Monday, May 23, 2016

IT News Head Lines (Engadget) 24/05/2016





Jaybird's Freedom wireless earbuds balance sound and battery life
True to its word, Jaybird's latest wireless sport earbuds are making their debut in the first half of 2016. The company's $200 Freedom in-ears are now available and I've been putting them through their paces for the past few days. This new model foll...

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Infuse helps you find fresh videos on Apple TV and iOS
Media portal and set-top box makers have tried any number of things to help you decide what to watch next, ranging from visual makeovers to voice recognition. However, the team at FireCore thinks it has a better way: filters. The new Infuse 4.2 for...

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Terahertz laser tech could scan for bombs at airports
Terahertz spectrum scanning is potentially ideal for finding bombs due to the sheer range of materials it can detect, but it's not exactly practical for luggage checks when you need both a suitcase-sized machine and up to half an hour to conduct a sc...

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Toyota is bringing back Dean Kamen's stair-climbing wheelchair
Remember Dean Kamen's iBot wheelchair? Its uniquely adjustable wheel orientation gave patients the freedom to climb stairs and effectively stand upright, but its high price ($25,000) knocked it off the market in 2009. Well, it's poised for a comeback...

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Indiegogo deal helps crowdfunders make their gadgets
Indiegogo has made some effort to help get crowdfunded projects off the ground, but it has mostly focused on big companies so far. What about startups still grappling with the basics of making devices? Don't worry: they're getting some help now, to...

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Watch homebrew code run Steam games on the PS4
Ever since Sony switched to x86 processors with the PlayStation 4, gamers have been craving the chance to play PC games on the console -- it's much closer to your home computer than the PS3 was, after all. Well, we're glad to say that it's no longer...

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These $70 DIY synthesizers are a hobbyist's dream
For me, one of the most interesting parts of Moogfest is the Circuit Bending Challenge. Sure, the performances and tech demos are great, but it's always a treat to see what a community of tinkerers can come up with on a tight budget of $70. I've seen...

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Court claims Google lost right to pull site from search results
You'd think that Google's search results would be protected in the US by free speech rights. Google gets to say what what shows up on its own site, right? However, one Florida court thinks differently. It recently determined that Google wasn't protec...

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Google Science Journal studies the world through your phone
Are you (or your kid) curious about the world around you? Google wants to help. It just launched Science Journal, an Android app that helps you perform (and comment on) simple science experiments. The app can record light, motion and sound levels u...

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Ben Heck's Pill-Minder 2000



Ben hacks the Christmas Present Protection System project and puts it to better daily use for pill medication monitoring -- that way you'll know if you've forgotten to take your meds. Using hardware found in the Salvage Wars, along with the brains...

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The After Math: Coming Soon
It's been an auspicious week for big promises. Google announced a whole bunch of stuff at its 2016 I/O developers conference, though it didn't have a whole lot in the demonstrable product department. Similarly, a trio of transportation companies anno...

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: Self-driving Uber cars, and more!
The self-driving cars are coming: This week Uber unveiled its first autonomous vehicle, while Google patented a sticky "fly paper" car hood that could protect pedestrians caught in self-driving car crashes. Los Angeles celebrated the completion of it...

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Wristband that measures alcohol levels wins US competition
BACtrack is a San Francisco company known for making breathalyzers for both law enforcement and ordinary people. But it won the $200,000 grand prize at a National Institutes of Health-sponsored competition for a different kind of blood alcohol monito...

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Six machines that build a better world
By Cat DiStasio

When it comes to construction, technology can go a long way toward making building projects faster, more economical and safer. Robots that can alleviate back-breaking manual labor and cut down on injuries are a welcome addition to wo...

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Second 'The Division' update raises the stakes
Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment are willing to try quite a few things to keep you coming back to The Division, but their latest approach is particularly direct: they're upping the ante. Ubi has revealed that its second free update, Conflict, will i...

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Available Tags:wireless , Apple TV , Apple , TV , iOS , Toyota , Steam , PS4 , Google

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

IT News Head Lines (CNET) 12/05/2016





Google employees fighting gender inequality with emojis - CNET
A team of Google employees suggests 13 new emojis to better represent professional women.

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Facebook Moments launches in Europe, Canada -- without facial recognition - CNET
New version of photo-sharing tool comes stripped-down to appease privacy concerns in those markets.

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Hyperloop One: New name, same goal - CNET
On the eve of an open-air demonstration of its propulsion system, the company previously known as Hyperloop Technologies changes its name.

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Ransomware goes to Washington - CNET
The IT desk for the House of Representatives warns members of an uptick in attacks that encrypt data and hold it hostage.

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Facebook unveils WhatsApp apps for Mac, Windows desktops - CNET
Jettisoning need for a Web browser, new app promises a more streamlined process for chatting with friends and family.

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MIT's Materiable platform can mimic sand, rubber, water and more (Tomorrow Daily 362) - CNET
A field of 3D-printed blocks can be programmed to act like various design materials; also, a hobbyist creates an electromagnetic gauntlet for a Captain America replica shield.

