General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Netflix Original Content Kicks off in February with "Lillyhammer"

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:55 PM PST

lillyhammerCome next month, Netflix will officially be in the original content game with the premier of its first series, Lillyhammer. The show stars Sopranos alum Steven Van Zandt as a former mobster in witness protection. Van Zandt's character is moved to Lillehammer, Norway, and as you can imagine, shenanigans ensue. 

The first season will consists of eight episodes, with airing beginning on February 6th in the US, Canada, and Latin America. The series will only be available via streaming, not through the DVD by mail service. A seconds season has reportedly already been planned. Netflix last spring announced that it had acquired the rights to House of Cards, a remake of the 90s UK miniseries. This Kevin Spacey project is expected to arrive in late 2012. 

Netflix has also begin work on a new season of the cult comedy Arrested Development. It's distribution mechanism means that programs don't need to deliver huge numbers weekly to remain successful, and if Netflix ever does run into cash-flow issues, there's always money in the banana stand.

Trailer can be viewed here.

RIM Hopes to Hold Off Shareholder Revolt with Management Shake Up

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:37 PM PST

RIM CEOsBlackBerry maker Research in Motion has been on the skids lately, and many observers point to its co-CEO management structure as a major cause. According to multiple sources, the company is preparing to shake things up by removing co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis from their additional roles as co-Chairmen of the board. They would remain as CEOs.

RIM board member Barbara Stymiest is rumored to be the likely successor in the role of Chairperson. It's unclear if this move is being taken without the direct input of Balsillie and Lazaridis. Should this actually come to pass, the current CEOs will continue to run day-to-day operations at the company, but the board would presumably have more oversight.

Shareholders have been making noise about the company's poor performance as of late, but troubling news continues to come out. Lazaridis announced recently that BlackBerry 10 phones may be delayed until late 2012. Do you think new board leadership will be enough to snap RIM out of its slump, or do the CEOs need to go?

BryteWerks Mashes HTPC and Hi-Def Digital Projector Together, Makes The Model One

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:08 PM PST

Some duos seem tailor made for one another: PB&J, Jack and Coke, and eggs and toast all spring to mind. A new company by the name of Brytewerks just came up with another one, and amazingly, it doesn't involve food! The company's upcoming Model One line of high-def digital projectors aren't just digital projectors; they're digital projectors with an Intel Core-powered HTPC built in. Why didn't someone think of that sooner?

On the projector side of things, the Model One sports a 1920x1200 resolution, 6,000 - 11,000 lumens of brightness (depending on your configuration) and a 1000:1 contrast ratio. It should work equally well in both cramped quarters and expansive cinema-like home theaters; Bryteworks claims the units have a 1:1 throw distance anywhere between one and 50 feet. Plus, it uses a standard metal halide lamp, so finding replacement bulbs shouldn't be a problem, and swapping out bulbs is entirely tool-less.

On the HTPC side of things, you'll be able to pick up Model Ones with anywhere from a Core i3 to a full Core i7 processor (which is cool, but seems a bit excessive for a HTPC), a Blu-ray player, a custom version of XBMC, and up to 2TB of storage, 500GB of which is in SSD form. Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth are all onboard, and BryteWerks promises a host of connectivity options, although they only specifically mention dual USB/HDMI ports and 5.1 surround sound outputs. Controller options abound, too, thanks to an Android/iOS app, an included RF remote, and a nearly 9-inch touchscreen on the back of the box. Speaking of the box, the concept art for the Model One shows it to be exactly that; a 28 lb. 17-inch cube.

Is your interest piqued? Here's the bad news: the Model One isn't launching until May 10th. It's also fairly expensive, as you might have guessed; models range in price from $2,450 to $5,000 depending on the configuration you choose. In fact, this is so far in the future that the BryteWerks website isn't even fully up and going yet. If you want to get ahold of the company before January 9th (the website's launch date), you can reach them at sales@brytewerks.com or call (414) 892-4004.

10 Reasons to Root Your Android Device

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:01 PM PST

If you're a member of the little green army, chances are you've either rooted your phone or tablet, have thought about rooting it, or have no idea what we're talking about and will not click through to read more. This one goes out to that middle group — take the plunge! — but rooted users will also find some useful nuggets of info for enhancing their Android experience.

