Latest News - Page 3090

We teased of this last week, but ahead of Mobile World Congress next week, Samsung have just announced two new handsets to their mid- and low-end lineup: Galaxy Ace 2 and Galaxy Mini 2. Both of the original phones were among Samsung's most successful phones in 2011, and now each phone gets an increased chunk in power.

First up we have the Galaxy Ace 2, which is a mid-range Android phone sporting a 3.8-inch 800x480-pixel PLS display, which should be powered by an unspecified 800MHz dual-core processor. 4GB of internal storage is to be had, as well as expansion through a microSD slot, it also has 768MB of RAM. Filling the phone out is a 5-megapixel rear-facing snapper, as well as a front-facing 0.3-megapixel camera, a 1500mAh battery, and weighs in at just 122 grams and is 10.5mm thin. Optional NFC support will be made available and it will sport Android 2.3 Gingerbread at launch, and possibly receiving Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich later this year.

The low-end lineup gets a refreshment course found in the form of the Galaxy Mini 2, which sports a 3.27-inch 480x320-pixel display. Processor-wise, we have an 800MHz chip, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage with expansion available through MicroSD, a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera, and will have two models: one with, and one without NFC support. The NFC-enabled Mini 2 will be 0.3mm thicker, and 1.5 grams heavier. Filling out the specs we have a 1300mAh battery, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Even though Samsung and Apple are duking it out in courts across the world when it comes to patents, it is still business as usual when it comes to contracts for displays. Samsung-contracted Apple iPad 3 displays have reportedly been caught on camera, with some shots below as proof.

The shots are from a WePost.me forum contribution, where it shows photos from contractor Radiant Opto-Electronics' plant as it shipped a bunch of new screens. The plant is located in Wujiang, near Shanghai, with the displays labeled and boxed as Samsung displays, and are reportedly shipped to Samsung in Korea, before being sent to Apple.

As usual, blurrycam shots are the only ones available, as security is air-tight. The iPad 3 displays may have been developed by Sharp, but the construction and manufacturing of the displays are being outsourced to Korean-based companies who are able to cope with the type of volume that Apple requires. Samsung and LG both outsource, although they have domestic production and usually try to create an image of most of their factory output being local.

Oh noes, piracy on PC is so strong, oh noes! Until, you release a worthy game and realise, in 48 hours it's a financial success. 48 hours. Not days, weeks or months. Alan Wake debuted as an Xbox 360-exclusive, and made its way to the PC late last week.

Remedy have since come out and announced that Alan Wake on PC was profitable within just 48 hours of release. Remedy's Aki Järvilehto commented on their forums, saying:

You may remember the various antenna/reception-related issues that the iPhone 4 had at launch, and the whole "Antennagate" that surrounded it. Apple said it was the way users were holding it, then as more people were experiencing the issue, the more it became mainstream. Bumper cases were given out to sort out the obvious problem, and in the end, we now have a class-action lawsuit where iPhone 4 owners can get $15 back, or a free bumper case.

The settlement was reached in a class-action lawsuit which targeted the antenna performance in the iPhone 4. U.S. residents who purchased an iPhone 4 will be entitled to $15 in cash, or a free bumper case from Apple. There were 18 different lawsuits that were all consolidated into a class-action lawsuit, and all share the same claim that Apple was:

AMD have had their launch of their Radeon 7900-series, and now its time for the next Graphics CoreNext cards to be unveiled, the "Pitcairn" cards. The Pitcairn cards will slot into the Radeon HD 7800-series, where we'll see three SKUs from this series.

First up we'll have the Radeon HD 7870, then a 2GB 7850 and a 1GB 7850. Spec-wise, we have:

Radeon HD 7870

BGR have gotten their dirty mits on "what is said to be" Apple's iOS 5.1 GM, which should hit users over-the-air (OTA) around March 9th or so, and BGR have thus confirmed two changes that have been baked into iOS 5.1.

