Latest News - Page 2575

Storage titan Seagate has just revealed its first helium-filled hard drive aimed at the cloud datacenter market.

Seagate's new helium-filled hard drive is set in a 3.5" form factor and features 10 terabytes of storage capacity. The drives specifically target cloud datacenters that need extensive storage space as well as memory efficiency, both of which helium-filled drives can accommodate. Traditional hard drives are filled with air, but filling the drives with helium allows manufacturers to fit more platters to increase capacity, improve power usage, and maximize accuracy of the actuator arm.

The new hermetically-sealed enterprise-class hard drives feature seven platters at 1.43 TB a piece, along with 14 heads. Speeds have yet to be determined, and are assumed to be 7200RPM. Seagate affirms that the helium-filled drives utilize the company's PowerChoice technology to help manage power consumption during idle times. Thanks to the benefits of helium gas, the new 10TB drives have a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) rate of 2.5 million hours, which is significantly better than existing enterprise drives.

A new family of Opterons from AMD has arrived, and they fill a growing niche of low-power, dense and highly available devices in datacenters. The Opteron A1100 SoC combines 64-bit ARM Cortex-A57 cores with 10GbE networking solutions for their first entry into the ARM datacenter market.

The Opteron A1100 SoC has been in the news in the past when we first heard about the revival of the Opteron brand and a new direction that AMD wanted to head in the server market. A1100 is part of a plan to saturate all aspects of the market from the bottom on up to the high-performance.

This new A1100 SoC starts off with an off the shelf ARM Cortex-A57 that hasn't been modified and has 4MB of shared L2 cache and 8MB of L3 cache. For memory it has two channels of either DDR3 or DDR4 and can support up to 128GB of ECC memory as fast as 1866MHz. The most exciting feature is the dual 10GbE network connections and 14 SATA III ports, making it a natural choice for web servers and even databases of a certain size. There are also 8 lanes of PCIe gen 3., but this isn't intended as a GPU compute platform.

Desert Bus was never meant to be an actual game. It's more of a huge practical joke...but the kind of cruel joke that only the twisted minds of legerdemain artists Penn and Teller could think up. And that's exactly what it is...but now the low-fi torture is crossing over to high-definition virtual reality, and we're all invited to catch a ride.

Did you know that Penn and Teller actually had a game? It was a Sega CD game called Penn And Teller's Smoke and Mirrors, and it was so godawful that it was cancelled before it was ever released. The game was made up of a number of "non-game" spoofs, and one of the most notorious, mind-meltingly bad mini-games was Desert Bus. The "game" is more like an exercise in monotonous hell--all you do is drive a bus from Tucson, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada in real-time, across a blank empty road that's totally devoid of life. As AVGN put it: "You drive, drive, and drive. There's nothing out there but road, and sand. There's no passengers to interact with, no music on the radio...the road never turns, and there's no other vehicles."

Now Desert Bus is making its way into the virtual reality realm to spread torment and misery to Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR owners. Oddly enough, Penn Jillette is working with Borderlands boss Randy Pitchford to make Desert Bus VR. "[Pitchford] is calling it Desert Bus 2.0. I'm calling it Desert Bus 1.0003. It'll be a period piece, it'll be set in 1992, like the original Desert Bus, just high-fidelity. We're doing a couple other games. It'll be a bundle of things. We're talking to a bunch of people. It'll probably be agnostic in terms of platform. It'll probably be for the [Oculus] Rift and for the PlayStatin VR," Penn Jillette said on his podcast.

One of the most requested features, and long awaited ones, is that of being able to play your own music in the background of a game on the Xbox One. But it looks like that feature won't be making it to the console until at least this coming Summer, says Phil Spencer.

That doesn't mean that it's impossible to interject your own music into the game, just that it's a bit more inconvenient. You're still able to use the Xbox music app, Groove, to play your favorite personalized tunes, though you'll have to do it with the Snap feature, having a slim line on the side with the app. It also doesn't replace the game music, either.