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Nikola Motor Company: The EV startup with the worst, most obvious name ever - Roadshow
There are other scientists out there, people. Try Wikipedia.

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ESPN wants you to stop watching Netflix. Right now! - CNET
Technically Incorrect: A new ad campaign for ESPN Live says forget your Netflix algorithm because it can wait.

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Disney Infinity video game discontinued - CNET
Entertainment giant pulls the plug on its game series that interacts with real-life toys.

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Who's 'Jaws' now? Drone footage shows dolphins attacking shark - CNET
An aerial camera catches a pod of dolphins tiring out, then killing a shark off the coast of Australia.

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Senators debate limits on NSA spy databases - CNET
Two surveillance programs, first revealed in documents leaked by Edward Snowden, are up for renewal in 2017. The Senate kicked off the debate early.

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Safe sexting? Durex wants a condom emoji - CNET
The condom company posts an open letter to Unicode Consortium about adding a prophylactic icon in its next set of emojis.

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Not so fast: Titanic cemetery to get speed bumps - CNET
The final resting place for 121 of the great ship's passengers and crew, including one "J. Dawson," has become a popular tourist destination.

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'Orange is the New Black' trailer hints at a darker season 4 - CNET
Things are getting more intense on the Netflix hit show as Litchfield becomes a for-profit prison and gains 100 new inmates.

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Dog battle armor turns Fido into a mutt-at-arms - CNET
Dogs make perfect knights. They're loyal, brave and great at sitting in laps. Elevate your pup to knighthood with a custom suit of battle armor.

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11 spectacular suits of animal battle armor (pictures) - CNET
Once upon a time, horse, elephant and camel armor were real components of warfare. Today, people also enjoy dressing up their cats and dogs in fantastical body armor with spikes, tusks and chain mail.

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NASA's biggest-ever batch of new planets includes 9 in the habitable zone - CNET
Data from the Kepler space telescope has helped identify over a thousand new exoplanets, including nine that might be right for hosting life.

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Watch out, YouTube. Amazon lets anyone upload videos to Prime - CNET
The retail giant wants to bring more eyeballs to Prime by letting anyone submit videos to earn money. Also, Periscope promises to keep videos alive forever, and there's now a way to play old Nintendo Virtual Boy games on Cardboard.

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Jet.com tests grocery delivery service - CNET
The online retail startup adds fresh food to its lineup as part of a pilot program on the East Coast.

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Mountain Dew unveils new sport: Drone hunting - CNET
Technically Incorrect: The fizzy drink decides the world has been lacking a new pursuit. The pursuit of flying objects.

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Senate panel asks Facebook about claims of bias in trending topics - CNET
The commerce committee sends a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg inquiring about allegations that conservative issues were actively kept out of trending topics.

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Viking Horde malware attacks Android devices - CNET
A new strain of malware is targeting Android devices via infected apps at the Google Play app store, says security firm Check Point.

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Uber stops short of union with NYC drivers guild - CNET
The new organization, the first of its kind for Uber, represents the interests of 35,000 New York drivers.

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E-books, why so old-fashioned? Here's a Web wakeup call - CNET
Groups that advance Web and e-book technology want to join forces. That could make e-books livelier, richer and easier to read online.

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11 ways 'Civil War' is Marvel's 'Empire Strikes Back' - CNET
Star-spangled Avenger meets Star Wars when Marvel's latest blockbuster takes a darker turn. No, really, hear us out.

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Available Tags:Google , CNET , Facebook , Windows , Amazon , Android

IT News Head Lines (ComputerWeekly) 12/05/2016





Nokia plunges to €513m loss after Alcatel-Lucent acquisition
Costs mount up at network equipment supplier Nokia following its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent

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BBC hones IT project management, but still room for improvement
National Audit Office report finds the BBC’s management of critical projects has improved since the failure of its Digital Media Initiative, but further action is needed

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Nordea Bank launches crowdfunding platform in Finland
The Nordic financial services group offers a technology bringing together investors and startup businesses

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UK e-commerce spend rose by 8.4% year-on-year in April 2016
Online spending increases in 2015/16 as face-to-face transactions remain stagnant, finds Visa

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Safer cycling project wins BT smart city contest
Northern Irish startup See.Sense scoops £15,000 prize in BT smart city contest after developing a connected bike light

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Security Think Tank: Guidelines for improving the effectiveness of IT security recruitment
What strategies can organisations use to ensure that they are able to hire the information security professionals they need and that good candidates are not being missed or overlooked?

