Latest News - Page 2865

If you own a Sony VAIO Fit 11A notebook computer, you need to be aware that a battery issues has been identified. This issue, like most battery problems on notebook computers, can result in a fire. The big problem for users of these Sony notebooks is that the battery inside the machines isn't removable.

That means you will have to return the entire notebook for repairs. Sony wants people to stop using the machines, unplug them, and return them to be repaired or replaced. There are 25,905 machines affected by this issue globally.

Sony doesn't call this a recall; rather it is a request to stop using these notebooks. Sony is also keeping the option open to refund the purchase price of the machines to the owners. The catch I see with this is if you have data on the notebook you need, it's unclear if you will get the machine back.

Kickstarter is a place where more and more products head to get the funding they need to come to market. We have seen some very cool and successful products launch from Kickstarter including the Pebble smartwatch and Ouya game console over the years. One of the coolest projects that has turned up on the site in a long time for DIY fans is there now and it's for a cheap 3D printer.

The printer is called the Micro 3D printer or M3D for short. One of the biggest selling points of this printer is that it is cheap with a price of $299. That makes it hundreds and hundreds of dollars cheaper than other 3D printers on the market.

When the M3D printer hit Kickstarter, it was looking for $50,000. It hit that number within hours of going live. A few hours after that it had raised a million dollars. The project keeps going up and as of writing, the M3D printer has raised over $2.2 million only a few days after launch.

Photographers in the market for a new high quality lens to use with one of the full frame sensors on the market will be excited about the new offering from Sigma. The company has announced that the lens they unveiled back at CES 2014 called the 50mm F1.4 DG HSM Art will ship late this month. The price for the lens is set at $949.

On the company website, it appears the MSRP is right at $1300. It's unclear if the lens is on sale during its launch or if the markdown is just a marketing ploy and it will always sell for $949. Sigma uses SLD glass and the lens has a new autofocus algorithm that makes focusing smoother.

The lens uses 13 elements in eight groups and can focus on objects only 15.7-inches away. Maximum magnification ratio is 1:5.6. Sigma offers the lens for Sigma, Sony, Nikon, and Canon mounts

ZUtA Labs has taken to Kickstarter to fund its super mobile robotic printer known as the Pocket Printer, which will set you back just $180 if you fund it on Kickstarter now, or $200 when it begins shipping early next year.

The Pocket Printer will scoot along a piece of paper - of any length - leaving ink as tracks. It will print much slower than a traditional printer obviously, but you can't kick its portable goodness. You could take it anywhere, printing something on the plane while you're travelling, or in the coffee shop while you're trying to connect to its Wi-Fi.

ZUtA Labs' Pocket Printer has a print speed of just 1.2ppm in its current prototype specs, and in its current form, prints at 96x192 DPI. It has Bluetooth connectivity, supports Wi-Fi, has a run time of around one hour, charge time of three hours, supports Android, iOS, Linux, OS X and of course, Windows. It is just 10cm or 3.9-inch high, and 11.5cm or 4.5 inches in diameter, weighing in at 300g or 10.5oz.

The wearable game just got very hot, with Google announcing it will sell its Glass headset starting April 15, but what about Apple's place in the wearable market? New rumors of its iWatch suggest that we could see two versions of Apple's smartwatch released, including a high-end version that would cost thousands of dollars.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is usually on the ball with most Apple rumors, said in a research note to clients on Thursday morning that Apple was preparing two iWatch models for this year. The first of which would be a smaller 1.3-inch device for people with smaller wrists, and another model that would feature a 1.5-inch screen.

Both models would feature a flexible AMOLED display with sapphire crystal display covers. Kuo said that Apple's iWatch would have a host of sensors that would monitor multiple things like motion, heart rate and more. The analyst noted the iWatch would have deep integration with iPhone and iPad, and would include an NFC chip, wireless charging capabilities, and a "fashionable appearance".

