically boost your characters health, weaponry, or defence stats. Sunset Overdrive is not even close to an RPG, but has some very basic elements from that genre included.
On the visuals side of things, Sunset Overdrive impresses in two ways; the graphics themselves and the frame rate. The frame rate during our play never stuttered and never dropped below smooth. Despite a gazillion things happening on the screen, the frame rate was rock solid, and given how graphically impressive this game is, that is a feat in itself. The visuals are vibrant bright colors, which is a nice change, and the world feels almost like a cartoon. Sound wise, the voice acting gets the job done, and the music, whilst nothing to write home about, does not feel out of place or cheap. In fact, all of this game smacks of 'AAA' status and has a high level of polish.
Sunset Overdrive was a game closely watched by many gamers due to it being exclusive to the Xbox One. Insomniac Games also needed a win after Fuse failed to shine and people wondered if Insomniac Games would be better off going back to Sony exclusivity. Based on this effort, the answer is an emphatic no. The game does have a few problems, but it's a very polished title that shows off the power of the Xbox One well. If you have an Xbox One console, you owe it to yourself to at least try this game. It's unique, its new IP and it as polished as any other AAA title on the market. Shame about some of the humor though, it really does pull it down.
PRICING: You can find Sunset Overdrive Day One Edition - Xbox One 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: Sunset Overdrive Day One Edition - Xbox One retails for $59.96 at Amazon.
Canada: Sunset Overdrive Day One Edition - Xbox One retails for CDN$64.00 at Amazon Canada.
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FIFA 15 PlayStation 4 Game Review
FIFA 14 was impressive, but as I wrote at the time, it had its problems. Things like players seemingly worse in the game than they are in real life, skill wise. However, EA promised to bring its A game back for FIFA 15 and that is exactly what they have done. Not only is FIFA 15 one of the best football games I have ever played, it is one of the best games of 2014, period.
With the release last year, EA unveiled the Ignite engine to the world. This was the engine EA said would power all its sports games going forward on the new platforms. FIFA, along with Madden, was one of the first games to get the engine, and it was impressive, but the extra twelve months development time has really shown the power of this engine. Last year, FIFA felt a bit stiff and without fluid motion, whilst this year, we were pulling off amazing passes and plays within the first hour of play. There is no doubt that the engine this year has had refinement and is working better than ever.
Other than the engine, there has been some improvements to the management mode, including the brand new Global Transfer Network. You have always been able to trade players in the FIFA games recently, as per the real-world, however, it is even more realistic this year. Instead of searching on numbers (eg a player with a total skill over 80), you research on traits much like a real-world scout would.
This makes the game potentially more difficult, but it allows you to pick up gems for cheap, if you can find them. You need to plan your scouting a lot more - instead of getting to the transfer window and just window shopping, you need to spend time before the window scouting countries and players, readying your moves - just like the real-world scouts. A fundamental change that should be welcomed by most, if not all, players of the game.
As well as this, the in-game UI gets a complete overhaul to appear just like it does in the Premier League broadcasts including upcoming matches, line ups and highlights. We cannot help but feel that this is EA rubbing the competitions nose in it that they have what is seen as the world's biggest league exclusively. It will be interesting to see if they apply the same to La Liga or Serie A etc next year.
This fits in perfectly with EA Sports Matchday, the in-game option to play upcoming games and have the players reflect their current form, injuries or suspensions. Along with this, the Matchday area now also includes a RSS feed of stories from your chosen favourite league, as well as players and teams that are improving, or are declining.
Visually the game is also impressive, especially in the aforementioned Barclays Premier League. The world's best players have again been replicated to the nth degree, right down to their boot choice, and have been given an update again for the next-generation systems. The movement of the players and ball feels incredibly realistic and when a player makes a mistake, you generally know why.
The presentation (even without the BPL skin) is second to none with a strong commentary team present, and in-game visual indicators to see exactly what is happening. EA has also put a lot of effort into the atmosphere of the game and visuals with a lot of 'replays' and other moments like substitutions now rendered completely, including the fourth official.
PRICING: You can find FIFA 15 on PlayStation 4 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: FIFA 15 on PlayStation 4 retails for $56.82 at Amazon.
Canada: FIFA 15 on PlayStation 4 retails for CDN$59.99 at Amazon Canada.
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Forza Horizon 2 Xbox One Game Review
Forza Horizon was a smash hit and one of our personal favourite games of that generation, but with the Xbox One comes Forza Horizon 2, a game which promises to take the extra grunt available in the new generation system, whilst keeping true to its original style from the 360. Thankfully Playground Games has managed to balance this well, and in many ways, eclipsed the Forza release from last year.
Like the original, Forza Horizon puts you in the middle of the Forza Horizon festival. A party mix of racing and music festival, this time set in the middle of Europe, and seemingly with a larger focus on European supercars from manufacturers such as Koenigsegg. The core gameplay remains the same as its predecessor; enter a Horizon festival location, take part in some races before moving onto the next location. However, it's in the main racing where you will find a lot of changes that make the game even better.
The bucket list spreads many of the game's most powerful cars throughout the world for you to find. Once found, you can begin the challenge, which is twofold; beat the time the game wants you to, as well as beat the current leaders of the challenge. It's not long in the game before you find these cars and it really is a smart move on the part of PlayGround Games because saving up to buy some of the best cars in the game can be a lengthy process. To assist with this, each time you level up, now you are offered the opportunity to spin a poker machine style wheel to either win money or a new car to use in a different championship. Again, this is a clever addition, because it gives a lot of reason to continuously gain levels.
The map itself is significantly larger than Forza Horizon and as previously mentioned is set in Europe. More specifically, the game is set in the south of France and the north of Italy. This offers some stunning vistas to race in to say the least and a good variety of events and areas to play in. With the map unlocked right away, there is nothing to stop you just going for a cruise and the game actively encourages this by tracking how many streets you have found on the map - there are 315 overall - as well as experience points, whilst you cruise around.
Forza Horizon was one of our most loved Xbox 360 games and at the time we felt that the developers were well on the way to eclipsing the Forza Motorsport series. Turn 10 better watch their backs because, in our opinion, Forza Horizon 2 delivers and does eclipse the most recent Forza game. A game that was seen as something to compliment the mainline series has in our opinion now become the better game. There simply is right now no better racing game on Xbox One, and if you have any liking of the racing genre, this is a must play. We can't wait to see what Playground Games does next.
PRICING: You can find Forza Horizon 2 for Xbox One 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: Forza Horizon 2 for Xbox One retails for $59.99 at Amazon.
Canada: Forza Horizon 2 for Xbox One retails for CDN$64.95 at Amazon Canada.