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Nursery and baby store Kiddicare puts its hand up to data breach after attack on a test site
Nursery and baby store Kiddicare suffers a data breach following a cyber attack on a test website that held real customer data

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Customer relationships still key to competitive advantage, says Martin Kuppinger
There are five essential areas to which businesses need to pay attention to build competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving digital world, according to analyst Martin Kuppinger

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Virgin Media connections spike as Project Lightning takes hold
Virgin Media adds a record number of subscribers to its platform in the first quarter of 2016

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Nominet offers bacon sarnies to get UK tradespeople online
UK domain name registrar Nominet launches a campaign, and opens its own greasy spoon café, to try to get more of the UK’s tradespeople online

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Eurovision Song Contest launches contactless payments in Stockholm
Eurovision Song Contest sponsor Visa Europe equips visitors with contactless payment wristbands backed by Gemalto’s Allynis events platform

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Singapore smart city chief delivers vision to the world
The Singapore government minister running the city state's smart nation project tells the world about the country’s smart nation vision

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Shadow IT cited as reason why some firms lack formal cloud strategy
Research from VMTurbo suggests firms are using cloud, even if they claim not to have a formal private or public deployment plan in place

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Available Tags:Nokia , BBC , UK , Security , security

IT News Head Lines (Yahoo News) 12/05/2016





Hillary fights two battles as Bernie wins another Democratic primary
Hillary fights two battles as Bernie wins another Democratic primaryHillary Clinton lost West Virginia Tuesday night to rival Bernie Sanders, continuing her slog through the Democratic primary even as she spent the past week fending off attacks from presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. The former secretary of state has a near-lock on the Democratic nomination, but continues to lose states to Sanders, who hammers on her as a creature of Wall Street at his rallies that still draw thousands of supporters. Trump, meanwhile, now clear of any GOP rivals, has spent the past week directing all his considerable fire at her.



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Key Republicans swing behind Trump; he takes 2 primaries
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., with, from left, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 10, 2016. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON (AP) — Key Senate Republicans voiced optimism Tuesday about Donald Trump's presidential prospects in November, the clearest signal yet to the GOP rank and file to unite behind him and turn their energy against Democrat Hillary Clinton. But it was uncertain whether the doubters could be quieted.



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Warrant: Minnesota doctor saw Prince, prescribed drugs
U.S. musician Prince performs for the first time in Britain since 2007 at the Hop Farm Festival near Paddock WoodA Minnesota doctor saw Prince twice in the month before his death — including the day before he died — and prescribed him medication, according to contents of a search warrant that were revealed Tuesday ...



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'Database error' mistakenly includes white nationalist on Trump list of Calif. delegates
Attorney William Johnson, a leader of the American Freedom Party and self-proclaimed white nationalist, pauses for photos in his office, Tuesday, May 10, 2016, in Los Angeles. Donald Trump's campaign says a computer problem resulted in the prominent white nationalist being included on a list of his potential California delegates. The campaign says the name has been withdrawn and a corrected list resubmitted to state officials. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Trump's campaign said Tuesday that a computer problem resulted in a prominent white nationalist being mistakenly included on a list of his potential California delegates, an embarrassment for a candidate who has been criticized before for being too slow to distance himself from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.



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16 West Point cadets in raised-fist photo won't be punished
FILE- This undated file image obtained from Twitter on Saturday, May 7, 2016 shows 16 black, female cadets in uniform with their fists raised while posing for a photograph at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. The U.S. Military Academy said Tuesday, May 10, that it concluded the group photo didn't violate any Department of Defense rules limiting political activity. (Obtained from Twitter via AP, FIle)NEW YORK (AP) — Sixteen black West Point cadets who posed with raised fists for a pre-graduation picture that sparked debates on race and proper behavior in uniform won't be punished for the gesture, the U.S. Military Academy said Tuesday.



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3 dead including suspect in stabbing attacks at mall, home
3 dead including suspect in stabbing attacks at mall, homeTwo people were killed and four others wounded in stabbing attacks at a home and a shopping mall in Massachusetts before an off-duty law enforcement officer shot and killed the suspect, authorities said. ...



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The best, worst and most awkward moments from the 2016 Republican primary
The battle for the GOP presidential nomination had no shortage of strange exchanges. Perhaps not surprisingly, more than a few of them involved Jeb Bush.

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Facebook denies anti-conservative bias, censorship
Facebook denied having an anti-conservative biasFacebook on Tuesday denied allegations that it scrubs its site of news articles by and about political conservatives, amid outrage over the claims. "I'd come on shift and I'd discover that CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) or (former presidential candidate) Mitt Romney or (radio talk show host) Glenn Beck or popular conservative topics wouldn't be trending because either the curator didn't recognize the news topic or it was like they had a bias," the individual told Gizmodo anonymously.



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Jon Stewart: Donald Trump ‘is a man-baby’
Jon Stewart had the pulpit of “The Daily Show” to satirize the rise of Donald Trump. “Are you eligible to run if you are a man-baby?” Stewart asked David Axelrod during a live taping of Axelrod’s podcast, “The Axe Files,” in Chicago on Monday. "When I watch her campaign, it reminds me of … Magic Johnson’s talk show,” Stewart said, referring to the NBA Hall of Famer’s short-lived stint on syndicated television.

