ASUS shows off its new world's slimmest ZenBook, the UX305
If you're interested in something light, small and portable to take along on business trips of for pleasure, ASUS showcased its new ZenBook UX305 alongside the ZenFone 2 extravaganza recently in Manhattan.
Featuring a 13.3-inch QHD+ screen, an Intel Core M processor, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD to round it all off, ASUS claims this model weighs in at only 2.64lbs and measures just 0.48 inches thick.
The IPS multi-touch display will run at 3200 x 1800 pixels and supports wide viewing angles which compliments the three SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, a bundled USB-to-Ethernet adapter and a mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter all located in the overall package.
Continue reading: ASUS shows off its new world's slimmest ZenBook, the UX305 (full post)
Google will soon address the high RAM usage on Chrome
Google knows that its Chrome browser is a serious consumer of RAM, but the development team is reportedly very aware of this, and are working on lowering Chrome's RAM consumption.
Thanks to a Reddit AMA session, a Chrome for Android engineer said: "We are actively working on reducing battery usage and we are looking into when Chrome is in the foreground and in the background. Since its inception Chrome has been focusing on security and performance of the web across all supported platforms. Performance sometimes has come at the cost of resource usage, but given the importance of the mobile platform this is one of the top things we are looking into".
Google has a serious focus on mobile, but it is not forgetting desktop users at all. As for the desktop side of things, Google added: "We are profiling Chrome to improve our start-up speed and proactively fighting memory bloat and memory leaks. For example, this year the first gesture latency and mean input latency has decreased steadily".
Continue reading: Google will soon address the high RAM usage on Chrome (full post)
Silverstone unveils new FRZ01 slim form factor chassis
With the marketing tagline boasting superior thermodynamics and construction, Silverstone has set the bar high for its new Fortress series FTZ01 slim form factor chassis.
Featuring a slim slot-loading optical drive slot, space for two 2.5" SSDs, one 2.5" HDD slot, an aluminum unibody frame and support for video cards up to 13 inches in length, this case can be cooled by two 120mm bottom and one 120mm rear fan.
Measuring in at 376mm (W) x 107mm (H) x 351mm (D) coupled with a 14 liter capacity, this case also contains two USB 3.0 front ports and two front audio jacks. Supporting Mini-ITX and Mini-DTX motherboards, the FTZ01 is suitable for a HTPC or home mini-server project.
Continue reading: Silverstone unveils new FRZ01 slim form factor chassis (full post)
ARM to shrink down to just 10nm with its Ares SoC in 2016
Samsung is currently sitting at 14nm technology inside of its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge smartphones, but we won't stay there for long if ARM has any say in the matter.
ARM is reporting set for the Ares core to hit just 10nm, something that will "reach smartphone and tablet makers by the end of next year". Ares will be here first with 10nm, but ARM is already teasing its successor: Prometheus. Prometheus will consume just 600-750mW of power, but Linley Gwenapp from analyst firm The Linley Group, believes that Ares will still have a place in the world.
Gwenapp said: "Ares core could reach smartphone and tablet makers by the end of next year. ARM is already well advanced on a next-generation high-end CPU that will follow the A72. In fact, this project is so far along that the A72 team could 'steal' some portions of the next-generation design. For example, a new floating-point unit reduces latency by 33%. The prefetcher, also from the next-gen design, improves the data-cache hit rate to boost performance. The next-gen branch predictor reduces mispredictions by 20%".
Continue reading: ARM to shrink down to just 10nm with its Ares SoC in 2016 (full post)
Xiaomi laying down ground work to begin US, European invasion
Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has seen great success in China, Brazil, India, and other emerging markets - but wants to try its hand at taking over the United States and Europe.
The company has launched an online trial to its Mi Store, with a small number of accessories, wearables and headphones available to Western shoppers. Analysts believe this is the first step for Xiaomi to prepare its smartphones and tablets to launch in new markets.
Previously, Xiaomi officials said it was focused on releasing its low-priced electronics to emerging markets. However, that didn't mean key mobile markets would be ignored, as the Chinese company wants to take its time before trying to launch into established - and lucrative - markets outside its core locations.
