AMD refreshes its 'Never Settle Forever' Game bundle program

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh | Gaming | Apr 21, 2014 7:03 PM CDT

AMD has refreshed its 'Never Settle Forever' game bundles which includes games for AMD Radeon R7 Series to even AMD Radeon R9 295 x2. At the same time, AMD will also be including entry-level GPUs for its game bundle programs: R7 250x, R7 250 and R7 240 GPUs.

The newer buyers of AMD Radeon cards can receive up to three free games that AMD provides via the card's AMD Radeon Reward Coupon. As they have done so in the past, the choices of games paired with the respective video cards are divided into Gold, Silver and Bronze.

One of the games that will be added is Square Enix's upcoming title 'Murdered: Soul Suspect'.

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Check out the world of Game of Thrones in this new interactive map

Charles Gantt | Celebrities & Entertainment | Apr 21, 2014 4:47 PM CDT

I wont attempt to cover up the fact that Game of Thrones has surpassed Loard of the Rings as my favorite book to film series. I enjoy it so much that I have no only read all of the books several times over, but have watched the HBO series a few times as well. One thing that has always confused me though, is where each location lies in relation to Kings Landing. A new Google Maps style map of Westeros and Essos not only shows us where things are but the paths each key character took during the series.

While this may not be the first Game of Thrones map that has popped up on the internet, it is by far the best looking and most interactive. A quick note should be tossed in that unless you are 100-percent current on the series or the book, checking out this map could spoil the entire story for you, so please click the source link below only if you dare see things you have not yet seen.

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Ford shows off 2015 Mustang GT line lock feature

Shane McGlaun | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Apr 21, 2014 12:32 PM CDT

Ford is getting ready to launch the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang soon and this is one of the most significant redesign of the Pony car since it was introduced. For the first time, all models of the Mustang will have independent rear suspension. Ford is also giving the car some new tech on the inside as well.

We know that the Mustang GT will have launch control to help people launch the car without excess wheel spin. We also know that the car will have the first factory line lock in the industry. A line lock is a feature that locks the front brakes of the car so the driver can do a burnout.

Line locks have been around for a long time, but typically, you have to add them in the aftermarket. Ford's tool will let the driver step on the brake pedal and only lock the front brakes when activated. The driver can then use the right foot for the throttle and do a burnout until the tires roast off the car if they want. Ford says that this feature is for the racetrack only, but you can bet it will be used for parking lot or driveway burnouts around the world.

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Weibo reveals ASUS' Z97 Motherboard lineups

Roshan Ashraf Shaikh | Motherboards | Apr 21, 2014 12:27 PM CDT

Information about ASUS motherboard with upcoming Intel Z97 Chipset was leaked in a China based website. According to the information, ASUS is preparing to release six new motherboards with LGA 1150 socket.

The motherboard models are Maximus VII Hero, Maximus VII Gene, Z97 Sabertooth Mark 1, Z97 Deluxe, Z97-WS and Maximus VII Ranger.

The information also provides the specifications and features that ASUS have implemented on the respected models of the motherboards. As one would expect, the enthusiast class motherboards will be with an array of overclocking features.

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Nokia and Microsoft to finalize acquisition deal on April 25th, 2014

Charles Gantt | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 21, 2014 11:50 AM CDT

In just four days, one of the biggest names in mobile communication will cease to exist as we know it for ever. Today Nokia announced that it would be finalizing the acquisition deal with Microsoft on April 25th. This deal began back in September of 2013 when Microsoft announced that it had begun the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services division for $7.2 billion, and would take over Nokia's mobile phone business in 2014.

"The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones. In addition, we look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones," Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft says that in the deal, it will acquire all of Nokia's Devices and Services division, the Nokia.com website, all of Nokia's social media assets, and Microsoft will take on all the employees in Nokia's Chief Technology Office as well as 21 employees in China. Microsoft will not take possession of Nokia's South Korean manufacturing facility though despite previous reporting that it would. The new Microsoft owned entity will most likely be called, Microsoft Mobile.

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10Gbps Wi-Fi is coming, will provide over 1GB/sec over the air

Last week, Quantenna Communications teased the world with something it is calling "10G Wi-Fi". This new Wi-Fi technology will have support for data transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps, and a much longer range than current Wi-Fi technology.