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Report: Bullying is a serious public health problem
FILE - In this Sept. 4, 2012 file photo, a student at Indian Lake Elementary in Kalamazoo, Mich., boards a bus on the first day of school. Bullying is a “serious public health problem,” and should no longer be dismissed as merely a matter of kids being kids, a leading panel of experts warned Tuesday, May 10, 2016. Bullying behavior is seen as early as preschool and peaks during the middle school years, the researchers said. And the problem has morphed from the traditional bully-in-the-schoolyard scenario to newer forms of electronic aggression, such as cyberbullying on social media sites. (AP Photo/The Kalamazoo Gazette, Mark Bugnaski, File)WASHINGTON (AP) — Zero-tolerance policies are ineffective in combating bullying, an independent government advisory group says in urging schools to take a more preventative approach that includes teaching tolerance to address this "serious public health problem."



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Utah's First-in-Nation Fetal Pain Law Perplexes Doctors
Utah's first-in-the-nation requirement that fetuses receive anesthesia or painkillers before some abortions has taken effect, but doctors say it's unnecessary and impossible to comply with

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Amazon Is Going to Battle With YouTube
Amazon Is Going to Battle With YouTubeYouTube's large userbase and vibrant creator culture will be tough to overcome



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Obama to make historic visit to Hiroshima
Obama to make historic visit to HiroshimaPresident Obama will visit Hiroshima when he travels to Japan this month for a summit of key industrialized nations, the White House announced Tuesday. It will be the first visit to the city by a sitting president since World War II, but the Obama administration said he will not apologize for the decision to destroy that city with an atomic bomb. “He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future,” explained Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser.



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Has the U.S. abandoned American Robert Levinson in Iran?
The author of a new book on Robert Levinson, the former FBI agent who has been missing in Iran since 2007, says the U.S. government is covering up evidence about the role Iranian intelligence officials played in apprehending him and likely holding him captive for the past nine years.

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Canadian oil production trickles back as wildfire threat eases
Charred vehicles are pictured in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Fort McMurrayBy Liz Hampton and Nia Williams EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Oil sands companies around the Canadian energy center of Fort McMurray began to restart operations on Tuesday after an out-of-control wildfire forced a week-long shutdown. Top provincial and industry officials said production in much of the region should ramp up soon. Facilities north of Fort McMurray that had been shuttered largely because of heavy smoke rather than fire were seen as likely to come back on line in a matter of days in many cases.



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Study: No scientific basis for laws on marijuana and driving
Study: No scientific basis for laws on marijuana and drivingSix states that allow marijuana use legal tests to determine driving while impaired by the drug that have no scientific basis, according to a study by the nation’s largest automobile club that calls for scrapping those laws. The study commissioned by AAA’s safety foundation said it’s not possible to set a blood-test threshold for THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high, that can reliably determine impairment. As a result, drivers who are unsafe may be going free while others may be wrongly convicted, the foundation said.



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London mayor slams Trump's 'ignorant' view of Islam
London mayor slams Trump's 'ignorant' view of IslamLONDON (AP) — London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Tuesday slammed Donald Trump's "ignorant" view of Islam, after the Republican presidential contender suggested Khan could be exempted from a proposed temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.



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Available Tags:Facebook , Amazon , YouTube

IT News Head Lines (AustralianIT) 12/05/2016

AustralianIT.com.au



Research backs blocking
The Australian association representing movie houses is stepping up its campaign to block pirate movie sites.

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Tesla plugs into subsidy demise
The demise of the solar energy subsidy in NSW is a selling point for home battery technology.

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Unleashed Software raises $3m
Inventory management start-up continues global push with backing from MYOB founder.

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WhatsApp delivers desktop app
Facebook’s popular mobile messaging service has announced a desktop app for Windows and Mac.

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Amazon launches YouTube rival
The online retailer’s new ad-supported video service will let anyone upload clips.

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HP to invest in start-ups
HP, a descendant of Silicon Valley’s original start-up, plans to bet on the next generation of entrepreneurs.

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Uber, Lyft back out of Austin
Uber and Lyft stalled in Austin yesterday after residents rejected their effort to rewrite local ride-sharing rules.

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Facebook rebuts bias claim
The social networking platform said it has ‘rigorous guidelines’ to ensure neutrality.

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Nokia falls to surprise loss
Sluggish mobile-network sales and charges related to acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent hit Finnish firm.

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Transforming Australia’s cities
Imagine a city that automatically collects information of all its processes, accumulating data for full visibility of its operations, so no resource is misallocated.

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Available Tags:Amazon , YouTube , HP , Facebook , Nokia

Thursday, May 5, 2016

IT News Head Lines (PCSTATS) 06/05/2016

PCSTATS



SilverStone Strider Titanium ST70F-TI 700W Review



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Enermax Revolution X't II 750W PSU Review
Silverstone have earned a reputation over the years for releasing some of the most technically proficient power supplies and cases available for the enthusiast audience. Their high end power supplies have found a home in some of the most powerful, overclocked multi GPU showcase systems (HERE). Today we look at one of their latest Titanium grade pow... [PCSTATS]


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Corsair M65 Pro RGB Mouse Review
"The Enermax Revolution X’t II 750 watt PSU meets the 80 Plus Gold standard and is a semi-modular PSU. Enermax has built the Revolution X’t II PSU with function in mind though by using flat cabling for all the cabling, this design is to allow better cable management."
... [PCSTATS]


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Corsair Carbide Spec-Alpha ATX Mid-Tower Review
At the end of 2014, we reviewed Corsair’s M65 gaming mouse. Now we have an updated version, named the M65 Pro. Aimed at FPS gamers – the M65 Pro has a healthy feature-set and certainly looks good on paper. Today we see how it fares in the real world.


