Apple introduced a new feature for its iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and previous models with iOS 8 called Wi-Fi calling, of which only T-Mobile and EE will be providing at the time of launch. AT&T on the other hand plans to roll out Wi-Fi calling support, but as late as next year.

Despite AT&T's attempts to ensure that Wi-Fi calling will work without interruptions hinted as a reasons for a slow rollout, Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's new Mobile and Business Solutions group said that there's no urgent need to roll out Wi-Fi calling for now.

"We're very focused on making sure it's a great experience for customers, but we see it as a complement, not a replacement," Ralph de la Vega said. "We feel good about a great nationwide network with unlimited talk and text." He added that Wi-Fi calling will serve only as a complement to voice-over LTE AND 3G voice.

TYAN, an industry-leading, server platform design manufacturer, and subsidiary of MITAC Computing Technology Corporation, launched its full array of platforms supporting the latest Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family. With 5 products and 10 SKUs in total.

Albert Mu, Vice President of MITAC Computing Technology Corporation's TYAN Business Unit today said "TYAN's new product portfolio was designed with the latest Intel technology and supports the newly launched Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family. With superior efficiency, higher performance, stronger scalability, and lower costs, TYAN's product line offers multiple solutions that meet the critical demands of HPC, SMB, cloud computing, storage, and other complex applications. Further, TYAN's new product lines are compatible with Intel SSDs, as well as Intel Cache Acceleration Software, which allows companies to process and store massive amounts of data in an easy and intelligent way".

Product Portfolio includes:

We're much closer to see Oculus VR to release its consumer version of its Rift VR headset compared to before, but some of us may get early access of those VR headsets as the company plans for a public beta of these units by April 2015.

As one would expect from a beta, the distribution of these units will be very limited to a certain number of users initially. Its assumed that Oculus is going to use this opportunity to check if the consumers will be interested to own such a headset by having a limited launch. It is said that Oculus will send its public BETA headsets in the similar way how Google launched its public beta for Google Glass. The criteria to qualify for getting a public beta headset is unknown for now.

The specification of these consumer-final version has significant improvements over the Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 version. The consumer version will have a significant increase in resolution compared to the dev kit's 1080p. To add further, the refresh rate is expected to be 90Hz or higher. As one would expect, Oculus really wants its Rift headset to provide the best virtual-reality experience you can provide.

HTC is planning to unveil a waterproof camera to compete against GoPro. The smartphone maker sent invites for a press event named 'Double Exposure' that will be held on October 8th in New York. The Taiwan-based smartphone maker made it obvious that this would be a camera-specific release, but the company's plans seem to have leaked ahead of schedule.

According to the source, HTC will be unveiling two of its devices. One will be an extreme sports camera which is aimed to go head-to-head against a well-known player, GoPro. The second device is a smartphone made for selfie shots.

Its said that HTC will be implementing a 16-megapixel sensor with an ultra-wide angle lens. This yet-to-be-named tube-shaped camera will need to paired with either Android or iOS device via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi wireless connectivity. As one would expect from an action camera made for extreme sports, it will be rugged and waterproof. HTC will also be making apps for android and iOS device to pair with this camera.

We knew it was coming, but VESA has just announced an update to the DisplayPort standard, bringing it up to version 1.3. DisplayPort 1.3 will enjoy bandwidth of 32.4 Gbps, a 50% increase on the 21.6 Gbps that DisplayPort 1.2 offered.

DisplayPort 1.3 will be capable of driving 5K at 60Hz, or better yet, 4K at 120Hz. Thanks to DP1.3 now offering 4K at 120Hz, this can be split into two 4K displays at 60Hz each, which is damn impressive for a single cable. Not only that, but DP1.3 will offer support for HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 with CEC. It doesn't even stop there, as it will support 8K, which runs at 7680x2160, all at 60Hz.

The new standard isn't just good for video, as it will also feature improved protocols for sharing display and data signals over the single cable. Thanks to the increased bandwidth and these tweaks, things like DockPort will handle DisplayPort and USB 3.0 on the same interface, being able to pump out data to various displays and devices at once, without feeling like its drowning.

