Global Giveaway - Win 1 of 3 ID-Cooling High-Performance Coolers, open worldwide until Dec 9

Marvel Announces MMO In The Works: Excelsior!

Trak Lord | Gaming | Apr 29, 2011 4:52 PM CDT

Due most likely to popularity of MMO's like DC Universe and Marvel's own Superhero Squad Online, Marvel and Gazillion Entertainment are banding together to provide what will most likely be an insanely entertaining MMORPG.

From Gazillion's website:

Smash frost giants with Thor's® Hammer. Unbalance Ultron™ by slinging Captain America's® shield. Explore a remote and hostile jungle as Storm™.

Continue reading: Marvel Announces MMO In The Works: Excelsior! (full post)

Twitter Exceeds 200 Million Users, Nips At Facebook's Heels

Trak Lord | Internet & Websites | Apr 29, 2011 3:48 PM CDT

Yesterday at the Guardian Activate conference in New York, Twitter Vice President of International Strategy Katie Stanton confirmed that there are now over 200 Million registered users on Twitter. She commented that over 70% of Twitter traffic comes from outside the US, with around 25% in Japan alone. Also remarkable -but not altogether surprising- is that 40% of Twitter traffic comes from mobile phones.

Stanton noted:

Twitter isn't so much a triumph of technology, it's a triumph of humanity - connecting those stories and connecting those voices.

Continue reading: Twitter Exceeds 200 Million Users, Nips At Facebook's Heels (full post)

OCZ unveils VeloDrive PCI-Express-based SSD drives for SMB's, Enterprise Clients and System Integrators

Anthony Garreffa | Storage | Apr 29, 2011 12:14 AM CDT

OCZ have today unveiled the VeloDrive PCI-Express SSDs which are designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), enterprise clients and system integrators. The OCZ VeloDrive optimizes high-performance computing and storage applications, which provides "unparalleled versatility and simplified integration".

Daryl Lang, VIP of Product Management of OCZ Technology Group says:

The VeloDrive is the latest addition to our comprehensive lineup of PCIe SSDs. A truly configurable solution, it helps a range of customers accelerate their application performance. he ability to run the VeloDrive in multiple modes provides clients with the freedom to use the raid stack of their choice. This maximizes performance and creates faster, more seamless deployments with RAID stacks that may already have been qualified for their unique usage model.

Continue reading: OCZ unveils VeloDrive PCI-Express-based SSD drives for SMB's, Enterprise Clients and System Integrators (full post)

Hulu Now Streaming On Xbox 360's Everywhere

Trak Lord | Internet & Websites | Apr 28, 2011 9:22 PM CDT

Boom goes the dynamite. Online content streaming service Hulu is now serving Xbox 360's and the Xbox Live network. It sure took them long enough, but hey! The first week is on them! Yes, that's free! Hulu is offering the Hulu Plus service free for an entire week for all Xbox Live users, silver or gold, Hulu subscribers or not! Usually this sets you back the price of an Xbox Live Gold account and an $US8/month Hulu Plus subscription. Nice.

Even better, Hulu works with the Kinect! Yes I'm serious- we're talking voice and gesture recognition to stream movies and television shows. Hello, the future of remote controls.

Hulu Plus on Xbox LIVE Key Features:

Continue reading: Hulu Now Streaming On Xbox 360's Everywhere (full post)

Royal Wedding Goes AR: Become Will & Catherine, AR Style

Trak Lord | Mobile Devices | Apr 28, 2011 7:01 PM CDT

Face-tracking app maker Aptronic has devised a clever and timely app to coordinate with the upcoming already-internationally-infamous Royal Wedding. The app, RoyalMirror is available for the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4 (rear-facing camera is necessary), and tracks your face to overlay a stylized and cartoonish depiction of either Prince William or Princess Catherine that you can promptly share on a variety of social network sites.

It's a nice addition to an already overwhelming list of lampoons associated with the Wedding of the Century, but it seems novel enough for a few laughs. I think the $0.99 price tag would be more worthwhile if Aptronic had included, say, more than just two royals (who doesn't want to be the Queen of England?) or even a function that allows multiple faces to be tracked for group photos- but hey, I'm not complaining when a mobile augmented reality application has some visibility potential. Plus, Aptronic should see some decent numbers for downloads.

The app was created using the AR SDK of Los Angeles / Paris-based Augmented Reality Solutions firm Total Immersion, who also has a host of AR iOS apps. Aptronic has similar apps available that utilize facial recognition to turn the user into a zombie, amongst other things.

Continue reading: Royal Wedding Goes AR: Become Will & Catherine, AR Style (full post)

ASUS AMD Motherboards To Support SLI'd NVIDIA Video Card

Trak Lord | Motherboards | Apr 28, 2011 6:26 PM CDT

Man, can we get anymore anagrams in that headline?

