Latest News - Page 2752

The wearables market is growing, and has consumer attention as witnessed during CES 2015, but age, income and gender demographics are quite different between smartwatch and fitness tracker owners. Trying to create appealing products and price points requires insight into who is purchasing these devices - and how to cater to their specific needs - but that can be a daunting task for manufacturers.

Thirty-six percent of fitness tracker consumers in the United States are 35 to 54 years old, 41 percent make an average income of more than $100,000, and 54 percent were women. The NPD Group report also found that one in 10 US adults own some form of a fitness tracker.

Meanwhile, 69 percent of smartwatch owners are 18 to 34 years old, 71 percent are male, and 48 percent have an income below $45,000.

"The Interview" has racked up $31 million in on-demand and digital sales, closing in on the $41 million it cost to create the film. The movie was released online on Christmas Eve, and while it was an instant hit among Internet pirates, has also generated impressive sales and rental figures from paid users.

The controversial movie racked up $15 million in sales during the four days it was released, and continues to generate success. Apple iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and cable video on-demand services now offer the movie for rental and sale.

"The Interview" will receive a UK release in the future, Sony noted, and it appears Netflix want access to the film. Just a few days after the movie was released, there was talk as to whether or not the film could help spur same-day online launches for future Hollywood films.

CES 2015 - BlackBerry launched its Internet of Things (IoT) platform, with an early focus on the automotive and asset tracking verticals. Using its IoT technology, users will be able to build their services on top of the IoT Platform's efficient and scalable messaging system.

"The BlackBerry IoT platform blends the technologies that have enabled BlackBerry to become a leader in both the mobile data security and embedded systems industries," said Matt Hoffman, VP of strategy and marketing of BlackBerry.

This could be a clever play by BlackBerry, as consumers and companies are showing increased interest in IoT. BlackBerry pairing its QNX Software Systems with its well-respected secure network will allow it to utilize two strengths at a time when its efforts to reclaim glory in the smartphone market has largely fallen flat.

A few days ago we reported on the first solid news of the next iteration of Blu-ray from the floor of CES, and now our friends at TheDigitalBits have reported further information, including the official format name and disc capacities.

Dubbed 'Ultra HD Blu-ray' the finalised 4K resolution format specifications aren't due to be locked down until later this quarter, but is confirmed to utilise the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) H.265 codec, the next generation of what's currently employed in today's Blu-ray spec.

As expected, disc size will be expanded, jumping from the current 50GB to a standard 66GB configuration, with the option of a triple layered 100GB configuration. Catering for films such as 'The Hobbit' Trilogy and the upcoming 'Avatar' sequels, the format will support frame rates of up to 60 frames per second and other picture enhancements including 10-bit gradation, High Dynamic Range and wider colour gamut.

CES 2015 - Still undecided if curved monitor technology is for you? Philips is here to tease you too - unveiling their 34" 12:9 panoramic Curved UltraWide LCD display at CES 2015.

Said to help "envelop users who seek a natural media viewing experience", this screen offers top notch color accuracy, UltraWide Quad HD 3440 x 1440 resolution, a pair of 7 W DTS stereo speakers built-in and a narrow bezel to wrap up an overall sleek design.

Supporting a 60Hz refresh rate with a 5ms SmartResponse time, Philips' new offering uses an AH-IPS LCD panel to display and has a 178 degree viewing angle. A cool and mostly-overlooked feature of this monitor is the ability to use MultiView technology, meaning you can connect two devices to the display at any given time and use them both simultaneously - giving you a feel somewhat like split screen multiplayer gaming on a console.

CES 2015 - Featuring a new range of ULTRA Performance 11AC routers, expanded DIY home automation offerings, all-new DIY Home Security Kits, the industry's first Gigabit PowerLine Kits with MIMO and all-new IP surveillance solutions, D-Link have unleashed a range of new products to the market as an addition to the ever-flowing CES 2015 coverage.

