General Gaming Article |
- Spotify Loses Over 200 Labels Following NPD Report
- Zuckerberg Nearly Starts Panic Talking About Facebook IPO
- Google Gets Pattern Unlock Patent
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Sets Another Sales Record, Approaches $1 Billion in Sales
- Asus Denies Android Tablet Exit Rumor
- Intel Ivy Bridge-E Processors to Support LGA 2011, Shipping in Q4 2012
- Cool Site of the Week: Airbnb
- CES 2012: Ultrabooks And Tablets And Ivy Bridge, Oh My!
- Head to Head: Quad SLI vs. Quad CrossFireX
- Microsoft System Would Monitor Workplace Employees For Bad Behavior, Assign Positivity Ratings
| Spotify Loses Over 200 Labels Following NPD Report Posted: 18 Nov 2011 02:58 PM PST
STHoldings sought comment from the 238 labels it represented, and found that only 4 wanted to stay on Spotify. The remainder were removed. The distributor said in a statement that it was only doing what it felt was best for the artists. Spotify stands by its model, pointing out that many users were previously pirates, who generated no money for rights holders. There is also something to be said for the promotional angle of Spotify. The issue of royalty payments has been hotly contested, with massive disinformation spread online. Spotify contends that artists see large payouts, but the tide might be turning. The major labels own a stake in Spotify now, so if things start to look grim, be prepared for big changes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zuckerberg Nearly Starts Panic Talking About Facebook IPO Posted: 18 Nov 2011 02:42 PM PST
The S-1 could go through in less than a month, sources say. There are a few reasons that Facebook is eyeing a short time line for filing. The markets have settled down after turmoil earlier in the year, for one. Facebook also crossed a major threshold recently. It now has more than 500 private shareholders, which means its financials have to be disclosed, per SEC rules. If the company has to do that, it makes sense to go all the way and go public. The offering is likely going to be the biggest tech IPO since Google back in 2004. For those not in the market for highly over-priced stock, this will at least be a chance to get a good look at how profitable social networking and data mining really is. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Gets Pattern Unlock Patent Posted: 18 Nov 2011 02:29 PM PST
Pattern locking is a way for users to protect their phones with a custom pattern of dots that must be drawn on the lock screen. It has been shown in the past that the system is far from perfect, with finger smudges occasionally giving the pattern away. Some OEMs have also replaced the Android lock screen with their own custom UI, but pattern locking is usually lurking someplace behind the scenes. Google also received a patent on gestures performed anywhere on a lock screen to initiate an action, like checking upcoming events. This might be a hint at future capabilities in Android. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Sets Another Sales Record, Approaches $1 Billion in Sales Posted: 18 Nov 2011 01:24 PM PST
The Call of Duty franchise has been nothing short of a cash cow. Previously, the five-day entertainment sales record belonged to Black Ops with $650 million in sales, and prior to that, Modern Warfare 2 held the record with $550 million. "With $775 million of sales of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in its first five days, Call of Duty has become the first entertainment property in history to set five-day launch records for three consecutive years across all forms of entertainment," said Robert Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard. "Life-to-date retail sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded $6 billion worldwide, which makes Call of Duty one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world. We expect continued sales momentum, as reviews and audience enthusiasm suggest that this is the best Call of Duty game that we have ever made. Online play for Modern Warfare 3 is at record levels and we continue to see high online play for both Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which ranked as the No. 2 and No. 4 top-played Xbox Live games for the week of November 7, according to Major Nelson." Videogames like MW3 cost considerably more than a movie ticket, and so it's easier to rack up bigger sales figures. But no matter how you slice it, three-quarters of a billion dollars in less than a week is impressive. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asus Denies Android Tablet Exit Rumor Posted: 18 Nov 2011 12:42 PM PST
"As usual, the rumors and reports from DigiTimes are incorrect," Asus spokesman Gary Key told CNet. "Asus is not exiting the Android tablet business." To be fair, DigiTimes didn't say Asus and others were definitely departing the Android tablet market, only that sources from the upstream supply chain thinks that's what will gradually happen. That was enough to put Asus in a bad mood and snap at DigiTimes, a news and rumor site that's sometimes right and sometimes wrong. According to CNet, a Dell spokesperson also confirmed that it too isn't exiting the tablet market. Acer, meanwhile, has yet to respond. Image Credit: icanhascheezburger.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intel Ivy Bridge-E Processors to Support LGA 2011, Shipping in Q4 2012 Posted: 18 Nov 2011 12:24 PM PST
That's according to a confidential Intel slide obtained by XFastest.com and posted to the Web. Like Sandy Bridge-E, Intel's Ivy Bridge-E chips are aimed at enthusiasts. They'll slide right into socket LGA 2011 boards built around Intel's X79 chipset. Unfortunately, no other details were revealed in the sole slide, which is kind of a bummer. But on the plus side, if the slide is real, and barring any last minute changes, this means Intel isn't planning to ditch its new socket any time soon. Image Credit: XFastest.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 11:32 AM PST
Airbnb is website that matches individuals looking for a place to crash with homeowners that feel a yen to rent out a part or all of their digs. Airbnb's offerings are diverse and range from modestly priced single room rentals in someone's humble abode to extravagant stays in castles and houseboats with picturesque views and exorbitant prices. Users are able to browse Airbnb by cost and location, as well as review comments left by other Airbnb users who stayed at a given rental. Airbnb also provides the means for individuals looking to rent out a space in their homes to do so, fast and effectively.
