Latest News - Page 2818

According to the latest rumors, Google will finally announce its new Nexus 9 tablet at a media event on October 8. Various media are being invited to an event with the title "Double Exposure".

This event falls in place with HTC's event, where the company is expected to unveil a GoPro-like camera, as well as a new super selfie smartphone - also teasing Double Exposure. What will be powering the Nexus 9? For starters, NVIDIA's more-than-capable Tegra K1 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 9-inch 1920x1080 display, 16GB of flash storage, 100GB of Google Drive storage and much more.

The biggest part of the Nexus 9 will be its 'tube-shaped' 16-megapixel camera, and possible waterproof abilities. We will also see Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, as well as the ability to control the 9-inch slate from an Android- or iOS-powered smartphone with an app developed in-house by HTC.

When Apple announced its first wearable, Watch, people were excited for a good reason. It's Apple's first wearable, and it is a great offering in the same-old-same-old wearable market we see materializing in front of us right now. Well, now there's rumors of the Watch 2, already.

Reuters is behind the rumor, talking with its "insider sources" on the upcoming successor to Watch, Watch 2. Reuters' sources say that development of Watch 2 is well under way, but beyond that there's not much to report on. Health and fitness activities will continue to be the cornerstone of the Watch, and its successor, which is something we can take away from this.

Apple seem to be covering the entry into the smartwatch market with Watch, with its successor probably drilling into the areas it does well, and improving on the things it doesn't. Health and medical experts aren't too sold on Watch right now, but Apple is probably taking all of their opinions and recommendations on board, mixing it into the melting pot for Watch 2. But the question remains: with the rumors of a successor to the Watch being talked about months before Watch is even released, would most people skip Watch to wait for Watch 2?

The researchers of Villanova University and Rutgers University have published a study where there have made a comparison using the sales of violent video games with criminal statistics across the United States. Interestingly, it was discovered that contrary to a certain belief, the number of criminal activities seems to drop at the time when AAA titles like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty are released.

The co-author of this study Patrick Markey said, "Various measurements of video game use are related to decreases in violent crime such as homicide." Markey has been studying about this issue for a while, and according to him such games earn a bad reputation among some people, the belief is that violence is something that young men enjoy. But he also pointed out that doesn't mean that violent games encourage people to be violent in the real-world.

He added, "We always have to be careful with correlational data. Correlation doesn't mean causation. But we haven't just looked at sales of games and violent crimes. We have taken into account trends in the data. We remove stuff that typically happens, like a spike in murders during summer and high sales of games near the Holidays, and it's still negative. To me what is most amazing is that is never positive. It is always statistically negative."

Apple introduced a new feature for its iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and previous models with iOS 8 called Wi-Fi calling, of which only T-Mobile and EE will be providing at the time of launch. AT&T on the other hand plans to roll out Wi-Fi calling support, but as late as next year.

Despite AT&T's attempts to ensure that Wi-Fi calling will work without interruptions hinted as a reasons for a slow rollout, Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's new Mobile and Business Solutions group said that there's no urgent need to roll out Wi-Fi calling for now.

"We're very focused on making sure it's a great experience for customers, but we see it as a complement, not a replacement," Ralph de la Vega said. "We feel good about a great nationwide network with unlimited talk and text." He added that Wi-Fi calling will serve only as a complement to voice-over LTE AND 3G voice.

TYAN, an industry-leading, server platform design manufacturer, and subsidiary of MITAC Computing Technology Corporation, launched its full array of platforms supporting the latest Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family. With 5 products and 10 SKUs in total.

Albert Mu, Vice President of MITAC Computing Technology Corporation's TYAN Business Unit today said "TYAN's new product portfolio was designed with the latest Intel technology and supports the newly launched Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family. With superior efficiency, higher performance, stronger scalability, and lower costs, TYAN's product line offers multiple solutions that meet the critical demands of HPC, SMB, cloud computing, storage, and other complex applications. Further, TYAN's new product lines are compatible with Intel SSDs, as well as Intel Cache Acceleration Software, which allows companies to process and store massive amounts of data in an easy and intelligent way".