In case you're wondering, when you root your Android device, you gain access to the entire file system, with full admin rights. You can customize your own boot image, create a full backup of your phone, or install a full-blown Linux distro. But even if you don't want to get that geeky with it, there are a plethora of everyday reasons to root your Android, and thanks to many smart developers, we have rooting processes that are fairly accessible to the average computer-savvy Joe.

This is not a guide to rooting your phone. Such a thing is hardly possible, since the process varies a bit from device to device. You should know first that there are many risks to rooting, including possible bricking of the device and definite voiding of the warranty. That said, we do want to emphasize that it is usually not that cryptic of a process, and as long as you are careful to follow the instructions exactly, the success rate is high. Also, not all unsuccessful attempts result in damage to the phone.

bricks

There are a couple of excellent forums that provide up-to-date information on just about all popular Android devices. Go to Android Forums or the XDA-Developer Forums, find your device, and then drill down for the rooting guides and other resources that will be there for most models. And for a couple of sample guides that should show you that rooting is not that crazy of a thing, see Maximum Tech's How To Root Your Android Phone Without Bricking It.

And now, on to our reasons to root, in no definitive order.

10. Bloatware

Also known as crapware and some other choice euphemisms, bloatware infects the vast majority of Android phones. You'll recognize Samsung Touchwiz, HTC Sense, and Motorola MotoBlur as the custom UIs and feature packages that those makers throw on top of stock Android. While some of that bloatware is actually useful, most of it offers nothing that you couldn't arrange on your own with other apps, and it can bog down performance or even block features from your device. Worse yet is that much of the time, bloatware apps are blocked from uninstalling, unless of course, you root your phone.

9. Overclocking

nexus

When you root your Android, you gain some control over the hardware components, making overclocking and undervolting possible. It's not uncommon to overclock a 1GHz Android CPU up to 1.6GHz, of course with a greater tendency toward instability. Several root-only apps available in the Android Market handle both overclocking and undervolting, such as SetCPU ($1.99) and Voltage Control (free or $3.36 for the Extreme version).

8. Performance

Besides mere overclocking, rooted users can gain other performance enhancements through kernal tweaks performed by some of the apps we've mentioned here, custom ROMs, or through your own means, if you know what you're doing. Such tweaks in combination with overclocking have been known to increase overall performance on a Nexus S by 250 percent.

Also, as we've previously reported on Maximum Tech, "most Android devices incorporate an EXT3 filesystem with considerable overhead to ensure safe file I/O interaction. Once rooted, however, many of these devices can be upgraded with the faster EXT4 filesystem, resulting in faster load times and overall smoother software performance, while sacrificing a bit of storage stability. Yes, the less stable memory can lead to app crashes and even data loss, but that's pretty rare."

7. Screenshots

picme

For whatever reason, Google didn't write native screenshot ability into Android until Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). A few devices include it as an added feature out of the box, but there's no reason for you to wait for a new ICS device or update if you want to take screenshots today. If you root your Android, you can take advantage of screenshots apps such as Screenshot or PicMe at your leisure.

6. Other Root-only Apps

Once you've successfully rooted your Android, you'll be privy to hundreds, if not thousands, of useful apps that the other suckers of the world can't access. Here are 10 reasons to root your 'droid in one. Just a smidgeon of the root-only app selection includes stuff like:

• DroidWall - Android Firewall (free) can show you any app that is using your wireless data, so you can restrict data use that is chewing up capacity on you plan, as well as see if there is any nefarious and unwanted data use happening.

• Dual Mount SD Widget - ($0.99) lets you mount your SD card to both the phone and a PC at the same time.

hexamob

• Hexamob Recovery Pro - ($1.39) helps you recover files that you accidentally deleted from your internal memory or SD card.

• Keyboard Manager - (free) lets you choose one keyboard for portrait view and another for landscape.

• LEDs Hack - (free) lets you turn off LED notifications.

