Logitech is now known as 'Logi', and it's not even April Fool's Day

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 8, 2015 3:48 PM CDT

Logitech has just announced that it has changed its name, which is quite the shock, as it feels so sudden. From here on out, Logitech is now known as "Logi". Why? Because "tech is everywhere".

Logi's VP of Brand Development, Charlotte Johs, told Gizmodo: "Tech is in the air you breathe...it's in your clothes...in the future, 'tech' doesn't say anything". But where did the name 'Logi' come from? Johs says that it is thanks to its most popular product, the Boom series of Bluetooth speakers, as it is the company's first Logi-inspired piece of tech.

The Logitech name won't be disappearing instantly, with the Logitech brand staying on products like mice, keyboards, and speakers - at least, for now. Logi will be the name that will be used for products as we move into the future.

Continue reading: Logitech is now known as 'Logi', and it's not even April Fool's Day (full post)

Microsoft culls a huge 7,800 jobs globally, mostly from phone business

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 8, 2015 8:59 AM CDT

Microsoft has just announced that it is cutting a huge 7,800 jobs from its phone business, while it also writes off $7.6 billion in relation to its acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services Division. Considering Microsoft paid $7.2 billion for Nokia's phone business last year, this is quite the check to write.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, explains: "We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family. In the near-term, we'll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility".

Keep in mind Nadella said back in April that there would be 18,000 job cuts in the next 12 months, these additional 7,800 job losses will add up to over 25,000 employees laid off by Microsoft in just over a 12-month period.

Continue reading: Microsoft culls a huge 7,800 jobs globally, mostly from phone business (full post)

PNY releases a flash drive suitable for an Apple iPhone too

Chris Smith | Storage | Jul 8, 2015 6:29 AM CDT

Designed to provide removable storage across all your devices, PNY Technologies Inc. has shown off its DUO-Link M flash drive aimed at lighting equipped iOS devices. As announced in a recent press release, iTunes will not be needed for file transfers to take place, allowing for instant connection to any iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC.

PNY releases a flash drive suitable for an Apple iPhone too

Designed with media in mind, the DUO-Link M can also ensure your device is able to play movies directly off the stick, without having to transfer large files over to your on-board storage. This USB Type-A device is unfortunately only rated at USB 2.0 but the other features are impressive nonetheless.

Released in sizes ranging from 16GB to 128GB, it weighs in at only 9.8 grams and measures 50.9mm(L) x 26mm(W) x 11.45mm(H). For best use, PNY says that "You will need to download DUO-Link App from App store" in order to enjoy the 10MB/s read and 8MB/s write on the lighting interfaces or 13MB/s read and 10MB/s write on USB 2.0 compatible devices.

Continue reading: PNY releases a flash drive suitable for an Apple iPhone too (full post)

'X-Files' return teased in new Fox promo

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Jul 8, 2015 2:08 AM CDT

In preparation for next year's 'X-Files' return, the Fox network has announced plans to air all of the show's 201 episodes, newly remastered in high definition dropping one per night, in order, until the premiere of the new episodes on January 24th 2016. But in even more exciting news for long-term fans, the network has released a promotional teaser which reveals the first footage from the rebooted series.

The six part, limited series which stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprising their iconic roles as Mulder and Scully recently wrapped filming in Vancouver, Canada under the watchful eye of series creator Chris Carter.

Continue reading: 'X-Files' return teased in new Fox promo (full post)

Facebook to outfit 50% its data centers with renewable energy by 2018

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 8, 2015 12:38 AM CDT

Facebook hasn't just announced its new Fort Worth, Texas-based data center, but it has also said that it plans to power 50% of its data centers with renewable energy by 2018.

The new Fort Worth-based data center is 100% powered by wind energy, but the new plan of 50% of its data centers being green is good to see, especially when we think that the social networking giant wants to see 25% of its data centers powered by renewable energy by the end of the year.

In the end, Facebook wants to see all of its data centers powered by renewable energy, so it has quite the task ahead of them. The company has worked with Citi Energy, Starwood Energy, and Alterra Power in order to deliver a 17,000 acre wind farm online for its new Fort Worth data center, which will see 200MW of energy pumped into Texas.