As you'll be staying in the home of strangers (or if you've a room to let, allowing strangers into your home), you'll want to exercise some caution and common sense when using the services Airbnb has to offer... but not so much that you'll be steered away from what could become one of the best travel experiences of your life. Be sure to check in every Friday for another edition of Maximum PC's Cool Site of the Week.
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| CES 2012: Ultrabooks And Tablets And Ivy Bridge, Oh My! Posted: 18 Nov 2011 10:50 AM PST
"We expect to see 30 to 50 new Ultrabooks launched at CES," Shawn DuBravac, the Consumer Electronics Association's director of research for show organizers told a crowd of reporters at the CES Unveiled show taking place in London. If true, it could certainly bolster IHS iSuppli's massive growth predictions for Ultrabooks. Before you groan, look on the bright side: maybe the headlines won't be filled with news of the rise of tablets on a daily basis anymore, right? Wrong. PC Pro reports that DuBravac expects nearly 100 tablets to be unveiled in the Mojave, in a rush reminiscent of lasts year's tablet torrent. Intel CEO Paul Otellini is slated to give a keynote speech at the show. It's widely expected that he'll officially release the new Ivy Bridge processors that day -- which should bring improved energy efficiency to the table and likely stoke the Ultrabook fires even further. Face it, chunky laptop lovers; it's looking like you may have to slim down one day if you don't plan on buying a gargantuan gaming rig. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head to Head: Quad SLI vs. Quad CrossFireX Posted: 18 Nov 2011 10:42 AM PST Now that both AMD and Nvidia have dual-GPU videocards on the market, quad-GPU CrossFireX and SLI setups are possible—that is, if you have the motherboard, the power supply, the money, and can actually find two dual-GPU cards. Representing quad SLI, we have two relatively compact Nvidia GeForce GTX 590s. In the quad-CrossFireX corner are two of AMD's hulking, foot-long Radeon HD 6990s. Both pairs cost about the same—an astronomical $1,500, give or take—but which is the better option?
Round 1: Standard PerformanceWe ran our standard game tests on a Core i7-990X six-core PC with an Intel DX58SO motherboard and a 1,200W Corsair PSU. We used the faster CPU so that massive GPU horsepower would spend less time waiting. The 1,200W PSU is needed to drive these monster cards, which require dual 8-pin PCI Express power connectors. Our normal gaming runs are at 1920x1200, with 4x AA enabled and all detail levels maxed out. The synthetics are there for comparison, but we play games, not benchmarks. If you just look at the numbers, the quad-GPU cards are screamers. These settings just aren't challenging. When comparing quad-SLI to quad-CrossFireX, the numbers favor Nvidia, but the frame rates are staggeringly high for both systems. Clearly, Nvidia's done some work with its drivers since the initial release of the GTX 590. Paired GTX 590s won six of nine game tests. Winner: Quad SLI Round 2: Extreme PerformanceSince neither quad-GPU setup had to work hard at 1920x1200 with 4x AA, we had to push them a little harder. After all, if you're spending $1,500 or so for a pair of graphics cards, surely another $1,300 for a 30-inch monitor is within reach. We ratcheted up the pain, pushing our gaming tests (and Unigine's Heaven benchmark) to 2560x1600 and 8x AA. That's 4 million pixels at 8x AA (with 16x AF). Shaders and detail levels were also maxed out, putting tremendous stress on the overall bandwidth of the system. At these extreme levels, we still saw stunning frame rates. The competition seemed a little more even, possibly due to AMD's larger frame buffer (2GB per GPU versus 1.5GB per GPU for Nvidia) and the higher clocks. However, AMD seems to have a problem with Dirt 3, so what might have been a tie goes to Nvidia. Winner: Quad SLI Round 3: Noise and PowerA good 1,200W PSU is essential for a quad-GPU setup, particularly if you plan on overclocking the CPU and GPUs. That increases the cost of your rig. On pure power draw, the quad CrossFireX draws a little less power under full load—774W versus 800W for the dual GTX 590s. However, the idle-power draw was substantially lower for paired GTX 590s, which drew just 113W at idle versus 171W for quad CrossFireX. Since systems generally run idle most of the time, that power draw can add up. What about noise? At full throttle, both of these setups get pretty loud. But the quad CrossFireX cards, with smaller fans that spin up to very high speeds, sound like small jet engines throttling up for takeoff. AMD's HD 6990s are loud even in single-card setups. Paired 6990s are painfully loud. Winner: Quad SLI Round 4: Ease of UseBoth quad-GPU systems had trouble running Dirt 3. The Nvidia setup could run the game but not change resolution in-game, while the CrossFireX setup wouldn't run at all. Single- and dual-GPU systems run the game flawlessly. With the AMD quad setup, you'll need to occasionally download game profiles for CrossFireX. Nvidia builds these into driver updates, but the green machine is now updating drivers on a monthly schedule to match AMD. Flexibility of installation is a problem, too. The Radeon HD 6990s are a full 12 inches long, while the GTX 590 cards are 3/4 of an inch shorter. That 3/4-inch makes a difference in some cases. So you'll need to pay attention to your internal case dimensions. In the end, the dual GTX 590 setup is simpler to manage, easier to install, and better mannered. Winner: Quad SLI And the Winner Is…Quad-GPU setups define the extreme in graphics hardware. If