Following data breach, Sony Pictures embraced BlackBerry devices

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Dec 31, 2014 12:49 PM CST

Sony Pictures was having a decent year until the crippling cyberattack that made the company's operations go sideways to end the year. To help keep things operating, Sony embraced its old stash of BlackBerry smartphones to support day-to-day operations moving ahead. It's possible, following the breach, some executives will begin embracing BlackBerry smartphones because of the enhanced security protocols.

Despite losing steam among consumers - and in the business workplace - BlackBerry smartphones still rely on a secure infrastructure, making it a popular device for government employees, even with the domination of Apple iPhone and Google Android devices.

"CEO Michael Lynton routinely received copies of his passwords in unsecure emails for his family and his family's mail, banking, travel, and shopping accounts," according to the Associated Press. "Experts say such haphazard practices are common across corporate America." Using a BlackBerry device, however, could help alleviate some of the poor cybersecurity practices suffered by many company executives.

Continue reading: Following data breach, Sony Pictures embraced BlackBerry devices (full post)

EA investigating Origin fraudulent purchases, says accounts are safe

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Dec 31, 2014 12:37 PM CST

After some Origin users reported fraudulent activity on their accounts, Electronic Arts launched an investigation to try to determine if a data breach occurred. The DerpTrolling hacker group said they compromised up to 1.7 million Origin accounts and passwords, which is why some users could be reporting unauthorized game purchases.

On gaming forums and Twitter, users are reporting Origin receipts in German and Russian appearing in their email inbox - it would seem likely that this isn't a direct breach of Origin's network, and the fraudsters accessed the stolen information posted online by DerpTrolling.

"We found no indication at this point of a breach of our Origin account database," an EA spokesperson told PCGamer. "Privacy and security of user account information are of the utmost importance to use. We encourage our players to use Origin user ID and passwords that are unique to their account, and to report any activity they feel may be unauthorized to EA customer support at help.ea.com."

Continue reading: EA investigating Origin fraudulent purchases, says accounts are safe (full post)

Experts: Insider attack may have played major role in Sony breach

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Dec 31, 2014 12:24 PM CST

The FBI believes North Korea played a major role in the breach of Sony Pictures, while the reclusive North Korean government not surprisingly denied any involvement. The Norse cybersecurity firm spoke with the FBI at the start of the week, and believe a piracy group and disgruntled insiders, at least one laid-off Sony Pictures employee, were more likely the cause of the data breach.

"We are very confident that this was not an attack master-minded by North Korea and that insiders were key to the implementation of one of the most devastating attacks in history," said Kurt Stammberger, Norse senior vice president, in a statement to CBS News.

In a statement meant to Reuters, the FBI offered the following statement: "The FBI has concluded the government of North Korea is responsible for the theft and destruction of data on the network of Sony Pictures Entertainment."

Continue reading: Experts: Insider attack may have played major role in Sony breach (full post)

ADATA announces its new Gold Edition ZPG Z1 DDR4 overclocking RAM

Anthony Garreffa | RAM | Dec 31, 2014 9:34 AM CST

ADATA has just announced its new Gold Edition XPG Z1 DDR4 overclocking RAM, which comes in four speeds; 3000/3200/3300/3333MHz. The new memory is perfect for your Haswell-E build, as it will provide some of the best DDR4 RAM for your system, period.

ADATA has decreased the operating voltage of its XPG Z1 RAM from 1.5V to 1.35V, with that 10% reduction in power providing lower temperatures for more stable operation at higher speeds. Even at 3333MHz, the CL16-16-16 timings and a transfer bandwidth of 26.6GB/sec, you can be assured, you're getting some seriously fast RAM with the ADATA kit.

The company has splashed its jet wing-inspired design with a race car carbon texture that ADATA says "embodies the pursuit of extreme performance." The XPG Z1 chips are cooled by its unique Thermal Conductive Technology and 10-layer PCBs with 2oz of pure copper, which has the chips on the XPG Z1 enjoying direct contact with the heat sinks. This means that the IC and PCB "operate at an evenly distributed temperature."

Continue reading: ADATA announces its new Gold Edition ZPG Z1 DDR4 overclocking RAM (full post)

Plextor M6e Black Edition Pictured? We go fishing on plextor.com

Chris Ramseyer | Storage | Dec 31, 2014 9:00 AM CST

CES 2015: CES is just a week away and we all know what that means, consumer electronics and computer hardware announcements daily. One product we expect to hear about we've already tracked down thanks to someone administering one of Plextor's websites.

Plextor M6e Black Edition Pictured? We go fishing on plextor.com

This was our initial lead of a new half height, half length (HHHL) PCIe SSD coming from Plextor soon. At first we weren't too sure what it means other than an unannounced 'M6e BK' model coming soon. Like the Nissan Skyline and amazing Mercedes AMG automobiles, Plextor is prepping a Black Edition of the M6e PCIe SSD released in 2014.

After digging further into the deepest trenches of the interwebs, we finally found gold, err black. This should be the first known image of the new Plextor M6e Black Edition.

