Western Digital unveil the Thunderbolt-powered My Book VelociRaptor Duo

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Aug 30, 2012 7:00 AM CDT

Western Digital are ready to shake up the external storage industry with their latest Thunderbolt-powered storage product, the My Book VelociRaptor Duo. The My Book VelociRaptor Duo comes with two 1TB 10,000RPM drives in RAID.

This means that the VelociRaptor Duo is capable of an astounding 760MB/sec write and 800MB/sec read. One of the better features that the new My Book VelociRaptor Duo sports is that it's user-serviceable. If you want to replace a drive, simply open the case, pull the existing drive out, and replace it with a new one.

The VelociRaptor Duo is also capable of daisy chaining with Thunderbolt, as the Thunderbolt technology has much more room to move within its architecture. USB 3.0 limits at around 350MB/sec of real-world performance, but Thunderbolt scales right up to 1GB/sec, meaning that you'd need to have some seriously fast internal storage to get close to that 1GB/sec mark.

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IBM announces next-gen mainframes, 'zEnterprise' sport 5.5GHz processors

IBM has bragging rights at the moment, with the world's fastest server chip clocking in at an incredible 5.5GHz. IBM's new zEnterprise EC12 mainframe cost the company $1 billion in development, and offers 25% more performance courtesy of their hexacore processors.

IBM's zEnterprise EC12 mainframes are available in multiple configurations, with as many as 120 cores available. All models will include transactional execution support, as well as Enhanced-DAT2, allowing 2GB page frames for more efficient utilization of huge quantities of RAM.

Another jewel of the newly-introduced zEnterprise EC12 mainframe is IBM's cryptographic co-processor, Crypto Express4S. It's quite special as its tamper-proof, providing privacy when handling transactions, and other similarly sensitive data. Crypto Express4S also offers multiple security configurations to support the requirements, and needs of bankers and other organizations handling sensitive data. This includes the information on smart passports and ID cards.

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Samsung introduces Jelly Bean-powered Galaxy Camera

Anthony Garreffa | Cameras, Printers & Scanners | Aug 30, 2012 12:31 AM CDT

I've been wondering for a while now, when we'd see Android-powered cameras. After all, we're seeing super-slim phones that have a million and one features on top of being a camera, but Samsung have answered my prayers with the Galaxy Camera.

Samsung's Galaxy Camera is a point-and-shoot digital snapper, sporting an insane quad-core 1.4Ghz processor, 8GB of internal storage expandable by SD card, and best of all, is powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Samsung's Galaxy Camera will have the ability of sharing the taken photos through Wi-Fi and 3G, to social networks, meaning it would be just as useful as a smart device.

Smartphones and tablets may sport 8-megapixel or better cameras, but we know they aren't the same quality as a point-and-shoot digital camera, and no way near the quality of a DSLR. Samsung's Galaxy Camera measures at 2.7 inches by 0.75 inches and weighs in at 10.7 ounces. The guts of it contain a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor capable of ISO settings between 100 and 3,200 that takes data from a 21x optical touch zoom lens.

Continue reading: Samsung introduces Jelly Bean-powered Galaxy Camera (full post)

President Obama does an AMA on Reddit, just secured a bunch of voters in the process

Anthony Garreffa | Current Affairs | Aug 29, 2012 8:36 PM CDT

President Obama has turned to popular 'first page of the Internet' site, Reddit, to do an AMA. If you haven't heard of an AMA before, I suggest you visit Reddit, and from now on in, goodbye, it was nice to know you. Reddit is a huge time waster, and is one of the best sites on the Internet.

Obama's staff must know this, and this is why he did an AMA. An AMA is "Ask Me Anything", and there are plenty of them on Reddit. Having Obama do one, well, took the site to a whole new level, causing some serious issues of traffic congestion for the site. Even the link to Obama's AMA is in "read-only mode" due to the heavy traffic the site is experiencing.

Obama answered questions for thirty minutes, where he tackled just a handful of them on his AMA. You'll notice on the picture that Obama is using an Apple MacBook Pro. Just thought I'd point that out.

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Unreal Engine 3 ported to Windows RT ARM-powered tablet

Trace Hagan | Gaming | Aug 29, 2012 6:20 PM CDT

Unreal Engine 3 has been ported to run on Windows RT ARM-powered devices, bring full gaming to the ARM market. The port was a joint effort between Epic and NVIDIA and was made available to developers last week. This means that some of your favorite Unreal Engine 3-powered games should be available on Windows RT tablets.

"The Unreal Engine 3-powered 'Epic Citadel' demonstration for Windows RT tablets implements the full DirectX 9 pipeline, with shaders and materials, all running beautifully on Tegra 3," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. "By porting the full engine as opposed to a modified mobile version, NVIDIA and Epic have made it easy for UE3 developers around the world to bring their best content to Windows RT, Windows 8 and NVIDIA's Tegra 3 processor. Windows RT code is available to licensees from Epic now and we're excited to see the great games they develop with it."