you're running games on multiple displays, with stereoscoic 3D turned on, quad GPUs will give you the horsepower to hit smooth frame rates. If you're running on a single display, though, quad GPUs might be more hassle than they're worth. Toss in the excessive power, the hot air filling your room, and the loud fan noise, and you may want to reconsider—and that's before you see the price tag. In the end, unless you are running an extreme display configuration, a pair of single-GPU cards will give you as much peformance as you need in cutting-edge games. And you can build a dual-GPU rig today without worrying about product availability. If you decide that a quad-GPU is right for you, we're pretty bullish on two GTX 590s in quad SLI. It uses a little more power at full load than the AMD alternative, but it's easier to manage and install and seems to have fewer issues with games. Benchmarks
Best scores are bolded. Our test bed is a 3.47GHz Core i7-990X Extreme Edition in an Intel DX58SO2 motherboard with 12GB of DDR3/1333 and a 1,200W Corsair AX1200 PSU. The OS is 64-bit Windows Ultimate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Microsoft System Would Monitor Workplace Employees For Bad Behavior, Assign Positivity Ratings Posted: 18 Nov 2011 10:20 AM PST
Geekwire pointed us towards the patent, which was filed in May 2010 and made public on November 10th of this year. One goal of the patent is "making trust-building behaviors more actionable" – as in, eliminating behaviors that aren't deemed good for the "organizational trust" of a company. Some cited examples of negative behavior include "nodding one's head in agreement, shaking one's head indicating disagreement, hand gestures, wearing dark glasses in a video conference, wearing unacceptable clothing to a business meeting, cutting off others during conversation and prolonged monologues." Patterns that occur in specific situations and particular times can also be tracked, the patent claims. No word on whether or not Microsoft continued working on the project after the filing, so your secret feelings may stay secret after all. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A recent study from NPD Group and the National Music Business Association seems to have at least some record labels spooked. The report claims that streaming services like Spotify and Rdio are damaging actual music sales. In response, one distributor has 
According to sources inside the company, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg nearly set kicked off full-scale pandemonium at the Facebook offices when he recently told employees the long-awaited IPO was coming soon. Facebook has been teasing the market for the better part of a year with speculation that it would file its S-1 papers and sell stock publicly. For employees, that would mean a chance to finally cash in on all that stock.
Apple has the patent on "slide to unlock", but Google isn't sitting on the sidelines when it comes to seemingly inconsequential user interface tricks. The Android OS maker has been granted a 
Activision Publishing was all too happy to 
For better or worse, Asus has every intention of riding the growing tablet wave, no matter what else you might have heard. And what we heard earlier this week was that Asus, along with Acer, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard, were likely to bow out of the tablet market now that Amazon and Barnes & Noble have both joined the fray. That prompted speculation that maybe Asus and others were giving up competing for Android and were going to wait for Windows 8, perhaps in a mad grab for enterprise dollars. Nope, that's wrong too.
We know, we know -- Intel's Sandy Bridge-E processors are just now rolling off the assembly line and chipzilla's 22nm Ivy Bridge refresh is still several months away, so what the frak are we talking about about Ivy Bridge-E for? Hey, so goes the march of technology. But don't worry, not only is your brand new LGA 2011 build still relevant, but it's also going to support Ivy Bridge-E processors.
For many of us, traveling is about experience. Leaving behind the doldrums of our daily existence, we venture forth to immerse ourselves in new, unknown cultures and locales, finding joy and intrigue in all they have to offer. Who wants to ruin the vibe that comes with that sort of thing by returning to the banality of a cookie-cutter cast hotel room at the end of the day? Not us, that's for sure. Instead, we recommend booking the accommodations for your next trip through 
Ultrabooks, Ultrabooks, Ultrabooks! If you think you're hearing an awful lot about the portable, powerful laptops now, be prepared to be flooded in Ultrabook news next year. According to a key director behind the annual Consumer Electronics Show, as many as half a hundred Ultrabooks could break cover at CES 2012. In fact, it's starting to sound like CES 2012's slogan could be "Smaller is better."
"The thing is, Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care." That kind of brutal honesty to higher-ups shocked our senses and made us laugh when Peter Gibbons uttered it in Office Space. But could forthcoming generations not get the gag? That bit's future funniness lies in doubt now that Microsoft's newest technology patent has broken cover. The patent describes a computer program that monitors employees' behaviors in emails, texts, VOIP conversations and interactions caught on video conferences, then identifies behaviors as either "negative" or "positive" and assigns employees a positivity rating based on the findings. It's in your HEAD!| You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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