General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Dish Planning Blockbuster-branded Netflix Competitor

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 03:19 PM PDT

dbbNetflix is seemingly weakened in the market right now. The unpopular price hikes have just gone into effect, and now the Starz deal has collapsed. According to Bloomberg, Dish is taking the opportunity to ramp up plans for its own Netflix competitor using assets acquired from Blockbuster. Does it have a chance?

Dish acquired the assets of Blockbuster in April for $320 million, and that brought with it some streaming rights. Using this brand, Dish hopes to be able to compete against services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. The Blockbuster website still offers some rental downloads, but this new service would be subscription based, like Netflix. 

The combination of a rental and streaming service could be appealing in the same way Netflix is. But Dish is going to have to provide a better selection, or at least a lower price to attract users. 

Amazon Tablet Gets Unofficially Detailed

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 03:04 PM PDT

azThe Amazon tablet is becoming the white whale of tablets, but a report from TechCrunch may have finally shed some light on Amazon's plans. MG Sigler claims to have used an Amazon tablet, and confirms that it is a 7-inch device running Android. However, it is totally forked version of the platform that bears little resemblance to Google's current software.

The tablet will simply be called "Amazon Kindle." According to TechCrunch, the device bears a striking resemblance to the PlayBook. It has a standard color capacitive LCD  touchscreen, and understands two multitouch points. The internals are up in the air, but the new Kindle tablet is thought to have a single-core SoC. 

The interface is dominated by a spinning carousel that lists content like books, videos, and apps. A dock at the bottom allows users to pin favorite items to it. The status bar at the top is still used for notifications, and the browser is similar to the stock Android version. The software is reportedly built from a version of Android before 2.2, and will be updated by Amazon independently. There are also no Google apps on board.

The price Amazon is leaning toward is $250, but that could change before the expected November release. Anyone interested?

Apple Investigators May Have Impersonated Police in Search for Missing iPhone 5

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 02:48 PM PDT

appleThere have been an number of reports in recent days about the supposed loss of an iPhone 5 prototype in, you guessed it, a bar. Today, a Bernal Heights man has told SFWeekly that Apple employees impersonating police searched his home in July. If true, the Apple investigators could be charged and sentenced to as much as a year in jail.

Sergio Calderón claims that back in July, six people arrived at his door wearing badges. They stated they were from the San Francisco police and asked to search the home. They told Calderón that the GPS on a lost iPhone led them to him. He allowed the search in an effort to be helpful to what appeared to be police officers.

Calderón says that while interviewing him, they made threatening comments about his immigrations status and eventually offered $300 cash for the return of the phone. Calderón told them he had not found a lost iPhone. The investigators left, but gave Calderón a phone number to call if he had any information.

After seeing the original Cnet report about a home being searched, he contacted SFWeekly and gave them the phone number. An Apple employee by the name of  Anthony Colon answered. Colon is a former police officer that works as an investigator at Apple. The SFPD, when contacted by SFWeekly, said that if Calderón wishes to talk to them, there will be an investigation. A representative of the real police said of the alleged impersonation, "that's a big deal."

Cool Site of the Week: Codeacademy

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 01:02 PM PDT

codaWe think it's fair to say that the majority of people in the world today take technology for granted. We drive to work without understanding how an internal combustion engine works. Our leftovers are mysteriously re-heated in the microwave without any knowledge of how its non-ionizing radiation affects what the food we're about to put into our mouths. The same goes for computers: We turn our PCs on and get down to the serious business of checking our mail, paying a few bills online and wasting what's left of our lives on Twitter without so much as a thought to how any of these services operate. (Well, maybe not Maximum PC readers but...) While ignorance can be bliss, knowledge is pretty sweet, too. That's why Codeacademy is our Cool Site of the Week.