The nice part about this port is that it is the full version that has been ported. It's not some stripped down version, which is good for developers and consumers. It makes porting games easier for developers and it allows consumers to receive the full version of the game and in a much shorter time frame than would otherwise have been required.

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New Java security exploit means that you should probably disable Java

Trace Hagan | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Aug 29, 2012 5:27 PM CDT

A new vulnerability has been found in the latest version of Java. The vulnerability is a rather massive hole and users with Java installed in their browser should likely disable it right now to prevent themselves from being infected. Have I scared you enough? But wait, I haven't even told you the problem!

The new security hole allows malicious people to break into users' computers and install nasty malware and viruses. This security hole fits into a category of security flaws known as a "zero-day" threat because it is the first time it has been found. Due to this, there currently exists no way to fix the problem or defend against it, other than disabling Java.

The vulnerabilities were actually found back in April, according to a few sources, and they reportedly told Oracle about the problem. However, Oracle had decided to hold off until the October patch release date to do anything about them. Now, the vulnerabilities have been integrated into BlackHole, a hacking tool.

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Logitech launches line of audio products, called Logitech UE

Trace Hagan | Audio, Sound & Speakers | Aug 29, 2012 3:28 PM CDT

The headline for Logitech's product launch promises big things: "Pure Undiluted Music, Anytime, Anywhere." So, how are they going to do that and what products are in this new line? The press release highlights six new products ranging from boomboxes to headphones, so the line is quite expansive.

"Today's fans have their music with them wherever they go - they carry it with them on their tablet or smartphone," said Rory Dooley, Logitech senior vice president of music. "But no matter how or where you choose to store or access your favorite music, this lineup is the best way for you to experience it. Whether you want to be completely immersed in your favorite song, to share music with friends, or to discover new favorites, Logitech UE is the clear choice."

Logitech UE Boombox

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Official Note II specifications leaked ahead of proper announcement

Trace Hagan | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Aug 29, 2012 1:26 PM CDT

It seems as though no company can keep a secret anymore. Samsung has just suffered a leak, albeit only a few hours prior the official announcement. But, be that as it may, we are going to share with you the official specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, thanks to PocketNow who obtained the press release.

As rumored, and previously thought, the new Samsung Galaxy Note II will feature a 5.5-inch 1280x720 screen, which means it will have a true 16:9 aspect ratio. The screen will be similar to the original, both in resolution and in type--the new one is the same HD Super AMOLED panel. Along with the bigger screen, the Galaxy Note II will receive a 1.6GHz quad-core CPU (type unknown at this time).

It will also feature 2GB of RAM, an 8 MP camera on the rear, and a 1.9 MP camera on the front. Better yet, the new Note II will feature a battery that has more capacity than the original--3,100mAh vs 2,500mAh--while the device will be slimmer. However, the device ends up weighing 2 grams more than the original, big deal.

Continue reading: Official Note II specifications leaked ahead of proper announcement (full post)

Flipboard's user base expands rapidly, now sees 20 million flippers in the wild

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | Aug 29, 2012 5:28 AM CDT

Flipboard is an incredible app, I have it installed on my iPad, and my Android phone, and use it daily. Once I'm done with my day job, and TweakTown work, and I've spent my time my wife and my beautiful daughter, I relax on the lounge and open up the Flipboard app.

It's just so easy, and this ease of use has allowed it to expand its userbase in the last eight months, very, very rapidly. Last December saw the newsreading app reach 5 million users, but in those eight months, they've seen an explosion of 15 million more users, now sitting pretty at a total of 20 million users, and counting.

Flipboard started off as an iPad-exclusive, where it enjoyed eighteen months on iOS. It launched on the iPhone on December where it grew by one million users in just a week. In late-June, we saw the arrival of an Android-based version of Flipboard, as well as international editions with region-specific content landing in China, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, and Spain. Flipboard have also not stopped adding features into the app, including audio, Google+ and content from The New York Times.

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Two special editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will be released later this year

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Aug 29, 2012 4:26 AM CDT

It looks like there will be two Call of Duty: Black Ops II special editions to be released this year, sans Call of Duty: Elite premium subscriptions. Late last year when Modern Warfare 3 came out, they featured a twelve month subscription, providing one year worth of DLC content. Black Ops II flips this, meaning you'll have to get it separately.

The two packages are known as the 'Hardened Edition', and the 'Care Package'. The Hardened Edition comes with a soundtrack CD, steelbook case, Xbox Live avatar prop and zombie avatar consume, two collectable coins, and the Nuketown 2025 map for in-game play. The Care Package is pretty damn sweet, sporting an actual remote control MQ-27 Dragonfire Drone and two PlayStation 3 themes, as well as the soundtrack, case, coins and a massive, awesome looking crate-like box to keep it all in.

Which pack would you pick up if you were to buy Black Ops II? The Care Package looks pretty awesome, and I'm not a fan of the latest versions of Call of Duty, yet I'm somehow tempted to get it, just because it looks so damn cool. It has a damned remote control Drone! Come on!

Continue reading: Two special editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 will be released later this year (full post)