We all knew Watch Dogs on the PC was going to be something special, but just wait until you watch the video below. It shows off Watch Dogs powered by NVIDIA hardware, and it looks sublime.

It looks absolutely incredible, with anti-aliasing cranked up, and shadow detail on maximum. It's very fluid to watch, where it looks to be running at between 30-60FPS. HBAO+ is a big part of the graphic goodness, thanks to NVIDIA.

For the open-world game to look this great and run that smooth, I'd love to know what requirements I'm going to need to run it at 4K at 60FPS minimum. Maybe four GTX Titan's? Or do you think you might need something like two GTX Titan Z's when they're released? Whatever the case, my wife is going to be pretty mad when I upgrade.

Streaming a variety of music to your Sonos wireless speaker system has just gotten much easier thanks to the company integrating Google Play Music into its list of streaming music providers. The integration into the Sonos controller app ushers in a new music streaming era, as this allows millions of Google Play Music subscribers to now stream their own music as well as music they have purchased over the service.

"As we continue to invest in the way you experience and control your music at home, curating and managing an array of services cross multiple rooms, the benefits of playing your music to Sonos directly from these very services is clear. In Google Play Music, we've found a great partner to bring this vision to life for the first time on a global scale. Together, we've created a music experience that shows how media, devices, and sound can seamlessly work together in the home," sonos said in a blog post.

All the music you love, all there is to discover, all together in one place:

When Linksys announced its WRT54G-inspired WRT1900AC wireless router back at CES 2014, techies everywhere had a moment of nostalgia, and remembered the little blue router they had in their homes as children. Those techies can now own the throw-back as Linksys has just announced the release of the WRT1900AC 802.11ac wireless router.

The new WRT1900AC features a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 128MB of RAM, and eSATA and USB 3.0 ports for network storage. Speeds up to 300Mbps on 5Ghz, and up to 600Mbps on the 2.4Ghz band, with an 802.11ac connection are said to be achievable, and Linksys says that the WRT1900AC is the first consumer-grade Wi-Fi router to feature four antennas for added wireless coverage. TweakTown's own Tyler Bernath has one of these on his test bench right now and will have a review up soon!

Every year around this time, the rumors about Apple's next-generation iPhone begin to flow in what can only be described as a monsoon of information. Usually many of those rumors never pan out, but when Securities Analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo speaks, we usually stop what we are doing and listen to what he has to say. This is because his track record for Apple leaks has been flawless, and his predictions always come true.

In a statement today, Ming-Chi Kuo says that the iPhone 6 model will feature a 4.7-inch screen, and will not feature a full 1080p resolution but rather, a pitiful 1334x750-pixel resolution. This means that Apple has yet again failed to see that consumers want HD screens, and as Android makers prepare 1440p-screens for phones later this year, Apple is once again several years behind the curve.

Additionally, Kuo said that the new iPhone 6 will feature an Apple A8 processor and just 1GB of RAM, further limiting iOS developers in how resource intensive they can build their apps. Accompanying the larger screen will be a thinner profile, with the new device losing a few millimeters in thickness. Kuo also states that based on supply partners, Apple will finally bring NFC to the iPhone.

Many of you reading this will know my fondness for the popular BeagleBone Black development board, and how much I love new accessories for it. Today I caught wind of a new Kickstarter campaign that is looking to bring high-quality analogue and Bluetooth audio to the BeagleBone and BeagleBone Black development boards. The all new SoundsCape is a "cape" add-on board for the BeagleBone system that allows users to add an analogue and Bluetooth audio solution to their projects easily, and from a single board.

The SoundsCape is being developed by Simple Media Networks, and is designed for developers using the BeagleBone for systems that need an easy solution for high quality audio performance and/or Bluetooth connectivity in their project. The SoundsCape is also for Makers who like hacking Audio platforms, or anyone who would like to wirelessly stream internet radio to their wireless speakers.