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Counterspy PS VITA Game Review
In Counterspy, you take the role of a secret agent sent behind both US and Russian lines in the midst of the Cold War. Both superpowers are trying to send a rocket to the moon, which will inevitably destroy it. The humorous thing about this is that both super powers are planning the exact same military move, in the same way, with the same launch sequences. However, you have no idea when, how, or why, and uncovering this becomes your main task in Counterspy.
The actual missions are in general short and sharp. Most can be completed in about five minutes, even with the most meticulous of planning. This is clearly a game that Dynamighty feels you should play many times, as if you are connected online when playing, a challenge score is set on each map, and also the game is relatively short. The length of the game is set by how good you are at it. Manage to find many secret plans on each mission, and it will be over before you know it, but if you struggle to find them, expect a longer experience. We finished it after about three hours of gameplay, so don't expect this to be a lengthy experience.
This is where Counterspy somewhat begins to come unstuck. Each mission is randomly generated (aside from the very final map), and this basically leads you to restarting a mission over and over until a map you manage to complete is generated. This is not necessarily a major problem and does keep you coming back to it, but it also means that you can't plan out strategies to try and beat the mission. The random missions do increase the games longevity, but it would have been nice to see a mission 'locked' to a specific level design during the current play through. It leads to a feeling of the player being fortunate, rather than skilful, in completing some of the missions.
One major problem, and this is more PS VITA specific, is that the responsiveness of the controls are not as tight as we would have liked. Often we would press circle to try and hide, only to end up barrelling down towards the enemy. We also played the game on the PS4 and did not experience this, so it's clear the VITA in some areas is struggling. As well as this, on the VITA, we occasionally experienced some choppy frame rates that again was not present in the PS4 version.
Counterspy was one of our most anticipated VITA games, and whilst for the most part it lives up to the hype, there is just enough here to have us cautioning you before a purchase. If you are the kind of gamer that cannot handle frame rate issues, or controls that can seem unresponsive at times, then this game is not for you on the VITA. However, aside from that, this is a solid title, despite the lower power of the handheld. If you have a spare few hours to play a VITA game, you could do worse than Counterspy.
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Ultra Street Fighter IV PC Game Review
Like its predecessors, Ultra Street Fighter IV has an overall story and one for each of the individual characters. In the arcade mode of the game, when you select a character to complete the story with, a few anime cut scenes play out, giving some background as to why this character is fighting. Some of these are incredibly cheesy and over the top, however, overall they fit the game well, and provide some much needed meat to the arcade side of the game for those who just want to play this game by themselves - which, of course, is generally not what SF is all about.
From a PC perspective, this game runs very well, even on moderately powerful hardware. Given that this game is a last-generation console game, this is of no surprise, but in an interesting move before you can go online for multiplayer, the game benchmarks your system. That benchmark is then displayed to opposing players for them to decide if they want to play you. For example, if someone has an 'E' class system, they may not want to play an 'A' class system. It's quite a strange thing, but the assumption is that a lower powered machine will have a disadvantage, against a higher spec system.
One area where we did feel a bit disappointed was what we experienced of the netcode. The game in general does run quite well, but there were a few stutters here and there. Even when playing against someone in the local country, there was an indication that the connection was very poor, which was surprising - so, playing intercontinental tournaments or fights is likely not going to offer a good experience.
As well as this, it takes a while for the games to connect, and we found sometimes the games would just drop out before even finalizing the connection.
The fact is that if you are a big Street Fighter fan, it is likely Ultra is a no brainer for you, and it's also a no brainer for those who want a fighting game, and have yet to pick up a version of Street Fighter IV. However, for those who already have SFIV or Super SFIV, it is a harder sell. Some of the changes are specifically aimed at very high level play, and the new characters, whilst adding something to the game, are not exactly must have additions.
PRICING: You can find the Ultra Street Fighter IV for PC 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 Ultra Street Fighter IV [Online Game Code] retails for $29.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Ultra Street Fighter IV PC Game retails for CDN$28.99 at Amazon Canada.
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The Last of Us Remastered PlayStation 4 Game Review
So, 12 months later, we're back taking control of Ellie and Joel again, only this time on the PS4. Naughty Dog has applied some finishing touches to the game and boosted it to sixty frames per second. With how good this has turned out, we do have to wonder why the PS3 saw this game in the first place.
For those of you who missed the game last year, The Last of Us tells the story of when a virus becomes uncontrolled in the United States and it becomes every man for himself in a fight for survival. You take control of Joel who lost a daughter twenty years prior to the main story of this game. He comes across Ellie, a young orphaned girl trying to survive, and from there the story winds through twists and turns till its epic end.
Typically the game is played from a third person perspective much like Uncharted, however, this is not a game where you can go in all guns blazing. Stealth is the name of the game, and with limited supplies on offer, if you are not a fan of hiding in wait and attacking the enemies unknown, then this is very much not the game for you. This is not an easy game, especially in the higher difficulty levels (i.e. Crushing), but it is balanced in such a way that you never feel that the game is cheap and the sense of accomplishment when finishing a level is significant.
Aside from Left Behind, the Remastered Edition brings some other treats for those playing through a second time as well. The game now runs by default at sixty frames per second (although the option to lock it to 30 like the PS3 is still there), and it really does have a significant visual impact. The game just seems to run better, which is to be expected given that it's on a new console system. However, it goes beyond this. It really adds to the game as well with many of the illegible signs from the PS3 build now viewable, adding even more atmosphere to the world.
Along with the main storyline, Remastered also ships with the multiplayer component and all the DLC's released for it so far. The multiplayer in the Last of Us was unique in that it introduced a metagame where the Fireflies and the Hunters have to survive, and you do this by collecting supplies in matches, such as team deathmatch and interrogation, a cool mode where you have to interrogate enemies after capturing them.
The Last of Us was a stunning achievement on the PS3, and on the PS4, it shows even more what Naughty Dog has produced with this new IP. If you already played through the game on PS3 (especially if you have played Left Behind already), it certainly is something you need to think about before purchasing, but those who missed out the first time around will find out what everyone was raving about just over twelve months ago.
PRICING: You can find the The Last of Us Remastered PlayStation 4 game 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 Last of Us Remastered PlayStation 4 game retails for $49.94 at Amazon.
Canada: The The Last of Us Remastered PlayStation 4 game retails for CDN$49.96 at Amazon Canada.