... [PCSTATS]


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SteelSeries Rival 300 Gaming-Mouse Review
The ATX Mid-Tower has always been a favorite of PC builders. It can be transported with relative ease, while still managing to hold a respectable amount of very high-end hardware. The Spec-Alpha is Corsair's latest entry to the market and has gamers squarely in its sights. Priced at $80, this is a case that we very much expect to be a dominant forc... [PCSTATS]


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Huawei P9 Plus Dual-Lens Smartphone Sneak Peek!
The SteelSeries Rival 300 Mouse arrived Technic3D. We will check the CS:GO Fade Edition with up to 6.500 dpi and six Buttons in the following Review on Technic3D."
... [PCSTATS]


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ASUS Zenbook UX305CA Review
The Huawei P9 Plus is the (slightly) larger version of the Huawei P9 smartphone with the same capabilities and dual-lens camera. Its main difference is its larger display and battery, as well as a faster front camera lens. We recently came across the Huawei P9 Plus smartphone, and had some hands-on time with it. Hope you enjoy our quick coverage!
... [PCSTATS]


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Quanta Computer denies reported layoffs
In the spotlight today is the new ASUS Zenbook UX305CA. This Ultrabook is based on Intel Skylake architecture and is available in a selection of different processor models and storage capacities. Our sample today features the Intel Core M3 6Y30 and a 128GB SSD. Not only is this sleek device compact and lightweight, but it also boasts a fan-less des... [PCSTATS]


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ultra high end desktop replacement gaming notebooks
Quanta Computer on May 3 firmly denied reports that the company will lay off 10-20% of employees in June, adding that a number of employees voluntarily resigned due to merging a business office in Hsinchu, northern Taiwan into its headquarters in late 2015 and corporate reorganization in the first quarter of 2016.
... [PCSTATS]


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Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Edition Review
Gaming performance of high end gaming notebooks is quickly closing the gap with desktops. In this roundup we look at over $11,000 worth of desktop replacement options from MSI, Origin and Eurocom.
... [PCSTATS]


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GIGABYTE X99P-SLI LGA 2011v3 Motherboard Review
This will probably be our last GTX 980 Ti review before the next generation of cards from Nvidia are released. The speculation is they will be named the GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 continuing the product naming convention Nvidia have been using for quite a while now. If you forget the GTX Titan cards, out of the budget of most the natural flagship card i... [PCSTATS]


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CM Storm Quick Fire XTi Gaming Keyboard
GIGABYTE has put out a refreshed X99 motherboard offering an updated USB 3.1 controller and Thunderbolt compatibility. While Skylake is the new hotness and comprises the bulk of Intel's current mainstream lineup, the HEDT segment remains popular and many consider a 5820K and X99 build a viable alternative to Skylake and Z170.
... [PCSTATS]


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MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof 5 Eco M.2 SSD Review (480GB)
CM Storm's Quick Fire line of products includes a wealth of different options. Today, we will take a look at their fully sized multi-color backlit gaming keyboard dubbed the XTi. Like other recent Quick Fire keyboards, it uses Cherry MX key mechanisms and has a standard US-layout.
... [PCSTATS]


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Intel NUC NUC6i5SYK Skylake Mini PC Review
We’ve been able to test our fair share of SSDs over the years and, to this date, there remains a constant. Prices drop. Where we once saw a 32GB SSD peak at $5000 in 2007, today’s world is vastly different and 1TB SSDs are now available at just over the $300 mark. Value is key in technology and has always been. On the test bench today, we have ... [PCSTATS]


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20 of the Worst PC Setups – April 2016
The size of the PC market has been flat to decreasing in recent years, but Intel has always found ways to maintain solid profitability in their PC division. Right now Intel’s strategy appears to be focusing on the growing 2 in 1s and PC gaming market, but there is also growth and profitability to be had with the Intel NUC mini PC lineup. Intel has ... [PCSTATS]


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Gigabyte Z170-Gaming K3 Motherboard Review
"I’m sure at some point you’ve had a bad PC setup. Maybe moving into a new place, waiting for a new desk to arrive or you just ran out of room. I can remember my horrible PC setups from when I was living at the dorms in college. If you have ever ventured over to the Shitty Battlestations sub-reddit you will find a lot of horrible PC setups. We will... [PCSTATS]


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ECS Z170-Claymore motherboard
Gigabyte’s Z170-Gaming K3 motherboard costs just £95 which makes it the most affordable Gaming branded Z170 motherboard in the UK. Yet, you may still be pleasantly surprised by how much you get for your money with the Z170-Gaming K3 – few sacrifices have been made to reach such an aggressive price point.


