Latest News - Page 3044

Brace yourselves, Windows 8 devices are coming! Today, the Acer Aspire S7 has broken cover and are we glad it did. This thing is absolutely gorgeous. Thin, stylish, and constructed from aluminium and magnesium, this device could be in the running for best looking laptop ever, if there were such a competition.

Of course, since it features Windows 8, this super sleek notebook features a capacitive touchscreen. According to The Verge, who got their hands on the device at IFA, "it's the prettiest laptop I've come across since first laying eyes on Apple's 2010 MacBook Air redesign." However, that's not to say it's perfect.

While using it, they experienced issues open the lid due to the stiff hinge, something that is required to have a touchscreen notebook, and the weird cutout that was supposed to aid lifting the screen. In a world of ever pushing the envelope, machines have gotten larger and less portable while just squeaking by Intel's specs.

Western Digital are ready to shake up the external storage industry with their latest Thunderbolt-powered storage product, the My Book VelociRaptor Duo. The My Book VelociRaptor Duo comes with two 1TB 10,000RPM drives in RAID.

This means that the VelociRaptor Duo is capable of an astounding 760MB/sec write and 800MB/sec read. One of the better features that the new My Book VelociRaptor Duo sports is that it's user-serviceable. If you want to replace a drive, simply open the case, pull the existing drive out, and replace it with a new one.

The VelociRaptor Duo is also capable of daisy chaining with Thunderbolt, as the Thunderbolt technology has much more room to move within its architecture. USB 3.0 limits at around 350MB/sec of real-world performance, but Thunderbolt scales right up to 1GB/sec, meaning that you'd need to have some seriously fast internal storage to get close to that 1GB/sec mark.

IBM has bragging rights at the moment, with the world's fastest server chip clocking in at an incredible 5.5GHz. IBM's new zEnterprise EC12 mainframe cost the company $1 billion in development, and offers 25% more performance courtesy of their hexacore processors.

IBM's zEnterprise EC12 mainframes are available in multiple configurations, with as many as 120 cores available. All models will include transactional execution support, as well as Enhanced-DAT2, allowing 2GB page frames for more efficient utilization of huge quantities of RAM.

Another jewel of the newly-introduced zEnterprise EC12 mainframe is IBM's cryptographic co-processor, Crypto Express4S. It's quite special as its tamper-proof, providing privacy when handling transactions, and other similarly sensitive data. Crypto Express4S also offers multiple security configurations to support the requirements, and needs of bankers and other organizations handling sensitive data. This includes the information on smart passports and ID cards.

I've been wondering for a while now, when we'd see Android-powered cameras. After all, we're seeing super-slim phones that have a million and one features on top of being a camera, but Samsung have answered my prayers with the Galaxy Camera.

Samsung's Galaxy Camera is a point-and-shoot digital snapper, sporting an insane quad-core 1.4Ghz processor, 8GB of internal storage expandable by SD card, and best of all, is powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Samsung's Galaxy Camera will have the ability of sharing the taken photos through Wi-Fi and 3G, to social networks, meaning it would be just as useful as a smart device.

Smartphones and tablets may sport 8-megapixel or better cameras, but we know they aren't the same quality as a point-and-shoot digital camera, and no way near the quality of a DSLR. Samsung's Galaxy Camera measures at 2.7 inches by 0.75 inches and weighs in at 10.7 ounces. The guts of it contain a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor capable of ISO settings between 100 and 3,200 that takes data from a 21x optical touch zoom lens.

President Obama has turned to popular 'first page of the Internet' site, Reddit, to do an AMA. If you haven't heard of an AMA before, I suggest you visit Reddit, and from now on in, goodbye, it was nice to know you. Reddit is a huge time waster, and is one of the best sites on the Internet.

Obama's staff must know this, and this is why he did an AMA. An AMA is "Ask Me Anything", and there are plenty of them on Reddit. Having Obama do one, well, took the site to a whole new level, causing some serious issues of traffic congestion for the site. Even the link to Obama's AMA is in "read-only mode" due to the heavy traffic the site is experiencing.