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Corsair Releases Hydro Series HG10 GPU Liquid Cooling Bracket
Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance PC hardware, today announced the immediate availability of the Hydro Series HG10 A1 Edition GPU liquid cooling bracket for AMD Radeon R9 290X and 290 video cards. Both a bracket and a heat sink, the HG10 allows the users to attach a Corsair Hydro Series liquid cooler to their video card to cool the GPU and other critical circuitry, unlocking a new level of performance and cooling for their GPU.
The Hydro Series HG10 A1 Edition GPU liquid cooling bracket is designed to support all stock reference versions of AMD Radeon R9 290X and 290X video cards. A full list of compatible cards can be found at corsair.com. New HG10 editions compatible with NVIDIA GeForce Titan, 7 Series, and other GPUs will be available in early 2015.
Pricing, Availability, and Warranty
The HG10 A1 Edition is priced at $39.99.
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NVIDIA Unveils Tesla K80 Dual-Chip Compute Accelerator
NVIDIA today unveiled a new addition to the NVIDIA Tesla Accelerated Computing Platform: the Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator, the world's highest performance accelerator designed for a wide range of machine learning, data analytics, scientific, and high performance computing (HPC) applications.
The Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator delivers nearly two times higher performance and double the memory bandwidth of its predecessor, the Tesla K40 GPU accelerator. With ten times higher performance than today's fastest CPU, it outperforms CPUs and competing accelerators on hundreds of complex analytics and large, computationally intensive scientific computing applications.
Users can unlock the untapped performance of a broad range of applications with the accelerator's enhanced version of NVIDIA GPU Boost technology (PDF), which dynamically converts power headroom into the optimal performance boost for each individual application.
Industry-Leading Performance for Science, Data Analytics, Machine Learning
The Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator was designed with the most difficult computational challenges in mind, ranging from astrophysics, genomics and quantum chemistry to data analytics. It is also optimized for advanced deep learning tasks, one of the fastest growing segments of the machine learning field.
"NVIDIA GPUs have become the de facto computing platform for the deep learning community," said Yann LeCun, director of AI Research at Facebook, and Silver Professor of Computer Science & Neural Science at New York University. "Because the accuracy of deep learning systems improves as the models and datasets get larger, we always look for the fastest hardware we can find. The Tesla K80 accelerator, with its dual-GPU architecture and large memory, gives us more teraflops and more GB than ever before from a single server, allowing us to make faster progress in deep learning."
The Tesla K80 delivers up to 8.74 teraflops single-precision and up to 2.91 teraflops double-precision peak floating point performance, and10 times higher performance than today's fastest CPUs on leading science and engineering applications, such as AMBER, GROMACS, Quantum Espresso and LSMS.
"The Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerators are up to 10 times faster than CPUs when enabling scientific breakthroughs in some of our key applications, and provide a low energy footprint," said Wolfgang Nagel, director of the Center for Information Services and HPC at Technische Universität Dresden in Germany. "Our researchers use the available GPU resources on the Taurus supercomputer extensively to enable a more refined cancer therapy, understand cells by watching them live, and study asteroids as part of ESA's Rosetta mission."
Key features of the Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator include:
- Two GPUs per board - Doubles throughput of applications designed to take advantage of multiple GPUs.
- 24GB of ultra-fast GDDR5 memory - 12GB of memory per GPU, 2x more memory than Tesla K40 GPU, allows users to process 2x larger datasets.
- 480GB/s memory bandwidth - Increased data throughput allows data scientists to crunch though petabytes of information in half the time compared to the Tesla K10 accelerator. Optimized for energy exploration, video and image processing, and data analytics applications.
- 4,992 CUDA parallel processing cores - Accelerates applications by up to 10x compared to using a CPU alone.
- Dynamic NVIDIA GPU Boost Technology - Dynamically scales GPU clocks based on the characteristics of individual applications for maximum performance.
- Dynamic Parallelism - Enables GPU threads to dynamically spawn new threads, enabling users to quickly and easily crunch through adaptive and dynamic data structures.
More information about the Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator is available at NVIDIA booth 1727 at SC14, Nov. 17-20, and on the NVIDIA high performance computing website.
Users can also try the Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator for free on remotely hosted clusters. Visit the GPU Test Drive website for more information.
Availability
Shipping today, the NVIDIA Tesla K80 dual-GPU accelerator will be available from a variety of server manufacturers, including ASUS, Bull, Cirrascale, Cray, Dell, GIGABYTE, HP, Inspur, Penguin, Quanta, Sugon, Supermicro and Tyan, as well as from NVIDIA reseller partners.
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New EKWB Water Block Available for GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards
GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and video cards is proud to present a series of new liquid cooling solutions made by EK Water Blocks. The Slovenia based liquid cooler manufacturer announced earlier this month a new series of motherboard water cooling solutions especially designed for the GIGABYTE X99 series Intel Core i7 LGA-2011-3 socket motherboards.
Not only do the water blocks look amazing and are quieter than an air cooling system, they are actually as efficient as the GIGABYTE factory cooling solution. The screw-in standoffs are already pre-installed and allow for easy and trouble-free installation by utilizing original motherboard back plates.
To confirm that your GIGABYTE X99 motherboard has an EKWB water block that will match, please consult their Cooling Configurator for a detailed compatibility list.
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ASRock Unveils the X99 Extreme11 Motherboard
Though there are plentiful Haswell-E X99 platforms out there, sometimes we are simply incapable of being satisfied with what we already have. Faithfully believing that the grass is always greener on the other side, then end up pursuing extremities compulsively. Well, being insatiable is just human. And also the motive to drive ASRock to produce the world's most powerful X99 motherboard - ASRock X99 Extreme11!
One thing that you can't possibly miss on this monstrous motherboard is storage connectors! ASRock X99 Extreme11 boasts a total of 18 SATA3 connectors on the side of the motherboard, including 10 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors from Intel X99 and 8 additional SAS-3 12.0 Gb/s connectors by the added LSI SAS 3008 controller chip. Tests at ASRock's lab showed that the data transfer rate could reach an unbelievable 6.1 GB/s when SSDs were connected to the storage ports!
Luxurious VRM Design: ASRock 12 Power Phase Design
An insignificant yet crucial reason why ASRock X99 Extreme11 outperforms its nemeses is because ASRock's X99 motherboards implement a luxurious 12 Power Phase Design while others have downgraded to merely 6 or 8 power phases. This special VRM design allows the motherboard to score better performance with less power and at cooler temperatures, but don't just take our word for it, listen to the authority on tech - Tom's Hardware agreed too that ASRock's 12 Power Phase Design brings better power/performance efficiency.
