Latest News - Page 2817

4K monitors are great and all, but you need some serious horsepower to drive 60FPS on them at 3840x2160. NVIDIA's G-SYNC is the perfect technology to help that, with Acer unveiling its new XBO series of monitors, with the first being the XB280HK, a 28-inch 4K-capable monitor at 60Hz, with NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology.

The other, is the XB270H, which is a 27-inch monitor with a Full HD resolution, but a 144Hz refresh rate. Both displays have a 1ms response time, NVIDIA's G-SYNC technology, "comfortable ergonomics and excellent connectivity". Both of the new XBO series displays feature DisplayPort connectivity, and multiple USB 3.0 ports.

When it comes to pricing, Acer has priced the 4K-capable XB280HK at an MSRP of $799, while the 1920x1080-capable XB270H is priced at an MSRP of $599. Both of Acer's XBO series of monitors will be available in the US and Canada next month.

With studios grasping to secure the rights to every potentially bankable comic book character, its no surprise that Twentieth Century Fox have greenlight the production of Marvel's Deadpool character, a spin off of the X-Men franchise. What is more of a surprise is how long the studio has taken to do so.

Back in 2012, a 2 minute short directed by Tim Miller and motion captured and voiced by Ryan Reynolds was created to energise Fox, however the plan evidently failed and the project stalled until earlier this year when the footage was leaked online. While the HD footage was promptly removed by the studio, it seems the positive word has won the studio over.

Ryan Reynolds has apparently not yet signed on, but is expected to. Reynolds played the role of Deadpool in the X-Men spinoff 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' but that take on the character is apparently unrelated to this new version.

PMC-Sierra has announced a new line of embedded I/O controllers that offer double the density and a 40% power consumption reduction compared to competing solutions. These new controllers differentiate themselves by offering the only 16-port 12Gb/s SAS and 6Gb/s SATA option for OEM and ODM applications. These controllers address expanding Open Compute, Windows Cloud Server, OpenStack and Project Scorpio designs. The emergence of easy-to-use cluster-in-a-box solutions and the enhanced functionality of Windows Storage Spaces also provide exciting new possibilities for I/O controllers, which do not provide RAID functionality.

The controllers offer the choice of either SAS or SATA, and are fully compatible with Adaptec's burgeoning product stack, which includes RAID adapters and HBA's, SAS Expanders, and the emerging Flashtec NVMe solutions. Two 16-port controllers, the 12Gb/s SAS PM8076 and 6Gb/s SATA PM8006, offer 16 ports of connectivity; and the 12Gb/s SAS PM8074 offers a scaled back 8-port design. All three controllers are pin-compatible, allowing OEM's and ODM's to offer purpose-built solutions based upon similar designs.

Reducing the number of components required to manage ever-growing numbers of storage devices is an important consideration. The PMC controllers can remove the requirement for plug-in RAID controllers, HBA's, and expanders. This delivers the lasting advantage of lower power consumption and reduced design complexity. Bringing these features onto the motherboard enables the ultra-dense designs becoming more commonplace in hyperscale deployments.

Apple has just finished launching its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, as well as announcing its first wearable: Watch. But now that is all out of the way and iPhones begin shipping to consumers around the world, the rumors of the new iPad begin.

The latest rumor is that the Cupertino-based iGiant will announce its new iPad on October 21, as well as the official release date of OS X Yosemite. The successor to the iPad would be the sixth-generation full-sized iPad, while a new iPad mini would be a third-generation slate. It would make sense to announce them next month, for two reasons.

First, Apple probably didn't want to take the hoopla away from the iPhone launch, as the iPhone is obviously very important to them. And second, the fifth-generation iPad and second-generation iPad mini were announced in October 2013, launching them on November 1.

Logitech has just unveiled something it is calling the 'most advanced mechanical gaming keyboard in the world' with its new G910 Orion Spark RGB Mechanical Keyboard. This new keyboard features Logitech's exclusive new Romer-G mechanical switches, something that offers "25 percent faster actuation than any other mechanical switch, improved durability and intelligent Illumination".

The new Orion Spark features the Romer-G mechanical switches, something that can't be found on any other keyboard, with an actuation point of 1.5mm, the "Romer-G switches register your key presses up to 25 percent faster than competing mechanical switches". Logitech has improved the durability of these keys, too, which are capable of up to 70 million keystrokes, which is around 40% longer than competing keyboards. This allows gamers to bash down on those keys millions of times, without worrying about wearing them down quick.