 Unpretentious and easy to approach, Codeacademy makes coding so enjoyable, it's hard to believe you're actually learning something. The website starts users off small, offering tutorials on how to use some very basic JavaScript commands. Each lesson is incrementally progressive and conversational in tone, making it easy to advance your skills without breaking a sweat. Each time you reach a new plateau of coding knowledge, users are awarded with a virtual trophy, making the time spent learning how to do something useful feel a like playing a game.

While Codeacademy doesn't currently offer a wide variety of content, the site's developers promise that new lessons are on the way. If you've got the kung-fu to do so, why not drop by the site and lend a hand?

Be sure to come back every Friday for another edition of Maximum PC's Cool Site of the Week.

 

 

DHS Warns Financial Sector Against Future Anonymous Attacks

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 11:49 AM PDT

While the UK's busy nabbing alleged Anonymous members who like to pretend that they're teenage girls, the Department of Homeland Security's worried about their angry at-large cohorts over on the US side of the pond. In fact, DHS National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center is pretty concerned about the threat of an Anonymous attack against the financial industry. Today, the NCCIC issued a security bulletin warning financial institutions that Anon is trying to "solicit ideologically dissatisfied, sympathetic employees" over to the dark side.

Anonymous' Twitter account has been trying to lure financial sector employees into divulging sensitive information, Computerworld reports. Although nothing juicy has turned up as a result of the propaganda campaign – at least that we know of – the NCCIC warns that Anon could turn towards more nefarious means to try and convince financial employees into cooperation. Something like nude pics, perhaps?

The bulletin goes on to describe some of the tools that could theoretically be at Anon's disposal, such as Apache Killer and #RefRef, which can allegedly make a server DDoS itself. "Anonymous has stated publicly that the tool will be ready for wider use by the group in September 2011," the DHS says. The bulletin warns that attacks could occur on September 17th as part of Anonymous' "Occupy Wall Street" operation, which coincides with Adbusters' "Day of Rage" protest in financial centers across the world.

So, DHS: fearmonger over rumors much?

Browser Extension of the Week: SearchPreview

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 11:23 AM PDT

previewIs trawling through page after page of text generated in response to one of your search queries your idea of fun? We didn't think so. Let's face it: as great as the internet can be, trying to track down what you're after online can sometimes be a yawn-inducing drag. While it might not help you break any web search speed records, SearchPreview for Firefox and Google Chrome does make scrolling through search results a little more colorful by offer up an image of every page your search engine latches on to.

 While SearchPreview might be a one trick pony, it's a damn good trick. After installing it, all of your future Google searches will be injected with an image of what every page included in your query's results looks like. Having a image of a site you're one click away from browsing to not only makes determining whether it has what you're looking for a little bit easier, but also can help you decide whether opening it would help you survive your daily grind, or leave you with a written warning after accidentally opening up a screenful of NSFW awkwardness. 

While Chrome users may have enjoyed similar functionality as a feature of their searches for some time now, accessing the website image provided required that a search result be clicked. SearchPreview removes this superfluous step, making finding what you're looking for just a little bit less daunting. 

Be sure to check back every Thursday for another edition of Maximum PC's Browser Extension of the Week.

 

 

 

Starz Walks Away From Netflix Negotiations, Disney And Sony Movies To Disappear In February

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 11:20 AM PDT

Even with all that money rolling in from the just-activated price hike, Netflix can't afford to renew a deal with Starz that brings first-run Disney and Sony movies to the streaming network service. Actually, strike that: they probably can afford it, but Starz just doesn't want Netflix's money. Starz just announced it was walking away from the negotiation table despite the $300 million cash pile that Netflix reportedly threw down.

That $300 mil price tag is ten times larger than the one on the original $30 million deal that Starz (which owns the rights to first-run Disney and Sony films) signed four years ago. Starz issued a press release that explained the failed negotiations: "This decision is a result of our strategy to protect the premium nature of our brand by preserving the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content."

In other words, while other content companies only complain that streaming "buffet-style" services like Hulu and Netflix devalue their content, Starz put their money where their mouth is, or their foot in their mouth where the money would've been, or something. In any case, load up on the Disney and Sony goodness while you can; the Starz deal ends on February 28, 2012.