Andrew Burnes of Geforce announced today that they will once again be providing AMD motherboards that support SLI. Kick-ass, Andrew. Hit the jump for a photo of one of these shiny new toys, and to check out the rest of the press release.

As gamers we know how important it is to find the best price-performance ratio when building a new rig. For several years, gamers have been clamouring for us to reintroduce SLI support for AMD motherboards, and as hard as it may be to believe, SLI was first seen on AMD motherboards in fact, but as the years went by AMD's stature as the preferred platform for gamers fell by the wayside.

Continue reading: ASUS AMD Motherboards To Support SLI'd NVIDIA Video Card (full post)

Depth - a multiplayer game of Shark versus Diver - yes you read that right!

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 28, 2011 8:00 AM CDT

Well, isn't this an amazing find. A non-typical, original game that isn't a COD-clone. "Depth" is a game where you can choose to be the Predator or Thief. As the Predator, you're a 21-foot man-eating shark and your objective is to find and dismember divers. You get "Shark vision" which lets you experience the sights, sounds and smells of the shark's world. Track prey by the disturbances they make in the water or by the sound of their own heartbeat! As the Shark you have the ability of full-body dismemberment, tear off your victim's limbs one by one and let him bleed to death or take him out with the final bite.

As a "Thief" you obviously play a human diver and your objective is to loot wealth in the form of sunken booty on the ocean floor - the only way to do this is to outsmart the 21-foot Shark enemies that are hunting you. Take cover in dense sea-weed, wrecks or stay as quiet as possible while the Shark's are hunting for you.

Continue reading: Depth - a multiplayer game of Shark versus Diver - yes you read that right! (full post)

R18+ Classification in Australia, SA Attorney-General John Rau backs the new games rating

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 27, 2011 10:34 PM CDT

A new classifications system for computer games that will "increase protection for children and provide parents with clearer guidance" will be supported by the State Government. Attorney-General John Rau has said today that he supports the Federal Government's national push to create an R18+ classification for games but he would abolish the MA15+ classification in SA.

Mr Rau has been quoted saying:

This model will give parents greater certainty about the appropriateness of games for their children.

Continue reading: R18+ Classification in Australia, SA Attorney-General John Rau backs the new games rating (full post)

Acer launches the worlds first 27-inch, 120hz, NVIDIA 3D Vision-compatible monitor

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Apr 27, 2011 9:59 PM CDT

Acer have hit the market first with a 27-inch, Full-HD, 3D Display. Dubbed the Acer HN274H, Acer have specced it well, Full HD, 100, 000, 000:1 contrast ratio, LED-backlit, 120hz refresh rate and a 2ms response time is not too shabby at all. Yes it's not an IPS-based panel, but for the fast-motion, first-person shooter fans like myself, the 120hz gives you a semi. If that doesn't get the blood pumping, it is also (and obviously) capable of 3D with NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology.

Better yet, the Acer HN274H has the IR emitter built-in! Acer are even throwing in a pair of NVIDIA 3D glasses too. Acer have also added their eColor and Adaptive Contrast Management technologies which work dynamically to (apparently) deliver ultra-sharp and realistic visuals, here I was thinking that was the GPU doing that. The monitor looks great and I would definitely love to try one of these puppies out, Acer. Might be upgrade time for my Surround Vision Alienware setup!

Continue reading: Acer launches the worlds first 27-inch, 120hz, NVIDIA 3D Vision-compatible monitor (full post)

Windows 8: Roaming Options, syncs to Microsoft's fluffy cloud

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | Apr 27, 2011 9:50 PM CDT

Microsoft are doing a bang-up job on Windows 8, every week theres a new feature leaked and nearly every single one has sounded like a great idea and really adds to the upcoming Operating System. Today we have the "Roaming Option" which looks like it allows a user to link their Windows account to their Windows Live account.

With Roaming Option, there are six types of customizations which you can move to a different computer: Personalization (Desktop background image, glass color), Accessibility (Ease of access control panel, magnifier, on screen keyboard, narrator, and speech recognition settings), Language Settings (Language profile, text prediction preferences, and IME dictionary), Application Settings (Application settings and search history), Windows Settings (Taskbar, Explorer, search, and mouse settings), and Credentials (Wireless network profiles and saved website credentials).

From the screenshot above we can also see that there are two "Network options" within the Roaming Options category. One is "enable roaming on paid networks" whilst the other is "enable roaming on low bandwidth". From these options it looks like Windows 8 will be able to differentiate between network speeds, for example someone on a 3G connection (mobile, smartphone, tablets) will be limited versus someone on a full broadband connection. Nice.

Continue reading: Windows 8: Roaming Options, syncs to Microsoft's fluffy cloud (full post)

Newsletter Subscription