ASUS VA278Q, 2560x1440, IPS-based panel

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Jan 16, 2012 1:24 AM CST

Last week at CES, ASUS showed off a new monitor designed for professional artists and photographers, the ASUS VA278Q. The VA278Q is a 27-inch, sporting an LED backlight, IPS-based panel, a native resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, and 178/178-degree viewing angles.

ASUS' widescreen includes a "Smart Contrast Ratio" of 80,000,000:1, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity, a stand enabling tilt, pivot, swivel, and height adjustments. This is something most monitors don't have, which is something professional users crave for.

Splendid Video Intelligence Technology also provides six pre-set modes which are Theater, Scenery, Gaming, Night View, sRGB, and Standard, these "optimize colors and image fidelity for onscreen content". No information on pricing or availability of the VA278Q.

Continue reading: ASUS VA278Q, 2560x1440, IPS-based panel (full post)

The Simpsons make a joke about Steve Jobs

Anthony Garreffa | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Jan 16, 2012 12:29 AM CST

I don't know how this can be found offensive, maybe it should be taken the other way: as a tribute. Steve Jobs was such a huge influence on society itself through the gadgets he saw released, that he makes it into one of the most iconic TV shows in history: The Simpsons.

In this weeks episode, titled "Politically Inept, with Homer Simpson", Homer is being interviewed on TV, where along the bottom, the news ticker reads "Steve Jobs unveils iGhost".

In this episode, Homer becomes a Glenn Beck type, after Bart uploads a video of him having an Alec Baldwin-ish aeroplane meltdown moment. During an interview on Fox News, the news ticker flows and shows up some funny, but fake headlines: "Europe puts Greece on eBay", "Congress postpones end of world to 2013", "Satan tweets support for Santorum", and the big one, "Steve Jobs unveils iGHOST".

Continue reading: The Simpsons make a joke about Steve Jobs (full post)

Vodafone releases My Vodafone app for iOS, Android, lets you monitor your data usage

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | Jan 16, 2012 12:08 AM CST

Vodafone have started 2012 off with an app release of "My Vodafone" for iOS and Android-based devices. The app lets you monitor your monthly data usage, so you don't go over your data cap and get hit with excess usage charges.

Post-paid (12-, 24-month, or month-to-month) Vodafone customers with a My Vodafone username and password get access to the full suite of functionality in the application. Pre-paid customers can download the app, but to access your account services on pre-paid, the app will link you directly to the mobile version of My Vodafone, where you can log-in.

The app features are:

Continue reading: Vodafone releases My Vodafone app for iOS, Android, lets you monitor your data usage (full post)

North Korea's nuclear plans spotted, thanks satellite pictures

Anthony Garreffa | Current Affairs | Jan 15, 2012 10:18 PM CST

We still don't have pictures or video of Osama bin Laden, but hey, it's OK to dump pictures of another countries Nuclear facility, right? Well, its now known the length of North Korea's progress in building a [gasp] weapon of mass destruction. You know, the ones we still haven't found in the War on Terror after trillions of dollars spent and countless thousand killed and millions displaced.

North Korea has actually done quite a bit of work, but not as much as NK's official claims state. There are various photos dated between June of 2009 and November of last year, which show North Korea's enrichment facility and light water reactors. You can see in these photos that the two aforementioned bits of the puzzle have almost reached completion. Once that's done, it's time to have its internals placed inside. The speed at which North Korea's reached this point, has analysts concerned. Below is a quote from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:

Was the seismic analysis of the reactor site sufficiently rigorous? Did the regulatory authorities have the skills and independence required to license this reactor in such a short time period? And do Yongbyon [the construction site] specialists have sufficient experience with the very demanding materials requirements for the internal reactor components, including the pressure vessel, steam generator, piping and fuel-cladding materials?

Continue reading: North Korea's nuclear plans spotted, thanks satellite pictures (full post)

Hackers continue attacking Israel, begins to get serious

Anthony Garreffa | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Jan 15, 2012 9:26 PM CST

Last Friday, a group of purportedly Gazan hackers defaced Israel's Fire and Rescue Services website. They didn't just do any old hack, but added a "death to Israel" message on the website and a tweaked picture of Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, where they superimposed foot prints over his face.

Ayalon is the public official responsible for a strongly worded statement denouncing hacking, likening it to terrorism and threatening (bad move) that:

Israel has active capabilities for striking at those who are trying to harm it, and no agency or hacker will be immune from retaliatory action.

Continue reading: Hackers continue attacking Israel, begins to get serious (full post)

Diablo 3 is coming to consoles

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jan 15, 2012 7:19 PM CST

Diablo 3 hitting the consoles has been a rumor for quite a while now, and unfortunately, that rumor is now fact. Blizzard admitted last year that they were experimenting with a console version of Diablo 3, but according to a tweet from a Blizzard community manager, Diablo 3 on consoles is all but confirmed.

A fan on Twitter asked "can you confirm or deny Diablo 3 coming to consoles?" with community manager "Bashiok" responding with "Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo 3 console project". No more details or specifics were unveiled.