Unmatched Graphics: 4-Way SLI/CrossFireX at x16/16/16/16
To claim greatness, one must walk the talk. Having sufficient PCIe slots for building 4-way SLI or CrossFireX is fair and square for any high-end platform. However it's still not enough for the world's most powerful X99 motherboard. ASRock X99 Extreme11 has five PCIe Gen3 x16 slots plus two embedded PLX PEX 8747 bridge chips for enabling either 4-way SLI or CrossFireX at x16/16/16/16 full throttle!
Primo Components: ASRock Super Alloy
ASRock X99 Extreme11 is the flagship of ASRock's Super Alloy Series. It can be powered by Intel Core i7 and Xeon 18 Core Processers (LGA 2011-3). Besides the aforementioned merits, this motherboard is also geared with XXL Aluminum Alloy Heatsinks, 12 Power Phase Design, Nichicon 12K Platinum Caps, Premium 60A Power Chokes, Premium Memory Alloy Chokes, and Ultra Dual-N MOSFETs. The most effective VRM solution for generating beastlike performances while maintaining low power consumption and low temperatures. Other features include dual Intel Gigabit LAN with support for Teaming, the eargasmic Purity Sound 2 plus Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio capacitor combo. And how could anyone possibly forget the DDR4 memory upgrade on X99 systems? This motherboard comes with 8 memory DIMM slots that may support DDR4 quad channel ECC and UDIMM/RDIMM memory modules up to 3400+(OC). Seriously, there might be 99 ways to be extreme, but nothing gets more extreme than X99 Extreme11!
For detailed information about this motherboard, please check: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/X99%20Extreme11
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ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces the G751 Gaming Laptop
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced the G751 Series gaming laptop. G751 features an Intel Core processor, up to enthusiast-grade NVIDIA GeForce GTX970M/980M graphics and exclusive ASUS TurboMaster GPU-overclocking technology to deliver gaming desktop levels of performance. G751 demonstrates exceptional thermal efficiency with minimal noise thanks to copper heat sinks and intelligent dual fans that expel hot air via rear vents. Specially designed for gamers, G751 has dedicated keys for instant access to Steam and one-click gameplay recording; as well as ASUS SonicMaster and ROG AudioWizard for powerful, optimized audio for all game genres.
ROG G751 is powered by up to Intel Core i7 processors for the smooth, powerful performance required to drive today's fast-paced games. G751 also features the latest enthusiast-grade NVIDIA GeForce GTX970M/980M for sharp, vivid visuals. All that performance is enhanced by ASUS TurboMaster technology, which comprises the ROG-exclusive GPU Tweak software and upgraded hardware components, to support real-time GPU overclocking for a performance boost of up to 5%.
ROG G751 has an intelligent, near-silent cooling system consisting of dual independent fans and copper heat sinks. This upgraded design delivers exceptional thermal efficiency to ensure system stability, keeping CPU and GPU temperatures low even under overclocking conditions. Three heat pipes lead directly to the GPU to draw heat towards the fan, with hot air being blown out through the rear vents of the G751. The rear vents direct the exhaust away from the user, and play a key part in the efficient and effective thermal design of the G751.
ROG G751 has a matte, anti-glare Full HD IPS display with wide 178-degree viewing angles for minimal color shift even when viewed from extreme angles. G751 supports external 4K/UHD (ultra-high-definition) displays too, with Trinity Display technology giving users a total of four displays (notebook display and three external displays) to work on simultaneously through HDMI 1.4, mini DisplayPort, and VGA output ports. This arrangement is ideal for multi-screen gaming, movie watching, or multi-tasking.
G751 also has GameFirst III which optimizes networks to give users lag-free gameplay. It prioritizes game packets and allocates more bandwidth for smooth, lag-free gaming. It features four preset packet-priority modes, and manual settings for users who want total control over their network. The built-in Network Monitor tool even lets users manage network traffic and test connection speeds.
Gamer-centric design and features
ROG G751 retains the classic stealthy F-22 Raptor-inspired lines found on previous G Series iterations; and sports an aluminum finish and illuminated ROG logo.
ROG G751 has dedicated keys for instant Steam access and one-click gameplay recording. The ASUS ROG Macro Key can be programmed with up to three commands for complex in-game multi-key actions, launching applications, or loading up a specific website with one keystroke.
The seamless one-piece chiclet keyboard is ergonomically-angled for user comfort, making it ideal for marathon gaming sessions. Keys have an adjustable backlight that glows red in dark environments, and there are even specially-marked WASD cursor keys.
Specifications
Processor
- Intel Core i7-4860HQ/I7-4710HQ Processor (for G751JY)
- Intel Core I7-4710HQ Processor (for G751JT)
- Intel Core i7-4710HQ/I5-4200H Processor (for G751JM)
- Mobile Intel HM87 Chipset
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 8.1 Professional
- DDR3L 1600 MHz up to 32 GB
- 17.3-inch anti-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS with LED backlight (Touch support included for G751JM)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M with 4 GB GDDR5 VRAM (for G751JY)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M with 3 GB GDDR5 VRAM (for G751JT)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M with 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM (for G751JM)
- NGFF PCIe 512 GB/256 GB SSD (for G751JY only)
- 2.5in SATA 2TB(5400 rpm)
- 2.5in SATA 1TB (7200 rpm)
- 2.5in SATA 1TB (5400 rpm, w/8GB SSD, SSH)
- 2.5in SATA 256GB/128GB SSD
- Dual HDD Support
- DVD Super-Multi / Blu-ray Combo / Blu-ray writer
- Built-in HD camera and array mic
- 416 x 318 x 23 ~ 42mm
- 5.3kg (with 8-cell battery for G751JY and G751JT)
- 4.3kg (with 8-cell battery for G751JM)
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Turtle Beach XO ONE Gaming Headset Now Available in Stores
Turtle Beach, the leading audio brand in the video games industry, today announced that the XO ONE gaming headset designed for the Xbox One console is now available in stores and at online retailers. The XO ONE, which has an MSRP of $79.95, includes a new proprietary Xbox One audio controller that features mic monitoring and other chat features that multiplayer gamers rely on. Turtle Beach is the gaming audio brand of Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR).
"Delivering the features that regular gamers want and expect in a headset is one of the things that makes Turtle Beach stand out as a brand," said Juergen Stark, chief executive officer of Turtle Beach. "We are very excited about the new Xbox One gaming headsets that we are bringing to stores this holiday season, starting with the XO ONE."
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Eurocom Launches M5 Pro Ultra HD Notebook
Eurocom is launching the thin and light, M5 Pro with a choice NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M and 970M graphics, 32 GB DDR3-1600 memory, 4 TB storage, a stunning 4k (3840x2160) 15.6" display and an Intel Core i7 4710HQ processor. If there was ever a laptop that could blur the lines between ultraportable and gaming it would be the EUROCOM M5 Pro, powerful enough to run current and future games at ultra with the weight, dimensions and battery life of an ultraportable.
