Intel unveils MICA smart high-tech, luxury smart bracelet to consumers

Intel has unveiled the My Intelligence Communication Accessory (MICA), a luxury smart bracelet that will be available at Barney's in time for Christmas. The bracelet has water snakeskin and semi-precious gems in a design that features a touchscreen display for wearers to interact with.

The only hardware features currently available from Intel is that it includes a 3G cellular radio. However, it will support SMS messaging, messages sent to the bracelet and calendar reminders from your mobile phone.

"The wearables market currently exists in two categories - sports wearables that track performance and wearables that are pretty much a cell phone crammed into a small space," said Aysegul Ildeniz, Intel new devices VP, in a recent interview. "We have to grow the pie collectively. We need to go after audiences not addressed currently by wearables and make them much more aesthetically pleasing."

Continue reading: Intel unveils MICA smart high-tech, luxury smart bracelet to consumers (full post)

Sega says Gearbox founder does 'whatever the f**k he likes'

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Sep 4, 2014 3:32 AM CDT

There's currently a class-action lawsuit regarding the debacle of Aliens: Colonial Marines, which was close to a conclusion last month when Sega agreed to shell out $1.25 million. But, that is all up in the air right now.

A month after Gearbox filed a motion distancing itself from any form of financial obligation, which would see them not paying some $750,000 which would bring the total settlement to $2 million. Sega responded with its own motion, where it said that Gearbox was just as responsible for any payout responsibility. It gets pretty dirty, with e-mails, contracts and much more between the two companies.

There were many letters that saw Gearbox releasing many screenshots, videos and much more details on Alien: Colonial marines that had not been approved by Sega. Sega's thoughts on this had not been good when it got to October 2012, with a Sega PR rep blaming "persistent panel leaking" of game details on "Randy [Pitchford, Gearbox director] doing whatever the fuck he likes."

Continue reading: Sega says Gearbox founder does 'whatever the f**k he likes' (full post)

Matrox announces next-gen multi-display cards powered by AMD GPUs

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Sep 4, 2014 12:39 AM CDT

Most will remember Matrox, a company that dealt in mainly professional video cards that were great for multi-monitor setups before the likes of AMD's Eyefinity and NVIDIA's Surround Vision technology hit the market. Well, Matrox is coming back, and is releasing GPUs that are powered with AMD technology.

Matrox's next-gen video cards will be powered by Radeon GPUs, with the announcement stating that "key features of the selected AMD GPU include 28nm technology with 1.5 billion transistors; DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.4 and OpenCL 1.2 compatibility; shader model 5.0; PCI Express 3.0 and 128-bit memory interface." We should expect Matrox to be using a lower performance GraphicsCore Next (GCN) part, something from the Cape Verde GCN family. We could also see Matrox lean toward AMD's FirePro W600 cards, with Matrox sprinkling its custom-developed software applications such as Matrox PowerDesk on top.

This is an interesting move, as it frees up R&D that Matrox would spend on hardware costs, leveraging AMD's technology and putting more of its time into the software side of things. It helps AMD, as AMD can sell countless GPUs at higher "professional" prices, increasing their share of the professional market with AMD-powered Matrox cards.

Continue reading: Matrox announces next-gen multi-display cards powered by AMD GPUs (full post)

Open WebOS revamped as LuneOS and plans to shake up mobile devices

Open WebOS has been given a name change, now known as LuneOS, and has been designed as an open source alternative to Google Android and other mobile operating systems.

Open WebOS is based on WebOS, designed by Palm and later owned by Hewlett-Packard, with HP deciding to contribute the software to open source coders. HP's last webOS update was in January 2012 when the company released webOS 3.0.5, but the open source community hopes to pick up the slack. webOS is now supported by LG Electronics, and has opened the door to coders and open source developers to play with a cross-platform JavaScript SDK.

LuneOS currently only supports the Google Nexus 4 and HP TouchPad, but designers hope to create a stable offering for these devices - and slowly expand to other smartphones. Instead of trying to directly compete with Android or Apple's iOS, LuneOS wants to bring back a bit of nostalgia for users that enjoyed webOS back in the day.

Continue reading: Open WebOS revamped as LuneOS and plans to shake up mobile devices (full post)

Samsung launches UD970, a 31.5-inch Ultra High-Definition monitor

Michael Hatamoto | Displays & Projectors | Sep 3, 2014 11:30 AM CDT

Samsung has announced that its 4K ultra-high definition 31.5-inch monitor, the UD970, will be released later this month with a $1999.99 MAP price. The UD970 features support for a 3840 x 2160 resolution and has 40 percent more viewing area than a regular 27-inch monitor - and is designed for digital imaging and video professionals. Live demonstrations with the monitors revealed bright, clear and vivid pictures, thanks in part to the screen's 10-bit color processing capability.

"For today's professionals, UHD display technology unlocks a new dimension of rich and detailed imagery, enabling them to take their creativity and productivity to a new level," said Tod Pike, Samsung Enterprise Business Division SVP. "Samsung has a long history of leadership in display technologies and we're excited to bring this new advancement to creative professionals and enterprise users."

The cost of professional UHD displays are steadily dropping - as they were drastically more expensive just one year ago - but are working their way closer to mainstream consumers.

