Latest News - Page 3038

Windows Phone 8 (and Windows 8) are nearing every day. Companies have started detailing their launch plans for devices running the new Windows Phone 8 operating system. HTC is the latest to join this group and today has announced two devices running Microsoft's latest mobile operating system: Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S.

The first, the Windows Phone 8X (seen above), is the better device between the two. It's specifications aren't exactly ridiculous like some of the Android phones of late, but it will certainly be able to compete with other Windows Phone 8 devices. The main specifications provided by HTC are:

The other device announced today, the Windows Phone 8S (seen below), comes with lower specifications and likely a cheaper price tag. It's key features are:

Here is a full list of official changes and additions by Apple as presented in the update process in iTunes.

Have fun with the new update!

Remembering all of the login and password details to your various accounts, e-mail, websites, social networks, banking details and countless other sites can be tiresome, annoying and repetitive. A Google software developer has opened up, hinting at a world without multiple logins.

Tim Bray, a Google software developer, mentions that logging in is annoying and slows you down, through his blog post. Bray says that his work with the company is pegged on getting rid of the annoying, time waster for two reasons. The first point, is that logging into various websites takes time, which makes a user less productive. Reduced login time makes more time available to improve the overall experience.

Secondly, Bray makes a point that most people begin a new search for a product, or service, they don't immediately head to a search engine. They type in the address of a large retail chain, bookstore, or even Craigslist. Bray says that these people don't want to go through the hassle of registering a new account, or create a new set of login credentials to find the product they're after with a new merchant.

Samsung have reportedly starting the mass production of what they consider the first 2GB LPDDR3 (low profile DDR) chip for mobile applications, just 10 months after the South Korean company started production on DDR2 memory.

Samsung have hit a milestone that sees the first time 2GB LPDDR3 density chips are made available as an all-in-one package, since they sport four LPDDR3 chips stacked together. Samsung says that LPDDR3 will be a requirement moving forward, as mobile devices ship with faster and faster processors, higher resolution displays, and 3D graphics. Samsung have also pointed toward the fact that LPDDR3 features a transfer rate of up to 1600Mbps per pin, which gives us transmission rates of up to 12.8GB/s at the package level - compared to LPDDR2 that maxed out at 1066Mbps, makes LPDDR3 parts around 50% faster.

LPDDR3 will usher in the ability of allowing real-time viewing of high-quality video, without having to download the content first. Samsung have also teased that the mass production of 128GB eMMC for mobile devices, which will see the new products being much faster than their predecessors, while offering the increased storage space. Samsung's 128GB eMMC products will sport NAND with a toggle DDR 2.0 interface, built on a 20nm manufacturing process.

One of my greatest fears are injections - I don't fall onto the floor, ball up and cry - but I just hate them. I always expect they're going to bring me a world of hurt, and I can't wait for the day when this relatively primitive technology is replaced, well, my wishes are slowly coming true.

Scientists from the Seoul National University in South Korea are hoping to help people like myself, but replacing the sharp metal of an injection, with laser-powered injections - frickin' lasers! A paper published in the Optical Society's Optics Letters journal states that the new method uses laser pulses to create a precisely controlled stream, which is said to be around the width of a human hair - much more manageable.

The injections would then target the epidermal layer, which is a portion of the skin that has no nerve endings, which would create something researcher Jack Yoh calls a "completely pain-free" experience. The high-pressure steams are capable of delivering whatever the injection is being used for, without damaging skin tissue. Yoh spoke with the Optical Society, where he explains:

Google has updated Google+ Hangouts to include sound effects that range from laugh tracks, to chirping. Get ready to be annoyed by constant laughing after jokes, clapping after singing, and plenty of other annoying sound effects that will ensure that your conversation is radically different from before.

If you would like to start annoying your conversation partner, it's extremely simple. Click the "Google Effects" button, like in the picture above, and start clicking all the sounds. Google notes that users will need the latest version of the Hangouts plug-in, v3.6, but that should automatically update.

If you're having trouble using the new feature, you can download the updated plug-in from Google. Most of the population won't ever use these sound effects, but I'm sure there's that one person--you know who I'm talking about--that will enjoy using these sound effects to everyone else's dismay.

After months of planning, the TweakTown SSD is now shipping. Based on the SuperSSpeed S301 SLC, the Chris Ramseyer Signature Edition is the fastest consumer SSD on the market today. It features the LSI SandForce SF-2281 controller and pairs it with Intel's 100K P/E cycle Single-Level Cell (SLC) flash.

Limited to just 50 pieces worldwide, the drive is one of the most exclusive products on the market. Chris Ramseyer helped design every aspect of the product from the over-the-top accessory package that includes a desktop adapter bracket that holds two 2.5" drives, to the industry leading 5-year warranty.

Chris feels the modern SSD should deliver in both performance and longevity. The Intel 25nm SLC NAND flash is the key to achieving both goals. "SLC flash eliminates the compressible vs. incompressible variances in performance and allows this product to deliver true 500+ MB/s performance regardless of data type. With 100,000 erase cycles available to the flash this is also a product that will survive intense environments and the abuse of enthusiasts and power users" says Chris Ramseyer whom the product takes its name from.