First off the rank is their ULTRA performance Wi-Fi Routers, the AC5300, AC3200 and AC3100. These devices claim a wireless speed of up to 5.3 Gbps, furthered coverage, a revamped user interface and dynamic Smart Connect to automatically balance clients.

Their new home automation offerings are coming in the form of their Connected Home Hub and range of Sensors and Sirens - designed to help keep DIY homeowners more in tune with what's happening. D-Link's connected Home Hub plugs into existing home routers, acting as a centralized control for D-Link Connected Home Devices - this is done by integrating Wi-Fi and Z-Wave wireless technologies using the 'mydlink' Home app for iOS and Android platforms. D-Link has expanded their security range by including the Z-Wave Open & Close Sensor, the Z-Wave Motion Sensor (DCH-Z120), their Wi-Fi Water Sensor and the Wi-Fi Siren.

CES 2015 - We learned today that Samsung plans to release two small form factor products from the 850 EVO product series. This news comes on the heels of Samsung's new portable USB 3.0 SSD that uses the same 3D V-NAND technology found in the company's successful 3bit per cell 2.5" form factor products.

The 850 EVO series won high praise from product reviewers for performance, endurance and warranty length that are all above other products in the price class.

The mSATA form factor gained popularity in notebook and small form factor systems three years ago. There are a number of existing systems in customer hands, many that shipped with smaller, slower solid state drives from system builders.

CES 2015 -Toshiba has announced a new SSHD (Solid-State Hybrid Drive) featuring Toshiba's A19nm NAND. We actually found the Toshiba SSHD hiding out in another manufacturers booth, so we had the chance to grab a few pictures. Please note that these may not be final production run models. The Drive Revision number AAA indicates that this is likely not the final product. The new series consists of two drive models. The MQ02ABD100H features 1TB of capacity, and the MQ02ABF050H we found comes with 500GB of capacity.

The 500GB model pictured above comes with a slim 7mm z-height, and the 1TB model features a 9.5mm z-height. SSHD's have a small complimentary amount of NAND, and hot data is dynamically placed on the faster NAND media. This provides tremendous performance advantages, while still delivering plenty of capacity. Both models can be used for high-performance computers, but the 500GB model is also an obvious fit for mobile applications.

This new revision differs from previous Toshiba SSHDs, which used separate controllers to manage the HDD and the NAND. On the new models the onboard NAND is also controlled by the drive's HDD controller chip. Merging these functions will reduce design complexity and also likely draw less power, and with the mobile-oriented design of the 500GB this will help to improve battery life. Yes, we asked to remove the PCB for a closer look at the new implementation, but that request was denied. Toshiba is the only HDD manufacturer with NAND fabrication capabilities, they actually invented NAND, and flash will comprise nearly half of their revenue by the end of the fiscal year. It would be natural to assume there will be more refined integration between Toshiba NAND and HDDs in the future.

CES 2015 - Sixense is one of the companies in the industry that I'm most excited to see succeed, they worked with Razer on the Hydra motion controller, something I used when I played HLVR with the Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra. But Sixense have been working on the STEM system for quite a while now, and we're beginning to see them get closer to the finish line.

We met up with the great guys at Sixense, including Amir Rubin who is such a great guy and super intelligent. He walked me through the changes that the STEM system is still going through, improving each month with its internal component slowly getting smaller and smaller, as well as more efficient.

You don't know how much fun it is using the STEM system, shooting guns like they're right there in the VR world, or using a lightsaber. Totally, totally fun.

If you've ever heard someone guarantee 100 percent security to you in cyberspace then you know you've got yourself a liar - and not a very good one. Of course, cyberspace will never be truly secure according to Martin Giles. This is why cyber security is becoming increasingly complex and as threats do as well. Huge compromises to data occur in rare events, but the biggest day-to-day threats come in the form of crooks attempting to steal financial data from businesses and individuals.