• Root Call Blocker - ($5.98) lets you block specific numbers at the system level, so the phone never rings when they call.

• Samba Filesharing - (free) makes your Android's files available as a Windows shared folder over Wi-Fi.

sixaxis

• Sixaxis Controller - ($1.62) lets you mount a PS3 controller to your Android.

• With Theft Aware - (£10), an uber-security program, you can remotely track and wipe a lost or stolen phone, call it, and apparently spy on the person on the other end without them knowing it.

• Titanium Backup -root (free version or $6.58 for Pro) provides a powerful backup tool with extensive features, including letting you remove that pesky bloatware.

 

 

5.Custom ROMs

The general feeling among the modder community is that carriers make their Android UIs to benefit their businesses, not the user. If you want the best user experience, you have to flash a custom ROM that was actually made for users.

The term custom ROM is somewhat of a misnomer, but basically it is a customized UI for Android, and there are many from which to choose. Some of them focus on giving you the latest version of Android before your carrier releases an official update, while others focus on extra functionality or speed and stability.

There are too many Android mods to cover here, but you'll want to determine your priorities and pick one that's best for you. Or, you could get Boot Manager ($2.99) from the Android Market, which lets you choose between five different installed custom ROMs at startup.

cyanogen

Some of the most popular custom ROMs include CyanogenMod, which focuses on maximizing performance over flashy looks, but does let you choose themes. Based on Gingerbread, it gives you a Touch to Focus feature in the camera, custom gestures, permission management and much more.

homescreen

MIUI, a Chinese-developed ROM, is also based on Gingerbread and provides a very distinct look. It only supported 16 devices at the time of this writing, but it's updated every Friday and presumably will add more device support as its ICS-based ROM becomes more stable.

To find a ROM for your device, you can drill down to your device in the XDA-Developers forums, or check out this list on Theunlockr.com.

4. Upgrade Android on Your Own Schedule

Are you incredulous that you still don't have a Gingerbread update for your Froyo phone after more than a year? By the time the carrier gets around to updating it (if it does at all), you may have a perfectly stable ICS update waiting for you if you were to root your phone.

Android custom ROMs allow you to get the latest Android OS before it is ordained from up on high by the company you're paying a monthly bill to. At the time of this writing, there were even a variety of Android 4 ICS ROMs hitting the interwebs, although in general, stability is still a factor with them. It won't be too long before those ICS ROMs are working as smooth as baby food, and it's likely to happen before a whole lot of native ICS devices and sanctioned ICS updates come out.

3. Increase Battery Life

superpower

Many of the custom ROMs available aim to improve battery life through internal efficiency settings, app and network activity management, and the removal of bloatware. There's also an experimental app in beta right now called Superpower, available on the Android market in a free and paid ($4.25) version. There are plenty of other battery-saver apps out there--many not requiring root access--but SuperPower goes to the extreme, aiming to provide automatic management of your data connection and radio bands, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, CPU speed, and more. that management is based on factors such as screen state, Wi-Fi connection state, download speed, foreground application, tethering state, sleep mode, charging state, etc. There's no reward without risk, however; the developer wants you to know that the app is still buggy in beta and that you use it at your own risk.

2. Zap Carrier IQ

By now you know what Carrier IQ is, and you may have a rough idea of who's using it. For example, Sprint has since vowed to stop using it. But trying to get a straight answer about how the information Carrier IQ extracts is being used could you take you down a long a frustrating road, ending in a dead end of paranoia. It would be faster and less mind-numbing to just trash it from your handset.

check ac

Thanks to Trevor Eckhart, the very man who discovered Carrier IQ on his Android phone, you can do just that. He posted a free .apk called Logging Test App over on the XDA-Developers forums that can show you if a program like Carrier IQ resides on your device. If the test comes up positive, head over to the Android Market and support this modern-day hero by plunking down a measly buck for the Logging Test App Pro Key, which enables you to remove Carrier IQ or other offending software. Of course, none of this is possible unless you root your Android phone first.

