Latest News - Page 3083

Learn about how TweakTown tests and reviews hardware. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.

Stay Updated

Follow TweakTown for breaking tech news, reviews, and daily updates.

Add TweakTown as a preferred source on GoogleFind TweakTown on Apple News

Mobile phones are more important to women than boyfriends

Trace Hagan | Current Affairs | Mar 20, 2012 9:05 AM CDT

Sorry men, but someone had to break it to you. I'm just happy it was me. We knew it was coming, we knew someone would eventually have a study which confirmed what many of us already were thinking. No? Not sure what I'm talking about? Let's put it in simple terms: A new study shows that four out of ten women would be devastated if they lost their phone. A third of women admitted they could live happily without a man.

As you can see in the above list, a woman's most treasured possession is her mother, followed by photographs, and then her mobile phone. Even her best friend comes in above a boyfriend. Men, we are 5th on her list, and in my opinion, I can't believe we're not farther down. I can think of several things that women seem to like more then men. Cars and shoes come to mind and they only placed 12th and 14th respectively.

This comes from a new study ran by online pawnbroker Borro.com. Mothers are understandable to come before a boyfriend, as blood is thicker than water as they say. The thing I find curious is that there is not a mention of a husband on the list. So either husbands aren't treasured at all, or they got grouped into the 'boyfriend' category. Either way, I'm amazed that we got outclassed by mobile phones and photos. Especially if the photos are of the girl with her boyfriend. Ironic, don't you think?

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Mobile phones are more important to women than boyfriends (full post)

RumorTT: Xbox 720 to launch next year

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Mar 20, 2012 5:29 AM CDT

We've reported on this a few times now, but we are edging closer and closer to 2013 with every day passing and the latest information available to us is that Microsoft are preparing to launch the successor to the Xbox 360, next year. The news comes from KitGuru, where they've talked to an 'insider in Taipei' over the weekend.

They spoke to one unnamed source close to Microsoft who felt it would launch in Q3 2013, with the plan to show the console off at next year's E3 in June. We've reported before that it would launch this year, but with the Xbox 360 still selling insane amounts of units, it would be a bit stupid to launch the successor to their still-popular console. Kinect has also helped boost console adoption and extending life to the dragging (hardware-wise) unit.

One path Microsoft could take is to release a high-end console, and have games shipped on it, with the current Xbox 360 staying as the mass user option. This could allow Microsoft to release insanely-detailed games, in true full HD 1080p @ 60fps, and then scale said games down to the sub-720p on the current-gen 360. This would give Microsoft two unique markets: one for their new consoles, new games and a new push for higher-fidelity graphics and features, as well as a thriving Xbox 360 market which won't just stop overnight.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: RumorTT: Xbox 720 to launch next year (full post)

Seagate wants 60TB HDDs, says its possible with next-generation storage technology

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Mar 20, 2012 1:28 AM CDT

Seagate has achieved quite the storage milestone, bu hitting a storage density of 1 terabit per square inch, roughly 55-percent more than today's 620 gigabits per square inch. Seagate have compared this to our Milky Way galaxy, comparing the number of stars, which astronomers estimate we have between 200 and 400 billion. Seagate say that their 1 terabits per square inch, has more bits per square inch than our entire Milky Way galaxy!

Currently, 620 gigabits per square inch provides us with current 3TB capacity in 3.5-inch disks, 2.5-inch disks max out at 750GB. This new technology from Seagate should double this to 6TB and 2TB for 3.5- and 2.5-inch drives, respectively. Seagate say this technology will arrive "later this decade", and will drive hard disk drive sizes right up to 60TB over the following 10 years. Seagate hit the milestone by using heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), which they hail as the next-generation successor to 2006's perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR).

