IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 7/23/2015

Qualcomm layoffs could happen soon, strategic split is also possible
If the latest report from The Wall Street Journal turns out to be true, Qualcomm could be the next big tech giant to look at a strategic split. The company is reportedly in the process of a sweeping review that would look at the possibilities of breaking up into pieces.

In the recent months, Jana partners LLC has been asking Qualcomm to cut costs, repurchase shares at a faster rate, add new members to its board of directors, and explore a break up, after it was revealed it had a $2 billion stake in Qualcomm. The strategic split would see Qualcomm cutting up and separating its chip production business from its patent-licensing arm.

Qualcomm is expected to report its fiscal Q3 results on Wednesday, and according to The Information, the company will lay off around 10% of its global workforce, resulting in 3000 jobs being cut.


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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II updated, includes 5K support
After 10 years, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II has been updated, with a bunch of new goodies. First of all, we now have Steam Workshop support, with the team collaborating with the Restored Content Mod team and TSLRCM will be available on day one.

Achievements can now be earned through gameplay, there's now controller support, native widescreen resolutions are now supported, 5K resolution support has been added, and Steam Cloud saves are now featured. This comes as a total surprise to most, especially after 10 years, but fans of Star Wars: KOTOR II cannot complain, they'll be playing the game right now.


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Microsoft revenues are in, with Surface revenues up a huge 117%
Microsoft has posted its revenues for the quarter, with the Redmond-based OS giant posting a $2.1 billion loss, just a week away from arguably its biggest launch ever; Windows 10.

The company had to get rid of thousands upon thousands of employees in its smartphone side of things, but with its $2.1 billion in loss from $22.2 billion in revenue, it's all being blamed on no flagship releases, and the fact that the company had a huge $7.5 billion write down from the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services Division last year. There were also two restructuring charges of $780 million and $160 million, with Microsoft noting: "these items totaled $8.4 billion or a $1.02 per share negative impact. Excluding this impact, operating income and EPS would have been $6.4 billion and $0.62, respectively".

But the surprising part of Microsoft's quarterly earnings is that Surface revenues are up by a huge 117%, or $888 million for the three-month period. Throughout Microsoft's entire 2015 FY, Surface revenues passed $3.6 billion, an increase of 65% year-over-year. Microsoft also notes that the Xbox has experienced growth, with the company explaining: "based on strong growth in consoles, Xbox Live transactions and first party games".


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NVIDIA rumored to be working on two next-gen GPUs featuring HBM2
It was only earlier last month that NVIDIA had reportedly taped out the GP100 process on TSMC's 16nm process, but now we're hearing that we should expect two GPUs from this, both featuring HBM2.

The first GPU will use 8-Hi stacks, while the other will have 4-Hi stacks, both featuring the Pascal architecture, 16nm process, a 4096-bit memory bus and HBM2. The 4-Hi variation of the GPU will be clocked at 1GHz, which will end up as a consumer-orientated GeForce GPU of some sort (the GeForce GTX 1080 if NVIDIA continues along its naming path) while the second variation has four HBM2 stacks at 1GHz, each with 8-Hi.

For those not in the know, the x-Hi (x representing 4 or 8) denotes the number of stacked DRAM dies, so we'll see the GP100 GPU with 8-Hi HBM2 stacks aimed at the professional market (think Quadro, Tesla), while the 4-Hi HBM2 will be the next-gen consumer GeForce card, expected in 2016.


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Windows 10 will include a built-in screen recording feature
In a move that will have most people asking "why haven't we had it sooner", Windows 10 might have a built-in screen recording feature. The latest pre-release build has some new tips throughout the OS, teasing that when you press the Windows Key + G together, it will open up a brand spankin' new recording option.

TechAU reports that when pressing WinKey + G, it "brings up a toolbar that allows you to take an image (you already had the snipping tool for the that), as well as the ability to record video. The intention, or promoted functionality for this is to capture Windows games in much the same way you can command Cortana by saying 'Xbox record that'".