... [PCSTATS]


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Ian ‘8PACK’ Parry showcases new custom
"ECS did a fine job in designing the Z170-Claymore motherboard, managing to offering a compelling feature set while maintaining a very approachable price point. The board has several enthusiast-friendly features, including is aesthetic and inclusion of integrated power / reset buttons and 2-digit diagnostic LED display. The layout was not cramped f... [PCSTATS]


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Corsair K70 RGB RAPIDFIRE Review
KitGuru visited Ian ‘8Pack’ Parry at Overclockers UK to answer the burning questions of the day; what exactly do you get when you spend between £3,000 and £12,000 on a gaming PC and why doesn’t he use AMD graphics cards? The answer to the first question is ‘Many, many GigaHertz’ and to the second is ‘Have you seen our new Meteoroid with Radeon R9 F... [PCSTATS]


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Seagate NAS 8TB (ST8000VN0002) Hard Disk Drive Review
The Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 may be a baby-board in its
size, but it definitely is capable of punching above its weight class.
... [PCSTATS]


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Lexar 633x microSDXC Card Review (200GB) – Smartphone Storage
Just as you wouldn’t use a low-end graphics card for high-end usage, you shouldn’t use the wrong hard disk drive in your storage system either. There is a reason for every product and you should always pick the one suited for the task at hand, especially when you deal with your storage. Today I’m taking a closer look at Seagate’s impressive 8TB NAS... [PCSTATS]


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Chieftec Navitas 1000W GPM-1000C Review
The ability to upgrade storage in today’s smartphones seems to have become key once again. It is the dividing point between Samsung and Apple. A Samsung S7 smart phone allows the user to add up to 200GB of storage space whereas the Apple iPhone 6S tops out at 128GB, that storage increasing the iPhone price by several hundred dollars. This is lever... [PCSTATS]


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Tesoro Ascalon Spectrum Optical Gaming Mouse Review
With the Navitas 1000W Chieftec has a high quality mid range power supply in its portfolio which offers 1000 Watt output power. When looking for an 80Plus certificate we find a Gold sticker on this unit. Since Chieftec doesn't own their own PSU factory, their using an OEM platform from CWT (Channel Well Technology) for this model. As usual we're cu... [PCSTATS]


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vivo V3Max Smartphone First Look
Tesoro is one of the coolest gaming brands around, and while you may not think of them first when shopping for a new peripheral, they’ve proven to us here at eTeknix time and time again that they can create competitive, unique and affordable products that would make great additions to any desktop gaming setup. With that in mind, I’m very happy to s... [PCSTATS]


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Dark Souls III Benchmarked: GPU & CPU Performance
During the vivo V3Max launch, we had the opportunity to get some time with the actual vivo V3Max smartphone. We took some pictures and a video, in which we detailed its key features. Check it out! Hope you like them! ??"
... [PCSTATS]


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Master Devastator II keyboard/ mouse combo
Dark Souls III is arguably the biggest game to launch this month. Using the engine from developer FromSoftware's 'Bloodborne', Dark Souls III looks quite impressive but you can certainly tell this is a console port. The tweakable options are decent though the game gives no real explanation of what you are enabling. You do get enhanced graphics, bet... [PCSTATS]


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Intel 750 Series 400GB NVMe Solid State
Cooler Master's Devastator II keyboard and mouse combo claims to do the impossible: provide a capable gaming-grade keyboard and mouse in a package that retails for just $30.
... [PCSTATS]


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MSI DS502 Gaming Headset Review
"Intel introduced their 750 Series solid state drives last year. Back then and even now not many people know what NVMe is. NVMe stands for Non-Volatile Memory Express and it is a protocol that has been designed from the ground up to capitalize on the low latency and internal parallelism of flash-based storage devices, mirroring the parallelism of... [PCSTATS]


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SteelSeries Siberia 350 Gaming Headset Review
Today we are taking a look at MSI’s brand new gaming headset, the DS502, boasting 7.1 surround sound, premium build and Hi-Fi level sound quality in a lightweight, ergonomically designed package. How does it hold up?


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Previous-Gen Flagship vs. Today's Budget Smartphones
"The Siberia 350 headset is very easy to set up and work with thanks to the Engine 3 utility, while the volume controller is placed on the wire. If we look at both Siberia 650 (Elite Prism) and 350, we can see that the latter is a “lite” edition of the more expensive model, which does feature a less thick padding system, no analog interface and als... [PCSTATS]


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Praevidi's Turris VR Chair
If you're in the market for a new phone and don't have a ton of money to spend, most companies would want you to look at their collection of mid-range and entry-level handsets. But that's not always the smartest move if you know where to look.