PMR should hit a peak of approximately 1Tb per square inch in the next few years, which should be the starting density of the new HAMR-based drives. Seagate explain in their press releases:

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Seagate wants 60TB HDDs, says its possible with next-generation storage technology (full post)

GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX 680 spotted

Anthony Garreffa | Graphics Cards | Mar 19, 2012 10:28 PM CDT

A post over on Overclock3D.net has a surprise for ya'll. It's a picture of GIGABYTE's GEFORCE GTX 680 GPU, and while I'm excited to see what NVIDIA's latest Kepler 28nm-based GPU can do, the GIGABYTE card seems very reference. In a world where AMD allowed non-reference designs on their top-end GPUs, it's a bit saddening to see this.

The first picture is of the box, where it features the GIGABYTE robotic eye which looks cool, I always associate it with Transformers for some reason. We see that it sports 2048MB of GDDR5 RAM, and includes a 3-year warranty on the card, again, great work by GIGABYTE. We also see that it's based on PCI-Express 3.0 and includes support for DirectX 11, which is something that should be standard, and known by now.

The next picture is of the card itself, where we can see the usual reference build, sporting just one fan. The new cards are on the aforementioned 28nm process, so we should expect these GPUs to run cooler than the 500-series, and significantly cooler than the 400-series from NVIDIA.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: GIGABYTE GEFORCE GTX 680 spotted (full post)

Kinect + VR helmet + Skyrim = gamers dream

Anthony Garreffa | Extended Reality (XR) | Mar 19, 2012 9:31 PM CDT

An enterprising gamer has done what gamers do best: thought outside the box. What he's done is grabbed a bunch of components, built a virtual reality, motion-controlled, Skyrim experience. The equipment used was: Skyrim, a Sony HMZ-T1, a Kinect, a TrackIR 5, a TrackClip Pro, Shoot [software], and FAAST 0.9 [also software]. The results? This:

The artist goes by the name of 'Awesome Man', and from the video's comments we have:

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Kinect + VR helmet + Skyrim = gamers dream (full post)

Google stands up for Hotfile and Megaupload in court

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Mar 19, 2012 8:26 PM CDT

Google has come to the aid of Megaupload and Hotfile, surprisingly, where they filed a brief at a federal court in Florida, defending the file-hosting site Hotfile in its case against the MPAA. Google acuses the movie companies of misleading the court, arguing that Hotfile is protected under the DMCA's safe harbor. Google is also refuting claims being made by the US government in the criminal case against Megaupload.

It was back in February of 2011 that the MPAA announced a lawsuit against Hotfile, where the site's popularity is "a direct result of the massive digital theft that Hotfile promotes", the MPAA said. Two weeks ago, the movie studios asked the court to issue a summary judgement against Hotfile, and to shut down the site. The MPAA argues that Hotfile is a piracy haven, and should not be eligible for DMCA safe harbor protection.

This request did not pass the eyes and ears of Google, who have now filed an amicus brief in support of Hotfile, and according to Google, the movie studios are misleading the court by wrongfully suggesting that Hotfile is not protected by the DMCA. Google has pointed out that YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Wikipedia are able to thrive thanks to the protection that the DMCA provides. Whereas, if the MPAA has its way, these and more services would be in quite serious trouble.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Google stands up for Hotfile and Megaupload in court (full post)

Apple TV gets torn apart, reveals A5 chip, 512MB RAM

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Mar 19, 2012 7:25 PM CDT

Apple's third-generation Apple TV has splashed down, and it has already been taken apart by a forum member of XBMC.org, revealing a bunch of details of its innards. Apple has previously noticed on its tech specs page for the new Apple TV that it sports a unique single-core A5 system-on-a-chip, an upgrade from the previous A4 chip featured in the previous generation, but lacking the dual-core goodness of the A5 featured in the iPhone 4S and iPad 2.

The A5 chip in the new Apple TV is identified as APL2498, indicating a variation on the APL0498 processor that is found in the standard dual-core A5 part. The part number for the RAM included in the chip suggests that it's a 512MB chip from Hynix, a nice upgrade from the 256MB of RAM in the A4 package on the previous-gen Apple TV.