Image credit: onecentatatime.com

Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook Review

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 11:16 AM PDT

'Nothing but the web' is attractive, but hard to justify

Update: Since this review was written for the September 2011 magazine, Google has rolled out a ChromeOS update that enables Netflix playback and VPN (though not Cisco AnyConnect) support. 

If you've used the Chrome web browser, you've used Chrome OS. Google's latest netbook operating system is little more than a very, very thin client underneath the Chrome browser, and a Chromebook is a netbook-like object that runs Chrome OS instead of a full Windows or Linux-based operating system. Chromebooks have finally hit retail (in the form of sleek netbooks from Samsung and Acer), and it's time to find out whether "nothing but the web" is enough computer for anyone.

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is well constructed. The 12.1-inch, 1200x800 LCD is readable at low levels and powerful at full brightness, the speakers have much more oomph than we were expecting, and the multitouch, buttonless clickpad is decent. The chiclet-style keyboard is the best we've ever used on a netbook and battery life is great—we clocked more than eight hours doing normal computing tasks.


The hardware is great, but a browser-based OS is useless offline.

The Chromebook comes with 24 months of free 3G data from Verizon Wireless, though the 100MB/month allocation is so stingy as to be laughable, and the à la carte pricing is prehistoric. Thankfully, the SIM card slot and Gobi multiband radio mean you have other data options.

Thanks to its 1.66GHz dual-core Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB SSD, and the fact that it only has to run a web browser, the Chromebook is relatively speedy. It boots in less than 10 seconds, and resumes in two to three seconds. Browsing is snappy, and 720p Flash-based video on YouTube plays fine. We did have occasional hitches playing HD video on Vimeo.com, though.

Whether you consider Chrome OS sufficient for your daily computing needs will depend on how heavily invested you are in Google's Internet ecosystem. Gmail, Music, Docs, and more work seamlessly, but Office docs need to be uploaded and converted through Docs to be usable. Chrome browser extensions and web apps work just as well as they do on a Windows desktop. In fact, it's easy to forget there's almost nothing behind the browser but a rudimentary file browser until you need to do something Chrome OS can't.

Chrome OS has Flash support baked in, but that's about it. You can't install Silverlight, Java, or Unity—serious blows to Netflix fans, business users, and gamers, respectively. There's no VPN ability, which will also hurt business users. And therein lies the dilemma. Update: Since this review was written for the September 2011 magazine, Google has rolled out a ChromeOS update that enables Netflix playback and VPN (though not Cisco AnyConnect) support. 

The Chromebook is an attractive piece of hardware, and works well for what it is, but it's hard to justify purchasing one. At $500, it's pricier than many devices of the same basic footprint—notebooks with more powerful hardware and more capable operating systems. The Chromebook is obviously designed more for productivity than for entertainment, so it's not really competing with tablet devices other than (perhaps) the Asus Eee Pad Transformer. We like the Chromebook, but we're as close to a target demographic as is likely to exist: We own powerful desktop PCs and smartphones, but could use a portable device with great battery life, constant Internet access, and a terrific physical keyboard.

At its price, though, the Chromebook loses its luster; there are just too many things that it doesn't do, and too few things you can't get from running the Chrome browser on a regular machine. It's a good secondary device for a vanishingly small segment of the market (which might include us) but would rank as a tertiary device for most.

$500, www.samsung.com

Gigabyte GTX 560 Super Overclock Review

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 11:00 AM PDT

Gigabyte pushes GTX 560 to Ti levels

How much overclocking head room is there in Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 560 part? Gigabyte decided to find out by taking the non-Ti budget part, adding a second fan, and flogging the hell out of it.

The result is the Gigabyte GTX 560 Super Overclock.