Product Portfolio includes:

We're much closer to see Oculus VR to release its consumer version of its Rift VR headset compared to before, but some of us may get early access of those VR headsets as the company plans for a public beta of these units by April 2015.

As one would expect from a beta, the distribution of these units will be very limited to a certain number of users initially. Its assumed that Oculus is going to use this opportunity to check if the consumers will be interested to own such a headset by having a limited launch. It is said that Oculus will send its public BETA headsets in the similar way how Google launched its public beta for Google Glass. The criteria to qualify for getting a public beta headset is unknown for now.

The specification of these consumer-final version has significant improvements over the Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 version. The consumer version will have a significant increase in resolution compared to the dev kit's 1080p. To add further, the refresh rate is expected to be 90Hz or higher. As one would expect, Oculus really wants its Rift headset to provide the best virtual-reality experience you can provide.

HTC is planning to unveil a waterproof camera to compete against GoPro. The smartphone maker sent invites for a press event named 'Double Exposure' that will be held on October 8th in New York. The Taiwan-based smartphone maker made it obvious that this would be a camera-specific release, but the company's plans seem to have leaked ahead of schedule.

According to the source, HTC will be unveiling two of its devices. One will be an extreme sports camera which is aimed to go head-to-head against a well-known player, GoPro. The second device is a smartphone made for selfie shots.

Its said that HTC will be implementing a 16-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide angle lens. This yet-to-be-named tube-shaped camera will need to paired with either Android or iOS device via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. As one would expect from an action camera made for extreme sports, it will be rugged and waterproof. HTC will also be making apps for android and iOS device to pair with this camera.

We knew it was coming, but VESA has just announced an update to the DisplayPort standard, bringing it up to version 1.3. DisplayPort 1.3 will enjoy bandwidth of 32.4 Gbps, a 50% increase on the 21.6 Gbps that DisplayPort 1.2 offered.

DisplayPort 1.3 will be capable of driving 5K at 60Hz, or better yet, 4K at 120Hz. Thanks to DP1.3 now offering 4K at 120Hz, this can be split into two 4K displays at 60Hz each, which is damn impressive for a single cable. Not only that, but DP1.3 will offer support for HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 with CEC. It doesn't even stop there, as it will support 8K, which runs at 7680x2160, all at 60Hz.

The new standard isn't just good for video, as it will also feature improved protocols for sharing display and data signals over the single cable. Thanks to the increased bandwidth and these tweaks, things like DockPort will handle DisplayPort and USB 3.0 on the same interface, being able to pump out data to various displays and devices at once, without feeling like its drowning.

ASRock Rack announces its latest offerings of motherboards that support the new Intel E5-2600 v3 processors and DDR4 memory. These motherboards are more than just simple upgrades to their existing line of boards, they offer major feature upgrades in some cases.

The new motherboards continue ASRock Racks build quality that includes:

Stable - Robust Design, Quality Parts

HGST Press and Industry Analyst Briefing - HGST has announced a new line of PCIe SSDs for the datacenter with their Ultrastar SN100 Series. This new series of PCIe SSDs offers the new NVMe standard as the backbone for communication with the host system. For an in-depth look at the NVMe specification, from top to bottom with testing included, take a look at this recent article in our IT/Datacenter section.

NVMe has many advantages over proprietary software implementations, but the vFAS structure employed with HGST's FlashMAX line (Product evaluation here) is particularly strong. The FlashMAX II offers multiple software features that make it a compelling offer in many environments, and after speaking with HGST executives at the event we were assured that these same software capabilities will be extended to the Ultrastar SN100 line of products.

HGST is also announcing a new FlashMAX III, so the two product lines, with both vFAS and NVMe, will continue to have a place in the HGST product stack. Performance specifications and endurance information will hash out the differences between the two PCIe SSD offerings from HGST, but at this point there aren't any related publicly available specifications for either new product. We will keep our readers updated as more information becomes available.

HGST Press and Industry Analyst Briefing - HGST has announced the extension of their fruitful Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Intel for their SAS SSDs. This is an important agreement due to the sharing of important NAND and engineering expertise. The JDA also affords HGST with a guaranteed NAND flash supply for HGST's SAS SSDs, a paramount need in today's SSD market. The details of the arrangement aren't entirely public, of course, but we do know that both HGST and Intel have already leveraged the existing relationship to develop the fastest SAS SSDs on the market.