Logitech has built-in some nifty lighting into each and every key on the G910 Orion Spark, with every key capable of being individually customized from a palette of 16.8 million colors. The lighting "is centrally located within each switch and is directed by precision optics, to ensure that the lettering on each key is evenly illuminated". There's a new application available from Logitech G, something that works with LGS to "enable delivery of a wide range of information on your mobile device including anything from in-game intelligence, to vital system performance stats, to media controls". Not only that, but there are also nine programmable buttons, which can be used for anything from easy access to certain applications, or complex commands.

I don't think anyone saw this coming, but Breitbart has written a piece "Exposed: The Secret Mailing List of the Gaming Journalism Elite" which exposes some of the biggest editors, reporters and reviewers of gaming news sites. This expose accuses these editors and sites from shaping industry-wide attitudes to events, and much more.

These editors and sites using a private Google Groups mailing list, which is called Gaming Journalism Professionals, or GameJournoPros. This group revolves around developer Zoe Quinn, who had "a sexual relationship with at least one prominent games journalist -- a journalist who had mentioned her and her products in his reporting" reports Breitbart.

The report is quite damning, but getting to the point, it looks like GameJournoPros is one giant voice, with one even larger, single opinion. They collectively collude on major issues, to "distort coverage of ethics violations and to support figures to whom they are politically sympathetic". We should expect this to either be blown up, or brushed under the rug, as game developers and publishers have invested tens of billions of dollars into the gaming industry, but if this is the result, do we need a big change? Can these editors ever be trusted with their obviously skewed opinions, if these reports and leaks are indeed true? What do you think?

Despite the fact that the last 'Ghostbusters' film was released over 25 years ago, the franchise has continued to grow and reach a more mythical status, with fans gobbling up licensed goods including action figures, a video game, comic books, TV shows and even gaming machines.

With Sony Pictures this month releasing a 30th anniversary Blu-ray edition, which includes for the first time a release of 'Ghostbusters 2' for the first time in high definition, attention once again moves to the long-mooted second sequel, or franchise reboot. So, what exactly is the hold up?

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, franchise co-creator and star Dan Aykroyd reveals that the plans for the series extend far beyond just one more movie - likening the series to the Marvel and Star Wars universes.

Apple has just pulled the trigger and launched iOS 8 to the world. Apple is calling it 'the biggest release since the launch of the App Store', in their own words.

iOS 8 will come installed by default on the newly announced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones that are due to start shipping to consumers around the world soon. Apple this week also announced that it sold four million iPhone 6 devices in just 24 hours during the start of its pre-order phase.

As you can see from the screenshot above, one of our editor's iPhone 5 devices in Taiwan was eligible for the iOS update just minutes before this post was published. Head over to the update section on your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and iPad Mini now to see if your update is ready. It weighs in at almost 1GB, and may take longer than usual to download, due to the demand on Apple servers right now.

According to the latest report from mobile research specialist Juniper Research, global smartphone shipments are expected to swell this year to 1.2 billion units. This number is up 19% over the 985 million smartphones shipped in 2013.

This 19% growth is thanks to the increase in shipments in the emerging markets, where smartphones shipments are driven by low-cost economy ($75-$150) and ultra-economy (sub-$75) smartphones. Developed markets have been seeing a sign of slowing growth for a while now, as everyone has a smartphone, with some having no reason to upgrade.

Juniper Research does note that both Samsung and Apple have a massive 45% chunk of the global smartphone shipment pie, which is a mammoth number. The research specialist has said that the average price of a smartphone will slowly decline by 2019 to around $274, which will be thanks to increased advances in technology, as well as new competition.

For far too many years, Sony has been bleeding cash, facing increased competition and selling off key assets and even business, such as the VAIO computing arm in a desperate effort to stay afloat. Now, things are getting a lot worse.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the struggling Japanese giant is set to announce a $2.15B loss for the last financial year, four and a half times the previously forecast loss, in results that are set to be published shortly.

Whilst specifics are forthcoming, it is expected that the former jewel in the companies crown; television, will continue to cause heavy losses, whilst the mobile division which encompasses tablets, phones and peripherals is also expected to post significant write downs.

For what has felt like forever, gamers have wanted the Xbox controller made available for Windows, and now that day has come. Microsoft has unveiled an Xbox controller made specifically for Windows, as well as a few other peripherals, with a new mouse and keyboard that will work on virtually any tablet on the market, including an iPad.