Continue reading: Samsung launches UD970, a 31.5-inch Ultra High-Definition monitor (full post)

Lenovo's new Tab S8 tablet is priced at $199, features an Intel chip

Lenovo has just announced its new Tab S8 tablet, a new slate that is powered by an Intel Atom processor and runs Android 4.4. This is Lenovo's first Intel-powered, Android-based tablet, with a 1.3GHz processor inside that will take care of the processing side of things, and if things get heavy, it'll go into burst mode to 1.86GHz.

The new Tab S8 features an 8-inch 1920x1200 display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal flash storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera backed up by a 1.6-megapixel front-facing shooter. The Intel processor found inside is an Atom Z3745 processor, which features Intel's Burst Performance Technology. The Tab S8 weighs 294g (or 0.65lbs), with it being just 0.78cm (or 0.31 inches) thick.

We also have optional 4G capabilities, and Wi-Fi for the communication side of things. Lenovo has also provided Bluetooth 4.0, and Dolby-enhanced dual front speakers to handle the audio side of things. Best of all, we will see the Lenovo Tab S8 priced at just $199, with the 4G model being more expensive, but the company hasn't unveiled the pricing or availability of the 4G-powered Tab S8 just yet.

Continue reading: Lenovo's new Tab S8 tablet is priced at $199, features an Intel chip (full post)

Sony unveils the Xperia Z3 smartphone, announces PS4 Remote Play

After quite a few rumors and reports, Sony's new Xperia Z3 is totally official. The Xperia Z3 arrives with a 5.2-inch 1080p display, a quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 20-megapixel rear-facing camera that is now able to reach 12,800 ISO sensitivity.

The lens on the Z3 now includes a 25mm-equivalent field of view, where it can capture more of the scene you're shooting. There's also improved image stabilization abilities for video, which should keep your video nice and still - 4K video recording included. The Z2 already feels like an amazingly well-built smartphone, but according to The Verge, the Z3 is a "little bit thinner, lighter, and easier to handle." The company has also cut down around 1mm of thickness from the Z3, without taking away any of the 3100mAh battery.

Sony says that the Z3 smartphone will last two days on a full charge, compared to the 1.4 days on the Z2 and 1.2 days on the Z1. The Z3 smartphone will launch later this year.

Continue reading: Sony unveils the Xperia Z3 smartphone, announces PS4 Remote Play (full post)

Oculus VR announces the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition

Samsung only unveiled the Galaxy Note 4 and Gear VR at IFA 2014 a few moments ago, with the Gear VR "Powered by Oculus". Oculus VR has just announced the new Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition, which is a new mobile VR headset powered by the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone.

The Gear VR was "created by Samsung and powered by Oculus" and over the "last 12 months, we've been collaborating with Samsung on the future of mobile virtual reality," according to Oculus. The Facebook-owned VR startup continues: "The project actually began as an experiment to see if great VR was possible on next-generation mobile hardware. Oculus CTO John Carmack and the mobile team at Oculus were able to blow everyone away in an extremely short amount of time, quickly proving that we were on to something special."

The Galaxy Note 4's internal GPU and CPU to power Gear VR, using the 2560x1440 low-persistence 5.7-inch AMOLED panel as its display. John Carmack's role as the CTO of Oculus VR is becoming more clear, as he has worked with the mobile team at Oculus on Gear VR. The year was spent between developing a new Oculus Mobile SDK, as well as optimizing Android and the GPU drivers for VR.

Continue reading: Oculus VR announces the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition (full post)

Samsung announces Gear VR, works with Galaxy Note 4

Something that wasn't too much of a surprise, but is an interesting new step for Samsung, is the just-announced Gear VR. Samsung has been rumored to have been working on a VR headset for a while now, but it is now official.

The South Korean electronics giant has teased that Gear VR works with the just-announced Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, which features a 5.7-inch 2560x1440 display, so it'll be interesting to see what Gear VR looks like against the Oculus Rift DK2 which features a 1920x1080 display.

The one big note here is that the Gear VR doesn't work with any other smartphone other than the Galaxy Note 4. The Note 4 will snap into the Gear VR, in front of dual-lenses that provide the 3D effect in the VR headset. There's a trackpad and back button on the right side of the Gear VR, with most of the movements and menu navigation to be performed through head movements and taps on the side-mounted trackpad. The Verge has already enjoyed some hands-on time with Gear VR, with some shots of the Gear VR teasing "Powered by Oculus".

Continue reading: Samsung announces Gear VR, works with Galaxy Note 4 (full post)

Samsung expands the Galaxy range with the Galaxy Note Edge

Samsung unveiled two new Galaxy Note smartphones at IFA 2014, with the Galaxy Note 4, but the surprise here was the Galaxy Note Edge. The Galaxy Note Edge features a sloping, curved OLED display.

The display itself is a QHD Super AMOLED display, the same panel that is found in the Galaxy Note 4, except that it is a 5.6-inch panel compared to the 5.7-inch panel found on the Note 4. Samsung uses specific software to join the two parts of the 5.6-inch display, which allow them to be simultaneously independent and connected.

What does the sloping screen on the Galaxy Note Edge offer? The default status has it sitting there as a kind of quick launcher, where it is home to your most-used apps. Samsung provides a bunch of widgets, and much more. The edge can also act as a toolbar, where it will provide quick access to various menus and camera modes, or in-app settings. For example, at night time, it can be used as an alarm clock, with the time being displayed on the edge of the panel.

Continue reading: Samsung expands the Galaxy range with the Galaxy Note Edge (full post)