1. Because You Can

Finally, just like building your own PC, there's a subjective sense of satisfaction and independence you get from rooting an Android device. Even beyond that, there's a hint of a more rare intangible attached to it: duty. In some way, it's your duty to flip the bird to the manufacturers and carriers that pay you lip service but not nearly enough real service. It's your duty and your privilege to root, because you can. Google made Android open source, and thousands of good people are working on apps and ROMs for you to enjoy, giving you the opportunity to wield the most powerful smartphones available. Passing up the ability to root is akin to missing that opportunity.

free

You may not be a car enthusiast, but imagine you're cruising on a German autobahn in a fresh Porsche Boxster with nothing but open road and perfect conditions in front of you. Do you keep it to a conservative 75mph? No, you jack it up into triple digits… because you can. You may not be an incorrigible drunk, but if you're on a long weekend in New Orleans, you pour some booze into a plastic cup and stroll down Bourbon Street… because you can.    

You bought an Android phone, which probably means that either 1) you know diddly about smartphones and just got whatever was free on contract or looked cool, or more likely 2) you're somehow attracted to the flexibility and customization freedom of Android that you don't find in other mobile operating systems. So here you are. Live a little. Void that warranty! Root your Android, for all of the above reasons, and also just because you can. It's not that hard to do, it's kind of fun, and just like in a clichéd rom com, you'll discover the value of what was right in front of you all along.

What reasons for rooting did we miss? We'd be honored if you shared your wisdom in the comments below.

@MaxTechMarkkus on da Twittah.

Cooler Master Cosmos II Case Review

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 01:33 PM PST

It's been a long road for the Cosmos II, but it's finally here. The long-awaited successor to Cooler Master's blockbuster Cosmos was supposed to ship in September—around the same time as our 2011 Dream Machine, which used a prototype version of the Cosmos II as its chassis. Well, after some trips back to the drawing board, the Cosmos II is finally ready for prime time. It's real. And it's spectacular.

The Cosmos II, which Cooler Master bills as an "Ultra Tower," is 20 percent larger than the original Cosmos—it's more than 27 inches tall, 26 deep, and 13.5 inches at its widest; and it weighs a staggering 47 pounds empty. The chassis frame is steel, while the shell is plastic with aluminum cladding on the panels. The build quality is outstanding, with nary a sharp edge, uneven panel or flimsy component. The sliding doors on the top and front panel slide smoothly, the side hinges are solid and easy to use, and the handles won't fall off. Our review unit is all black, but Cooler Master also offers a silver model.

Yes, it looks this good in real life.

The Cosmos lineage is strong with this one, from the hinged side panels to the top carrying handles, to the slide-out hard drive trays; but the Cosmos II is a thoroughly modern product, with massive cooling potential, strong cable-management chops, and wide-open spaces.

The Cosmos II has three toolless 5.25-inch drive bays, two front-panel 3.5-inch hot-swap SATA bays, and a whopping 11 internal hard drive trays: five in the main compartment and six in the case's bottom section, which also contains the PSU and two 12cm fans that blow air directly across the lower hard drive cages. The two lower hard drive cages and the primary hard drive cage are all removable. Take out the lower two, add an included bracket, and you can install a 240mm radiator in their place. Or you can remove the upper hard drive cage to improve airflow to the main compartment.

 

You'll never say, "Gosh, I wish the Cosmos II had more room inside."

The main compartment has ten PCIe expansion slots, plus one on the side, and it supports motherboard form factors as large as XL-ATX. It can accommodate CPU coolers up to seven inches tall, and 12.2-inch GPUs with room to spare. The motherboard tray contains eight rubber-grommeted cable-routing cutouts to the right of the motherboard, two non-grommeted cutouts above it, and two grommeted cutouts in the divider between the PSU and main compartments, for PSU cables or water-cooling tubes. There's more than an inch of space behind the motherboard tray for cable routing.

The case's front panel includes two USB 3.0 ports (with an internal header), four USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, and two audio jacks. The case's power and reset switches are above the front-panel connectors, along with a sleek fan controller that can power up to nine fans on four different channels.