The hackers best at what they do are certainly making life more difficult for cyber security professionals. Simply put, however, the most common breaches of security are often the result of the most obvious mistakes. For example, an employee can physically write down a password on paper only to have it fall into the wrong hands, or customer information is available to those that have no business with such confidential information. Because of this, it appears that some businesses are not able to anticipate incoming cyber attacks.

In fact, there are reports that argue there is a great need to actually provide businesses with incentives to take cyber security more seriously than they already are. Here are some simple tips for prevention:

CES 2015 - One of the more interesting CPU coolers shown off at this year's CES was from be quiet!, the German powerhouse that is always striving for better, cooler, and always impressive CPU coolers. This year was no different at all, with two new CPU coolers that are sure to impress.

First up, we have the Dark Rock Topflow. The Dark Rock Topflow has be quiet! and its engineers striving for some impressive stuff, concentrating on memory clearance for setups that might have high-end memory that normally gets in the way of the massive heat sink on these types of CPU coolers. The memory clearance is a decent 51mm with a lower fan installed, but without the lower fan installed it is up to 70mm.

With the fan installed, the Dark Rock Topflow has a total height of just 130mm, but without the additional fan it is just 110mm high. The CPU cooler can handle a CPU pushing out a total TDP of 220W, with an utter maximum of 250W. When it comes to sound, we have 25dB which is nice and quiet. You get two of the be quiet! SilentWings PWM 135mm.

CES 2015 - Hardware specialist Crucial has shown off its MX200 and BX100 solid state drives (SSDs), with increased storage capacities and faster read and write speeds.

The MX200SD will be available in 250GB ($139.99), 500GB ($249.99), and 1TB (469.99) capacities, with 555MB/s and 500MB/s read and write speeds. In addition, the Crucial MX200 is the only consumer SSD product with Dynamic Write Acceleration, making data transfers even faster.

The BX100 SSD will be available in 120GB ($69.99), 250GB ($109.99), 500GB ($199.99), and 1TB (399.99) storage capacities, promising 535MB/s and 450MB/s sequential read and write speeds. It is the first Crucial drive that will make use of the Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller, helping make the SSD perform better and consume less power.

CES 2015 - When AMD first began talking about FreeSync, NVIDIA were already out in the wild with a couple of G-SYNC monitors. But the one big difference between AMD's FreeSync and NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology is that AMD's technology is free for manufacturers to use, without licensing fees. This means we should see around $100-$200 cheaper monitors based on FreeSync technology, which is great news for Radeon gamers, and gamers in general.

Above, we have a FreeSync monitor from Samsung, at 4K.

Here we have a 1080p monitor with FreeSync.

CES 2015 - Corsair is a company that never disappoints, so when we visited them at CES 2015, we walked away with a great look at what they've been working on lately.

One of the stand out things at CES 2015 for Corsair was their really quite stunning orange and black setup, using a Hydro Series CPU cooler, some Dominator DDR4 RAM and a GIGABYTE motherboard which all matched. The Hydro Series cooler had a tweak to it however, as that orange ring is not standard - maybe Corsair should look into providing different colored rings with their coolers from now on?

This is one of Corsair's newer products, the Neutron XT series SSD.

Samsung announced today that they have begun mass production of their high-performance, low-powered PCIe solid state drives. The SM951 is designed with ultra-slim notebooks in mind, with Jeeho Baek, Samsung's Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing, commenting "we are helping to accelerate growth of the ultra-slim notebook PC market with the introduction of this energy-efficient, high-speed PCIe SSD. We will continue to introduce next-generation high-density SSDs with improved performance and increased differentiation, as we further strengthen our business competitiveness in global SSD market."

Supporting both PCIe 3.0 and PCI 2.0 interfaces, Samsung claim their product can read and write at sequential speeds of 1,600 MB/s and 1,350 MB/s respectively. Being three times faster than SATA SSD technology and 30 percent faster than the Samsung XP941, these products are set to be a real winner.

The SM951 is also the first SSD to utilize the L1.2 low power standby mode, allowing all high-speed circuits to be turned off when a PC is sleeping or in hibernation, marking a 97 percent decrease from the 50mW consumed previously - this new device uses under 2mW of power to function.