Continue reading: Xiaomi laying down ground work to begin US, European invasion (full post)
Ex-Naughty Dog developer 'two more console generations for CG visuals'
With the current generation consoles getting close to their two year anniversaries, we're still not seeing 1080p 60FPS gameplay in most AAA titles, let alone "CG quality visuals". But, according to ex-Naughty Dog developer and Filmic Worlds' founder John Hable, we're around two generations away from CG quality visuals in games.
Hable talked with GamingBolt, where he said: "Honestly, it is hard to say. I think it will be a very long time. The current crop of consoles is much better than the previous generation, but the trailers are getting better too. If you really want to hit that level of quality then you need staggering triangle counts with really long shaders. Photoreal global illumination is very easy offline but very difficult in realtime".
He continued, saying that it will be another two console cycles before we see 4K hitting CG quality, where he said: "I don't have a good answer for you, but my guess would be longer than you think. One more console generation seems too quick. Maybe in two more generations? That would be PS6 and the 5th gen Xbox? And if we need to render in 4k then add another generation which puts us at PS7 and 6th gen Xbox. It'll be a while. Of course, they will never fully line up because of the content costs. Trailers and feature-length movies simply have a much higher budget per second than what the full game can afford. This difference is more than an order of magnitude in some cases".
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Eurocom announces its Armadillo 2 Ultrabook, supports up to 32GB RAM
Often plagued by slow operating procedures, Ultrabooks have shown that a quick start-up process and a thin design isn't the be all and end all of computing technology.
Setting out to help change this trend is Eurocom, recently announcing its Armadillo 2 Ultrabook sporting up to 32GB of memory through two 16GB RAM modules. Coupled with an Intel i5-5200U Broadwell CPU and 2TB of storage space, bundled with Intel HD graphics 5500 and in a complete package completed by a brushed aluminum exterior weighing in at only 1.8kg and measuring 2.1cm thick, this Ultrabook really looks like a winner.
The 2TB of storage comes through a mSATA drive bay and one 2.5-inch 7mm HDD/SSD slot which is kept churning by the 7-hour battery life provided by a 44WH battery.
Continue reading: Eurocom announces its Armadillo 2 Ultrabook, supports up to 32GB RAM (full post)
Aussie cloud service gets the tick to serve its government
In a world of leaked information and hacking sprees, Australian cloud services provider Macquarie Telecom has been the first ever of its kind to be approved on the government's list of providers thanks to its performance in the security standards testing.
With this accreditation approved by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), Macquarie Telecom's Managing Director Aiden Tudehope stated "the ASD was detailed and thorough and Macquarie is proud that out hard work has been recognized in this way." Tudehope added that the motive for this accreditation is quite reasonable as "our analysis shows governments are increasingly looking for a range of cloud computing services for different data classification use cases."
Further privatization of Government services can be good or bad depending on which way the situation is assessed and it's up to you to decide if you're happy with this movement or not. Either way, congratulations Macquarie Telecom for being the first of a kind.
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Two Intel Xeon CPUs and a TV screen inside this PC, because why not?
Thermaltake has been promoting its global modding competition like crazy recently, with seven modders chosen from countries around the world to represent their homeland in a 'mod-off'.
Bringing his best to the table is the Australian modder Stuart Tonks, showcasing his build which features a dual-CPU laden ASUS Z9PE-D8 WS motherboard coupled with three ASUS NVIDIA STRIX GeForce GTX 980's and no less than three SSDs.
If that's not impressive enough, the full Thermaltake watercooling setup within is finished off with a built-in 24" 1080p touchscreen.
Continue reading: Two Intel Xeon CPUs and a TV screen inside this PC, because why not? (full post)
Female-only gaming tournaments continue strong with $15k for CS:GO
Somewhat debated female-only leagues and competitions are still going along strong with ESWC announcing a $15,000 prize pool for its CS:GO female contingent of the upcoming event.
Held on July 9-12 and boasting a $75,000 male CS:GO tournament, the old 3DMAX squad is the fan favorite to take out the female event while on the search for a new home as their organization packed up last month.
Four of the competing teams will be decided through an open qualifier for European and North American teams (two each), alongside an application to decide the last three placings - one of which will be French.
Continue reading: Female-only gaming tournaments continue strong with $15k for CS:GO (full post)