There's certainly a very large demand for being able to have personal soundtracks in their games with over 22,000 people having requested it on the Xbox Feedback site. So it's a natural progression, and having it play seamlessly would be just one more advantage over the competition.

NVIDIA's latest beta update for its GeForce Experience software adds yet more juicy new features.

First up are desktop and windowed mode capture and streaming. Pretty self-explanatory: if you want to capture or stream non-game activities happening on your PC, you can now do that. As well, if you prefer to play your games in windowed mode, you can now do that while not being prohibited from recording or streaming. To access this unified mode, navigate to Preferences > Share and check "Turn on desktop capture for Instant Replay, Record, and Broadcast". Good to know: you can switch back and forth between fullscreen and desktop modes without interrupting recording or streaming, and you can capture screenshots while in this mode, too.

Next is new mic controls which allow you to change your recording device, adjust recording volume, and utilize mic boost. The new controls are in addition to the previously added ability to mute your mic and switch between Push-to-talk and Always on modes.

Elite: Dangerous has just surpassed selling 1.4 million copies across both the Xbox One and the PC, and incredible and well deserved accolade.

Elite: Dangerous was among the first batch of space-sim revival kickstarter's, having easily surpassed their goal of 1.25 million. Over 25 thousand backers gave what they could to make the dream a reality, which was a revitalization of a genre that has been largely ignored in recent times.

The game finally released in December of 2014 and then officially on Steam in April of 2015 to a fairly great reception. A total of over 84 million hours have been played by its player base (and I've got only a paltry 81 currently). But it hasn't been smooth sailing completely, with the initial launch having been of a fantastic yet somewhat shallow game.

In Win is fast becoming an innovator in the world of PC chassis', making some some very nice looking and gorgeous cases that spare no expense. And at CES they showed off the second iteration of the H Tower, which is one of their halo products that takes consumer cases to a whole new level.

In Win's H Tower is a tasteful homage to the custom case market, except that it's not "custom" by the normal definition. It's manufactured, though in a limited quantity, and with exceptional The case is tasteful and not too flashy, with just the right amount of flair. When static, it's actually a testament to good industrial design, evoking an imposing presence.

And when it's in motion it's a fantastic site to behold, and I couldn't help but make the transformer sound (poorly I might add) with my mouth. The lasers that shoot out are a nice visual touch, but they're also practical as they measure the space just to make sure it can open all the way. It wouldn't do to mash up your beautiful H Tower accidentally. But check out the video, brilliantly put together by our very own Brian.

If you're excited for Tom Clancy's The Division, we have a bit of troubling news: the game will feature microtransactions. It is an Ubisoft game, after all!

The Division will support "optional in-game purchases", according to a listing spotted on the Netherlands' PlayStation Store. We're not sure if the purchases are limited to consoles or not, but they'll likely carry over to all platforms. Ubisoft is notorious for peppering its AAA titles with microtransactions that range from simple cosmetics to actual performance-boosting items, but the publisher has been quite careful not to push into the dreaded "pay to win" territory.

Thanks to its MMO-like elements, the Division is prime territory for microtransactions. The game features the kind of persistent world states found in MMO's or games like Destiny. The survival/shooter/RPG will be online only, and players will be able to jump seamlessly into co-op and PVP missions without needing to change mods."The game is built around seamless online integration. Going from playing alone, to playing in a group, to playing PvP will all be handled with very little or no interruption," Ubisoft explains.

Stated as the "fifth consecutive year that Logitech products have been awarded GOOD DESIGN awards" in a recently issued press release, this peripheral giant has taken home five awards this time around.

Receiving awards for its Wireless Mouse M280, ConferenceCam Connect, Keys-To-Go, Bluetooth Multi-Device Keyboard K480 and the MX Master Wireless Mouse, Logitech president and CEO Bracken Darrell stated that "these additional design award wins help underscore how design is at the core of what we do at Logitech."

The GOOD DESIGN Awards are presented each year by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and are in partnership with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.

Counterfeiter operations are clearly getting increasingly sophisticated, as evidenced by a shipment of fake Fitbit activity trackers from Hong Kong, which looked apparently very close to the genuine article.

