NZXT Bunker Review
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ASUS EAH6870 DirectCU Review
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Corsair Vengeance 12GB DDR3 1600 Review
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Cooler Master Releases Turbine Master 120mm Fan
Cooler Master today released the first model in its Turbine Master 120mm fan series, the Mach 1.2. The new fan consists of sixteen blades running at a maximum speed of 1200RPM, offering a maximum airflow of 56.5 CFM and a sound output of 21.1 dBA. Other features include a Barometric ball bearing enabling up to 100,000 hours of operation and removable fan blades. The Mach 1.2 is bundled with four rubber screws, four metal screws, four rubber pads and one Molex to 3 pin adaptor, and is available now for around US$16. The other two models in the Turbine Master series, the Mach 0.8 (800RPM) and Mach 1.8 (1800RPM) should be available in the near future.
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Apple Has Record First Quarter
After recently announcing that CEO Steve Jobs will be taking a medical leave of abscence, Apple released the financial results from the first quarter. Both sales and profits hit record numbers at $26.7 and $6 billion, respectively. Hopefully this news is enough to calm the fears on Wall Street. The iPhone 4 sold 16.2 million units, also a record, and represented an 86% increased over the previous year. Also seeing record numbers were Macs and the iPad. The latter has been available for much less time and was likely helped by a strong holiday season. The iPad finished with 3 million more units sold than the desktop counterpart. iPod sales were better than expected, but still declined by 7%.
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Portal 2 for PS3 to Include Free Copy for PC and Mac, Full Steam Integration
Valve certainly wasn't lying at E3 last year when it said Portal 2 for the PlayStation 3 would be the best console version of the game. The reason behind that is the PS3 version of Portal 2 will include a free copy for the PC and Mac, effectively giving you two (or three) copies of the game for one price. The way this will happen is that when you pop in the disc to your PS3, you link your PlayStation Network account with your Steam account and then the computer versions will automatically appear in Steam on your preferred OS of choice. Steam on the PS3 means you will be able to chat with your computer friends, see what games they are playing, and even play Portal 2 with each other regardless of system. So yes, you will be able to play Portal 2 on your PS3 against a friend who is on their computer. Pretty nice, huh? Valve has worked closely with Sony to help deliver as good of an experience as possible on the PS3 and this should mean we will be seeing more Valve games make the way to the console.
So basically, if you buy Portal 2 for your PS3, you get a free copy for your PC and Mac. Who is interested in that route now? Portal 2 will launch for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on April 21st.
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FCC and Justice Department Approve Comcast Buying NBC
There has been some strife in the corporate world lately when Comcast announced its intention to buy NBC Universal. There were complaints all over about it, not the least of which debated what would happen to NBC's Internet content if Comcast were to own the company. Well, it seems the sale was not impacted by it as both the FCC and Justice Department have approved of Comcast buying NBC. The FCC vote passed four to one, with the one vote going against saying it "opens the door for the cable-ization of the open Internet." Pretty heavy comment there so it will be interesting to see what exactly can be done to prevent Comcast from abusing its new purchase. Hopefully there was an agreement saying that Comcast can't prioritize its own video traffic or cut itself deals on NBC content, but we won't know for sure until the full details get released later. The Justice Department approved the deal and it seems there is a stipulation saying that NBC will keep its economic stake in Hulu but give up all voting and board representation rights. So it is looking like there is a good deal of compromise taking place for Comcast to buy NBC, but what are your thoughts on what this all means?
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An MIT Student is Developing an Innovative Way to Measure Vital Signs
Ming-Zher Po, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program, has developed a system that can measure a person's pulse rate by using low resolution webcam imagery. He's currently working on being able to measure respiration, blood-oxygen levels, and even blood pressure using similar techniques. While the research is done to help monitor patients where attaching sensors to the body would be unpleasant or uncomfortable, this technology could wind up in more than just hospitals. Cell phones with webcams, bathroom mirrors... and I'm sure someone will find a way to tie it to a Microsoft Kinect as a measuring tool for working out while playing games.
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Toshiba Unveils 3D Dynabook Notebook with GeForce Graphics
Toshiba has unveiled a new addition to its Dynabook series of notebooks, the T551. This latest Dynabook adds 3D capability (using 3D glasses) via it's 15.6" 120Hz screen running at a resolution of 1366x768, just enough for 720p playback. This panel is backed by a quad-core Intel Core i7-2630QM processor clocked at 2.0GHz (base speed), up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, 750GB of storage and, most importantly, a GeForce GT 540M with 1GB of memory. A Blu-Ray player allows easy playback of high definition content, while the expected connectivity options include Gigabit ethernet, one USB 3.0 port, Wireless-N connectivity, a webcam and a HDMI output. The OS of choice will be Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. If you're looking for a mobile 3D computing experience, the Dynabook T551 should be available next month in Japan. Toshiba did not disclose any details regarding pricing of this new notebook.