Now that news, I don't mind. As long as the game isn't like all other multi-platform releases where the PC controls suffer because of the slow movement of console controllers, and the slow response time of TVs, etc. But when Blizzard first revealed they were looking at bringing RPGs to consoles, director Jay Wilson actually said the game felt better in some ways with a controller, as opposed to a mouse and keyboard.

Continue reading: Diablo 3 is coming to consoles (full post)

ioSafe Thinks TweakTown is Great and the Real Story Behind Tesla Testing

Chris Ramseyer | Storage | Jan 15, 2012 4:10 AM CST

CES 2012 - With the CES attendees safe at home we can now tell you the full story behind the ioSafe Check Yo Self Before You Wreck Yo Self Event. By now you've certainly seen the 8 foot tall tesla coil that put on an amazing display. The tesla testing was actually part of an interactive magic show. The ioSafe Rugged Portable Thunderbolt drive did take several direct hits from the simulated lightening but the results were as expected, the drive survived and held the data we put on.

The drive was filled with several documents and other files, one you can see here. The drive was then blasted, we were there and smelled the ions in the air. The data survived.

What you haven't heard yet is what happened next. To protect all of our electronics equipment from the charged air our backpacks and cell phones were placed in a protective cage that was grounded. Being ioSafe, the company who delivered the first waterproof data backup system none of us thought anything about the giant tub of water sitting close by. Dunking drives in water is actually on the tame side with ioSafe.

Continue reading: ioSafe Thinks TweakTown is Great and the Real Story Behind Tesla Testing (full post)

RunCore Shows PCIe and Marvell at CES 2012

Chris Ramseyer | Storage | Jan 15, 2012 3:30 AM CST

CES 2012 - RunCore made the trip to CES this year and brought with them a glimpse of next generation SSD technology.

With Samsung and Apple soaking up supply of Samsung 20nm NAND flash, Toshiba 24nm in limited supply and SandForce staying quiet for the first half of the year, companies are turning to Marvell to bring something fresh to the SSD market. RunCore is no exception and they will have a new Marvell high performance SSD on the market soon. With speed of around 550MB/s read and 450MB/s write we are starting to get excited to see more of these drives.

RunCore is in several different markets and over the coming years the company will grow by a large margin. Here we see two new SSD-on-chip designs where the controller and the flash is built into the same package that reduces power and heat. These products will be built into military systems that need high speed in places where space is limited.

Continue reading: RunCore Shows PCIe and Marvell at CES 2012 (full post)

OWC Embraces PCIe and miniSAS

Chris Ramseyer | Storage | Jan 15, 2012 2:50 AM CST

CES 2012 - Cameron is still in Vegas for a couple of more days but I darted back home to coach youth basketball. After spending the last two days of CES in a steak coma I'm ready to get back to work and finish up the CES coverage. The show was really good this year with more than 152,000 visitors and more than 20,000 products launched.

OWC (macsales.com) was exhibiting on the show floor with a booth that was absolutely jam packed with enthusiasts. Industry insider Andy Marken from Marken Communications personally gave us the tour. The first stop of the day tipped up a little PCIe action. Here we see a new OWC PCIe SSD that uses a Marvell RAID controller and four custom SandForce SF-2281 controlled SSDs. Each SSD uses Toshiba NAND flash and different capacity sizes should be available. The capacity will ramp up quickly with four slots. The Marvell controller supports several different levels of RAID including 0,1,5 and 10. Performance will only be limited by the PCIe 2.0 4 lane link so we are expecting some amazing performance out of this product.

OWC is also venturing into the miniSAS market with new external drive systems from the Jupiter product family.

Continue reading: OWC Embraces PCIe and miniSAS (full post)

Razer has some cool new toys! Razer Blade and Project Fiona

Chad Sebring | Peripherals | Jan 14, 2012 7:29 AM CST

CES 2012 - Here we are looking at the near $2800 Razer Blade, is the fastest PC I have ever seen boot with my own eyes first off. Beside the raw speed of this unit, there have been a few really innovative additions included. The mouse pad has been moved to the right and has LED lit function buttons that will change the operation of this multi-touch LCD mouse pad. This will allow for real time stats to be displayed, even the option to get on the net and watch game play video as the game is still on the main screen. I know that is a lot of money to pay for a mobile gaming system, but this is the coolest laptop/notebook that I have ever had the pleasure of using.

They also made something that was awarded for CES 2012, Project Fiona! This is essentially a tablet with a thick aluminum frame added to support the handles of the game pad controllers that are derived from the Hydra Nunchucks. This is still in development, and there are beta testers with new requests, and Razer is working out all of the final details still. I for one like the idea, and hopefully Fiona makes her way to store shelves, as I think there is a ton of potential here!

For those Star Wars freaks out there Razer is delivering a newly painted and backlit kit of this keyboard featuring the mouse pad of the Blade along with a Naga mouse. Another cool feature of mouse and keyboard combo is that it doesn't matter which side of the force you are on, the keyboard and LCD mouse pad will illuminate and sport either icon and its coloration. The mouse pad under the Naga mouse is also part of the combo, and will reverse teams with a flip of the inner white section of the pad.

Continue reading: Razer has some cool new toys! Razer Blade and Project Fiona (full post)