First off, we have the lock screen for iOS 5.1 sporting a fixed camera button which is found next to the slide-to-unlock button, and instead of tapping on said button to launch the camera, in iOS 5.1 all you do is drag the entire unlock section up to reveal the camera finder - nifty.

Siri has also taken a trip to learn a new language: Japanese. BGR have confirmed this in the picture below where you can clearly see Siri now sports Japanese. BGR have learnt that there "are no roadblocks" and this is a release candidate that should hit in a few weeks time.

Earlier today we visited the VIA Labs at the VIA headquarters here in Taipei where we got a look at an upcoming product which we can only discuss later this week - stay tuned for that. However, what we can discuss today is something cool we saw in the development labs area of the VIA office and that has to do with USB 3.0 cabling.

Usually most copper wired USB 3.0 cables have a maximum length of around 3 meters and can fall prone to security issues since EMI is omitted and like tapping a phone line, if you knew enough about what you were doing, you could steal sensitive data from an unaware user. What VIA has done to massively increase the length of USB 3.0 cable is to develop its own style of USB 3.0 cable which uses fiber optic rather than copper wiring.

Besides the benefits of the added length and better security since fiber optic cabling does not omit EMI, USB 3.0 cable with fiber optics is far less lighter than copper based cabling and it is also much thinner, possibly allowing it to get into really tight areas where traditional and thicker USB 3.0 cable may not fit.

The Windows Team Blog, and more specifically, Principal Director of User Experience for Windows, Sam Moreau, have unveiled the new redesigned logo for Windows 8. Before we get into it, check it out below:

First impressions? Personally? I love it. It looks much more professional and "now", and would look great on a new Windows 8-based device (such as the tablets, or Ultrabooks ready to hit this year). Microsoft put the call out to a few agencies to work with them on the project of redesigning their logo and ended up with Pentagram.

Pentagram were called into the conference room over at the Microsoft campus, where a meeting with Paula Scher, Michael Beirut and Daniel Weil of Pentagram attended, as well as a few designers and marketing leaders from Windows and across Microsoft. The team of people spent an entire day sharing some of the Metro style design philosophy; the Windows brand history and values as well as graphic design and technology industry trends.

Mobile World Congress 2012 is just over a week away, and Qualcomm are out of the gate with a tease of their Snapdragon S4 SoC which is the world's first mobile processor built on the 28nm process, as well as the first to integrate 4G LTE which is made possible as Qualcomm's chips are custom-designed from the ground up using an ARM instruction set.

Some details on the smaller things found in the S4 have now been revealed by the company, such as the S4's camera, more specifically, the Image Signal Processor (ISP). The ISP sports advanced features that will allow any smartphone or tablet powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 to double as a high-end digital camera.

With the S4 chip, any device can shoot up to 20-megapixel stills, or 1080p @ 30fps video capture. Up to three cameras could be placed on the device, with the third capable of taking 3D shots. The S4's ISP also includes Qualcomm's proprietary 3A camera technology (Autofocus, Auto Exposure and Auto White Balance), which enables practical camera applications such as blink detection, smile degree, and gaze estimation.

Intel Engineering Samples, back in my Celeron 300A days, those things were the thing to have. You were pretty hectic to own one of those bad boys and these days, with the likes of eBay's and mainstream (and more accepted) overclocking, it's not as cool, but it still gets my nerd juices flowing.

The latest ES sample comes in the form of Intel's Ivy Bridge-based Core i5-3570K. Henry posted two CPU pictures on the Expreview forums, where we can see the Core i5-3570K is pretty similar to the Core i5-2500K, but it's process has been shrunk to 22nm, clock speeds are up and TDP is down. We have clock speeds of 3.4GHz, and just a 77W TDP.

The IGP featured on the Core i5-3570K is Intel HD Graphics 4000, which is stamped into the K-series of processors, as well as some Ivy Bridge processors. HD Graphics reportedly sports 16 EUs, whereas the current HD Graphics 3000-series has 12 EUs.