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Black Ops "First Strike" DLC Outlined
Treyarch has outlined its first DLC map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops, dubbed "First Strike." As with Modern Warfare 2's "Stimulus Package" and "Resurgence Pack" DLCs, the Xbox 360 will get the new Black Ops map pack on February 1, approximately one month before the PC and Playstation 3. The First Strike DLC will consist of five maps: Berlin, Discovery, Kowloon, Stadium and Ascension, the latter being for Zombie mode. The new map pack should be priced at 1200 Microsoft points, or US$15.00. You can find out more about the First Strike map pack by watching Treyarch's video preview here.
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New Study on Android Compares Which Manufacturers and Carriers Update Phones to 2.2
The fragmentation of Google's Android operating system is well known, with some phones still having version 1.6 when version 2.3 is right around the corner. Recently, a study was taken place which compared how many Android phones have been upgraded to the latest public build, 2.2, and what carriers and manufacturers lead the way in upgrading the phones to Android 2.2. The study looks at which phones had been upgraded to 2.2 in the second half of 2010 and excluded phones that were launched already with 2.2 installed since there is no point to include those.
Of the manufacturers, HTC leads the way with nearly half of its phones being upgraded to Android 2.2, then Motorola is second with 15.4% and Samsung third with 11.1%. It seems that the top-tier phones get the priority while more budget-minded phones get left out. Other manufacturers, like Sony, Dell, and LG, all came in at zero percent. For the carriers, Verizon had updated just over one third of its Android phones to 2.2 with Sprint following closely behind with just under one third. T-Mobile was third with 12.5% while AT&T updated no phones at all to Android 2.2. Judging by these numbers, it should be pretty easy to decide what carrier and what phone manufacturer to go with when planning your next Android phone.
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Zalman External HDD Enclosure Now Available
Zalman, a leading manufacturer of various computer components, has just announced the newest addition to its lineup in the form of an external hard drive enclosure. There will be two models, the ZM-VE200 and the ZM-HE100, that will each fit into your computing habits nicely. The ZM-HE100 is just your typical external enclosure that connects via USB 2.0, but the ZM-VE200 is the unique one. It can double as a virtual drive which will let you copy ISO files directly to the enclosed drive. Once the ISO is loaded on the drive, an LCD screen will let you see which ones are available and then allow you to easily and quickly load it on your computer, effectively doing away with a DVD drive. You can even install any OS you wish on the drive, including all flavors of Linux. The ZM-VE200 adds an e-SATA port to allow for faster transfer speeds. Both enclosures will fit 2.5" hard drives which means each one is fairly slim to allow for easy transport.
Both the ZM-VE200 and ZM-HE100 enclosures are available now though no prices were announced.
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Wikipedia Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Wikipedia emerged from the dot com crash at the start of the Millennium and has been providing a free internet encyclopedia ever since. The site is looking to expand its contributor base, and hoping to recruit a more diverse array of people. The current distribution is skewed toward young males and people with Ph.D.s. Founder Jimmy Wales is hoping to bring in more women, older people, and those from countries outside the United States. A party will be held at its San Francisco office, with other parties planned around the country to celebrate the milestone. According to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 53% of Americans have used the site since its creation. One analyst from Pew even believes that without Wikipedia, Google wouldn't have been as successful as it was.
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Big News Day For Apple
There is a lot going on in the world of Apple. After recently announcing that the iPhone would be coming to Verizon, the rumors about the next iPhone and iPad are already flying. Both devices will reportedly feature a dual core GPU, the SGX543 from Imagination Technologies. This GPU will enable higher resolutions and will also support 1080p video playback. The dual core GPU is likely to find a partner with a dual core ARM Cortex-9 CPU. No word on when these devices will be available.
Asymco has done extensive research into the growth trends of the iTunes store and the Apple App Store. According to this research, the App Store should reach the 10 billion download mark this month, much sooner than the iTunes store reached that same milestone. It is only a matter of time before the App Store surpasses the iTunes store. The rate at which apps are downloaded is also increasing, sitting at around 30 million per day. The analyst from Asymco feels that at the current pace, mobile software should overtake the desktop software market in the future.
In some not so good news, Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave of absence. Jobs will still be involved in major strategic decisions, but COO Tim Cook will take over the day to day CEO duties. On his last leave of absence, Jobs received a liver transplant and was back to Apple later that year. In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but underwent successful surgery for the condition. The health of Steve Jobs has raised many questions in the past, and has also affected the stock price of Apple.
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MSI Windpad 100W Tablet Priced
The launch of the iPad made the tablet more accessible to mainstream consumers, in turn increasing tablet sales globally. Various manufacturers have come out with their own tablets, attempting to gain a share of the expanding tablet market, and MSI is no different, today pricing its WindPad 100W tablet. The 10" WindPad will retail at €599 (around US$800) once released in Europe and will run Windows 7. The new tablet will include an Intel Atom Z530 CPU clocked at 1.6GHz, 2GB of memory and 32GB of flash memory for storage, all packed under a 10" 1024x600 touchscreen. Connectivity is covered by WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 support, front and rear cameras, a USB port and a mini HMDI output. It is worth noting that the WindPad also features a G-sensor, which should allow the tablet to orientate itself into portrait or landscape mode automatically when rotated. The MSI WindPad 100W tablet should be available soon, and will include a two-year warranty.
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