iPhone 5 explodes, damages Chinese woman's eye and hands

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Aug 14, 2013 12:31 AM CDT

A chinese woman has had her eye and hand damaged when her iPhone 5 exploded, where beforehand, she stated that her iPhone 5 was hotter than usual during phone calls.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time an iPhone 5 has hurt someone, where a flight attendant died and a man was electrocuted, which was found to be caused by a fake charger. Apple has since sent out an advisory to warn all Chinese customers to buy original, official Apple chargers. The Cupertino-based company is even offering discounted chargers when you trade in your old charger.

The woman who was hurt, who only goes by the last name of 'Li', has said she dropped her iPhone 5. The drop caused a crack in the top right hand corner of the display, after which she noticed the iPhone 5 was getting quite hot during a 40-minute phone call. She tried to disconnect the phone call, noticing that the display was no longer working.

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Analyst: Apple's iPhone 5S to be its 'most successful launch ever'

Apple is close to unveiling the iPhone 5S, but just how big will the launch of their latest flagship smartphone be? We can expect the iPhone 5S, and cheaper iPhone 5C to be unveiled at its September 10 event, but an analyst is making a very big claim, before Apple has even announced the smartphone.

Trip Chowdhry, the Managing Director of Equity Research at Global Equities Research, thinks the iPhone 5S launch is going to be huge. He told Benzinga: "The new iPhones will be massively successful. This will be the most successful product launch ever in the history of Apple." Chowdhry believes Apple has a lot going for them right now, with the upcoming Ashton Kutcher starring 'Jobs' movie, which is centered around Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and that it will "evoke positive emotions toward Apple and its products."

This is where I'll chime in, where 'success' and 'sales' are vastly different from pushing the industry, or consumers' expectations of the iPhone 5S. Sure, it might sell well, but the iPhone 5S will most likely not be that different to the iPhone 5. If Apple were to branch out and provide a few different sizes (4-, 4.5- and 4.8-inch for example) then things could be different.

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Samsung impresses with its 55-inch curved OLED TV at $8999

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Aug 13, 2013 10:28 PM CDT

Samsung has just unveiled its 55-inch curved OLED TV, pricing it quite competitively against fellow South Korean rival, LG, and its own 55-inch curved OLED TV. Samsung is selling its KN55S9C display at just $8999.

LG, on the other hand, is selling their 55-inch curved OLED TV in the states for $14,999 exclusively through Best Buy. The Korea Times has reported that the price drop is lower than the $13,000 originally charged for the Korean version, where they add: "Samsung's price cut came as a result of improved manufacturing yield, and [Korean] customers that already purchased one will be refunded the difference."

$8999 is a lot to drop on a 55-inch curved OLED, so this new TV will mostly cater to those who enjoy luxury. But, at $6000 cheaper than the LG OLED TV, you wouldn't want to have one of those in your living room and reading this news right now.

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Samsung launches world's first 3-D V-NAND-based enterprise SSD

Charles Gantt | Storage | Aug 13, 2013 9:04 PM CDT

Flash Memory Summit 2013 - Today, Samsung introduced the world's first solid state drive based on its industry-leading 3-D V-NAND technology. The announcement came during the keynote speech at the 2013 Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California. Samsung says that this new SSD is designed for use in enterprise servers and data centers.

The new V-NAND SSD comes in two versions--a 960GB model and a smaller 480GB model--with the 960GB boasting the highest performance levels. Samsung says that it offers an increase in sequential and random write speeds of more than 20 percent by utilizing 64 dies of MLC 3-D V-NAND flash.

Samsung says that the V-NAND SSDs offer 35,000 program erase cycles and is available in a 2.5-inch form factor. Samsung's proprietary 3-D V-NAND technology achieves manufacturing productivity improvements over twice that of 20nm-class planar NAND flash by using cylinder-shaped 3D Charge Trap Flash cell structures and vertical interconnect process technology to link the 24 layers comprising the 3D cell array.

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Alcatel One Touch releases Idol X smartphone with 5-inch display

Charles Gantt | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Aug 13, 2013 8:31 PM CDT

I am willing to bet that many of you have never heard of Alcatel One Touch, much less know that they manufacture Android-based smartphones. Today, the company released its new Idol X smartphone that runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and is available in yellow, red and black.

The Alcatel One Touch Idol X feature some pretty beefy specifications that include a five-inch 1920x1080 resolution IPS display, 1.5GHz quad-core processor, and 2GB of RAM. A 13.1-megapixel rear camera is on board to handle all your imaging needs, while 8GB of internal storage is present that can be augmented by the addition of a microSD card.

The specifications get better as we learned that within the 6.9 mm thick chassis, Alcatel managed to somehow squeeze in a 2000mAh battery, yet keep the phone's weight to 120g. All those features are cool, and definitely give the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 a run for their money, but the fact that the phone is basically bezel-less really kicks it up a notch. The Idol X will be arriving in the UK in the coming weeks, but pricing and carrier availability have yet to be released.

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Apacer unveils new high-speed 22PIN SATA 3 Modular SSD

Charles Gantt | Storage | Aug 13, 2013 6:47 PM CDT

Today, Apacer unveiled the newest generation of its SDM5 modular SATA SSDs. The new SATA Disk Module 5 adopts the SATA 3 6GB/s high-speed interface standard and features Toggle DDR2.0 NAND Flash. The module incorporates a specifically designed 2-channel bidirectional structure that allows the device to reach read/write speeds of up to 315MB/s and 145MB/s, respectively.