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NikKTech & GAMDIAS Game On USA - CANADA Giveaway
Praevidi's Turris VR Chair lets players navigate seated VR experiences by shifting their bodies, an approach that decouples head- and torso-position tracking to create a potentially more immersive experience in VR environments. Join us as we explore this device and its implications for the future of VR control.
... [PCSTATS]


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Fnatic Gear Flick G1 Optical Mouse Review
Today we open the doors to our 61st giveaway this time with our good friends over at GAMDIAS USA who have made available three very nice prizes specifically aimed at serious gamers.
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SilverStone Strider Titanium ST80F-TI 800W Power Supply Report
Fnatic Gear took everything good about the Func MS-2, and made
it great with the Flick G1.
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AMD’s own proclamation
SilverStone aims to create the most compact, Titanium
certified 800W fully modular PSU. We took one apart to see what is inside.
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Linksys LGS116P 16-Port Business Desktop Gigabit PoE+ Switch Review
Anyone that pays attention to the graphics card market can see why AMD would make the positional shift with the Radeon Pro Duo. The Fiji architecture is on the way out, with Polaris due out in June by AMD’s own proclamation. At $1500, the Radeon Pro Duo will be a stark contrast to the prices of the Polaris GPUs this summer, and it is well above any... [PCSTATS]


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Magnum 2 256GB USB 3.1 Gen 1 Flash Drive Review
The Linksys LGS116P is ideal for people looking to upgrade their home or business network with a plug & play PoE+ compatible gigabit switch.
... [PCSTATS]


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Iron Man-Inspired ROG GT51 Gaming Desktop Revealed!
If you're out in the market for a new USB flash drive and you're looking for one of the fastest ones around then the SuperSonic Magnum 2 by Patriot should do the trick.
... [PCSTATS]


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iRULU Walknbook 3 Hybrid Tablet PC
This Iron Man-inspired system is a winner of the 2016 CES Innovation Award, as well as the iF Design Award. But it’s not all beauty without brawn. Under the steely facade is an awesome gaming machine. Let’s take a look!
... [PCSTATS]


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Available Tags:Smartphone , ASUS , gaming , Zotac , GTX , GIGABYTE , Keyboard , SSD , Intel , Seagate , GPU , CPU , MSI , USB , Tablet

IT News Head Lines (Tech Report) 06/05/2016





Fallout 4 gets more love from Bethesda with Far Harbor expansion
Hot on the heels of Bethesda’s announcement last week that Fallout 4 would officially begin supporting mods, the company has given fans of the series another reason to rejoice. On May 19, the company will be releasing an expansion called Far Harbor for its popular post-apocalyptic RPG.
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Intel debuts embedded Skylake-R CPUs with Iris Pro graphics
Intel is set to launch its 65W Skylake R-series CPUs this quarter in the form of the Core i5-6585R, the Core i5-6685R, and the Core i7-6785R. These new chips are all quad-core CPUs paired with Iris Pro graphics, which means we get three Skylake Gen9 GPU slices. Those three slices offer up 24 execution units (EUs) each, for a total of 72 EUs. That setup should make for a solid entry-level graphics solution. The highlight of these CPUs for enthusiasts may be the 128MB of eDRAM that Iris Pro brings with it, though. Intel's ARK indicates that these CPUs include improved turbo boost speeds and an L3 cache that matches that on board the Skylake K-series chips, an improvement over Broadwell R-series chips.