The new Xbox controller for Windows is different to the one console gamers know and love, with a USB cable tethering it to your PC. The new Xbox controller, while made for Windows, still works on the Xbox. The new controller sports infrared LEDs that can be picked up by the Kinect, working with other Xbox hardware such as the Charge Kit and Chat Headset.

Microsoft has made its new Xbox controller for Windows compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, requires a single USB port, and is priced at $59.95. Microsoft will make the new Xbox controller available to all in November.

It looks like we are just days away from meeting the new GeForce GTX 900 series from NVIDIA, with a very detailed look at MSI's offering of the GTX 970 GAMING card, which features the company's TwinFrozr V cooler.

MSI's GTX 970 GAMING features TwinFrozr V, which includes two 100mm propeller-blade fans, with a beautiful black-and-red design. The GeForce GTX 970 itself features 1664 CUDA cores, with MSI's factory-overclocked 1140MHz and Boost clock of 1279MHz. 4GB of RAM is on the card with a 256-bit memory bus, with a TDP of just 148W. MSI requires one 8-pin and one 6-pin, which is up from the two 6-pin PCIe power connector requirements of the reference GeForce GTX 970.

One of the weird things that MSI has done to its GTX 970 GAMING card, is remove some of the DisplayPort outputs that the reference GTX 970 sports. The reference GTX 970 and GTX 980 GPUs include three DisplayPort outputs, but the MSI GTX 970 GAMING has just one DisplayPort, one HDMI and two DVI ports.

NASA has announced that astronauts will once again travel to and from the International Space Station (ISS) from the US on American spacecraft, thanks to new contracts announced just hours ago. The US space agency announced its partnerships with Boeing and SpaceX to transfer US crews to and from the ISS using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, ending its reliance on Russia by 2017.

NASA administrator, Charlie Bolden, said at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida: "From day one, the Obama Administration made clear that the greatest nation on Earth should not be dependent on other nations to get into space. Thanks to the leadership of President Obama, the hard work of our NASA and industry teams, and support from Congress, today we are one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation's sole reliance on Russia by 2017. Turning over low-Earth orbit transportation to private industry will also allow NASA to focus on an even more ambitious mission - sending humans to Mars".

This deal has seen Boeing end up with $4.2 billion, while SpaceX receives a cheque from NASA for $2.6 billion. These new contracts include at least one rewed flight test per company, with NASA having one astronaut aboard to "verify the fully integrated rocket and spacecraft system can launch, maneuver in orbit, and dock to the space station, as well as validate all its systems perform as expected".

IDF 2014 - At Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2014, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. introduced a low-cost, easy-to-use development platform that enables designers to add high-performance USB 3.0 throughput to virtually any system.

The EZ-USB FX3 is the industry's only programmable USB 3.0 peripheral controller. It is equipped with a highly configurable General Programmable Interface (GPIF II), which can be programmed in 8-, 16-, and 32-bit configurations. GPIF II allows FX3 to communicate directly with application processors, FPGAs, storage media, and image sensors and provides a data transfer rate of up to 400 Megabytes per second, while using lower power than alternative solutions. The SuperSpeed Explorer Kit easily interfaces with external devices via three accessory boards that connect to Aptina image sensors, Altera FPGAs and Xilinx FPGAs, respectively. The kit also includes an integrated debugger with a standard USB interface to further simplify designs and speed time to market.

For more information SuperSpeed Explorer Kit.

IDF 2014 - Supermicro Releases X10 Server Solutions Featuring New Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2600/1600 v3, DDR4 and NVMe at IDF 2014.

Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro said "Supermicro's X10 Green Computing solutions offer the most optimized DP/UP server and storage platforms on the market supporting advanced technologies and new Intel Xeon E5-2600/1600 v3 processors. Leading the wave is our new 1U/2U Ultra SuperServers which integrate hot-swap NVMe SSDs and SAS3 storage with high bandwidth 10G/40G networking in a new thermal optimized architecture that minimizes fan count and fan power consumption to provide exactly the best platform for enterprise-class virtualization and hyper-scale computing applications. Combined with our new X10 TwinPro, MicroBlade and FatTwin systems as well as the industry's widest range of server building blocks with Titanium level high efficiency power supplies, Supermicro is delivering total solutions to address the critical power, space and cost challenges facing today's data driven businesses."