Optus have just announced they've acquired Vivid Wireless for a tidy little sum of $230 million, with full intent on using Vivid's existing spectrum to boost its 4G network using LTE-TDD. The full announcement is below:

So, Optus, you'll be delivering 4G services "twice as fast as existing competitive 4G services", such as those with Telstra? We'll see just how fast your 4G download speeds are when you deliver it. I could almost put money on it not beating Telstra. But, here we have it, folks. 4G is coming from Optus.

Samsung have avoided more lawsuits when it comes to their Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus N, where it has now launched in Germany on Tuesday, albeit, quietly. The changes in the new tablet are the telltale top and bottom borders that German courts have allowed for release, as they aren't "copying" Apple's "technology".

The new Tab 7.0 Plus N 16GB Wi-Fi version is quite expensive, rolling in at 499 euros ($656) with tax, as well as it's 3G brother at 569 euros ($748) with HSPA+ inside. The new 7-inch Galaxy Tab's are the first Samsung 7-inch tablets to arrive in Germany since the original Galaxy Tab launched nearly 18 months ago now. Samsung did unveil the Galaxy Tab 7.7 in Germany, but were forced to rip it away from the IFA floor because Apple objected to the similarity before it had even had time to hit retail shelves.

Samsung's designs sold everywhere else, bar Germany, until final verdicts in relevant trials. Apple successfully argued that the all-black, all-flat front design was too close to design rights for the iPad, and needed to change.

The latest trailer to Max Payne 3 is here, where it unveils more of Max's story. It seems as though whilst under Max's protection, Rodrigo Branco's wife, Fabiana, is kidnapped. Max then goes on a journey of slow-mo, gun-slinging, bodycount-crazy fest, where he uncovers the truth and returns her to safety.

All while dodging bullets from lawless stress gangs, ruthless paramilitary units, and of course, his own personal demons. The latest trailer is made from all in-game graphics, and I think it's actually looking worse than previous teases of the game.

I really expect this to be, sadly, a console port, without much being put into the PC version. I could be wrong, but from what I've seen, it's very console-centric, where the first two Max Payne games were PC-exclusive. However, I'll still be grabbing this game, just because it's Max Payne. Bring it on! Max Payne 3 arrives for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 15, 2012 in North America, and on May 18, 2012 in Europe. The PC version doesn't arrive until May 29, 2012 in North America, and June 1, in Europe.

Just a few minutes ago we reported of the AMD Catalyst 12.1 pre-certified drivers, but the good news didn't stop there. AMD were also kind enough to release the Catalyst Application Profiles 12.1 CAP 3 which includes a bunch of profiles for some newly-released games.

First up we have Alan Wake, which gets "improves CrossFire performance", Syndicate which receives both single-GPU and CrossFire performance improvements, Darkness 2 gets just improved CrossFire performance. Lastly, we have Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which gets improved CrossFire performance for the AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series to avoid negative scaling at low resolution and finally, Natural Selection 2, where the 12.1 CAP 3 fixes shadow map flickering issues that are seen when CrossFire is enabled.

You can get all dirty with the Catalyst Application Profiles 12.1 CAP 3, here.

For those of you who don't want to dilly-dally waiting for the WHQL-certified drivers from AMD, you can jump on these newly-released drivers. They come in the form of the Catalyst 12.1 pre-certified drivers, and support the Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000, HD 4000, HD 5000, HD 6000, and HD 7000 Series cards.

They include quite the handful of support, features and enhancements, as listed below:

Windows 7 and Windows Vista support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

Intel's upcoming 22nm-based Ivy Bridge processors are set to be delayed by a few months, because Sandy Bridge-based notebook inventories are not moving as fast as notebook makers, and Intel, want. Mass shipments of Ivy Bridge were expected in April, but may be pushed along until June, according to DigiTimes.

First-tier notebook vendors are having problems pushing their Sandy Bridge-based notebook inventories, and because of the weak global economy, this won't go away anytime soon. Intel is also troubled by it Sandy Bridge processor inventory, which means they have plans to delay the mass shipments of Ivy Bridge-based tech in order to minimize the impact.