Congatec's TS170 , an embedded system that uses Intel's Xeon E3-1515M v5 CPU ...
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AMD adds refresh-rate ranges to its FreeSync monitor page
AMD is making it easier to figure out the details of compatible monitors on its FreeSync page. A recent update added refresh-rate ranges and panel types for a large number of FreeSync monitors from Acer, LG, and Samsung, among others. AMD now includes the following details to help make picking a FreeSync monitor easier: manufacturer, model, size, panel type, resolution, refresh-rate and FreeSync range, inputs, and low-framerate-compensation support.
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Rumor: Early Broadwell-E benches hint at solid performance gains
Over at the Overclock.net forums, user Maintenance Bot has apparently run a couple of tests on a Core i7-6850K engineering sample. In case you aren't already aware, yes, that's a Broadwell-E chip from Intel's upcoming high-end desktop product line. He compared the chip's multi-core Cinebench results to his own Core i7-5820K at the same overclocked speed—4.2GHz—and came away with an impressive performance improvement: a score of 1311 with the Broadwell-E chip, versus 1191 with the Haswell-E CPU.
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HP refreshes Pavilion consumer PC lineup
Everyone's doing a little spring cleaning lately, and HP is no exception. The company is refreshing its entire consumer-oriented Pavilion series of PCs, with all-new desktops, all-in-ones, laptops, and convertibles. The focus for the new line seems to be on saving space and establishing a coherent design. The new Pavilions stay the course for the most part, but these machines have a few new features worth mentioning.
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Nvidia teases Pascal GeForces amid GTX 1000-series rumors
Well, looks like the rumor mill may have gotten the June reveal date of Pascal-based gaming cards wrong. A mysterious new site called "Order of 10" has popped up, completet with a countdown timer and imagery of gray polygons heading towards Earth. Look familiar? It should. The countdown ends Friday, at which time these mysterious polygons will land.
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Philips' new 43-inch monitor might make native 4K practical
Philips is releasing the BDM4350UC in the United States and the UK today. This 43-inch 4K IPS display supersedes the company's BDM4065UC monitor, which was a little smaller and used a VA panel. Thanks to its relatively large size for a PC monitor, this display offers a relatively standard 103-PPI density—about the same as that of a 27" 2560x1440 display. That PPI figure might make the BDM4350UC a good choice for folks who want the information density of a 4K display without the eyestrain of running smaller 4K screens without a scaling factor.
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Alleged Kaby Lake CPU shows its face in SiSoft Sandra database
Back in March, we reported on the demise of Intel’s long-held “tick-tock” product development strategy. For years, Intel has predictably released a line of CPUs with a new manufacturing process one year, and a line on the same process with a new architecture the next. This cadence is changing with the current 14-nm process node. Under the tick-tock schedule, we would have seen products made on a new process node—10-nm—this year. Instead, we are looking at an optimization of the 14-nm process, called "Kaby Lake." Now we have purported benchmarks of a Kaby Lake processor, courtesy of an anonymous posting in the SiSoftware Sandra database.
The leaked benchmark shows a four-core, eight-thread processor with 3.6GHz base and 4.2GHz Turbo clock speeds, along with 8MB of L3 cache. That base clock puts it about in the middle of the i7-6700 (3.4GHz) and i7-6700K (4.0GHz), and the 4.2GHz Turbo speed aligns with the i7-6700K. Even if this benchmark does actually represent a Kaby Lake processor, it ...
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Dell will become Dell Technologies after its EMC buyout
Last fall, Dell announced that it was acquiring major business storage and services corporation EMC. The $67 billion deal is moving forward, and Dell has now revealed details about how the combined businesses will be branded and organized.
The combined company, with its entire family of brands, will be known as Dell Technologies. There will be two primary sub-brands: Dell and Dell EMC. The company's client PC and technology business will continue to operate ...
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Nvidia and Samsung settle long-running patent litigation
It's been well over two years since Nvidia tried to block all shipments of Samsung's Galaxy phones and tablets, claiming that these devices infringed on a number of Nvidia's patents. Now, it appears that the story has come to a close. According to Nvidia, the two companies have agreed to settle all pending litigation.
The settlement agreement covers cases in a number of courts. Nvidia initially filed complaints against Samsung with the U.S. District Court in Delaware and the U.S. International Trade Commision (ITC). Shortly thereafter, however, Samsung filed a countersuit with the ITC and another in ...
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Oculus Rift demos go on the road starting May 7
Oculus announced a program today that should allow more potential VR customers to get some hands-on time with the company's Rift headset. Starting May 7, some Best Buy stores will have the Oculus Rift in stock, both for purchase and as a demo.
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Antec's P9 Window is a mid-tower case with a view
Antec's newly minted P9 Window mid-tower case provides an unobstructed view of its interior through a large side-panel window, as its name suggests. Visible on the inside are cooling vents on the top, bottom, front, and back and tool-less expansion trays, bays, and slots. Not so obvious are the mounts for fans or radiators and hidden cable routing areas behind the motherboard tray.
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Nvidia 365.10 drivers are Game Ready for MOBAs and Forza Apex
Variations on MOBA games are everywhere these days. There's Blizzard's Overwatch, Epic's Paragon, and 2K's Battleborn. And, of course, there are new Nvidia graphics drivers geared up for all this multiplayer action. Please welcome Nvidia's WHQL-certified 365.10 driver release.
If it's not clear by now, Nvidia says the new release is "Game Ready" for the titles mentioned above. Our own Nathan "Jr. Damage" Wasson has given his preliminary seal of approval to Overwatch and Battleborn in particular. There's also good news for ...
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Intel cancels Broxton and SoFIA smartphone SoCs
Intel has had a rough go of the last couple of weeks. Following its April 19 earnings report, Intel announced a plan to lay off 12,000 workers, representing about 11% of its workforce. The company also said it would be re-aligning its operations as it transitions from "a PC company to one that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected computing devices." We now have word about the product lines under the axe, as well as some clarification of those that aren’t, courtesy of a Forbes.com report.
According to Patrick Moorhead from Forbes, the biggest takeaway from his conversations with Intel is that the company is continuing its focus on the products that TR gerbils will be most concerned with. Moorhead says the company’s bread-and-butter processor lines ...
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The Tech Report attends Silicon Valley Virtual Reality 2016
I spent a few days last week at the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Expo in San Jose. SVVR is a fairly small convention that showcases the latest developments in VR. The Turris VR chair that we covered last week was at the convention, but since it got its own article already, I won't talk about it here other than to say that it was subjected to nearly non-stop use for three days and got plenty of positive feedback. Turris aside, here's what I did and saw at the event.

Luckey and I were some of just a few attendees ...
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Available Tags:Intel , AMD , HP , Nvidia , GTX , rumors , Philips , CPU , Dell , Dell , Samsung , smartphone