OMGTT: PowerVR are making a PC comeback, releasing PCI-Express GPGPU card that provides real-time ray-tracing
Wow. I remember the PowerVR days so fondly. Yes, they didn't make the same impact as 3dfx did in the day, but I remember as a young PC gamer, wanting their hardware so bloody bad it hurt. I remember getting my Dad to import me a 3dfx card (Orchid Righteous 4MB Voodoo card for those who would remember) and it being THE BEST THING EVER.
PowerVR cards were always something I never had, and now there's news they're returning to release a discrete GPU card, in the complete opposite of what they used to do. Imagination Technologies are the team behind it, and last year, they acquired Caustic Graphics.
Caustic Graphics are a San Francisco-based start-up who were (before the acquisition) working on an accelerator that would make real-time ray-tracing, a reality. They managed to make two generations of products which were more technology demonstrators than real-world products, but their FPGA chips worked.
Obama thinks Americans should support the 'next Steve Jobs'
President Obama did what he does best at his State of the Union speech, talked. Obama can say a lot, and not really mean it. He comes across as this beacon of light that is going to introduce change, but nothing really changes. He allows no reform, employs half of Wall St, ex-bankers and ex-CIA to be his left and right-hand men and women.
Anyway, he has laid out his plans for an economic recovery where he references the technology sector and said:
An economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country.
Continue reading: Obama thinks Americans should support the 'next Steve Jobs' (full post)
VLC gets encrypted Blu-ray playback capabilities thanks to a 'hack'
VLC was one of the first open source media players to be capable of playing back encrypted DVD's, and it has now become the first to bring Blu-ray playback capability, too.
But wait, playback of unencrypted Blu-ray ISOs and folder structures has been possible without menus since the version 1.2 release of VLC. The biggest change are the AACS keys database, and how to get it integrated with the VLC installation.
The AACS keys will never be an official releases of VLC, as it enables copy protection circumvention. But, this is definitely a great move for not just VLC, but Blu-ray.
Continue reading: VLC gets encrypted Blu-ray playback capabilities thanks to a 'hack' (full post)
MegaUpload's Kim Dotcom used to be No. 1 on Modern Warfare 3, has dropped to No. 2 since being arrested
MegaUpload was taken down a few days ago, as we and many other websites, news sites and even TV had talked about or posted. In between all of this little did anyone realise, he was a near pro Modern Warfare 3 player.
He wasn't in a serious clan or fight in scrims or matches, but he was the No. 1 player in the world for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Kim Dotcom's gamer name was "MEGARACER", and whilst he has been in custody, Arazos took his place and knocked MEGARACER down to No. 2.
On New Years Eve, MEGARACER won the fight of No. 1 position, but Azaros soon overtook him with 9.09 million points on the MW3 leaderboard, leaving MEGARACER with just 9.05 million points. Azaros has 181,800 kills and 63,418 deaths, with a kill/death ration (KDR) of 2.87. MEGARACER on the other hand has 180,980 kills and 86,241 deaths backed up by a KDR of only 2.10.
1000 player FPS battle happening this Sunday, want to help create a World Record?
Yes, you read that right. Much Different, a Swedish-based, non-profit organisation have given themselves quite the goal. A 1000 player FPS battle, which isn't even a full game, but a browser-based FPS title.
It is called "Man Vs. Machine" and is a game that:
Demonstrates the possibilities of a new kind of technology, developed by MuchDifferent, for creating massive online games. The secret behind being able to handle a much larger amount of players in one First Person Shooter (FPS) battlefield lays in having several (in this case 8) single-threaded servers working together as one, thanks to PikkoServer.
RumorTT: Xbox 720/Next to be six times as powerful as current-gen consoles
It seems rumors of the next-gen Microsoft console is getting the most talk lately, with more news of the Xbox 720/Next console from "sources close to the project" that told IGN.
There were initial reports that the next-gen console from Microsoft would sport the new GCN (Graphics Core Next) architecture that is found in the newly-released AMD Radeon HD 7900-Series, but it seems that the console might tap some of the 6000-Series of GPUs.
IGN's sources claim it will use a Radeon HD 6670-like GPU, which offers support for DirectX 11, multi-display output, 3D and 1080p HD output. In "real terms", this would allow the next-gen Xbox's graphics processing power to be nearly six times as powerful as the Xbox 360, and just "20-percent greater performance than Nintendo's forthcoming console, the Wii U."
Battlefield 3's Community Manager says there is "new stuff" coming for Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3's Community Manager, Daniel Matros has said that there is "new stuff" coming for Battlefield 3. What would he mean by "new stuff", well, he has said that new content was being created, but the actual announcement won't be for a few weeks yet.
Matros tweeted:
New stuff happening as in 'new stuff happening in the studio today that will be announced later on. We´re a few weeks away from it but yes, it will be something people have been looking forward to.
AMD-powered tablet shows off Android 4.0
In a strange turn of events, AMD have shown off the MSI WindPad 110W tablet, where it was running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) at CES just recently. The WindPad 110W sports a Z-01 APU (two x86 cores at 1.0GHz, Radeon HD 6250 graphics).
2GB of RAM is also featured. Things didn't go too smoothly with the MSI WindPad 110W and Android 4.0, where occasional freezes were experienced, but considering its a work in progress, things should get better over time. For people that want to try this out on their MSI WindPad 110W, you can download the Android 4.0 for Brazos ISO, here.
If you do, let us know how you go with your MSI/AMD and Android 4.0 ventures, it will be most interesting. Remember that downloading an experimental update is just that, experimental. We cannot be blamed for any damage to your device, no matter how fun it seems to do.
Continue reading: AMD-powered tablet shows off Android 4.0 (full post)
Samsung updates firmware of SSD 830 Series, fixed BSOD issues
Samsung have today released two new firmware updates for their SSD 830 Series of solid-state drives. The first update, named CXM02B1Q, was released two weeks ago, but due to CES, no one really noticed it.
The release notes state that the update fixes a BSOD or hang issue when waking the computer up from hibernation mode. The 830 Series has been said to be one of the most reliable SATA 6Gb/s SSDs, with the issue not affecting all users, it still affects some. Samsung also claim that the update fixes partition issues with some enclosures and laptops.
The second update, named CXM03B1Q, was released last Thursday and it's identical to the earlier update, but sports improved compatibility and stability of the update tool. If you want to grab the latest firmware for the Samsung 830, download it here. As always, do so at your own risk and perform data backups beforehand.
Continue reading: Samsung updates firmware of SSD 830 Series, fixed BSOD issues (full post)
Skyrim 1.4 beta patch, lots and lots of improvements
Been obsessively playing Skyrim since launch like most people? Want to keep on that bleeding-edge, well, Bethesda have been kind enough to release the latest 1.4 beta patch for Skyrim and have made it available through Steam.
Bethesda have warned people of the update, with "apply the update at your own risk." In order to apply the update, you'll need to check your Steam settings then opt-in to the Skyrim beta listed there. Bethesda recommend backing up your save games just in case you lose them, and the resulting after effects of which would be complete rage black-out.
Details on how to apply the update are here. And below I've listed a full list of fixes and goodies, there's a lot:
Continue reading: Skyrim 1.4 beta patch, lots and lots of improvements (full post)