Flash storage is the same, where we have an 8GB part from Toshiba, the same storage capacity found in the previous model. Apple could've increased the storage amount, considering the new Apple TV is capable of 1080p playback, but at the same time Apple most likely enjoy keeping the $99 pricing. Lastly, the new APple TV also seems to sport a second antenna which was not found in the previous-generation model, it's currently unknown what this new antenna is capable of.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Apple TV gets torn apart, reveals A5 chip, 512MB RAM (full post)

Apple's new iPad sales top 3 million since launch March 16th

Trace Hagan | Mobile Devices | Mar 19, 2012 6:08 PM CDT

Apple has to be happy with the sales numbers coming in regarding the new iPad 3. "The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can't wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday."

The new iPad has already launched in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands. 24 more countries get the ability to buy the joy that is the new iPad 3 this upcoming Friday when it launches. It will be available through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores, and select Authorized Resellers. iPad is sold in the US through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, if you're looking for a good deal, now might be the time to pick up an iPad 2 because it is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. (Prices USD)

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Apple's new iPad sales top 3 million since launch March 16th (full post)

The Pirate Bay plans to launch space servers to prevent being raided

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Mar 19, 2012 5:04 PM CDT

I'm having quite the laugh at this one. The Pirate Bay posted on their official blog that they are planning to experiment putting servers into low space orbit using radio-controlled drones to avoid being raided by ground-based police. While they will continue to only host the magnet links that they have been hosting terrestrially, this will make raiding and shutting down there servers much more difficult.

The front machines will still be located all over the planet, terrestrially bound, but all these machines do is forward you on to the secret locations of the actual servers hosting the data. These machines don't even have a hard drive. Right now they forward you to machines on the ground, but, if these experiments work, they may be sending your data into the last frontier: space.

A post on The Pirate Bay's blog says the following:

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: The Pirate Bay plans to launch space servers to prevent being raided (full post)

Apple's A5X vs nVidia's Tegra 3

Trace Hagan | Mobile Devices | Mar 19, 2012 4:00 PM CDT

The two main competing technologies for tablets show off after Apple's Phil Schiller threw up a slide claiming that it has four times the graphics performance of Nvidia's Tegra 3. For those of you who don't know what the A5X is, it's the new CPU in the iPad 3. Thankfully, someone decided to check Apple's claim for validity. Laptop Mag compared the performance of Apple's new iPad with that of Asus's Transformer Prime. They used some benchmarking software available on both platforms.

The results, however, were less one-sided then I'm sure Apple would like to see. In Open GL 3D performance, Laptop Mag found that A5X came out far ahead of Tegra 3 on GLBenchmark 2.1. But, this was not the case in number-crunching. The Tegra 3 beat the iPad's new chip at integer and floating point performance, as well as memory performance. The iPad did win on memory bandwidth.

Additionally, games that are available on both iOS and Android were tested side-by-side. The iPad's retina display made games look sharper and more colorful, but the Tegra 3 powered tablet had more special effects and "eye candy." nVidia noted that the games used, Riptide GP and Shadowgun, had been specifically optimized for Tegra 3, and that the effects could possibly be reproduced on the new iPad.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Apple's A5X vs nVidia's Tegra 3 (full post)

Kim Dotcom may get to reclaim assets after a paperwork error

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Mar 19, 2012 1:00 PM CDT

Today may just be Kim Dotcom's lucky day. I'm sure most of us remember that fateful day 8 weeks ago when his mansion was raided by police. Well, apparently, his house was raided on a court order that should have never been granted. A judgment from Justice Judith Potter on Friday declared the restraining order "null and void" and having "no legal effect" which means that the government may be forced to return his assets and property back to him.

Justice Potter has said that after the police found the mistake, they sought to correct the mistake after the raid by applying for the proper order, retrospectively listing assets already seized. This order has been granted temporarily, but Potter has said that she will rule on whether this means Mr. Dotcom should get his property back. The raid left him without any money or means to fight the charges that he was running the biggest criminal copyright operation in history.

Court papers show Akel stating Dotcom's belongings and fortune "must be released" because it was "unlawfully seized and restrained under the order". All of this does not guarantee Mr. Dotcom's property back, however. The law allows for mistakes, and for him to get his property back, his lawyers will need to show a "lack of good faith."