Jeff Lin, Embedded Application Product Division Senior Director of Apacer indicated, "In order to satisfy the user-specific needs for various mechanisms, we will introduce perpendicularly and parallel modularized solutions at the same time. Thus, the customer will have diverse choices in accordance with the motherboard design demands, without being limited to the joint direction of solid state drive, and develop more diversified top products at the lowest cost."

The Apacer SDM5 uses standard 7-pin signal and 15-pin SATA signal and power connectors and are featured in two different configurations with one having the connectors perpendicular to the board at 90 degrees, while the other is parallel at 180 degrees. Apacer says that the new SDM5 features a capacity of 128GB and complies with the MIL-810F certification, which is the toughest standard required by the US military regulations.

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NVIDIA confirms GTA V will come to PC this fall

Charles Gantt | Gaming | Aug 13, 2013 4:16 PM CDT

For months now, the PC community has been in an uproar over reports that Rockstar games would not be releasing its highly anticipated title Grand Theft Auto V for the PC. Today, it appears that all those worries were for nothing as NVIDIA has apparently confirmed that GTA V will be headed to PC this fall.

Website KitGuru noticed that during NVIDIA's earnings call a senior official mentioned that Grand Theft Auto V would in fact be coming to the PC this fall. I have posted an excerpt of the statement in question below. If you would like to read the full transcript, head over to Source #2 below. If this is true, today might very well be one of the happiest days PC gamers have had all year long.

Chris Evenden, Senior Director, IR said "The PC market is evolving. As entry-level laptops face pressure from tablets. Yet sales of specialty PCs like gaming systems and work stations continue to grow. The disparity reflects how consumers use these different classes of PCs. Many consumers look for PC as a general purpose device they can use for browsing, email, social media video. But much of this can be better served by a tablet. In contrast, gamers are preparing their systems for a strong roster of games coming this fall, including blockbuster franchises, such as Call of Duty: Ghosts, Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin's Creed IV."

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EVGA shows off Pro SLI bridge that will bring the bling to your GPUs

Charles Gantt | Video Cards & GPUs | Aug 13, 2013 1:35 PM CDT

If you've ever stared at your multiple graphics cards set up and thought to yourself "man that SLI bridge sure is ugly," then a fresh announcement from EVGA is sure to put a smile on your face. Earlier today, EVGA announced what amounts to a cosmetic upgrade for enthusiasts who run multiple NVIDIA graphics cards.

The EVGA Pro SLI Bridge is an aesthetically pleasing replacement for the typical ribbon cable-based SLI bridge that comes with all NVIDIA SLI compatible graphics cards. While it offers nothing in terms of better performance, it should really clean up the look of multiple GPU setups and give enthusiasts just a little more bragging rights about the bling in their case.

The bridge appears to be made out of plastic and features brushed aluminum panels on top with the EVGA logo front and center. Things are accented by backlighting that is provided by small LEDS shining through EVGA logos on each panel. This backlighting will only work when the bridges are used on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 700-series or later graphics cards, including the GeForce GTX Titan. EVGA says that the bridges are compatible with all brands of NVIDIA graphics cards and will be available in the coming weeks.

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Mad Catz launches Triton Pro gaming headset for PC and Mac

Charles Gantt | Peripherals | Aug 13, 2013 12:39 PM CDT

Hot on the heels of last week's Tritton Kunai launch, Mad Catz today announced that it has began shipping the Tritton Pro gaming headset for PC and Mac. The company says that the Tritton Pro is a true 5.1 surround sound headset that features four separate drivers in each ear cup for a true 5.1 surround sound experience.

The headset also features an in-line remote that allows selectable voice monitoring that allows users to choose if they hear their own voice in the headset or not. "The TRITTON Pro+ headset received a warm reception with the passionate gamers at E3 thanks to its advanced feature set and multiple speakers, delivering highly accurate sound separation, ideal for online gaming," said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. "We believe the TRITTON Pro+ for Windows PC and Mac will enable us to further diversify our platform base within the high-end audio category."

The Tritton Pro is available in white, black, and gloss red and is available in the US, Canada, UK, France, and Germany for around $199. The headset will be available at all major electronics retailers that carry the Mad Catz brand. For more information on the Mad Catz Triton Pro, head over to Source #2 below.

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SanDisk announces nimble and power-efficient X210 SSD

Charles Gantt | Storage | Aug 13, 2013 10:04 AM CDT

Flash Memory Summit 2013 - SanDisk announced that it would be enhancing its solid state drive lineup for businesses with the addition of a new power-efficient SSD. The SanDisk X210 SSD is a SATA-based SSD that SanDisk says is an ideal solution for IT professionals looking to maximize performance or enhance the responsiveness of the company's PCs and notebooks.

"Since launching SanDisk's commercial SSD channel earlier this year, we havereceived a tremendous response from businesses that have seen significant advantages from incorporating SanDisk solid state technology into their data center and workplace PCs and notebooks," said Tarun Loomba, vice president of Storage Solutions marketing at SanDisk. "Leveraging SanDisk's most advanced flash memory technology and smart power-saving capabilities, the X210 SSD is an exceptionally fast and cost-effective storage solution for this growing market, and a great addition to our SanDisk SSD portfolio."

The company says that the X210 SSD is optimized for businesses that need fast, consistent access to data, such as search engines and cloud storage providers. The company says that when used in micro- and entry-level servers, this new SSD offers increased responsiveness and sustainable performance in intensive environments, which notably reduces I/O bottlenecks. SanDisk says that the new 2.5-inch X210 SSD is available large quantities through the SanDisk Commercial Business Channel.

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