CES 2015 - Gesture-based specialist eyeSight is demoing its singlecue gesture-based control system during CES 2015. The device is able to support Infrared controlled electronics, including HDTVs, cable and satellite boxes, Blu-ray players, and AV receivers.

When implemented, singlecue connects a user's IR and Wi-Fi devices and brings them to a single interface, opening the door to gesture recognition technology.

"Since launching, we've heard from people around the globe that they can't wait for singlecue to enter their homes and completely change the way they interact with their favorite devices," said Gideon Shmuel, eyeSight CEO. "We look forward to fulfilling this promise and bringing gesture recognition, the Internet of Things [IoT] and smart home control to everyone under the singlecue brand."

CES 2015 - Over the last year or two ZOTAC has been making strides when it comes to the GPU market, with some truly great cards that not only look great, are featured packed, but they perform like champions. We knew the company was going to be showing off its new GeForce GTX cards at CES 2015, so here we are!

Let's start off with the GTX 980 AMP! Omega Edition, with its dual fan system, and much more. We have a base clock of 1202MHz, and boost clock of 1304MHz. The usual 4GB of RAM is found on a 256-bit memory bus, while the memory clock is at 7046MHz. We have three DisplayPort outputs, one HDMI 2.0 and one DVI-I.

The GTX 980 AMP! Edition is also another great card from ZOTAC. We have 1165MHz base clock, 1266MHz boost, and 7010MHz memory. 4GB of RAM once again, and the same three DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.0 and one DVI-I output.

CES 2015 - Demonstrated through Dell's new UltraSharp 5K monitors, DisplayLink have been using single a standard universal USB cable to provide a stunning 5120x2880 resolution. This new advancement is said to future-proof notebook expansion and is being shown off at the DisplayLink booth over the CES 2015 period.

Thanks to their standard universal "Plug-and-Display" USB 3.0 cable technology, DisplayLink claim in their latest press release that they solve "the 5K connectivity problem and equally enables non-5K PC, notebooks, and tablets to connect to 5K displays."

To prove their point, they're using a stock Microsoft Surface Pro III connected over a standard USB 3.0 cable to a DisplayLink-based docking station, this docking station is connected to a Dell 5K UltraSharp UP2715K 27" Monitor, through the implementation of DisplayLink's latest 5K chipset.

CES 2015 - Audio maker Divoom has unveiled its Voombox-Party wireless speaker during CES, a weather-resistant product that can be used outdoors.

The Voombox-Party has a 3" built-in subwoofer with dual passive radiators, 2" full-range drivers, and can deliver 20 watts of sound. The NFC-enabled device allows for easy pairing with smartphones, tablets, and other mobile electronics. Owners can expect up to eight hours of battery life, and can recharge the Voombox-Party via micro-USB.

The Divoom Voombox-Party is scheduled to launch by the end of January with a $119 MSRP.

Intel is certainly no chump when it comes to innovation, profits and company value - so generally when the CEO talks, people listen. Alongside announcing their Curie module, Intel have provided new applications for RealSense cameras in regards to robots, flying drones and 3-D immersive experiences; which also includes an investment of $300 million to encourage more diversity at Intel and within the technology industry as large.

Brian Kzranich, Intel's CEO commented in their recently issued press release that "the rise of new personal computing experiences, intelligent and connected devices, and the wearable revolution are redefining the relationship between consumers and technology. Our goal with Intel technology is to help solve real problems and enable experiences that are truly desired by people and businesses. In order to do this, we must also do more to lead the growth of diversity and inclusion within the technology industry. Women and under-represented minorities will continue to play a greater role as consumers, influencers, creators and leaders."

This statement was made during a keynote presentation at CES 2015, where he also used the time to announce their new wearable partnership with Oakley, a 3-D collaboration with HP and more. Intel have been busy when it comes to behind-the-scenes advancements and company partnerships, it seems.