For those out of the loop, the GeForce GTX 560 is built on a core with only 336 shader cores versus the 384 in the Ti version, as well as 56 texture units versus 64 in the Ti part. Stock cards run at 810MHz but Gigabyte gets a solid 11 percent overclock to 900MHz. Unlike its predecessor, the GeForce GTX 460 768MB, the GTX 560 gets a full 1GB of GDDR5 and the same memory bus width as the GTX 560 Ti card.


A second fan lets Gigabyte massively overclock the GeForce GTX 560.

The result is near–GTX 560 Ti performance, which is great. Also great: a price point of roughly $200-$220. MSI's Twin Frozr II GTX 560 Ti card can be found for less than $250, so the GTX 560 is still priced lower, even overclocked.

The Gigabyte card is built with two of the biggest cooling fans we've seen on small videocards. They also use the newly fashionable narrow-blade design. So even with the core clock pushed to 900MHz, the card's noise level isn't offensive.

Other features are pretty standard. The card offers two dual-link DVI connectors and a Mini HDMI port. Two PCIe 6-pin connectors are needed for power. The card itself has some nifty power-phase status LEDs, which look cool if you're someone who fancies transparent side panels on your PC chassis. As with every other graphics card maker, Gigabyte ships software to tune clock speeds. Honestly, though, it's really not worth it—you're already hitting more than 10 percent above stock.

In the end, though, performance is what counts. So how does Gigabyte's $200 marvel actually measure up? Not bad. Not bad at all. We compared it to the 2GB Palit GTX 560, which runs at reference clocks, Asus's overclocked Radeon HD 6870, and the MSI Twin Frozr II GTX 560 Ti. (The GTX 560 Ti is just offered as comparison, since it's a $250 card.)

The outcome is pretty impressive. The Gigabyte card falls just short of the theoretically more capable GTX 560 Ti and crushes the real competition. The Radeon HD 6870 only managed a couple of wins, and even fell behind in idle power usage. About the only time the 2GB Palit card outperformed the Gigabyte 1GB card was when running Metro 2033 at 2560x1600 with 4x AA—that's a scenario when more video RAM helps.

So if your graphics card budget is in the $200 range, give this card a close look. It's fast, quiet, and will fit in most cases.

$200-220, www.gigabyte.com

NY Time's R&D Lab Brings Voice-Activated Computing To The Bathroom Mirror

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:45 AM PDT

Ah, the bathroom. Those little bursts of personal time are some of the best moments of the day, an all-too-brief period when screaming kids and jerk coworkers leave you alone and the worries of real life fade away, letting you game on your smartphone in peace. Well, at least until you plunk that smartphone into the toilet, that is. The New York Times R&D Lab's hard at work to make sure that your Android keeps dry; it's whipped up a "Magic Mirror" designed to help you get a hands-free Interwebs fix in the john.

All right, the tech's more of a move to boost advertising revenue rather than a goodwill "Save your Nexus!" campaign. ExtremeTech, reporting on an article from the Nieman Journalism Lab, says the Magic Mirror's built around the Microsoft Kinect, RFID sensors (to recognize your bath care products), and an unnamed reflective display that the is probably the Philips Mirror TV.  Some sort of computer obviously powers the thing, as well.

Basically, the magic mirror is a large computer monitor with voice recognition technology. The display will let you browse New York Times videos and articles, obviously, but that's not all; you'll also be able to schedule appointments on your calendar, shop online and leave messages for other members of the household. Then there's the really cool real-world interaction stuff.

In the demo, the Magic Mirror recognizes a prescription thanks to an embedded RFID chip and brings its usage directions up onscreen. Additionally, you'll be able to ask the mirror to find coupons for the RFID-embedded items you use in your bathroom simply by asking it to do so. The NYT R&D Lab says that other prototype models are even able to match articles of clothing with other items in your wardrobe, guaranteeing that you'll never run into an embarrassing mis-match situation again.

It sounds cool, but there isn't any words on when – or if – the Magic Mirror will hit the streets. Check out the Nieman Lab link for videos of the nifty display in action.
Posted by Shri Krishna

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