Obama answered questions for thirty minutes, where he tackled just a handful of them on his AMA. You'll notice on the picture that Obama is using an Apple MacBook Pro. Just thought I'd point that out.

Unreal Engine 3 has been ported to run on Windows RT ARM-powered devices, bring full gaming to the ARM market. The port was a joint effort between Epic and NVIDIA and was made available to developers last week. This means that some of your favorite Unreal Engine 3-powered games should be available on Windows RT tablets.

"The Unreal Engine 3-powered 'Epic Citadel' demonstration for Windows RT tablets implements the full DirectX 9 pipeline, with shaders and materials, all running beautifully on Tegra 3," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. "By porting the full engine as opposed to a modified mobile version, NVIDIA and Epic have made it easy for UE3 developers around the world to bring their best content to Windows RT, Windows 8 and NVIDIA's Tegra 3 processor. Windows RT code is available to licensees from Epic now and we're excited to see the great games they develop with it."

The nice part about this port is that it is the full version that has been ported. It's not some stripped down version, which is good for developers and consumers. It makes porting games easier for developers and it allows consumers to receive the full version of the game and in a much shorter time frame than would otherwise have been required.

A new vulnerability has been found in the latest version of Java. The vulnerability is a rather massive hole and users with Java installed in their browser should likely disable it right now to prevent themselves from being infected. Have I scared you enough? But wait, I haven't even told you the problem!

The new security hole allows malicious people to break into users' computers and install nasty malware and viruses. This security hole fits into a category of security flaws known as a "zero-day" threat because it is the first time it has been found. Due to this, there currently exists no way to fix the problem or defend against it, other than disabling Java.

The vulnerabilities were actually found back in April, according to a few sources, and they reportedly told Oracle about the problem. However, Oracle had decided to hold off until the October patch release date to do anything about them. Now, the vulnerabilities have been integrated into BlackHole, a hacking tool.

The headline for Logitech's product launch promises big things: "Pure Undiluted Music, Anytime, Anywhere." So, how are they going to do that and what products are in this new line? The press release highlights six new products ranging from boomboxes to headphones, so the line is quite expansive.

"Today's fans have their music with them wherever they go - they carry it with them on their tablet or smartphone," said Rory Dooley, Logitech senior vice president of music. "But no matter how or where you choose to store or access your favorite music, this lineup is the best way for you to experience it. Whether you want to be completely immersed in your favorite song, to share music with friends, or to discover new favorites, Logitech UE is the clear choice."

It seems as though no company can keep a secret anymore. Samsung has just suffered a leak, albeit only a few hours prior the official announcement. But, be that as it may, we are going to share with you the official specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, thanks to PocketNow who obtained the press release.

As rumored, and previously thought, the new Samsung Galaxy Note II will feature a 5.5-inch 1280x720 screen, which means it will have a true 16:9 aspect ratio. The screen will be similar to the original, both in resolution and in type--the new one is the same HD Super AMOLED panel. Along with the bigger screen, the Galaxy Note II will receive a 1.6GHz quad-core CPU (type unknown at this time).

It will also feature 2GB of RAM, an 8 MP camera on the rear, and a 1.9 MP camera on the front. Better yet, the new Note II will feature a battery that has more capacity than the original--3,100mAh vs 2,500mAh--while the device will be slimmer. However, the device ends up weighing 2 grams more than the original, big deal.

Flipboard is an incredible app, I have it installed on my iPad, and my Android phone, and use it daily. Once I'm done with my day job, and TweakTown work, and I've spent my time my wife and my beautiful daughter, I relax on the lounge and open up the Flipboard app.

It's just so easy, and this ease of use has allowed it to expand its userbase in the last eight months, very, very rapidly. Last December saw the newsreading app reach 5 million users, but in those eight months, they've seen an explosion of 15 million more users, now sitting pretty at a total of 20 million users, and counting.

Flipboard started off as an iPad-exclusive, where it enjoyed eighteen months on iOS. It launched on the iPhone on December where it grew by one million users in just a week. In late-June, we saw the arrival of an Android-based version of Flipboard, as well as international editions with region-specific content landing in China, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, and Spain. Flipboard have also not stopped adding features into the app, including audio, Google+ and content from The New York Times.