Now that the launch schedule has changed, notebook vendors are shuffling plans for new Ivy Bridge-based products. These plans are still shaky, even with the delay, because of the impending release of Microsoft's next game-changing OS, Windows 8. The PC replacement trend won't catch on until Windows 8 is released, which is my opinion, and seems to be the opinion of notebook vendors, too.

Android 4.0 arrived with quite the hard thud late last year, whilst it looks pretty cool, the Android-based smartphones and tablets just did not adapt quick enough. Most smartphone and tablet makers really dragged their feet, with even flagship products such as the phone that rocks along in my pocket, the Samsung Galaxy S II, not receiving it yet.

But, this could all [hopefully] change with the release of Android 5.0 "Jelly Bean". Google know that 2012 spells stronger competition in the OS market, with Microsoft releasing Windows 8 this year, and Apple will surely announce iOS 6 with the iPhone 5 (that's my guess, anyway). All of this is "according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers", thanks, DigiTimes.

Android 5.0 is said to be further optimized for tablet PCs, as well as having Chrome integration system functions to push dual-operating system designs. What does sound amazing, is that brand vendors can choose to adopt just Android 5.0 or add Android 5.0 to Windows 8 devices, allowing the ability to switch between the two OSes without the need to shut the device down. Take that, Apple.

Alan Wake was first teased as a PC-exclusive, running on Intel's first quad-core processors, but eventually found its way onto Microsoft's Xbox 360 console as an Xbox 360-exclusive. Now the time has come for the critically acclaimed, BAFTA-nominated, TIME Magazine Game of the Year, Alan Wake, to find its way through the dark, dimly lit forest, and onto the PC.

The game ships with both DLC packs, The Signal, and The Writer. It's not the usual run of the mill third-person action adventure game, Remedy have crafted this game into a grand, Hollywood-style story, with tonnes of atmosphere, and have crafted a game where the world feels real, you are Alan Wake.

The PC version does ship with some exclusive features:

Apple have just announced they've released a developer preview of their upcoming OS, Mountain Lion. Touted as the ninth major release of the 'world's most advanced operating system', Mountain Lion will introduce popular apps from the iPad to the Mac, such as Messages, Notes, Reminders and Game Center, as well as Notification Center, Share Sheets, Twitter integration and AirPlay Mirroring.

On top of these iPad-related features, OS X Mountain Lion will sport iCloud, which allows for easy setup and integration with said apps. The developer preview of Mountain Lion also intros Gatekeeper. What is Gatekeeper? It's a 'revolutionary' security feature that helps keep you safe from malicious software by giving you complete control over what apps are allowed to be installed on your Mac.

Because Mountain View includes Messages, this means that iChat is now gone. Messages will continue to support services such as AIM, Jabber, Yahoo! Messenger and Google Talk. If you want to try it out on your Lion-based Mac, you can download the beta of Messages, here.

We reported nearly a week ago now that the iPad 3 would launch in the first week of March, but there are some more details leaking out now, that we could expect much, much more from Apple. It seems that the new iPad 3 will sport the high-res 2048x1536 Retina Display, which exceeds the 1080p resolution that high-def content comes in.

Right now, Apple's iTunes Store has a limit of 720p for their video content, and 720p is also the maximum resolution that the current-generation Apple TV supports. Apple have reportedly been asking movie studios to start submitting 1080p content to the iTunes Store, and with the new iPad 3 sporting a higher-than-1080p display, we could finally see a move into years-old technology from Apple.

This means we could, or could not see, 1080p content on the iTunes Store, as well as a 1080p-capable Apple TV. Whatever it is, you can bet your bottom dollar that 1080p from Apple will be pushed as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ himself, and that they'll make the normal users feel like they simply can't get 1080p anywhere else. I'll just be happy that Apple are finally entering into the 1080p era.