The EUROCOM M5 Pro supports both NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (4GB DDR5) or GTX 970M (3GB DDR5) graphics for unbeatable performance, raw power and great battery life.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M's 1536 CUDA cores, running at 1038 MHz and 8 GB of GDDR5 memory running at 2500 MHz offers 50% faster performance than the previous generation NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M.
Experience great notebook graphics performance with next generation NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M and 970M Maxwell graphics for advanced performance, unmatched power efficiency and cutting edge features.
15.6-inch 4K Display
The EUROCOM M5 Pro supports a beautiful 15.6-inch 4K 3840-by-2160 display as well as a FHD 1920-by-1080 matte display. The high pixel density of the 4K display with 8,294,400 pixels provides extremely detailed images for true to life content. Eurocom also offers professional colour calibration services to ensure every one of those 8 million pixels are accurate as possible.
Aluminum Alloy Chassis
An Aluminum Alloy Chassis is used to offer a durable, rugged yet classy look while offering a very lightweight and strong 2.6 kg case that is just one inch thick. The Aluminum also provides heat sink qualities, which allowed Eurocom to put such high performance NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M and 970M graphics and other components inside the M5 Pro.
Storage
The EUROCOM M5 Pro supports four physical drives by way of two optional M.2 2280 SSDs and one 7.5 mm and one 9 mm storage bays, with RAID 0/1 support.
A fast and powerful M.2 2280 SSD is ideal for Intel's Smart Response SSD-caching and Intel Rapid Start technology. Intel Smart Response is an intelligent caching setup that monitors data reads and writes on your system drive and caches the most frequently accessed data to an SSD. This results in a significant speed boost, as the data is ready for when your system needs it. RAID 0/1is also supported for increased performance or redundancy. Intel Rapid Start Technology enables systems to quickly resume from deep sleep in about 6 seconds.
Intel Core i7 4710HQ Processor
The EUROCOM M5 Pro has an Intel HM87 Express Chipset running the Intel Core i7 4710HQ processor with 4 cores, 8 threads running at 2.5 GHz with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600. Due to Hyperthreading, the four cores can handle up to eight threads in parallel leading to better overall utilization of the CPU. The i7-4710HQ is rated at a TDP of 47 W including video card and memory controller.
Memory
The EUROCOM M5 Pro has 4 memory slots ready for up to 32 GB of dual channel DDR3 1600MHz or 1866 MHz 204 pin SO-DIMM. With such massive amounts of RAM available, the M5 Pro becomes a flexible tool for virtualization and high performance computing. Being fully upgradeable the EUROCOM M5 Pro supports 8 GB, 16 GB, 24 GB and 32 GB of memory via 4 or 8 GB modules.
Full size backlit Keyboard
The EUROCOM M5 Pro comes with a full size backlit keyboard with separate numeric keypad. The adjustable white backlit keys help to increase usability in dim lighting conditions by ensuring users can see the keyboard in nearly any environment, while also hinting at the epic power under the hood.
Power and Battery
All features in the EUROCOM M5 Pro are powered by a 180W AC adapter so the M5 Pro is ready to handle any workload. With a removable 4-cell 60 WH Polymer battery, the M5 Pro can deliver up to 3.3 hours of full power battery life.
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Shuttle Announces High-resolution Triple-display Slim PC
Shuttle Inc. announced the launch of its latest slim PC, the XH97V, an all-around performance PC with some impressive key features fit for home theatre, small office, and industrial use. The device is just as suitable for low-noise home-media PC with support for 4K monitors as it is for digital signage applications with three independent displays. It's a compact, 3-liter barebone built on Intel's recently released H97 chipset and made to support the newest Intel processors with a LGA 1150 socket up to 65W. XH97V support the latest Haswell/Haswell Refresh processors with an integrated Intel HD Graphics series core and DirectX 11.1, delivering high-performance both at home and in the workplace.
Finally, the XH97V is built with quality materials and uses solid capacitors throughout its motherboard assembly. The system is sturdy and demonstrates reliably stable operation in 0-50 ⁰C ambient temperatures. Equipped with Shuttle's exclusive heat pipe plus smart fan technology, the device has ventilation on both the ride and left side of the chassis and runs reliably cool. The XH97V is 24/7 certified and is currently being distributed globally.
For more information, visit the product page.
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Sharkoon Announces Skiller PRO Gaming Keyboard
Sharkoon launched the Skiller PRO gaming keyboard. The Skiller PRO Illuminated Gaming Keyboard is the latest version of our popular Skiller keyboard and offers in the Pro version even more features for gamers. The blue illuminated keyboard in a 3-block standard layout, including multi-key rollover support, also offers six macro, three profile as well as nine multimedia keys. The stabile keyboard has a weight of about 888 grams; the lifetime of the keys is over 10 million keystokes.
End customers will find the Sharkoon Skiller PRO Illuminated Gaming Keyboard available for the suggested retail price of 26.99 euros from authorized retailers.
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Samsung Starts Producing 3.2-Terabyte NVMe SSD Based on 3D V-NAND
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has started mass producing 3.2-terabyte (TB) NVMe* PCIe solid state drives (SSDs) based on its 3D V-NAND (Vertical NAND) flash memory technology, for use in high-end enterprise server systems. The new NVMe PCIe SSD, SM1715, utilizes Samsung's proprietary 3D V-NAND in an HHHL (half-height, half-length) card-type form factor, to offer 3.2TB of storage capacity -- doubling Samsung's previous highest NVMe SSD density of 1.6TB.
The SM1715 is an upgraded version of Samsung's XS1715 in terms of drive performance and reliability. That 2.5-inch XS1715 was bestowed a 2014 Flash Memory Summit Best of Show Award earlier this year for being one of the Most Innovative Flash Memory technologies.
The newly introduced 3.2TB NVMe SSD provides a sequential read speed of 3,000 megabytes per second (MB/s) and writes sequentially at up to 2,200MB/s. It also randomly reads at up to 750,000 IOPS (input output operations per second) and writes randomly at up to 130,000 IOPS.
In addition, the 3.2TB SM1715 features outstanding reliability with 10 DWPDs (drive writes per day) for five years. This provides a level of reliability that enterprise server manufacturers have been requesting for their high-end storage solutions.
The SM1715 comes in 1.6TB and 3.2TB versions, adding more NVMe options to a 2.5-inch NVMe XS1715 lineup that includes 800GB and 1.6TB versions.