Western Digital have taken to Facebook to announce that they've sold over 90 million WD Green drives. As you probably already know, WD Green drives use less power, create less pollution, and saves water, too.

Western Digital have also explained just how much WD Green customers help save the planet with some interesting stats: 466,128,000 kWh saved, which is equal to one coal power plant, 279,676,800,800 grams less carbon dioxide emissions, 466,128,000 liters of water saved, and less water consumed with 9,322,560 liters.

They're some seriously powerful numbers, and this is just with the one particular series of hard disk drives!

LG have just made their new flagship smartphone available in South Korea, the LG Optimus G. LG's Optimus G packs some serious performance and technology, in an 8.45mm (0.33-inch) thick device. We're looking at Qualcomm's Fusion 3 chipset, which throws in a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC (APQ8064) with a 2G/3G/LTE radio (MDM9615).

On top of the impressive processor and radio network connectivity, we're looking at 2GB of DDR RAM, a 4.7-inch 1280x768 (320ppi) True HD IPS PLUS display with Zerogap Touch (in-cell touch) technology. A sealed 2100mAh Li-polymer battery which is good for 800 charge cycles, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Filling out the G's specs, LG have thrown in a 13-megapixel backside-illuminated sensor with 1.1µm pixels, an f/2.4 autofocus lens and a single LED flash, on the front we have a 1.3-megapixel camera. LG have thrown in 32GB of built-in storage, but left out any expandable storage options. Filling out the Optimus G we have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC and MHL. All of this technological marvel is married into a 145g device.

It looks like a leak from ASUS is pointing toward their pricing structure on Windows 8-based tablets, where they start from $599. At $599, we should find the ASUS Vivo Tab RT (TF600T) which would sport a 10.1-inch Super IPS+ panel with a 178-degree viewing angle, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core SoC, and optional keyboard dock for a physical keyboard, as well as extended battery life. The Vivo Tab RT will also come with Office 2013 pre-loaded.

Sitting in the middle of the price structure, we find the ASUS Vivo Tab (TF810C) which sports an 11.6-inch Super IPS+ panel with the same 178-degree viewing angle, an Intel Atom Z2760 CPU, and has a starting price of $799. In the higher-end spectrum, we have the ASUS Taichi, with an MSRP of $1299. The Taichi features an 11.6-inch dual Full HD IPS panel with a 1920x1080 resolution, and thanks to its dual screen, it can be both a notebook, as well as a tablet - sexy.

The Taichi also sports Bang & Olufsen IcePower audio technology, as well as multi-touch dual panels which makes it "easy to share files between two users". The Taichi is definitely looking like a hot mess of a tech device, and it has my interest, that's for sure.

Struggling chip maker AMD has lost yet another one of its top executives. Thomas Seifert, former CFO for AMD, has joined the ranks of the departed. Not too much is known about why he is leaving, other than the uninformative "to pursue other opportunities" reason that is always included in a company's press release when an executive leaves.

"We thank Thomas for his many contributions to AMD and for serving as interim CEO in 2011," said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. "Thomas' personal commitment to the highest standards of accountability and financial integrity has helped define how AMD does business today. Devinder is an experienced financial executive whose financial expertise and semiconductor experience developed during his 28 year tenure at AMD is an asset to the company."

Seifert will remain the CFO until September 28 at which time Devinder Kumar, senior vice president and corporate controller, will take over as interim CFO. He will remain there while the search for a new, permanent CFO is under way.

Don't get me wrong, there have been a lot of great games made. But, there are those select few that really stand out in your mind due to amazing gameplay, graphics, or some other intangible reason. I've collected a list of games that are definitely on the top of my list, and are probably towards the top of yours.

Everyone has seen those social reviews posted online. A friend recommends a product or writes a review on Amazon that makes its way onto Facebook. You trust it because it's one of your friends, right? Well, it looks like you'll start having to be a little more careful about which you trust. A new study shows that 10-15% of social media reviews will be paid for by companies by the year 2014.

Companies are already paying customers or giving them discounts to write a positive review of a product or service, but this practice is starting to grow more into the mainstream. Research firm Gartner provides a bit of insight into the practice with their new study which makes this powerful prediction.

"With over half of the Internet's population on social networks, organizations are scrambling for new ways to build bigger follower bases, generate more hits on videos, garner more positive reviews than their competitors, and solicit 'likes' on their Facebook pages," Jenny Sussin, senior research analyst at Gartner, said today in a statement. "Many marketers have turned to paying for positive reviews with cash, coupons, and promotions including additional hits on YouTube videos in order to pique site visitors' interests in the hope of increasing sales, customer loyalty, and customer advocacy through social-media 'word of mouth' campaigns."

New evidence is showing that blocking torrent sites such as Pirate Bay and others has little- to no- effect on torrenting. Go figure. It seems that even after blocking torrent sites, the number of people torrenting continued unabated in the UK. MusicMetric released the "largest ever public data set showing trends in music on BitTorrent."

Currently, that data is for the UK, though they are planning on releasing US and Canadian data soon. The main point in the data is that blocking pirate sites really had zero affect on the number of torrents being downloaded. People must have either avoided the blocks, which isn't hard to do, or found alternate sources.