The JDA began in 2008, and HGST first began to offer SAS SSDs in 2010. Intel flash and controller technology has provided the base components, but the real engine lies in HGST's SAS design, firmware, reliability, qualification and system integration. Intel does not sell SAS SSDs, instead relying upon the JDA with HGST to provide high-quality SAS offerings. The cooperation has led to four generations of successful SAS SSDs. The agreement is slated to continue for three more years, and we look forward to seeing the exciting new products that will come as a result of the JDA.

HGST is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation, but is rapidly shaping up to be the flash arm of WD. Strategic acquisitions of Velobit, STEC, and Virident have allowed HGST to expand their portfolio rapidly in terms of both hardware and software patent portfolios and expertise. HGST has sent the clear message that they believe software is a key differentiator that will provide them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Coupling this vision with the extension of a cooperative agreement with Intel provides a solid footing as they move forward with innovate solutions for the datacenter.

Microsoft has confirmed it will pay $2.5 billion to purchase Mojang, the company responsible for Minecraft. Minecraft has sold more than 54 million copies across the world, and the three founding executives of Mojang will reportedly leave the company. The game is the top paid app for both the Google Android and Apple iOS, and with only 4 employees, brought in $287 in revenues during 2013

"At Microsoft, we believe in the power of content to unite people," the company said in a press statement. "Minecraft adds diversity to our game portfolio and helps us reach new gamers across multiple platforms. Gaming is the top activity across devices and we see great potential to continue to grow the Minecraft community and nurture the franchise."

News of the acquisition sent shockwaves through the Minecraft community, with many gamers worried about which direction Microsoft would take. Meanwhile, Microsoft hopes to draw gamers mobile platform instead of focusing on the Xbox One or PC.

Amidst the hub bub of this week's Apple Event which saw the company, as expected, officially launch both the iPhone 6 and its larger brethren along with the long rumoured Apple Watch, the device that started it all - the original iPod, now dubbed 'iPod' classic' was being quietly shuffled off stage before being put out of its misery.

Officially discontinued as of September 9th, the sixth generation 160GB iPod will no longer be manufactured and once inventory has cleared, will no longer be available for sale. The news will hardly come as a shock to Apple fans - the writing has been on the wall for some time, with Apple CEO Tim Cook confirming that the iPod product line was "a declining business". Apple have removed the device from online listings.

The iPhone 6 line goes on sale worldwide next Friday.

Oculus VR is pushing for the future of VR to be awesome, so what better way than donating millions of dollars to a University to build a new VR lab? That's exactly what Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus VR has done, donating $31 million to the University of Maryland.

The money will be used to build a new computer science building that will feature a VR lab. Iribe had the idea of donating the funds after the acquisition made by Facebook in March of this year for $2 billion, after he met with Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, where he walked around the University and noticed that not much had changed around the place.

Iribe met Michael Antonov at the time, who is now the Chief Software Architect of Oculus VR, who will be donating $4 million the university to help with the construction of the building, and establish a scholarship. Iribe spoke with Business Insider, where he said: "It will have a big focus on robotics and computer vision, computer graphics, and human computer interaction. In the past, computers have been used regularly as a tool, so you don't need to bring in psychologists or the biotech side of things to understand how the computer affects the brain in order to make a great operating system. But in VR, you actually do".

When Apple announced the iPhone 6, we had confirmation that Apple's next generation iPhone would be powered by the company's A8 processor. We heard it was a 20nm design, one of the first on the market at this process, and that we should expect a decent bump in performance over the iPhone 5S' A7 processor.

At the time we didn't know what clock speed the A8 would be clocked at, but we knew it be another dual-core processor, the same amount of cores found in the A7. Apple's A7 chip runs at 1.3GHz, so most expected the A8 to be clocked much higher - maybe 1.5-1.6GHz - to provide the jump in performance, but now we know: the A8 processor in the iPhone 6 runs at 1.4GHz, just 100MHz more than the A7 chip in the iPhone 5S.