The recorded videos find themselves in Videos/Capture, but the screen recording feature seems to be locked to the Xbox app, which is weird. An OS-wide recording application would be awesome, I don't see why it has to be associated with Xbox, or gaming in general. Especially considering the wide use of screen recorders for YouTubers. But, this is exciting news for Windows 10, a built-in screen recorder would be a great new feature for Microsoft's soon-to-be here operating system.


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3 Things to Love About the Speedy Desktop USB Charger

You don't spend your days a foot away from your wall outlet...so why should your phone? Upgrade to a charger that puts your devices where you actually want them with the Speedy Desktop USB Charger, now $21.99 with free shipping at TweakTown Deals.

Here's why you'll be glad you did:

• It's convenient. Keep your devices on your desk so you can use them while they charge throughout the day. The Speedy charger is compact and lightweight, staying out of the way while keeping your phone and tablet on hand.
• It lives up to its name. With 50 watts of power and a built-in feature that recognizes the device you're charging at each port, the Speedy offers fast, powerful charging.
• It comes equipped with five ports. Charge up to five smartphones or four tablets simultaneously.

Don't miss your chance to get the Speedy Desktop USB Charger for $21.99 with free shipping at TweakTown Deals. Add it to your cart now!


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Companies hope using VR can help highlight distracted driving dangers
Wireless carrier AT&T will work with Samsung, Google and Bose to create a new virtual reality demonstration to highlight the dangers of distracted driving. As part of the "It Can Wait" distracted driving campaign, AT&T wants to get the attention of younger drivers.

Fifty-eight percent of drivers from 18 to 29 years of age text while driving, with 48 percent admitting to browsing the Internet, and 30 percent accessing social media, according to a recent Distracted Driving Study from State Farm. Unfortunately, those aren't surprising statistics, and it looks like about 60 percent of auto accidents that have at least one young driver is influenced by driver distraction.

During its 100-city summer tour, AT&T will be showing off new VR demonstrations using the Samsung Gear VR headset - and 100,000 Google Cardboard viewers will also be given away to attendees.

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PayPal debuts on NASDAQ for the second time, now valued at $50 billion
PayPal has just made its second debut on the NASDAQ this morning, with trading opening up at $41.46, reaching the heights of $42.55, before floating down to $41.03. PayPal Holdings Inc. now has a market value of just above $50 billion.

The company was founded back in 1998 under the name Confinity, with the company developing security software for early personal digital assistants (PDAs). The businesses didn't reach the success that its founders hoped, but it did inspire them to create the company that would eventually be used by tens of millions across the world; PayPal.

Confinity eventually merged with Elon Musk's X.com, where it was soon named PayPal. The company went public in 2002 under the ticker PYPL, opening at $13 per share. But with considerable tie-ins with eBay, it made sense that eBay would acquire PayPal later that year for a swift $1.5 billion. PayPal quickly turned into the electronic money transfer platform it is today, but it was activist investor Carl Icahn that urged that eBay split PayPal into a separately traded company.

This has obviously just happened, and now has every eBay shareholder receiving one share of PayPal stock for each eBay share they own, and with a valuation of a huge $50 billion, there will be a lot of smiles for stockholders today.


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Intel's Core i7-6700K overclocked to an insane 5.2GHz on air cooling
The release of Intel's new Skylake-based processors is right around the corner, alongside the release of the new Z170 range of motherboards. But news has broken that the upcoming flagship Core i7-6700K has been overclocked to a huge 5.2GHz... on air cooling.

The achievement happened with an early BIOS, with the CPU hitting 5198.75MHz - an overclock of 1200MHz above its 4GHz stock clock. Better yet, just 1.35V was required to reach this, which is a damn good achievement considering you need more voltage, and watercooling to get anywhere near that on a current Core i7-4790K.

While it was sitting at 1.35V and 5.2GHz, we don't know what temperatures the overclocked Core i7-6700K was sitting at under load. We should expect many more details to arrive on the Core i7-6700K as we get closer to its launch next month.


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Toshiba CEO quits after $1.2 billion in false profits is discovered
Toshiba is in some serious trouble right now, with its CEO and President, Hisao Tanaka, leaving the company after the Japanese electronics giant is attempting to recover from its $1.2 billion in profits being discovered as being false.