Since 2013, Samsung has introduced a range of industry-first 3D V-NAND-based SATA SSDs for PCs and data centers. Now, it is rolling out the SM1715 to accelerate the transition to the NVMe interface in the premium server sector, while expanding its 3D V-NAND SSD business to offer drives with more than 3TB of storage.
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Cooler Master Announces Novatouch TKL Keyboard
Cooler Master, a leading developer of PC and electronic components and accessories, today announces the NovaTouch TKL, a hybrid capacitive keyboard designed for high speed, extreme accuracy, and total comfort in the ultimate typing experience.
Functional Form
The NovaTouch TKL is a compact, tenkeyless keyboard that is perfect for those who favor portability and ergonomics. The smaller size keeps the mouse closer to your center to reduce shoulder stress during long periods of use and makes the keyboard easier to carry between events, meetings, and computer stations. NovaTouch TKL connects with a sturdy, detachable, micro-USB connector with a 1.8 meter braided cable designed for improved longevity alongside ease of access compared to other keyboard connections.
Availability
The NovaTouch TKL is available as of today in North America and Asia and will become available in Europe in mid November.
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Micron Debuts the M600 Solid State Drives
Micron Technology, Inc., today announced a next-generation, client-class solid state drive (SSD) that sets a new bar for low-power, high-performance storage for personal computers. The M600 SATA SSD - specifically designed to take advantage of Micron's leading-edge NAND Flash technology - addresses the storage demands of modern mobile computing applications, including Ultrabook platforms and tablets, as well as performance-oriented PC desktops and video capture systems.
To help meet consumers' ever-increasing expectations for longer battery life, the M600 offers class-leading SSD power efficiency. It draws less than 2 milliwatts (mW) in sleep mode and averages 150mW during active use. Typical laptop hard drives require exponentially more power when idle (130mW) and ten times as much power while they spin their platters to access data during active use (1400mW to 2000mW).
Despite its extraordinarily low power use, the M600 offers strong performance. It can read data as fast as the SATA interface allows - with random reads up to 100,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) and 560 MB/s sequential read speeds for all capacities. The M600 also excels in write performance due to Micron's innovative dynamic write acceleration. This technology switches NAND cells to behave more like higher-grade Flash (from MLC to SLC) on-the-fly, creating a cache that is sized according to drive demands-instead of sacrificing user capacity for a permanent cache. The end result reduces power use and improves write performance as much as 2.8 times over non-cached systems, ensuring that even the lower-capacity M600 SSDs deliver excellent write speeds.
This unique write architecture also helps the M600 achieve greater longevity. For example, the 1 TB M600 is warranted to reach up to 400 TB total bytes written (TBW), which is five times more than typical client drives. That's enough endurance to write 220 GB a day, every day, for five years - dramatically more than a normal client workload and enough to make even the most cautious user stop worrying about SSD wear-out.
The M600 is also equipped with powerful self-encryption technology designed to meet strict government standards-ensuring valuable mobile data is secure even in the event of theft or loss. The M600's AES-256-bit hardware encryption engine actively encrypts data without performance degradation and complies with the TCG Opal 2.0 standards and the Microsoft eDrive protocol, making it easy to enable using management tools or within Windows 8.
The M600 uses Micron's 16 nm process technology - their most advanced Flash technology and winner of TechInsights' Most Innovative Memory Device and Semiconductor of the Year. The drive features a host of quality and reliability features that Micron customers have come to expect, including RAIN onboard fail-over protection, client-class power-loss protection for data at rest, and adaptive thermal monitoring, which dynamically adjusts power consumption based on system temperature-ideal for ultra-small, thermally constrained systems.
"The M600 sets a new bar for power, security and efficiency in client SSDs and delivers on our vision to provide the most advanced storage solutions," said Darren Thomas, vice president of Micron's storage business. "OEMs expect Micron to deliver leading-edge SSDs that give their products an advantage and a noticeably better user experience. The M600 fulfills that promise."
The M600 SSD uses Micron's 128 Gb NAND to enable a wide range of capacities in tiny configurations. The M600 is offered in 128, 256 and 512 GB mSATA and M.2 module configurations. The gumstick-sized M.2 module is offered in both 80 mm and 60 mm versions (2280 and 2260) to provide versatile options for ultra-slim tablet systems. The M600 is also available in a 2.5-inch, 7 mm form factor, which is available in capacities from 128 GB to 1 TB.
The M600 SSD is currently in production and is sold directly to OEMs and to system builders and businesses through Micron's extensive distribution network.
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Lexar Introduces World's Fastest SD UHS-II Cards
Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory products, today announced the new Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II cards, the fastest UHS-II memory cards available on the market today. To complement the new line and create a full portfolio of SD UHS-II products, Lexar also announced new Professional 1000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II cards and the new Professional Workflow SR2, a SD UHS-II USB 3.0 reader.
"UHS-II technology really raises the bar in terms of performance. The latest UHS-II additions to our Lexar Professional product portfolio provide users the ability to capture and offload work even faster, so they can get back to what's important--capturing great images and video," said Adam Kaufman, director of card product marketing, Lexar. "Our multi-line UHS-II product offering gets performance into the hands of any user at a great value and with the Professional 2000x card, it comes right out of the box."
To complete the new UHS-II product portfolio, the Lexar Professional Workflow line has expanded to include the Professional Workflow SR2 reader, a SD UHS-II USB 3.0 reader. The Professional Workflow SR2 reader is compatible with both the new 2000x and 1000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II cards, as well as the Professional Workflow HR2 (Thunderbolt 2/USB 3.0 reader and storage drive hub) and Professional Workflow HR1 (USB 3.0 reader and storage drive hub). The readers are sold separately so users can configure a hub into an ideal solution that meets their unique workflow needs, or can use the readers individually while on the go.
The Professional 2000x and 1000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II cards are backwards compatible with older cameras and readers, performing at UHS-I and Class 10 speeds. The cards also include the latest version of Image Rescue software and come with a limited lifetime warranty. The Lexar Professional 2000x card will be available in Q4 with MSRPs of $184.99 (64 GB) and $105.99 (32 GB). The Lexar Professional 1000x card will also be available in Q4 and has MSRPs of $546.99 (256 GB), $174.99 (128 GB), $97.99 (64 GB), $55.99 (32 GB), and $31.99 (16 GB), while the Lexar Professional Workflow SR2 reader has an MSRP of $29.99 and will be available in Q4.
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Phanteks Introduces the Enthoo Evolv mATX PC Case
Phanteks announce the release of the Enthoo EVOLV, a mATX/mITX chassis with a beautiful all aluminum exterior. The EVOLV's unparalleled design features an all new quick release system for the outer panels. The EVOLV supports many high-end PC components while maintaining a minimalist design.