Continue reading: Facebook to outfit 50% its data centers with renewable energy by 2018 (full post)

Han Solo standalone 'Star Wars' film announced

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Jul 8, 2015 12:23 AM CDT

Ahead of the annual San Diego Comic Con which will be the epicenter of all things geeky for the next week, Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that they given the greenlight to a second 'Star Wars' anthology film, which will revolve around the legendary "stuck up, half-witted scruffy-looking nerf-herder" (not to mention all round cool guy) Han Solo.

To be directed by '22 Jump Street' and 'Lego Movie' directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the upcoming film will feature a much younger Han Solo and thus won't see the return of 72 year-old Harrison Ford in his much loved role. The as-yet unnamed film is the fourth Star Wars film in production. The first anthology film 'Rogue One' will be released in December 2016.

Continue reading: Han Solo standalone 'Star Wars' film announced (full post)

Samsung profits expected to fall short, even with Galaxy S6 release

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 7, 2015 11:39 PM CDT

Even with the release of two flagship smartphones, Samsung is expecting its operating profits to be down this quarter. The company expected to make $6.3 billion for the three-month period, but will most likely end up wrapping up the quarter with $6.1 billion instead.

This is a 4.2% drop to the same period of 2014, but it represents the seventh straight quarter in a row that Samsung has had profit drops, where it is finding it hard to compete against Apple in the high-end market, and Chinese rival Xiaomi in the low and mid-range markets. The Galaxy S6 was meant to represent a big change for Samsung, and while the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge were received well by reviewers and consumers, it doesn't look like it was enough to pull Samsung's profits up.

Samsung expected the normal Galaxy S6 to sell four-to-one units compared to the S6 edge, but the S6 edge ended up being the most-wanted out of the two, leading Samsung into shortages. Before it could produce more handsets, stock shortages started happening, which led to Samsung losing many more sales than it could've had. Now the company has more S6 units on hand than it wanted, and can't get them out of the door quick enough, leading the company with the possibility of reducing the price on the S6 to boost sales.

Continue reading: Samsung profits expected to fall short, even with Galaxy S6 release (full post)

Save 58% on a Lifetime Subscription to Penzu Pro Digital Journal

TweakTown Deals | Deals | Jul 7, 2015 11:29 AM CDT

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Continue reading: Save 58% on a Lifetime Subscription to Penzu Pro Digital Journal (full post)

Realtek has produced a new onboard LAN chip aimed at gamers

Chris Smith | Networking | Jul 7, 2015 8:02 AM CDT

Said to be targeting motherboards to be placed in online gaming PC builds, Realtek is looking to win back some lost market share in the DIY motherboard scene - taken by Intel and Killer over the past few years. The new Realtek Dragon is said to offer lower latencies for those wanting to play games online.

Realtek has produced a new onboard LAN chip aimed at gamers

This chip features the new Realtek RTL8118AS, showcasing gigabit Ethernet speeds. Said to offer better performance for small packet traffic and lower power consumption than competitors, Realtek has released a fancy new logo for this model as seen above - asking motherboard manufacturers to print it onto the PCB.

Set for debut in LGA1151 motherboards through the help of ECS, there has been no other mentioned manufacturers taking this new Realtek design on board just yet.

Continue reading: Realtek has produced a new onboard LAN chip aimed at gamers (full post)

Meet the low-profile GELID Polar 1U air cooler for Intel LGA115x

Chris Smith | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jul 7, 2015 6:35 AM CDT

Air cooling is certainly still a thing, even though the plethora of mods seen in the current market sometimes make us think it is not. One of the latest releases is Polar's 1U low-profile CPU cooler, designed for Intel LGA115x processors.

As part of its SILENT product line, this cooler is designed with HTPC, Panel PC, Car PC and 1U server applications in mind - all thanks to its 27mm tall heat sink. Claiming an improved heat sink fin design, this product weighs in at a tiny 127g.

Including a frameless 75mm spinner complete with GELID PWM controls, also on offer is pre-installed GC-2 thermal compound and a design suited for Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual-Core, Core i3 and Core i5 chips - expect a TDP of 65W to be your maximum.

Continue reading: Meet the low-profile GELID Polar 1U air cooler for Intel LGA115x (full post)