Early Bird backers can get their hands-on a fully built SoundsCape for just $69 while slots at that level last, and then the price jumps up to $89 with header's not installed. Those looking for a fully assembled board after the Early Bird runs out can expect to pay $109, while those looking for the Bluetooth portioned to come programmed will need to pledge $119 or more. Additional developer bundles are available starting at $239 and increasing from there.

For many shows on TV and cable networks, it can be a tossup until the announcements are made whether or not they will be renewed. Then there are some shows that you know will be renewed before the networks even talk about it. One of those shows that fans knew would be renewed is Game of Thrones.

The fourth season of the show only kicked off on April 6 and already HBO has killed any doubt about whether or not the show will be back next season. HBO has announced that it renewed Game of Thrones for a fifth season. HBO went a bit further and announced that it was also renewing the show for a sixth season. That means fans have at least two more seasons to watch major characters get killed off in gruesome ways.

HBO issued a statement that said,"Due to its outstanding worldwide success, HBO announced the renewal of its original series Game of Thrones for a fifth and sixth season. Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones is an epic story of treachery and nobility set on the continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal. The award-winning series recently launched its 10-episode fourth season on Sunday, April 6th.

You can walk outside, look up at the sky, and see propeller aircraft flying around on any given day. The thing all those propeller aircraft have in common is that they need some sort of fuel to burn in their engines. Some gliders can fly without a motor, but most aircraft still burn fuel of some sort.

An electric airplane called the Solar Impulse 2 is getting ready for a voyage that will see it travel around the globe using no fuel. It looks a lot like a glider with long and thin wings and it does have propellers. Rather than spinning them with fossil fuels this plane uses solar power.

Inside the fuselage are some sort of battery packs that store the energy from the solar panels on the tops of the wing surface. Those batteries store enough power that the airplane can fly at night. It will hold two pilots who will fly the aircraft around the world.

Greenliant unveiled its mSATA ArmourDrive SSDs last year. The company has announced an update to those drives is now shipping with a feature to help protect data. ArmourDrive SSDs with built-in power interrupt data protection are now shipping.

The small SSDs measure 29.85mm x 50.80mm x 4.85mm. These SSDs are offered with 2-bit-per-cell MLC NAND flash memory in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacity. Operating temperature range for the drives is -40 to +85C making them appropriate for use in most industrial situations.

Greenliant also offers the drives in 8, 16, and 32GB with 1-bit-per-cell SLC NAND. All of the SSDs use the BGA form factor and an internal flash controller. Pricing is unannounced on the drives.

Details on NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 880 have begun to leak, with a report from Tyden.cz claiming that the GeForce GTX 880 will be a Maxwell-based GPU that will dominate the single GPU market. The GeForce GTX 880 will move from the family name of GK110 (the 'K' is for Kepler) to the GM204 part. GM204 is the GK110 equivalent of the Kepler family, but based on the Maxwell architecture.

The leaked specs will see the DirectX 12-capable GPU feature a streaming multiprocessor Maxwell, or SMM, SIMD design that is found in the also Maxwell-based GeForce GTX 750 Ti. The GeForce GTX 880 will just feature more of those SMMs, spread across multiple graphics processing clusters (GPCs) and see some extra performance when compared against the GTX 780 Ti. We should expect something along the lines of these specs:

Comparing the Maxwell-powered GTX 880 against the Kepler-based GTX 780 Ti sees the GTX 880 ahead, but not by much. We have a rumored 3200 CUDA cores versus 2880 on the GTX 780 Ti. Base clocks increased from 875MHz and 928MHz for the Base Clock and Boost Clocks, respectively on the GTX 780 Ti, to 900MHz and 950MHz on the GTX 880.

Micron Technology has teased that it would offer up triple-level cell NAND flash made using the 16nm process, which could see consumers enjoying cheaper flash-based goods, including cheaper SSDs going into 2015.