ASRock Rack announces its latest offerings of motherboards that support the new Intel E5-2600 v3 processors and DDR4 memory. These motherboards are more than just simple upgrades to their existing line of boards, they offer major feature upgrades in some cases.

The new motherboards continue ASRock Racks build quality that includes:

Stable - Robust Design, Quality Parts

HGST Press and Industry Analyst Briefing - HGST has announced a new line of PCIe SSDs for the datacenter with their Ultrastar SN100 Series. This new series of PCIe SSDs offers the new NVMe standard as the backbone for communication with the host system. For an in-depth look at the NVMe specification, from top to bottom with testing included, take a look at this recent article in our IT/Datacenter section.

NVMe has many advantages over proprietary software implementations, but the vFAS structure employed with HGST's FlashMAX line (Product evaluation here) is particularly strong. The FlashMAX II offers multiple software features that make it a compelling offer in many environments, and after speaking with HGST executives at the event we were assured that these same software capabilities will be extended to the Ultrastar SN100 line of products.

HGST is also announcing a new FlashMAX III, so the two product lines, with both vFAS and NVMe, will continue to have a place in the HGST product stack. Performance specifications and endurance information will hash out the differences between the two PCIe SSD offerings from HGST, but at this point there aren't any related publicly available specifications for either new product. We will keep our readers updated as more information becomes available.

HGST Press and Industry Analyst Briefing - HGST has announced the extension of their fruitful Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Intel for their SAS SSDs. This is an important agreement due to the sharing of important NAND and engineering expertise. The JDA also affords HGST with a guaranteed NAND flash supply for HGST's SAS SSDs, a paramount need in today's SSD market. The details of the arrangement aren't entirely public, of course, but we do know that both HGST and Intel have already leveraged the existing relationship to develop the fastest SAS SSDs on the market.

The JDA began in 2008, and HGST first began to offer SAS SSDs in 2010. Intel flash and controller technology has provided the base components, but the real engine lies in HGST's SAS design, firmware, reliability, qualification and system integration. Intel does not sell SAS SSDs, instead relying upon the JDA with HGST to provide high-quality SAS offerings. The cooperation has led to four generations of successful SAS SSDs. The agreement is slated to continue for three more years, and we look forward to seeing the exciting new products that will come as a result of the JDA.

HGST is a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation, but is rapidly shaping up to be the flash arm of WD. Strategic acquisitions of Velobit, STEC, and Virident have allowed HGST to expand their portfolio rapidly in terms of both hardware and software patent portfolios and expertise. HGST has sent the clear message that they believe software is a key differentiator that will provide them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Coupling this vision with the extension of a cooperative agreement with Intel provides a solid footing as they move forward with innovate solutions for the datacenter.

Microsoft has confirmed it will pay $2.5 billion to purchase Mojang, the company responsible for Minecraft. Minecraft has sold more than 54 million copies across the world, and the three founding executives of Mojang will reportedly leave the company. The game is the top paid app for both the Google Android and Apple iOS, and with only 4 employees, brought in $287 in revenues during 2013

"At Microsoft, we believe in the power of content to unite people," the company said in a press statement. "Minecraft adds diversity to our game portfolio and helps us reach new gamers across multiple platforms. Gaming is the top activity across devices and we see great potential to continue to grow the Minecraft community and nurture the franchise."

News of the acquisition sent shockwaves through the Minecraft community, with many gamers worried about which direction Microsoft would take. Meanwhile, Microsoft hopes to draw gamers mobile platform instead of focusing on the Xbox One or PC.

Amidst the hub bub of this week's Apple Event which saw the company, as expected, officially launch both the iPhone 6 and its larger brethren along with the long rumoured Apple Watch, the device that started it all - the original iPod, now dubbed 'iPod' classic' was being quietly shuffled off stage before being put out of its misery.

Officially discontinued as of September 9th, the sixth generation 160GB iPod will no longer be manufactured and once inventory has cleared, will no longer be available for sale. The news will hardly come as a shock to Apple fans - the writing has been on the wall for some time, with Apple CEO Tim Cook confirming that the iPod product line was "a declining business". Apple have removed the device from online listings.

The iPhone 6 line goes on sale worldwide next Friday.