Shhh... NZXT launches its next-generation silent PC chassis, the H630
Last week the team over at NZXT released a microsite that teased of the upcoming arrival of a new PC chassis. Many, including myself, speculated that the new case would in fact be the NZXT H3, and we were right, but wrong at the same time. This morning NZXT announced the launch of the H630 silent PC chassis, the next generation in the H series of quiet PC cases.
The H630 is engineered to offer comprehensive liquid cooling support in a clean and silent package, the new H is capable of supporting 360mm radiators in both the top and front positions without any modifications. In addition, the H630 allows for maximum airflow without the removal of sound dampening material.
Alongside the launch of NZXT's H630, the company is also launching a completely redesigned website which will better showcase NZXT's products. The H630 will be available at major hardware retailers in the coming weeks for $149.99 and comes skinned in either white or black.
Continue reading: Shhh... NZXT launches its next-generation silent PC chassis, the H630 (full post)
Google launches interactive YouTube Trends Map, shows most popular videos across the US in real-time
This morning Google launched a new feature on YouTube called Trends Map, which displays the top trending videos across the US. The YouTube Trends Map is updated in real-time and the data can be broken down by gender or age of the viewer.
The map shows a mass of small thumbnails which represent the trending video for that particular region. While the accuracy of the overlay may not be that good, I would say that the actual data is very precise and could be used as a solid resource in reports. To the right is a list of the top trending videos in the US at the moment, and when hovering over a thumbnail, some quick info about the video is displayed, including some country wide popularity statistics.
The user interface is very basic at the moment, and it is unclear if Google plans on continuing to improve it or not, but the data sets that are presented are sure to capture the interest of marketers and video makers. As of this posting the trailer for True Blood Season 6 is holding the #1 trending spot in the country with a teaser of The Clood's upcoming EP coming in second place. Interestingly enough, True Blood sweeps the board across the age ranges, the 13-17 age bracket is topped by a Family Guy trailer.
Seagate enters the SSD market with client and next-gen enterprise SSD's
The day is finally here, when Seagate enter the solid state drive arena, in a big way. Seagate have just announced their first client SSD and their next-generation enterprise SSD's.
The first SSD is the Seagate 600 SSD, which includes the usual SATA 6Gbps standard. The Seagate 600 SSD is available in multiple z-heights which includes an industry-first, diminutive 5mm-high drive which makes it perfect for ultra-slim devices. The Seagate 600 SSD is available at up to 480GB.
The second SSD in Seagate's announcement is the Seagate 600 Pro SSD is a low-power server and storage solution, perfect for cloud system builders, hyperscale datacenters, cloud service providers, content delivery networks, and virtualized environments. The Seagate 600 Pro SSD features the industry's highest IOPS/watt to improve system performance, as well as reduce power consumption.
Grand Theft Auto V teased on PC again, listed on German gaming retailers website
Grand Theft Auto V has been announced for consoles, but PC gamers have been left to the side with this game, or have they? We've heard the rumors before, but now there's a German retail that is listing the PC version of GTA V.
This could be a simple error, but both Amazon Germany and GamesOnly.at have listed the PC version of GTA V, with the latter actually displaying the Games for Windows box art for GTA V. GamesOnly.at has also listed the Special Edition of GTA V, but has been removed, someone on NeoGaf pulled the details, which should see the GTA V: Special Edition include:
3DMark gets updated, fixes multi-GPU issues and adds Ice Storm Extreme to Windows Mobile devices
Futuremark have updated their benchmarking software, 3DMark, to version 1.1.0 which includes a bunch of fixes. The biggest fix is to multi-GPU setups, which had issues with three- and four-way GPU's.
Previously, 3DMark wasn't returning the right scores to those multi-GPU setups, but Futuremark has said that while they thought it was a minor issue, it "turned out to be far more complicated and we are truly sorry that it has taken so long to fix". The updated benchmark also includes Ice Storm Extreme, which is a more intense version of Ice Storm which is designed for mobile devices.
This test now allows you to compare Ice Storm and Ice Storm Extreme scores between Android and Windows devices.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 coming soon, with DirectX 12?
CPU-Z validations is great for a few things, first and foremost for validating your extreme overclock, but sometimes there are some leaks through the cracks and we find out some juicy goss on the upcoming next-gen GPU.