Mark Adams, President of Micron, said during a conference call with investors and financial analysts: "Our 16nm NAND yields have been very positive and position us well from a cost perspective. We are currently planning to ship 16nm TLC [NAND flash] in calendar Q4 in order to better position our portfolio from a cost perspective in the retail and consumer segments".

The reason why this is important, is that with current NAND flash storage devices, such as SSDs and more, is that they based on MLC (multi-level cell) tech. Where TLC NAND on the other hand, has been used for memory cards, audio players, USB drives and more. MLC is much more durable than TLC, with typical MLC NAND cells lasting for 3000-10,000 erase/write cycles, where TLC-based NAND usually lasts for under 1000 of those same erase/write cycles. In order for TLC NAND to take off, durability and reliability need to be much higher than what we have now - something Micron is working on, hard.

During the Warner Music YouTube blackout in 2009, Warner musicians sold more songs and albums during the hiatus, indicating YouTube hurts music album sales, according to Fairfield University and the University of Colorado.

The research believes top music labels lose out in total sales due to listeners heading to YouTube to listen to new songs - and watch music videos - instead of purchasing individual tracks and albums.

"We showed that the removal of content from YouTube had a casual impact on album sales by upwards of on average 10,000 units per week for top albums," according to the research. "While a great deal has been said about the potential role of these services in promoting and discovering new artists and music, our results cast some double on this widely believed notion, at least with regards to top selling albums."

If you are a fan of Netflix original programming, the streaming network has a new series that is coming and production has started. The new series is called Marco Polo and is a series not based on the summer time swimming pool game, but rather on the adventures of the explorer Marco Polo.

The show will have ten episodes for the first seasons and they will shoot in locations around the world. Shoot locations include Italy, Kazakhstan, and Pinewood Studios in Malaysia. The series will premiere in late 2014.

No exact premiere date has been announced at this time. The show follows Marco Polo as his journey takes him into the center of a war in China in the 13th century. The show sounds very exciting promising martial arts and spectacular battles.

GPS company Garmin has announced the Edge 1000 cycling GPS unit, featuring new technologies to appease cyclists with deeper pockets. The device has a full-color 3" touchscreen providing 240x400 resolution, and a reported battery life up to 15 hours.

Although running GPS units from Garmin have greatly advanced, some in the cycling industry think enough wasn't being done to promote new bike-centric GPS units. However, Garmin pulled out all of the stops with the Edge 1000, including built-in Wi-Fi so map data can be downloaded faster - and GPS-based turn-by-turn directions while out in the saddle.

Cyclists can also use ANT+ sensors to connect the Edge 1000 to a heart rate monitor, power meters, or cadence sensors, Garmin said in the press release.

Land Rover is showing off one of the coolest concept technologies I've seen in a car recently. The tech is called invisible bonnet, bonnet being a hood for those of us in the US. The tech uses a camera in the front of the Land Rover that shoots data to some sort of HUD inside the car.

The result is what appears to be an invisible hood that allows the driver to see through the car to get a look at what is under the vehicle. This could be a great feature to keep Land Rover drivers from getting stuck when off-roading. If you have ever driven off road, you know just because an obstacle makes it past the bumper doesn't mean it will make it past all the hardware under the car.

Land Rover will be showing the new invisible bonnet tech off at the New York International Motors Show. The tech is pure concept right now and there is no word of it coming to a production vehicle. In addition to seeing the surface under the car, the tech will also show the driver the position of the wheels and their angle.

If you are a PS4 gamer that has been counting the days until you can get your hands-on the fantastic game The Last of US, you are certainly not alone. The first confirmation we had that the game was in the works for the PS4 came from an unknown Sony manager late last month.

Real confirmation came today when a banner for the game turned up on the Sony Entertainment Network online store. That banner did bring with it a big question though. Did it land early before Sony meant it to, or is someone just missing the error the banner gives when you click it?

The banner cries out for gamers to pre-order the game now, but when you click it, you get an error message rather than the pre-order page. The question is did the banner go live early before the purchase page was ready, or did some hapless web admin just link it to a bad page?