Supermicro has many new products to offer up with this new release of X10 servers. At IDF 2014, we happened to catch up with Supermicro to check out the new products they have to offer.

We found out not too long ago that NVIDIA was suing Samsung and Qualcomm, without going after any other companies, even if those companies used chips and parts from Samsung and Qualcomm, but now we might have found out why: Samsung is rumored to be working on its own GPU.

The news is coming from Fudzilla, and is just a rumor right now, but the company has been reportedly hiring people from the likes of AMD, NVIDIA and Intel. If Samsung were to be building its own GPU, it would be competing directly against Qualcomm and NVIDIA, with the latter having a very capable SoC with its Tegra K1 processor.

If Samsung did build its own GPU, it would save itself from having to license one from another company, as it would have nearly all of the components it needs for a flagship device built-in-house, from the screen, right down to the GPU.

Today Micron announced the new M600 SSD with Micron's innovative 128Gb 16nm MLC NAND flash. Availability comes in three form factors, 2.5" SATA, mSATA and m.2 (NGFF).

The M600 product series was designed for system builders and OEMs for use in off-the-shelf or custom PCs like corporate notebooks, Ultrabooks, tablets, video production, workstation and even embedded systems that require predictable high performance, low power consumptions, data security and high reliability.

Micron claims sequential read performance at 560 MB/s and sequential write performance at 510 MB/s. Random performance is rated at 100K read and 88K write. The 4-corner numbers are impressive but just as impressive are the endurance ratings. Micron claims the 128GB models deliver a staggering 100TB enduarance. The 256GB takes that up to 200 TB, the 512GB model up to 300 TB and the large 1TB model can deliver 400 TB of write endurance.

With Google's recent acquisition of Titan Aerospace, many have wondered what it would do in our skies - well, now we have somewhat of an idea what the Mountain View-based giant will do. Google has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to take to the skies with experimental drones that would provide Internet access to remote areas.

Google wrote to the FCC on Friday, asking it to keep most of the testing details under wraps, but it did write: "Google recently acquired Titan Aerospace, a firm that specializes in developing solar and electric unmanned aerial systems ('UAS') for high altitude, long endurance flights. These systems may eventually be used to provide Internet connections in remote areas or help monitor environmental damage, such as oil spills or deforestation. The STA [Special Temporary Authority] is needed for demonstration and testing of [REDACTED] in a carefully controlled environment".

Starting on October 6, 2014, Google wants to start testing out its drones for 180 days. We should see the site of these tests "in a square east of Albuquerque and south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, centered roughly on the unincorporated community of Stanley", according to consulting engineer Steven Crowley. Google will transmit at frequencies between 910MHz and 927MHz, and from 2.4GHz to 2.414GHz. What will Google be transmitting at those frequencies? No one knows, as this information was redacted from the document, with the company refusing to comment on its application.

We know Windows 9 is coming, but it looks like Microsoft is going to unveil its next desktop operating system on September 30, at a "Windows event" in San Francisco.

Microsoft has started emailing out its invites, with Joe Belfiore and Terry Myerson to lead the talks about the future of Windows. The event itself will also cover enterprise and power users, with a "Windows Technical Preview" expected to be unveiled shortly after, or hopefully even at the event itself.

We already know that Windows 9 will feature a new, new Start menu, virtual desktops, and a Notification Center. I'm sure we'll see some surprises in Windows 9, something we'll find out much more on in just a few days time.

Phanteks has just taken the wraps off of its new Enthoo EVOLV, the latest member of its Enthoo Series. The new EVOLV is an mATX/mITX chassis, with a very nice looking aluminum exterior. EVOLV features a tool-free release system for its outer panels, and much more inside of it - the video below explains the EVOLV.

On the side we have two USB 3.0 ports, but it's the cooling and design inside that is what is worth talking about. We have support for two 120mm or 140mm fans up top, on the front, and one on the rear. A 200mm fan at the front is included, too. When it comes to liquid cooling, the Enthoo EVOLV has plenty of options. The EVOLV can handle a 240mm radiator up top, or on the front, and up to 120mm on the rear.

Phanteks' new chassis can also take in quite a long GPU, measuring up to 318mm, so you shouldn't have any problems throwing in virtually any video card on the market into the new EVOLV chassis. As for expansion slots, it can take five 2.5-inch drives, or three 3.5-inch drives, and a single 5.25-inch drive. All of this weighs in at 9kg, or 19.8lbs.