The Cosmos II ships with five fans: a 20cm front intake fan, 14cm rear exhaust fan, 12cm top exhaust fan, and the previously mentioned two 12cm hard-drive bay fans in the lower compartment. The front-panel fan can be swapped for a 14cm fan, the rear fan can be swapped for a 12cm, and the top panel can accommodate a 20cm fan, two 14cm fans, three 12cm fans, or a 240mm radiator. All the intake fans have removable dust filters. The hard-drive tray in the main compartment can accommodate a 12cm fan for increased drive cooling, and two 12cm fans can be mounted to the left side panel for GPU cooling. Each fan, save the rear exhaust fan, are controlled by the front-panel fan controller.

The nine 3-pin connectors are color-coded and labeled, with three for the top fans, three for hard-drive fans, two for GPU fans, and one for the front fan. The fan controller also has nine two-pin LED controllers for Cooler Master's LED fans, although only the 20cm front fan actually has has an LED. This all leads to a terrifying bundle of cables coming from the front panel. Thank goodness Cooler Master includes plenty of cable-routing options and tie-downs behind the motherboard tray.

Aside from the plethora of fan-control wires, building into the Cosmos II is a snap. The cavernous interior leaves plenty of room for all your high-powered components, and with plenty of support for both air- and water-cooling setups, you'll be able to keep even the hottest rigs chilly. It doesn't have the water-cooling potential of, say, Silverstone's TJ11, but its price tag is $250 less.

Our gripes are minimal. First, the sheer size of the beast means you need a very tall desk (if you're putting the Cosmos II under it) or a very sturdy desk (if you're putting it on top). Second, we've seen cases with better fan-control wire routing. Lastly, we could do without the loud beep the fan controller produces each time you change the fan speed.

These minor quibbles aside, the production version of the Cosmos II is a great case, and we foresee it being very popular with those who need plenty of room for high-performance components, have the space in their office for the Cosmos II's bulk, and don't mind forking over $350. It's an unabashedly prestige case, but sometimes that's what we need.

Android App of the Week: Spreaker Radio

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 12:25 PM PST

The Internet has brought the concept of content creation to the masses in the form of social media, blogs, and personal websites. People with interests of all types are able to share ideas and passions with likeminded individuals throughout the world. But as the Internet has become more open to content created by end-users, competition has increased in the form of other competing messages, making it increasingly important for content creators to embrace new forms of media, like video blogs or podcasts.

Spreaker is a new addition to the Android scene, but has been around on the iPhone side for a while. The app -- and associated service -- make the task of creating and publishing podcasts from your mobile device a breeze. Spreaker provides you the ability to not only create and upload podcasts, but to broadcast streaming live shows that can be published to your blog or social media channel. As a service, Spreaker offers three tiers that provide you with different features and live broadcast durations. Spreaker's Basic service allows up to 30 minute broadcasts for free, Gold ups your broadcast time to 3 hours for $19.90 per month, and Platinum gives you 5 hours of broadcast time for $49.90 a month.

The Spreaker app itself is available as a free download from the Android Market. You can give the features and capabilities a try with the Basic service.

Samsung Unveils DV300F Dual-View Camera with Wi-Fi

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 11:10 AM PST

Smartphone cameras still have some ground to make up before they can truly replace dedicated point-and-shoot, and the divide only gets wider with the release of cameras like Samsung's DV300F. The newest addition to Samsung's DualView line, the DV300F sports a pair of LCDs, one of which is a front-facing 1.5-inch screen to make sure those narcissistic shots come out just right before you upload your mug to Facebook or Google+.

It also has Wi-Fi connectivity baked in so you can upload email or upload your images to social media sites straight away. Alternately, images saved onto the camera's microSD card can be transferred to a home PC without any wires by using the Auto PC Backup function.

"Our aim is to continually be at the forefront of innovation and maintain our leadership within the DualView market, pioneered by Samsung," stated Mr. Myoung Sup Han, senior vice president and head of digital imaging business, Samsung Electronics. "The new DV300F model is the embodiment of this goal. This latest model with the DualView LCD, Wi-Fi connectivity, ultra premium styling and the latest creative features, demonstrates Samsung's unwavering commitment to innovation within the digital compact camera market, as well as our ability to consistently meet the needs of our customers."