Continue reading: Plextor M6e Black Edition Pictured? We go fishing on plextor.com (full post)

Lian Li to show off their new O Series open-air chassis at CES 2015

Anthony Garreffa | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Dec 31, 2014 5:34 AM CST

CES 2015: CES 2015 is just days away, so Lian Li has sent out an e-mail blast telling the world it will be showcasing its new open-air chassis, the O-Series, at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 in Las Vegas.

If you haven't seen the new Lian Li O-Series open-air chassis, there are a few different models to check out. We have the PC-05, PC-05S, PC-06S and PC-07S, with the company taking feedback in from the DIY community when it began constructing these new designs. All of which feature tempered glass windows, a PCI riser card, and "sleek and alum aluminum construction".

We will be on-hand with these Lian Li cases at CES 2015, so prepare for some coverage from us here at TweakTown next week.

Continue reading: Lian Li to show off their new O Series open-air chassis at CES 2015 (full post)

Google Play and YouTube's top selling movie of 2014? The Interview

Anthony Garreffa | Celebrities & Entertainment | Dec 31, 2014 5:33 AM CST

The Interview has only been available through Google Play and YouTube for around a week now, but the movie has quickly become the top selling movie of 2014 for both sites.

During a talk with Bloomberg, a Google spokesperson spilled the beans, but nothing specific on the sales numbers of the Sony flick. Sony has said that the movie has made over $15 million online, but now that it's also on Apple's iTunes service, we should expect those numbers to rise. The James Franco and Seth Rogen comedy is also on Microsoft's Xbox Video, and Sony's own dedicated site - which hasn't been hacked, yet.

Continue reading: Google Play and YouTube's top selling movie of 2014? The Interview (full post)

LG will be showing off a bunch of new 4K TVs at CES 2015 next week

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Dec 30, 2014 11:35 PM CST

CES 2015: CES 2015 kicks off next week, with my bags not even packed yet and I jump on a plane 49.5 hours from now. But, LG is preparing a bunch of stuff to show off to the world, with a huge push in the world of 4K TVs.

The South Korean giant is reportedly going to be showing off no less than eight different product lines (UC9, UB9800, UF9500, UF9400, UF8500, UF7700, UF6800 and UF6700), where we'll see more than just the usual quantum dot technology and webOS 2.0 Smart TV updates we've been hearing about lately. LG's new Ultra HD TV's are thinner than ever before, with the company promising upgrades for the color balance and black levels.

The built-in 4K video decoder can handle both 30FPS and 60FPS inputs, and is "future-proof" for future standards.

Continue reading: LG will be showing off a bunch of new 4K TVs at CES 2015 next week (full post)

LG announces new 21:9 ultra-wide AMD FreeSync capable monitors

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Dec 30, 2014 10:30 PM CST

CES 2015: LG has already teased it will be showing off a bunch of 4K TVs at CES 2015 next week, but the South Korean giant has just announced it will also be showcasing its new 21:9 ultra-wide monitors, too.

These monitors will be powered by AMD's FreeSync technology, which make ultra-wide monitors even better for gamers. We only just reviewed the LG 34UC97 and loved it, but it definitely needed better gaming chops and well, here we are. The upcoming 34UM67 is LG's first 21:9 ultra-wide gaming monitor that was designed for gaming, featuring AMD's FreeSync technology.

Roy Taylor, AMD's Corporate Vice President of ISV/IHV Partner Group explains "AMD FreeSync technology is an innovative monitor technology, based on free and open industry standards, to eliminate the tearing and stuttering that has plagued PC gaming for 30 years. We are pleased that LG Electronics stands with us with truly exciting AMD FreeSync-ready displays like the LG UltraWide Gaming Monitor."

Continue reading: LG announces new 21:9 ultra-wide AMD FreeSync capable monitors (full post)

Xbox One update provides improved performance, uses more eSRAM

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Dec 30, 2014 8:32 PM CST

Microsoft is currently tweaking its latest SDK for the Xbox One, something that Dying Light developer Techland has gotten its hands-on. We've heard that Dying Light will be running at 1080p and 30FPS on the Xbox One and PS4, but it looks like the Xbox One side of things received its 1080p 30FPS target thanks to the latest update.

The update in question provides developers with the ability of tweaking the Xbox One's eSRAM usage, where performance can be improved. The Lead Game Designer on Dying Light, Maciej Binkowski explains "We were using the latest version just prior to the new release that came out on December 12th. In terms of advantages, the main thing is just how much the ESRAM control has improved. The new API allows you to do a lot more with the ESRAM, things devs have always wanted to do but were not easily accessible. This together with better tools (PIX) allowed us to really improve performance and tweak ESRAM usage."

PIX, or Performance Investigator is a software tool used by developers on the Xbox One to analyze and debug their code in order to increase the performance of their titles. There have been a few developers that have been doing this, squeezing out as much performance as they can from the current (at the time) SDK. These developers include Bungie with Destiny, and Rockstar with Grand Theft Auto V, so Techland isn't the only one doing some tweaking with Dying Light.

Continue reading: Xbox One update provides improved performance, uses more eSRAM (full post)