The news is coming from Rightware's benchmark database, with Basemark X being run on a slew of devices. Apple's A7-powered iPhone 5S scores 20253.80 while the A8-powered iPhone 6 scores 21204.26 - barely any difference. We will have more benchmarks on Apple's latest smartphone when ours arrives next week, so keep your eyes peeled on TweakTown.

Ubisoft Motion Pictures have been working diligently behind the scenes for a number of years to get their maiden production - a big budget feature adaptation of the 'Assassins Creed' video game off the ground. However, today they might have just enacted a huge casting coup, by signing none other than 'Iron Man' himself - Mr Robert Downey Jr' in the role of the the famed Italian renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci.

The casting looks to also sheds some light on the films plot, which might take some cues from 'Assassins Creed 2', which prominently featured da Vinci's designs and contraptions.

Actor Michael Fassbender has long been attached to the title role of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, but has repeatedly stated that script problems have been the source of delays. With the latest news of casting, hopefully the wheels will move just that little bit faster.

With the home entertainment industry's attempts to prolong the lifespan of plasma and then LCD by the introduction of 3D technology falling flat on its face and the move to force 4K as the next best thing being resisted, in part due to little content and high prices has seen some manufacturers redouble their efforts into OLED technology. Now, LG has bought both technologies into one device for the first time.

LG will ship two models to the US next month, coming in 65 inch and 77 inch varieties, for $10,000 and $25,000 respectively (although will be expected to be discounted significantly) both utilising the faddish 'curved' design. There has been no word yet on availability in Australia.

OLED technology has been in deployment for some years in smaller devices, such as mobile phone displays and in the initial PlayStation Vita model and has been heralded for its spectacular image quality and brightness, superb black levels and lowered power consumption but has proven difficult and costly to manufacture at bigger sizes at a large scale, whilst also battling poor half-life life expectancy.

Music and movie copyright groups tried to fight Internet piracy by suing individual file sharers, shutting down peer-to-peer networks, and creating new anti-piracy legislation. However, as Internet piracy continued to evolve, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), tasked with movie copyright issues of the top six Hollywood studios, wants to adjust its tactics.

"The world is changing at warp speed," noted Chris Dodd, MPAA CEO. "We are not going to legislate or litigate our way out of it. We are going to innovate our way by educating people about the hard work of people."

Although it's refreshing to hear the MPAA isn't interested in creating new legislation or potential court litigation - many Internet users are weary that any new efforts could still end poorly for the community. But hearing that copyright groups understand there are new ways to provide content in a legitimate manner proves a shifting focus towards the future.

Destiny shook up the gaming industry after launching earlier this week, topping $500 million in sales to retailers during launch day. The game title was made by Bungie and published by Activision, with hype surrounding the game building over the past few months. Sales to retailers doesn't provide an exact tally of game sales to consumers, but indicates retailers expect it to continue to be a sought after game title.

"Since the beginning, we've been confident that our investment and belief in Destiny would pay off," said Eric Hirshberg, head of Activision game publishing. "But not many people believed we'd be able to say it did so on day one. We have more confidence than ever that Destiny will become one of the iconic franchises of this generation, and Activision's next billion dollar brand."

Video game blockbusters are big money, with gamers often preferring to continue playing storylines as they develop over multiple titles. Some analysts predict Destiny could sell 10 million units to consumers before the end of the year, indicating it could become a major influence to help push console sales.

Microsoft is reportedly phasing out Nokia and Windows Phone branding, as the company wants to move ahead with its Microsoft Lumia smartphones. The multi-billion-dollar purchase of Nokia's devices division gave Microsoft access to the company's phone portfolio, but Nokia is still a different company.

Dropping Windows Phone might prove to be a puzzling choice, however, recent Microsoft smartphone marketing referred to devices as "Windows." The upcoming Windows 9 desktop should be designed to cross both smartphones and tablets with a single OS, as Microsoft won't try to promote three separate OSes for desktop, smartphones and tablets again. Microsoft's commercial for the Lumia 930 didn't refer to Windows Phone, only referring to the device running Windows.

Marketing efforts aside, Microsoft faces an uphill battle to compete in the mobile market, dominated by Google Android and Apple iOS software - and led by Apple, Samsung, and other manufacturers.