As you can see above, there's a tease of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 780 GPU, and while that should be enough to satisfy those GPU urges you feel, there's something else that is intriguing. Under the 'GPU Type' is 'DirectX Version', which states '12.0', or DirectX 12. Currently even Windows 8 is still in DirectX 11, and we have no news of a next-gen DirectX right now.
This is where we tumble down the rabbit hole, let's fantasize that this is real - DirectX 12 is coming. Why are AMD saying DirectX 12 isn't coming, considering they're working with all three big consoles makers - Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony - with Radeon GPU's in their consoles. AMD are working on the next-gen Xbox, which could feature DirectX 12, and Microsoft and AMD don't want to talk about it.
Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 coming soon, with DirectX 12? (full post)
Aereo attempts to stop second CBS lawsuit by filing complaint
We've followed the Aereo legal battles for several weeks now, mainly because we feel it's an interesting new service that can bridge the gap between Hulu and Netflix and TV. CBS alleges that Aereo is infringing on their copyright by illegally rebroadcasting their signal. Courts in New York have ruled that this isn't the case.
Ahead of Aereo's launch in Boston, the company has filed a complaint against CBS to keep it from filing lawsuit in the new market. CBS has vowed to file another lawsuit in Boston, saying "we will sue, and stealing our signal will be found to be illegal in Boston, just as it will be everywhere else." Unfortunately for CBS, this hasn't been the case.
Aereo's spokeswoman Virginia Lam:
Continue reading: Aereo attempts to stop second CBS lawsuit by filing complaint (full post)
BitTorrent announces Sync Alpha has already synced 1 petabyte of data
BitTorrent Sync is proving both popular and speedy. BitTorrent, the company behind the new syncing software that relies on the BitTorrent protocol, has announced that Sync has surpassed one petabyte of data synchronized between machines. This is an impressive feat considering that the software was only released publicly on April 23.
BitTorrent says that each day Sync sees over 70 terabytes of data. To put some of these numbers on context, BitTorrent says that the Internet Archive houses around 10 petabytes of data. This means Sync should surpass the Internet Archive in less than a year, provided the sync rate stays the same. However, it's likely the rate will increase as more people adopt the software..
In most ways, Sync is just like Dropbox except for the lack of central storage. However, one could easily set up Sync with a central repository on a remote server and basically have a Dropbox clone. Sync is turning into a great tool and I can't wait to see where it goes when it becomes a stable release.
Continue reading: BitTorrent announces Sync Alpha has already synced 1 petabyte of data (full post)
EA gets exclusive rights to develop 'Star Wars' games
In a move that will likely upset numerous Star Wars fans, Disney has entered into an exclusive, multi-year deal with Elextronic Arts. The deal provides EA exclusive rights to develop future Star Wars games based upon the franchise Disney acquired from LucasFilms for over $4 billion.
According to EA's Frank Gibeau, all of EA's future games will be "entirely original." They will feature new stories and gameplay, though they may occasionally borrow from the films Disney is working on. DICE, Visceral, and BioWare will be the game developers behind these new games.
Gibeau said that all future Star Wars games would be based upon the Frostbtie 3 engine, which will be powering Battlefield 4. Disney has retained the rights to publish titles in the "mobile, social, tablet, and online game categories."
Continue reading: EA gets exclusive rights to develop 'Star Wars' games (full post)
GameStop ends PlayStation 2 trade-ins as of June 1, used stock to be sold 'for several months'
If you still want to trade-in your aging PlayStation 2 game console, now would be the time to do it. Ahead of the PlayStation 4 launch, GameStop has confirmed that they will stop accepting PlayStation 2 games, accessories, or consoles for trade-in. The hard deadline is June 1, so you better get all your old gaming equipment to GameStop soon.
We can confirm that as of June 1st we will no longer be accepting the PS2 console or its related product for trades. We know that the 12 year old system is a popular one and for many gamers, GameStop is the only place to find a great selection of its games. We will still offer a wide selection of the PS2 hardware, accessories and games in many of our stores and online for several months, based on remaining stock from trades.
We are very excited about the upcoming PS4 and are making room in our stores for it and other new platforms expected this fall.