The EVOLV's midplate only showcases the mainboard and it's components while isolating the bulky power supply's wire out of sight. The EVOLV is also equipped with pre-installed Hoop-N-Loop ties for a clean and tidy system. Unleash Unlimited Possiblities
"Features such as being very versatile, having a spacious and clean interior and of course making it very easy to build water-cooling systems is what the Enthoo Series is all about." - Boon, Designer of the Enthoo Series
Pricing and Availability
Available at most local retailers in September 16, 2014
The recommended retail price is
- PH-ES314E_BK: $129.99
- PH-ES314E_WT: $139.99
5 Years Limited Warranty
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Netgear Announces New Nighthawk X4 R7500 Smart Wi-Fi Router
NETGEAR, Inc., a global networking company that delivers innovative products to consumers, businesses and service providers, is launching the Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7500), an addition to its award-winning Nighthawk family of 802.11ac routers. The Nighthawk X4 Wi-Fi Gigabit Router with support for Quad-stream Wi-Fi Architecture delivers the fastest dual-band 802.11ac speed and performance for high intensity gaming, streaming and mobile connectivity.
The new Quad-stream Architecture enables the X4 to stream high quality, full HD content with greater clarity and less buffering than was ever possible before. This, in conjunction with the four high performance antennas, provides unmatched home Wi-Fi range and performance wherever it's needed.
Moreover, Nighthawk X4 offers a unique Dynamic QoS prioritization capability. Instead of treating all devices and applications as the same, Dynamic QoS recognizes each individual application - gaming, streaming, file transfers, web browsing, etc. - and prioritizes them accordingly. X4 is also device-aware, recognizing gaming consoles from smart TVs, and PCs from smartphones, thus ensuring bandwidth is allocated appropriately to each connected device. This unique application-aware and device-aware capability makes online gameplay completely lag-free. Streaming full HD video is more stable and jitter-free, with less buffering, for a totally seamless experience.
"The Nighthawk X4 is designed for gamers and people who do a lot of video streaming," said Sandeep Harpalani, NETGEAR's director of product marketing for Retail Network Products. "We are excited to leverage the best in processing power, Dynamic Quality of Service, and dual-band Wi-Fi technology to exceed the expectations of these demanding consumers."
The X4 also offers superior capabilities for sharing, storing and securing your treasured files and multimedia content. You can easily add storage by connecting a drive to the twin SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports or one eSATA port on the Nighthawk X4 giving you fast access to all your files.
You'll be able to take advantage of the X4's 2.33 Gbps dual-band Wi-Fi to stream content at speeds previously only possible with wired connections, making it ideal for streaming video to screens around the home that are DLNA-enabled or AirPlay-compatible.
X4 also includes a free software application that takes automatic backups of all PCs in your home network. NETGEAR ReadySHARE Vault makes safeguarding your PC files, photos, music, and movies easier than ever.
Technical Benefits of Nighthawk X4
NETGEAR has packed Nighthawk X4 with best-in-class technology to offer an unmatched Wi-Fi experience for your Wi-Fi-enabled devices - smartphones, notebooks, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles, Blu-ray players, and media servers.
- Quad-stream X4 Architecture delivers AC2350 Wi-Fi for a combined speed of 2.33 Gbps (1733 Mbps* + 600 Mbps*), the fastest available dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi connection to any one device.
- The 1.4GHz dual-core processor delivers 40 percent faster speed for improved Wi-Fi, wired, and WAN-to-LAN performance.
- 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi technology is designed to deliver faster Wi-Fi to multiple devices.
- Application-aware and device-aware Dynamic QoS technology optimizes your connection speed for reduced lag and buffering.
- Beamforming+ improves Wi-Fi coverage and reliability by focusing Wi-Fi directly at connected devices.
- Powerful amplifiers and four high-performance external antennas increase range for whole-home mobility.
- Security features include VPN support for secure remote access, customized free URL, SPI and NAT double firewall, separate guest network access, and parental controls.
- Five Gigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN and 4 LAN) offer fast wired connections.
- One eSATA port and two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports offer high-speed, storage-ready access that is significantly faster than USB 2.0.
- ReadySHARE Vault, a free software application, automatically backs up Windows-based PCs to a USB hard drive connected to Nighthawk X4.
- NETGEAR MyMedia enables you to find and play your stored media from anywhere on your network to your DLNA-ready TVs and music system.
- iTunes server support enables you to play music on AirPlay-compatible devices using iTunes or Apple Remote.
- NETGEAR genie is a personal dashboard that makes it easy to install, monitor, control and repair your home network from PCs, Macs, and iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Smart Wi-Fi Router (R7500) is available immediately at an MSRP of $279.99 in the U.S.
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Lian Li Announces the PC-V1000L Full Tower Chassis
Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd today announces the PC-V1000L Special Edition full-tower chassis. This brushed aluminum chassis features a ventilated front providing high airflow while featuring the high-end versatile tool-less designs for which Lian Li is known.
With a height of only 551 mm (21.7"), the 74L PC-V1000L can hold the hardware a PC enthusiast desires, including: motherboards up to EATX, the largest video cards, and extensive water cooling support.
DIY enthusiasts are able to individually mount/remove the 9 HDD bays according to their build preference. Each bay allows for a 3.5' or 2.5" drive to be tool-lessly mounted. For more storage potential one 3.5" drive or two 2.5" drives can be mounted behind the motherboard tray.
Extensive Cooling
Three 120 mm fans pull cool air through the ventilated front panel. These front fans are attached to a removable bracket that slides out for easy maintenance.
At the bottom of the chassis a removable bracket secured by a single thumbscrew allows for two 120 mm fans or a 240 radiator to be installed. At the top of the chassis a tool-lessly removable top panel allows for two 120 mm/140 mm fans or a 240/280 mm radiator to be easily installed. A rear 120 mm exhaust fan with two grommeted holes pulls hot air out of the chassis.
Wheels for Easy Maneuverability
The wheels design enables easy moving of a fully loaded system. A locking mechanism on the rear wheels prevents the chassis moving when set in place.
Connectivity
The I/O panel is located at the front of the chassis and contains 4 USB 3.0 ports and HD audio connections.
Price and Availability
The PC-V1000L will be available in black PC-V1000LA (Silver), PC-V1000LB (Black) and PC-V1000LWX (Internal Black with Window) in North America for the suggested retail price of USD 345 and USD 389 respectively.