Tanaka and two other executives have announced their resignations, with the three taking responsibility for the scandal. An independent investigation found that management had lied about operating profits over a six-year period so that Toshiba could meet its internal targets, all of which started in 2008, the year the GFC hit.

Masashi Muromachi, Toshiba's current Chairman, will reportedly fill the CEO role for the time being, where he'll also appoint a new management team. Toshiba has now lost a total of eight high-level executives in this scandal, with the company estimating a $442 million write down, but this estimate was very wrong, with it now ballooning out to almost triple that number.


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Microsoft will support Windows 10 for ten years, until October 2025
Microsoft has said that it will have "mainstream support" for Windows 10 until October 13, 2020 while "extended support" until October 14, 2025. The five-year mainstream support and ten-year support is similar to the support cycles that Windows Vista, 7 and 8 had.

But, what if your computer is no longer supported by its manufacturer? That's OK, as you'll be able to install Windows 10 "even on devices where the OEM does not officially support Windows 10 and has no plans to do so" according to ZDNet's Ed Bott. So even if your PC manufacturer no longer offers you support, Microsoft will continue pushing out security updates to your Windows 10-powered PC.

With the release of Windows 10 arriving next week, it's good to hear that Microsoft has your back when it comes to support with Windows 10.


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Bethesda teases new Fallout 4 gameplay exploration video
If you're excited about Fallout 4, you'll probably enjoy Bethesda's latest Fallout 4 gameplay video, featuring more than five minutes of footage. Give it a view:

Bethesda announced Fallout 4 during E3 last month, and gave itself the marketing advantage of promoting a well-developed game. Just a few months ahead of the scheduled launch date, Bethesda has a firm grasp on where the game currently stands.

Fallout 4 is scheduled for launch on November 10, and will be available for the PC, Microsoft Xbox One, and Sony PlayStation 4.

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Google announces 1Gbps Google Fiber for low-income housing, for free
With many Americans wanting to get their grubby mitts on Google Fiber, there are going to be many simultaneously excited and disappointed with the news that Google is set to deliver its super-fast 1Gbps service to low-income properties.

Google will be rolling its Fiber service out to low-income housing in markets where it offers its Google Fiber service, including Atlanta, Durham, Nashville, and Kansas City. Best of all, it's going to be offered for, free. Yes, $0. Nothing. Nada. The Mountain View-based giant notes that households earning under $30,000 per year, roughly 26% of those have no Internet access at all.

A recent trial program pushed more than 90% of the residents in one public housing property sign up for Google Fiber. But offering up some free 1Gbps Internet for free, is going to be huge for the service, and those in low-income housing.


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SteelSeries Siberia v3 Prism RGB Gaming Headset Review

Introduction

Anthony reviewed the SteelSeries Siberia v3 headset just earlier this year, giving it a best value award coupled with an 86% rating.

The previous v3 model was applauded for improvements over previous editions, the price was a major positive and the sound quality was decent. What did let it down was a 1-2 hour usability window (before it became uncomfortable) and it being a little small in size for those with larger heads.

Now SteelSeries is back at it again with the Siberia v3, releasing the Prism. Toting 16.8 million colors available for display in each earcup through the might of LEDs and SteelSeries software, this edition sets to improve on the looks department, whilst still keeping the sleek SteelSeries style we all know well. Are there any other improvements made and will the colors alone raise the overall score? Read on to find out.

Specifications

Providing a 2.0 sound setup through a single USB connection, the SteelSeries Siberia v3 Prism headset runs off the "SteelSeries Engine 3 software" and features customizable LEDs in each earcup, enabling users to display one of 16.8 million colors to anyone that looks.

Explained on the official website as utilizing upgraded audio drivers over previous models, the v3 Prism offers a frequency of 10 - 28,000 Hz, an impedance of 35 Ohm and a SPL@1kHz of 102dB. The retractable microphone further features a unidirectional pickup, a frequency of 50 - 16,000 Hz, an impedance of ... Read the rest in your browser!



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Available Tags:Microsoft , NVIDIA , Windows , USB , PayPal , Toshiba , CEO , profits , Google , Google , Gaming ,