It looks like there will be two Call of Duty: Black Ops II special editions to be released this year, sans Call of Duty: Elite premium subscriptions. Late last year when Modern Warfare 3 came out, they featured a twelve month subscription, providing one year worth of DLC content. Black Ops II flips this, meaning you'll have to get it separately.

The two packages are known as the 'Hardened Edition', and the 'Care Package'. The Hardened Edition comes with a soundtrack CD, steelbook case, Xbox Live avatar prop and zombie avatar consume, two collectable coins, and the Nuketown 2025 map for in-game play. The Care Package is pretty damn sweet, sporting an actual remote control MQ-27 Dragonfire Drone and two PlayStation 3 themes, as well as the soundtrack, case, coins and a massive, awesome looking crate-like box to keep it all in.

Which pack would you pick up if you were to buy Black Ops II? The Care Package looks pretty awesome, and I'm not a fan of the latest versions of Call of Duty, yet I'm somehow tempted to get it, just because it looks so damn cool. It has a damned remote control Drone! Come on!

Scientists at Harvard University are working on rat cardiomyocytes, but slightly different than most scientists. They're snaking them through wires and transistors that peer into each cell's electrical impulses. In the future, these wires might actually control their behavior, too.

"Cyborg" tissues have been created for neurons, muscle and vessels, and could be used to test drugs, or used as the basis for biological versions of existing implants. If signals can eventually be sent to the cells, cyborg tissues could eventually be used to create tiny robots, or get used in prosthetics. Charles Lieber, who leads the cyborg tissue team, has said:

It was only a matter of time, and with Apple not slowing down with their growing list of patent targets, Google are now looking to attack the iPhone maker, reports AndroidPIT. Apple are currently looking to ban as many Android-based products as possible, with lawsuits against Samsung, HTC and Motorola, and that's just recently.

Google only recently acquired Motorola, and will now defend their acquisition against Apple. The Mountain View-based company are now seeking a sales ban on not just the iPhone, but the iPad and Mac computers across the United States. Google have pledged support for Android device makers in the past, but this is different, this is now Google, telling Apple, this is it, we've had enough, back down or feel the wrath of Google.

Apple's lawsuit against Samsung that was victorious earlier this week targeted relatively small things, like rectangles and other shape-related patent infringements. Google aren't being so petty, and are claiming patent infringement for non-standard essential patents. This means that Google and their recently acquired Motorola, have filed a case for a patent that courts cannot legally force companies to license, meaning that if Google win this case, Apple could be forced to completely halt the use of this technology in their devices.

Apple may have initially won the court case, but it's not over yet. Samsung have said on Tuesday that they are willing to modify their smartphones if they can't successfully fight the Cupertino-based company's request to have them banned across the US.

Apple made an initial request to ban eight of the South Korean company's smartphones, including one of the most popular, the Galaxy S II. Samsung does plan to fight the request, and would be willing to modify the devices to avoid the ban. How could they do this exactly? Removing their TouchWiz UI and replacing it with the stock Android ROM, be it Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.1 Jelly Bean would do the trick.

Users have been begging smartphone makers to release stock Android ROMs, and it looks like this time is upon us. If Samsung were to begin offering flagship devices with stock Google Android OS's, things could get very interesting, very fast. Could Apple have inadvertently started a new, wonderful trend of smartphone makers pushing devices out with stock, or at least close to stock, Android operating systems?

NVIDIA have pushed out another set of drivers, with the GeForce 306.02 WHQL-certified drivers now available. GeForce 306.02 supports operating systems from Windows XP right up to Windows 8, including the usual bug fixes, updated profiles and added support.

Depending on the combination of hardware and software in your system, you should expect a few improvements if you're making the jump from the 301.24 beta, but if you're rocking the R304 family drivers, the improvements shouldn't be as large. GeForce GTX 680 and GTX 580 users will get the following improvements from the 301.24 beta:

GeForce GTX 680:

Samsung unveiled three new Windows 8, all-in-one PCs earlier today, and included is a widget called S Launcher. Why is this news? Well, Samsung doesn't want to confuse people with Windows 8's lack of a Start Menu, so they've pushed out S Launcher, which looks virtually identical to the Start Menu of Windows 7.