As for the core features, the DV300F boasts a 16MP sensor, 5x optical zoom, 25mm wide-angle lens, and a selection of built-in tools and extras, such as background templates and the ability to merge up to three different images.

No word on price or availability.

Image Credit: Samsung

MSI Announces Big Bang XPower II Motherboard

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:55 AM PST

Vin Diesel and the Fast and the Furious movie franchise helped popularize tricked out Civics and other modded imports, and maybe it was only a matter of time before it became vogue to sell motherboards sporting over-the-top eye candy. MSI continues with the aggressive motherboard theme that's become all the rage lately, but a peek at the company's new Big Bang XPower II mobo is all it takes to understand there's a serious board underneath all the fluff.

It starts with a 22-phase PWM design and continues with four-way Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFire support. Anticipating that users are going to load this thing up, MSI equipped the XPower II with Hybrid Digital Power, dual 8-pin CPU and single 6-pin VGA power connectors. and of course the company's much touted Military Class II components.

The CPU socket is flanked by four DDR3 DIMM slots on each side for a total of eight slots with support for up to a mind boggling (and wallet busting) 128GB of RAM. But this board is really aimed at overclockers and includes plenty of amenities to help push components past their rated specs, including convenient V-Check Points to read voltages, a Direct OC button to fine tune the CPU BCLK down to 0.1MHz, and onboard power, reset, and clear CMOS buttons.

No word yet on price or availability.

Image Credit: MSI

Ding, Dong IE6 Is Virtually Dead

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:53 AM PST

Cake, toasts and cheers; Microsoft's been having a hell of a party up in Redmond. Why, you ask? Is Windows 8 shipping early? Did Xbox sales spike even higher? Did somebody actually buy a Windows Phone? None of the above. Today, the Internet Explorer team is celebrating a near-death experience as the US browser share of IE6 finally dipped under one percent. That's right, the non-standards-compliant beast is finally rasping out its dying breath.

"IE6 has been the punch line of browser jokes for a while, and we've been as eager as anyone to see it go away," IE Marketing Director Roger Capriotti crowed in a celebratory blog post. "In fact, we launched the IE6 Countdown site last March to help accelerate the process. Less than a year later, I'm thrilled to say that the United States has joined the ranks of Austria, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway in dropping below 1% usage of IE6."

Hopefully China gets the memo: according to Microsoft's Countdown site, IE6 still holds a commanding 25.2 percent share of the browser market in that country. South Korea's the second-worst IE6 offender with a 7.2 percent share for the browser.

Byte Rights: The Crappy House Remix

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:45 AM PST

Every time a terrible bill like COICA or PIPA gets exposed for what it would actually do to the Internet, large rights holders reinvent it slightly, lay some bad dubstep over it, and call it something you can dance to.

This time it's the Stopping Online Piracy Act—SOPA for short. SOPA is a bill coming out of the House that is a compliment to the Senate's PROTECT-IP abomination. It's entirely unlike PROTECT-IP, in that while it does all the same things and worse, it phrases them differently… so you won't notice.

SOPA has done away with PROTECT-IP's "blacklist," after realizing Americans don't really like blacklist censorship. Instead, SOPA allows the attorney general to cut off sites from the Internet by prohibiting them in some sort of non-list document. Since that's not a blacklist, it doesn't need any judicial review. Prohibited sites would be arranged in a tag cloud of some sort, and DNS providers would be required to not show them to you.

SOPA goes on to ban advertisers and credit card processors from doing business with sites dedicated to copyright infringement. Whether a site is dedicated to infringement is helpfully determined by what the guy filing the legal nastygram thinks looks like a site dedicated to infringement, without any law enforcement getting into the act, much less judges.

The law calls this the "market-based approach." This provision could not possibly be abused as much as the infamous DMCA take-down notice, a provision used more to hobble competition and speech than protect copyright, according to a Google study, because I heard recently that all the bad people left the Internet.

This bill may let corporations and government break the Internet, but don't worry, because they've put out press releases promising they would never do anything like that.
Posted by Shri Krishna

Total Pageviews

statcounter

View My Stats