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EIZO Announces New 19-inch and 26-inch DuraVision Monitors
EIZO Corporation (TSE: 6737) announced the expansion of its current line of maritime monitors to include the DuraVision FDS1904 and FDS1904T (19-inch) and the DuraVision FDU2603W and FDU2603WT (26-inch). The new lineup now provides a wider selection of monitors with high visibility and reliability for displaying ECDIS / RADAR applications. The touch panel variations, DuraVision FDS1904T and FDU2603WT, accept touch input from a bare hand or stylus and support multi-touch operation. They also feature a high resistance to dust and water droplets to minimize unintended input compared with other touch technologies.
The brilliance (brightness), gamma, and RGB color settings of each DuraVision marine monitor are calibrated at the factory for accurate color reproduction, meeting the IEC 61174, IEC 62288, and IEC 62388 international standards for ECDIS and RADAR applications.
The new 19-inch and 26-inch monitors are equipped with an ECDIS indicator that shows when the monitor's brilliance is correctly meeting the standards for ECDIS. They also have a marine alarm buzzer conveniently installed directly in the monitor.
The long-lasting LED backlight equipped in each monitor provides increased reliability, consumes less power, and is mercury-free for minimal impact on the environment.
EIZO's line of marine monitors are developed, manufactured, and tested in-house to ensure the reliability and high performance essential for harsh marine environments. Each monitor also comes with the option of adding in-house optical bonding for increased visibility and durability.
Optical Bonding
EIZO's optical bonding increases light transmission and significantly reduces screen reflections for exceptional visibility even when viewing the monitor in direct sunlight. Optical bonding also prevents condensation that causes screens to become foggy; a common occurrence in environments with extreme temperature fluctuations. A screen with optical bonding is more resistant to applied pressure, giving it increased physical durability.
Additional Features
- Wide dimming range of less than 1 cd/m2 up to maximum brilliance for viewing during day or night
- Wide viewing angles for minimal contrast and gradation shift
- Easily accessible cooling fan
- D-Sub mini 15-pin and DVI-D 24-pin input terminals
- Backed by a 3-year, 24-hour use warranty
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LG to Unveil World's First 21:9 Curved IPS Monitor at IFA 2014
LG Electronics (LG) will be unveiling its newest IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor (model 34UC97) and other compelling monitor offerings at IFA 2014 in Berlin, Germany. The world's first monitor to incorporate a curved IPS screen with a 21:9 aspect ratio, the eye-catching 34-inch monitor provides remarkable picture quality and a range of convenient connectivity options. Also to be introduced at IFA 2014 will be the stunning Digital Cinema 4K Monitor (model 31MU97) and the feature-packed Gaming Monitor (model 24GM77), both combining superior performance with modern style and versatile functionality.
The Quad HD resolution display with 3440 x 1440 pixels gives digital photographers and filmmakers the level of detail and accuracy that their work demands. Compatible with both PCs and Macs, the LG 34UC97 monitor easily handles heavy graphics and videos with ease on either system and supports Thunderbolt 2 for high-speed data transfers - four times faster than USB 3.0 - and allows multiple devices to be daisy chained together. The monitor also features MAXX AUDIO and 7 W stereo speaker system guaranteed to deliver peak audio performance across all frequencies.
In addition to the world's first 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor, LG will be unveiling its Digital Cinema 4K Monitor for the first time at this year's IFA. LG's Digital Cinema 4K Monitor meets the Digital Cinema Initiative's standard for 4K resolution displays, squeezing 4096 x 2160 pixels into a 31-inch screen, for resolution equivalent to four Full HD monitors. The 31MU97 model allows professionals such as movie editors to watch original 4K content the way it was meant to be seen. The Digital Cinema 4K Monitor employs an LG IPS 4K display that provides ultra-sharp images with a wide viewing angle. Able to reproduce 99 percent of the Adobe RGB color space, this monitor is an ideal choice for film professionals as well as for those working in design and photography. The Digital Cinema 4K Monitor comes hardware calibration-ready and also features Dual Color Space and LG's exclusive True Color Pro calibration software.
Gamers will especially appreciate LG's 24GM77 new Gaming Monitor which is specifically designed to handle the fast-paced action of the latest first person shooters (FPS). A refresh rate of 144 Hz ensures that even the most intense action appears smooth and flicker-free, while LG's Dynamic Action Sync (DAS) Mode drastically cuts input lag, enabling the player to respond faster to what's happening on the screen. Other notable features include Black Stabilizer for consistent blacks across different scenes and Game Mode, which offers three optimized settings that can be applied quickly by pressing a hotkey on the monitor, with the option to create customized presets. And Motion 240, developed exclusively for the Gaming Monitor, helps minimize motion blur with a fast response time of less than 1 ms.
"Many people spend more time in front of computer monitors than they do in front of TV sets and yet the industry's biggest monitor manufacturers don't seem to innovate at the same pace as TV manufacturers," said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT Business Division at LG Electronics' Home Entertainment Company. "At LG, innovation in display technologies isn't just limited to our market-leading TV products but are actively being implemented in our advanced PC monitors. And that's why we're particularly proud to be introducing at IFA the world's first 21:9 Curved UltraWide monitor with a curved IPS display which delivers a wide 178-degree viewing angle for an immersive viewing experience."
LG's next generation advanced PC monitors will be on display at IFA 2014 in Hall 11.2 of Messe Berlin from September 5-10.
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BIOSTAR Announces the J1800TH Mini-ITX System-On-Chip Solution
BIOSTAR has announced the J1800TH, a Mini-ITX mainboard with CPU on board, (known as System on a Chip or SoC). These boards are centered around being small and efficient using a small form factor with an embedded CPU, having low power consumption, and being fan-less. They are perfect for all sorts of various industrial applications.
For the Smart Office situation, the J1800TH ITX board will give you a budget saving dual-core computing based on the Intel J1800 chips. This is a silent, fan-less design featuring low power consumption. It is perfect for office space saving and creating a neat and tidy office area, and ultra speed data transfers are no problem with the USB 3.0 interface.
With the J1800TH there are a multitude of business applications such as Digital Signage, Thin Clients, Point of Sales units and Kiosks.
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AMD to Celebrate 30 Years of Graphics and Gaming
AMD announced that it will webcast its 30 Years of Graphics and Gaming commemoration, hosted by AMD's Chief Gaming Scientist, Richard Huddy on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014 at 10:00 AM EDT (9:00 AM CDT/7:00 AM PDT). A real-time video webcast of the showcase will be accessible on the Investor Relations home page: ir.amd.com. A replay of the webcast can be accessed approximately four hours after the conclusion of the live event and will be available for one year after the event. Additionally, viewers will also be able to access the live broadcast on the AMD Twitch channel. A replay of the webcast will be accessible on the AMD YouTube channel.
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