According to a press release issued by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection who seized the shipment of counterfeit Fitbit watches, the collection of 350 devices had a street value of around $35,000 USD and were intercepted due to their copyright breaches. Susan Stranieri, CBP Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia said "Customs and Border Protection will continue to work closely with our trade and consumer safety partners to identify and seize counterfeit and substandard merchandise, especially those products that pose potential harm to American consumers. Intellectual property rights enforcement is a CBP priority trade issue, and a mission that we take very seriously."

'The X-Files' isn't the only 90's TV show to return to screens this year, with the announcement that the cast of 'Friends' will make their first reunion on screen since the show wound up in 2004.

But before you get too excited, while the one-off special will indeed reunite stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry for the first time in over a decade, it sadly won't show us what happened after the final episode. Instead, NBC's two-hour show will be more of a behind the scenes talkfest to honour veteran sitcom director James Burrows.

The special is expected to be recorded in Los Angeles later this month, and will go to air on Feb. 21.

Microsoft finally retired Internet Explorer 8, 9, and 10 yesterday, after previously encouraging everyone to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11.

There's another reason to do so, even if you don't use Internet Explorer, according to Microsoft Senior Software Development Consultant Pat Altimore, who notes components of the browser are tied into the operating system.

"There are many components that constitute the browser," he writes. "Most of the components are part of the operating system including the JavaScript / HTML rendering engine (MSHTML.dll), the Web Browser control (ieframe.dll), and the Windows Internet Protocol Handler (WinInet.dll). The browser application (IExplore.exe) uses these OS components for script execution, rendering, HTTP requests, etc. When you upgrade the browser, you potentially upgrade all of these components."

EK Water Blocks has issued a statement on its official Facebook page, informing customers that there is now a total recall on all EK-XLC Predator 240 and 360 water cooling units.

These are the pre-filled and pre-assembled all-in-one units released by EK, with this water cooling giant explaining that the recall has been put into place due to possible leakage issues. It doesn't take a genius to understand that water and electronics don't mix, so we urge any customers to head over to the official EK announcement page to read more about the overall process, a place in which this company goes into great detail to explain the issues and how they will be rectified with revision 1.1.

While many consumers are upset on social media due to this taking place, EK Water Blocks explained on its website that this problem "was initially estimated as limited risk situation with small percentage of units developing a leak over time that can be resolved with direct customer contact," however, after further analysis it has "turned out to be a more widespread problem." This statement shows that they had prior knowledge of this issue, now choosing to protect all customers from possible unit failure in the future.

Google was an early embracer of VR with their Carboard, but since then they've lagged behind a bit. It looks like they've formed a new VR group which is being headed by Clay Bavour, who was previously the VP for Product Management at Google proper.

The Carboard initiative was a very good introduction to the more casual side of VR with a number of apps that were compatible with iOS and Android that let you explore the VR world if you had either the official HMD or made your own. It was a great idea, but progress on Google's own VR solutions has stagnated somewhat. Even the integration with GoPro and having 360 degree video part of YouTube hasn't quite been enough.

But now a prolific executive is moving over to take on a completely dedicated VR department that has the chance to innovate in a market that isn't quite focused as of yet. A lot of great ideas exist for how to make VR more mainstream and an integral part of our lives, but they just need a helping hand to guide them into something that we'll actually use. But now Google has just that, and while we don't exactly know what they're working on, if their past projects are any indication then it'll definitely be interesting and good for the future of VR.

CES 2016 - The small-form factor PC is making waves in the industry in a very big way. Living room gaming is already a great convenience that console gamers have enjoyed, and now the PC is slowing moving that direction as well. Corsair has a a solution that can be both pre-built, and customized, that has it's own cooler and SFX power supply so you can potentially have the best living room experience. Titan X not included.

The Bulldog was announced in June, though development of the case has continued as they prepare to actually launch it. The surprisingly roomy case didn't quite ship when they wanted it to, which was over this past holiday season, but they've had time to refine the inside, moving screws around and making it an overall easier and more accessible case to work inside of.