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Kim Dotcom may get to reclaim assets after a paperwork error (full post)

CIA Chief wants to spy on you through internet connected appliances

Trace Hagan | Connectivity & Cloud | Mar 19, 2012 12:00 PM CDT

It seems like everything is connected to the internet these days, but have you ever stopped and asked yourself what the implications of this is on your daily life? Sure, it provides convenience, but at what cost? All of these internet connected devices are able to collect information on where you are and what you're doing at the moment and use that information to generate a pretty solid schedule of your daily life.

But none of this should be of worry to you, right? But what if you become a person of interest of any of the many spy agencies? Imagine if your a person of interest and you decide to adjust your internet connected lights at home. As soon as you fire up your app, it could be sending data that contains your location and a timestamp which could easily allow a spy to follow you.

CIA Chief Petraeus said:

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: CIA Chief wants to spy on you through internet connected appliances (full post)

HP slips up, previews upcoming laptops with Ivy Bridge and Trinity

Trace Hagan | Laptops | Mar 19, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

HP's slip up has allowed us to gain some new information regarding Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge, AMD's upcoming Trinity, and nVidia's upcoming mobile chips, along with HP's upcoming models. HP appears to be increasing the technology included in their base models. Pictures and specs are worth more than a bunch of words, so without anything more, let me introduce the dv4:

This computer features Intel's upcoming i7-3610M which is apparently a quad-core part. It features 4GB of RAM clocked at 1600Mhz, a 1TB hard drive, and a GeForce 630M. Next is the dv6, which is similar. The only difference is it takes a step down in the storage department by featuring only a 750GB hard drive.

The dv7 features Intel's 2.6GHz Core i7-3720QM along with two 1TB drives linked together, 8GB of RAM, and the yet unannounced GeForce 650M.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: HP slips up, previews upcoming laptops with Ivy Bridge and Trinity (full post)

GTX680 posted for sale on a US site for $566.75

Trace Hagan | Graphics Cards | Mar 19, 2012 9:00 AM CDT

Forget buying your GTX680 overseas, it's now available for order in the US priced only at $566.75. While we don't learn anything new from the product page, it almost certainly confirms that it's coming, and it's coming soon. The site is taking orders, so if you're interested in running SLI, now might be the best time to pick up 2 or even 3. That is, if your pocketbook can handle it.

You can view the product page here and check it out or even order some, as the orders are being taken "regardless of availability." If you do decide to purchase one, do you mind grabbing one for me?

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: GTX680 posted for sale on a US site for $566.75 (full post)

Pre-crime detection system being trialled in U.S., Tom Cruise is not involved

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Mar 19, 2012 1:24 AM CDT

Minority Report fans, check in, please. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has started up a new initiative, Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), where it aims to use sensor technology to detect cues "indicative of mal-intent", as defined by the DHS, as intent or desire to cause real harm, "rapidly, reliably, and remotely". They would use it to, "fight terror".

What is the FAST system capable of? Well, it has the features to monitor physiological and behavioral cues without contact. This means it is capable of capturing data such as your heart rate and steadiness of gaze of passengers that are about to board a plane. With said cues, FAST can then run through algorithms in real-time to compute the probability than an individual is planning to commit a crime.

According to the science journal, Nature, the first round of field tests for the program was completed at an "undisclosed location" in the northeast several months ago, where in lab tests, FAST reported a 70-percent accuracy rate. Not too damn bad for what would be a first-gen attempt/device.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Pre-crime detection system being trialled in U.S., Tom Cruise is not involved (full post)

Lenovo wants to be the first out of the gate with a Windows 8 tablet, could release one as early as October

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Mar 18, 2012 11:29 PM CDT

It is being reported that Lenovo will be the first manufacturer to release a Windows 8-based tablet, according to insiders at the company, says The Verge. Lenovo reportedly want to release a Windows 8 tablet as soon as Microsoft unleash Windows 8, and they believe it will happen in October.