S Launcher is a simple widget that looks, and acts, just like the Start Menu we've all come to love over the last decade-plus. It's as simple as clicking the widget, start typing a word, and whatever word you type, it will show you the settings, and apps that relate to the item you've just searched for. There's also a separate settings icon which provides quick access to the most commonly used controls.

Samsung's S Launcher also allows you to drag and drop files for easy access and throwing them away when you don't need them anymore. The settings icon does come in handy, as Microsoft have shifted around a lot of the computer settings to places you're usually used to in Windows 7. This means that Samsung's S Launcher can save you time when trying to find something such as power management, control panel, and more, now found all in one easy-to-use spot.

Windows 8 is nearly here, and partner to Microsoft, Samsung, have unveiled three new all-in-one PCs. They're known as Samsung's Series 5 and Series 7 PCs, and all of them are of course powered by Microsoft's nearly-here OS, Windows 8.

The Series 7 is the higher-end of the lot, sporting a 27- and 23.6-inch model coming in at $1,699 and $1,099, respectively. Both models include a 1920x1080 multi-touchscreen, meaning you can take full advantage of Windows 8 touch abilities. Just like smart devices, the new all-in-one PCs have the ability to zoom in on photos and web sites using the pinch-to-zoom gesture, as well as scrolling through pages by swiping the screen.

Samsung has also added five hand-gesture-recognition features that allow a user to perform functions without tapping the touchscreen. If you were to hold your hand in front of the screen and rotate it clockwise, it would turn the volume on a movie up, turn it counterclockwise, and the volume gets turned down. Swiping left or right would turn the pages of an e-book, with these functions working as long as you're no further than three feet from the PC.

After five years of development, you would have thought that the developers of Guild Wars 2 would have been able to prevent launch day login issues and that they would have learned from other botched launches--Diablo III comes to mind--but apparently they didn't. Since it is an MMO, we'll cut it some slack.

However, since they allowed some to have access to the game over the weekend, that should have offloaded some of the load. Apparently they overestimated how many people would pre-load or end up buying the game on launch day as users have been experiencing login delays and problems all day today.

Guild Wars 2 is set 250 years after the original and players are tasked with reuniting the members of Destiny's Edge. These members are the only people capable of killing the five elder dragons that have been awakened and are now wrecking havoc around Tyria. Have you managed to log into Guild Wars 2? Like it? Hate it? Let us know!

AMD has hired a new Chief Graphics Product Architect for the Graphics Business Unit. This means that the visionary behind Gustafson's Law will be working on the AMD Radeon and AMD FirePro line of products. With fresh blood comes fresh ideas, so here's to hoping he can come up with something that really pushes graphics technology forward.

"Our industry-leading graphics technology predicates that we consistently deliver the most differentiated and superior graphics processor unit (GPU) architectures and products -- without compromise," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics. "With the growing importance of parallel compute in defining the computing experience, John brings the full package of industry experience and knowledge needed to help us expand and execute our AMD Radeon and AMD FirePro graphics technology programs, and will help forge an aggressive long-term roadmap that allows AMD to continue to lead and win with our gaming and virtualization technologies."

John Gustafson's resume is impressive and he will surely be an asset to the company. He joins AMD from Intel, where he "headed the company's eXtreme Technologies Lab, conducting cutting-edge research on energy-efficient computing and memory, as well as optical, energy and storage technologies."

Microsoft had announced their plans to release an official SkyDrive app for Android a few weeks ago, and they have kept their word and released an app today so that users can have access to their files across all of the various devices you may own and use. The app is designed for Android 4.0, but only requires Android 2.3 or higher.

The main features of the new app:

In other words, it does basically everything you would expect the app to do; it allows file uploads and downloads and the ability to manage those files, go figure. Microsoft did their best to keep "the same intuitive design of all SkyDrive experiences" while integrating some of the conventional Android interactions.