Stanford Professor of Electrical Engineering Andrea Goldsmith said of Quantenna's new tech: "Quantenna's 8x8 architecture with adaptive beamforming demonstrates that the 'massive MIMO' promise of significantly higher throughput, robustness, and reduced interference can be realized in practice. This architecture will also significantly enhance the capabilities of MU-MIMO, allowing it to support interference-free transmission to many more devices simultaneously. These technology advances will transform the landscape of applications and devices that Wi-Fi can support. As we move into an era of exponentially-growing video usage and the Internet of Things, the 8x8 architecture and MU-MIMO technologies will become essential in all high-performance Wi-Fi devices".

This is the kind of technology we need as 4K (and higher) starts penetrating into our homes, where we're streaming and blasting out super high-res videos and data everywhere, all at once.

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Wireless power is close, 40 smartphones powered simultaneously at 5m

Wireless power is something I simply can't live without, but I can only charge one or two devices at once. But, over in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, scientists have used something they call the Dipole Coil Resonant System to charge 40 smartphones simultaneously, even if the power source is up to 5m away.

We already know about MIT's Coupled Magnetic Resonance System (CMRS) which was unveiled in 2007, which used a magnetic field in order to charge devices - but it had an envelope of 2.1m. CMRS had some major technical limitations for commercialization, most of which haven't been solved: "a rather complicated coil structure (composed of four coils for input, transmission, reception, and load); bulky-size resonant coils; high frequency (in a range of 10 MHz) required to resonate the transmitter and receiver coils, which results in low transfer efficiency; and a high Q factor of 2,000 that makes the resonant coils very sensitive to surroundings such as temperature, humidity, and human proximity".

Chun T. Rim, a Professor of Nuclear & Quantum Engineering at KAIST, along with his team, developed the "Dipole Coil Resonant System" or DCRS. This system is for an extended range of inductive power transfer, at up to 5 meters between transmitter and receiver coils. Professor Rim's solution to CMRS' problems are all but solved with DCRS.

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Sony has great things to say about DayZ when talking about H1Z1

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 19, 2014 8:00 PM CDT

Sony Online Entertainment President, John Smedley, participated in a Reddit AMA, where he talked about the similarities between the upcoming MMO from the company H1Z1, and the already popular DayZ.

He said: "Not going to give some politically correct dodgy b.s. answer. H1Z1 is a survival in a Zombie Apocalypse game. So is DayZ. They have made a brilliant game (first I might add). So sure. We're another Zombie Apocalypse game. Call it what it is. But our goal is to make ours fun, accessible, hard core and super, super deep".

Smedley continued: "This is our take on the Zombie Apocalypse with a lot of friends and hopefully some great enemies both living and dead. We're proud to be up front and say we love DayZ and the job they've done and we hope they enjoy what we make, too". H1Z1 does have quite a big difference when held up against DayZ, where it will allow gamers to create "structures, forts and towns" to stop the zombies from coming in. H1Z1 will also feature "a deep in-game economy that is heavily dependent on crafting. Players will be able to become manufacturers ... sell bullets, arrows ... etc. The in-game economy will be entirely player driven".

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Heat-seeking drones are getting the 420 on weed in the UK

Anthony Garreffa | Drones | Apr 19, 2014 4:20 AM CDT

Technology isn't just helping the NSA track every move you do online, but it is also helping criminals, too. In the UK, criminals are using heat-sensing drones to find weed farms, after which they'll go in and take it all in a heist.

Growing weed is obviously illegal, but you're not exactly going to report that your farm of weed is gone. This leads to violence, with a thug talking to Halesowen News, admitting that his crew steals from, and imposes a tax on their targets because "the people growing [weed] are not gangsters". Local members of Parliament are reportedly not in the know, but Tom Watson, who is the Chair of a Parliamentary group on drones had something to say about the weed-heisting using drones.

He said: "This ... story shows the proliferation of drone technology which can be used for both good and bad".

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OnePlus One, a powerhouse smartphone alternative for under $400

In a world dominated by the Galaxy S5 and iPhone, most other devices that aren't from the big players on the market don't really get a mention. Well, the OnePlus One smartphone might change all of that.

The company has said that the One smartphone would be "the most beautifully designed handset ever," which are some mighty big words. The OnePlus One packs some flagship hardware, starting with a 5.5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm's brand new Snapdragon 801 SoC clocked at 2.5GHz, 3GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera thanks to the Sony Exmor camera sensor, a 5-megapixel snapper up front, LTE Category 4 modem with global LTE connectivity, a 3100mAh battery and 16-64GB of on-board flash storage.

In terms of specs, the OnePlus One smartphone sounds like a winner. On the software side of things we have CynanogenMod, which is a nice touch as it's not just the same old Android + UI skin like everyone else does. The OnePlus One will be released into 16 markets including: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States. Where it will customers over, is its price: $400.

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