The yet-unnamed tablet would sport an Intel-powered chip, but specifications beyond "it'll use an Intel chip" are unknown. CNET believe we could see Lenovo release their first Windows 8 tablet, IdeaPad Yoga, which is a prototype device that first popped up at CES 2012, which I was very impressed with. It sported a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 1600x900 with 10 touch points.

What makes the Yoga stand out from the crowd is its flexibility (see what I did there?), where its display can flip over, letting the user either opt to use it as a full-blown notebook, or a full-blown touchscreen tablet. It's electronic heaven!

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Lenovo wants to be the first out of the gate with a Windows 8 tablet, could release one as early as October (full post)

Another major earthquake to happen on 22nd March?

Anthony Garreffa | Current Affairs | Mar 18, 2012 9:32 PM CDT

This is something that I've been looking into for over 2 years now, and is mainly considered a "conspiracy theory". Conspiracy theories are interesting, until you start to find patterns, and facts, and science. These things cannot be just proven false, because what does the information mean if it's right here in front of you?

We have had, strangely enough, a 188-day cycle of earthquakes for quite some time now. Going back just 2 years, we've had:

9/15 - Fiji - 7.3

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Another major earthquake to happen on 22nd March? (full post)

Apple will explain how it will use its $100 billion in cash tomorrow

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Mar 18, 2012 8:24 PM CDT

Apple have a very delicious kitty of nearly $100 billion in cash reserves right now, with $97.6 billion to be precise. Come 9AM Eastern on Monday, March 19, CEO Tim Cook as well as CFO Peter Oppenheimer will discuss the "outcome of the Company's discussions".

Apple will offer this discussion as a phone call and as a live stream with replays available for two weeks afterwards. Apple have actively been discussing what they should do with their cash reserves, where other companies would spend it, or acquire other smaller companies, or start-ups, Apple have just been saving, saving, saving.

Investment analysts have complained more than once that Apple should offer a dividend payout to shareholders despite the stock being the largest in the world, as well as one of the fastest growing, too. Apple have always been careful of its spending, which is at least attributed to the late Steve Jobs. Most believed that Jobs had recognized what happened to Apple previously in his absence from the company, and used it as a sign to build a cash reserve in the event of an unforeseen circumstance such as a sharp market drop, economic crisis, or something along those lines.

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Apple will explain how it will use its $100 billion in cash tomorrow (full post)

RumorTT: Galaxy S III to be unveiled on May 22nd at Samsung Unpacked event being held in London

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Mar 18, 2012 7:33 PM CDT

Reddit is the place where magic happens, and todays magic is in the form of a supposed press image of Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S III smartphone, which is said to be unveiled at Samsung's Unpacked event being held in London, on May 22nd.

Samsung have previously stated that the successor to their super-popular Galaxy S II would be unveiled at a "separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product". On the leaked image above, first up is the bottom right hand corner where we can see the name of a PR firm: Weber Shandwick.

Weber Shandwick have previously done work for Samsung in the past, even their press conference at CES 2010. Other details shown in the leaked picture is a dedicated camera button, a single home button, a front speaker grill, and an edge-to-edge screen. Every feature, I love. Dedicated camera button? Yes please! Edge-to-edge screen, bring it on!

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: RumorTT: Galaxy S III to be unveiled on May 22nd at Samsung Unpacked event being held in London (full post)

Microsoft may have leaked code capable of attacking critical Windows bug

Trace Hagan | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Mar 16, 2012 6:29 PM CDT

No, I'm not trying to use scare tactics. No, I don't want you to rip out your link to the internet. I just want you to beware: Microsoft may have had a hand in leaking executable code that was used in a proof-of-concept (PoC). The data packet that was used was the same that Luigi Auriemma, an Italian security researcher, discovered and reported way back in May of 2011. Last Tuesday, Microsoft updated all flavors of Windows to patch the critical RDP vulnerability. Both Microsoft, and I, strongly recommend that you update and patch all of your machines running Windows.

Auriemma has stated:

0:00 / --:--

Continue reading: Microsoft may have leaked code capable of attacking critical Windows bug (full post)

Newsletter Subscription