But just like what was announced, this is built from the ground up to support both water-cooled CPU's (up to 150W), using their own SFF solution that comes with the case, and water-cooled GPU's if you get their GPU adapter or one of the hybrid cooled cards from MSI. Thankfully the power supply, an 80 Plus Gold certified 600W unit, can handle nearly any single card, even gual-GPU single cards. It's a uniquely shaped system that might not have the Wife Acceptance Factor, but it does fit into a lot of modern decor. In person it's rather stunning to look at.

The CEO of GameStop, Paul Raines, spoke at the ICR Conference 2016 in Orlando today about his thoughts on the future of VR in the industry, which is one of the leading trends going into 2016. He seems to prefer the PlayStation VR over the rest.

In general he's excited about the prospect of VR and where it's going. It has the potential to be a huge industry, even if the price is somewhat high initially. Raines thinks that all top-tier makers offer good quality headsets that are near equal in quality, but it's the quantity of material and content that'll make or break any particular brand. And in that case he's more a fan of the PlayStation VR, because of the sheer volume of games and the backing it has. It's a very focused device.

To explain, he said "The more important thing will be the title count at launch." Raines continued by saying "I think that's going to be big. And from what we can see at this point, Sony seems to have the strongest title count." VR is going to be a big part of the future, and Raines wants to capitalize on that, especially with Sony's device.

Square Enix released a new trailer for Star Ocean 5 that introduces one of the main characters, Fidel Kamyuzu, and walks us through some of the action we can look forward to when it releases. The combat sequences themselves look rather dynamic and exciting.

Fidel himself seems to be a fairly powerful character, useful for a variety of reasons. And of course the battles are of the more active variety, not static at all. The graphics, though certainly stylized, have clean high-resolution textures and it seems to make use of AA fairly well. At 1080P with the screen filled with particle effects and tessellation, it looks to still run at a smooth 60FPS. That's not bad at all!

Star Ocean 5 is set to come out in the East on March 31st, which isn't terribly far away at this point. It'll make a Western debut sometime later this year, though no release date for that has been set.

A dedicated Fallout 4 player channels the insight of Father Comstock to recreate the beautiful floating city of BioShock Infinite's Columbia in the skies of the Commonwealth.

As soon as I started playing with Fallout 4's settlement system, I sought out to answer one question: can you make things float? To my extreme elation, I found out that you can indeed make your creations float in the skies. You can recreate an M.C. Escher ladder-maze, or make whole buildings float, or even make your very own Ewok treetop village. I knew some day that someone would do something amazing with the floating mechanic. Lo and behold, that day is now.

GirlPlaysGames has created one of my favorite settlements of all time: a floating rendition of the colorful sky-city of Columbia, complete with an authentic 1900's feel. The Commonwealth's Columbia is resonant with the flavors of the original, and carries with it that sense of wonder and whimsy that enraptured us back in 2013.

Outages for the PSN seem to be as sure the wind in the mountains. That said, for this last round of outages that occurred, Sony is looking to compensate PS Plus users with for that downtime, with extended subscriptions, on the house.

Those of you that had active PS Plus subscriptions and were affected during the great outage that occurred over the holiday season should start finding an email from Sony that offer an extension that'll cover their services, from PS Plus, PS Now and even video rentals.

It's unclear exactly when and how they'll begin this process, but some users are reporting they've already received their extension. And from that, it would appear to be a painless and seamless process, where you don't have to do anything except enjoy another free month of service. Though you might not be getting a full free month, my email has yet to be received.

If you've been waiting to try out Ubisoft's rather interesting open-world RPG shooter mashup The Division, we have some good news: the beta test will indeed release this month.

Ubisoft has inadvertently announced that The Division's closed multiplayer beta will kick off this month across Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. The info was spotted on the official The Division page on the mobile Uplay app, which tells users they can earn a trophy by "taking part in the Division's closed beta in January 2016".

If you have the Uplay app installed you can view the page yourself--just navigate over to All Games, pick The Division, and check the "actions" section to see the drop-down list.