Of course, Pirate Party UK didn't want to let this go unnoticed. Leader Loz Kaye commented on the findings: "These figures don't prove anything very much, other than the fact that people like music, and that the people of Manchester are leaders in using technology. They are certainly not evidence of the BPI's shrill claims that 'a lot of people are getting very rich' from so-called piracy. And as MusicMetric point out, torrents download numbers also include lots of legal files: the actual most downloaded album in those statistics was a legal one."

Last year we went to EB Games Expo that was held on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia) and enjoyed ourselves immensely. We checked out the newest games, spoke to the big developers and listened to gamers talking about games! We've also been invited this year's event and it's going to be a lot closer for me because it's in Sydney!

This year, EB Games Expo will be held across three days (5th October - 7th October) at Sydney Showground and EB Games tells us over fifteen thousand tickets have already been sold - but there's still a few more tickets unsold - so get them before they're gone! Over twenty-five thousand square metres will be filled with the latest hardware, consoles, software, games, devices and anything that relates to gaming.

EB Games showed us what the Sony stand is going look like, and it looks amazing!

Here I was thinking we wouldn't see much toward this time of the year on the GPU landscape, but AMD are already close enough to the launch of their Radeon HD 8800 series with sources now leaking out some information on silicon that is codenamed "Oland".

Oland is built on the same 28nm process, throwing in 3.4 billion transistors onto a die-area of around 270 mm². If the news is solid, we're looking at the Radeon HD 8870 "Oland XT" outperforming its predecessor, the HD 7870 in both performance per watt, and cost-performance ratios.

If the chart is right, the HD 8870 could begin offering performance close to that of today's high-end offerings, which would really shake up the market. The HD 8870 clocks in at 1050MHz, with 1100MHz PowerTune Boost frequency, with its little brother the HD 8850 clocked at 925MHz with 975MHz boost frequency. Both SKUs have memory clocking in at 6GHz, providing an insane 192GB/s of memory bandwidth - even at a proposed $199 price for the HD 8850.

It's not even near the holidays yet and Nintendo's Wii U is already thrashing through the sales, with pre-orders of the Deluxe and Basic bundles sold out at most online retailers.

The Deluxe bundle features a black, 32GB Wii U for $350, whilst the Basic bundle gives you a white, 8GB Wii U for $300. Best Buy, Toys R Us and Target are all sold out of both version of the Wii U, with Sears and Kmart only offering the Deluxe version which is sold out.

GameStop is all out of 32GB versions, but the 8GB bundle is still available for pre-order. Wal Mart still has stock, in both editions, available standalone, or as part of the Wal Mart Solution Bundle. This bundle throws in a Wii Remote Plus, as well as a choice of a Wii U game. The Solution Bundle is $400 for the Basic set, or $450 for the Deluxe.

Intel's 22nm manufacturing process is shaping up much better than what the chipmaker said, according to talks at last week's IDF. Director of Process Technology, Mark Bohr, has said that the company's 22nm manufacturing process has exceeded their expectations.

Intel's Ivy Bridge line of processors bought forth the company's tri-gate transistor technology, which has been praised by technology enthusiasts alike. Bohr talked about the transistors' leakage and sub-threshold slope were more efficient than Intel had expected, and the technology will now see an extension of life into a few more generations.

We should hopefully see 14nm sometime next year, but 2015 looks like its the year for big amounts of change. Not only should we expect hoverboards (BTTF reference here) but we should see 10nm, 7nm and 5nm technologies researched. These technologies will see some amazing techniques used, as you can see in the picture above.

The disk unit of Hitachi, HGST, have announced the development of something quite special, helium-filled hard drives. Helium-filled HDDs are set to me more energy-efficient, paving the way for higher storage capacity than normal HDDs of today.

At the moment, HDDs are not sealed air-tight, they are affixed with dedicated channels so that the drive can balance its internal pressure with changes in external pressure. Because of this, the drives have a typical mixture of air inside them, which causes turbulence to the platters, which are usually spinning at over 7,200RPM.

HGST has a way around this, by sealing the drive off and filling the insides with helium. HGST have said that this achievement caused a 23% increase in power efficiency, as well as the ability to add two extra platters to a 3.5-inch hard drive. When helium is used, we could see HDDs pumped up to around 6TB in size.

I'm a huge technology fan, and I really love my smart devices. Personally, I was disappointed with the iPhone 5 release. I expected something so much greater than what we got, which at the end of the day is just a thinner, lighter, slightly better iPhone 4S.

The new iPhone 5 is nearly upon us, and while it has impressed most people, it could've still been better. The original iPhone debuted in 2007 to much acclaim, virtually blowing away every single phone on the market, bar none. Sure, there were things it couldn't do, but Apple slowly added these features to the phone and turned it into the powerhouse it is today.

The new iPhone 5 is the first iPhone since the original launched five years that was built from the ground up. After the iPhone came out we saw some thick and fast competition swirl up, and now we have Samsung coming from virtually nowhere, a land of mediocrity, to the strongest competition the once unbeatable iPhone now has.