General Gaming Article |
- LG Expected to Launch P880 Quad-Core Android Phone
- HTC Rumored to be Working on Streaming Music Service
- Comcast Loses 17,000 Cable Customers in Q4, Is Rightfully Giddy
- Microsoft AV Flags Google.com As A Severe, Exploit-Filled Threat
- Pre-Order Mass Effect 3 on Origin and Get Battlefield 3 Free for PC
- Nifty "Kinect For Media Center" Application Does Exactly What You'd Expect
- Apple Turns Attention to Bankrupt Kodak as Relentless Patent Litigation Continues
- Gigabyte, HWBot Join Forces For AMD-Focused "Spring Extreme" Overclocking Competition
- CyberPower PC Unleashes Zeus Gaming Desktops (Sans Thunderbolt)
- SanDisk Announes 'Extreme' Solid State Drive Series for Performance Junkies
| LG Expected to Launch P880 Quad-Core Android Phone Posted: 15 Feb 2012 03:06 PM PST
The P880 will be one of the first smartphones to ship with the quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC. This part is already shipping in tablets, but it will be a big step for phones, and is producing some incredible benchmarks in the leaked screenshots. To keep that chip chugging along, the P880 will come with a 3000mAh battery. The screen will also eat up juice with its 1280x720 resolution. The P880 will also be LG's first Ice Cream Sandwich phone. The leaked screens show version 4.0.3 and the newest version of the Linux kernel for Tegra. LG doesn't have the best reputation for software updates, but at least this one ill be running the latest and greatest when it comes out, unlike last year's Optimus 2X. |
| HTC Rumored to be Working on Streaming Music Service Posted: 15 Feb 2012 02:44 PM PST
HTC took a large ownership stake in Beats Audio last year, and has been shipping phones with Beats technology for the last few months. So maybe a music service would fit right in. HTC has also shown an interest in bringing special services to HTC Sense, the company's user interface used on Android. There is already an HTC movie streaming service, and upcoming phones will include 50GB of Dropbox storage for users. Talks with Spotify apparently went nowhere, which may have led to the development of an in-house solution. Sources are saying that HTC could announce the service later this month at Mobile World Congress. Samsung has pulled back on MWC this year, so that could give HTC the opening it needs to make an impact. |
| Comcast Loses 17,000 Cable Customers in Q4, Is Rightfully Giddy Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:17 AM PST
Comcast hasn't lost as few as 17,000 cable subscribers in five years, and compared to 2010, last quarter's losses were a drop in a bucket. In same quarter one year earlier, Comcast reported 135,000 cable subscriber losses, or about eight times as many as Q4 2011. "Last year was a very important year for our company. Cable continued to drive innovation, increase new product introductions and transform the customer experience, and we successfully integrated NBCUniversal," said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast. "We also reported strong financial and operating results in both the fourth quarter and for the full year. Specifically, cable had another terrific quarter of improving customer metrics, demonstrating that our new XFINITY brand and our intensified focus on service and innovation are making a real difference." That's right, Comcast lost 17,000 cable subscribers and still described it as a "terrific quarter" for cable, which underscores the expectations in today's streaming landscape. In terms of overall revenue, Comcast collected over $15 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 54.7 percent year-on-year increase. |
| Microsoft AV Flags Google.com As A Severe, Exploit-Filled Threat Posted: 15 Feb 2012 11:09 AM PST
As you might expect, the Internet was quickly ablaze with a virtual horde all asking the same penetrating question: WTF? No, Google wasn't serving up malware. It turns out that the culprit was bad code in updates for Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft Security Essentials, ZDNet explains. Fortunately, Microsoft squashed the bug fairly quickly; by the end of the day yesterday, new updates were pushed out to fix the problem. It makes you wonder just what the hell kind of testing goes on over in Redmond, though -- especially since Microsoft AV products just went on a Google Chrome-deleting splurge last September when another false positive mistakenly identified the browser as the ZeuS Trojan. |
| Pre-Order Mass Effect 3 on Origin and Get Battlefield 3 Free for PC Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:54 AM PST
You can pre-order Mass Effect 3 on any platform you want (PC download, PC boxed copy, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360), but your copy of Battlefield 3 is a digital version for PC and is valid only for those who don't already own a copy. The offer expires March 5, 2012, with free download codes to be emailed no later than March 8, 2012. Additional fine print stuff: OFFER EXPIRES MARCH 5, 2012. VALID ONLY ON NEW PURCHASES OF MASS EFFECT 3 ("PRODUCT") FROM THE ORIGIN STORE AT WWW.ORIGIN.COM AND ONLY FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE A DIGITAL VERSION OF BATTLEFIELD 3 ("BF3"). CUSTOMERS WILL BE EMAILED THE CODE FOR BF3 BY MARCH 8, 2012. VALID ONLY IN US AND CANADA. CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR OTHER DISCOUNT COUPONS. LIMIT ONE OFFER PER PERSON. CUSTOMERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SHIPPING, HANDLING AND APPLICABLE SALES TAX. OFFER MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. RETAILERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND EMPLOYEES OF ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND THEIR AGENCIES/AFFILIATES ARE NOT ELIGIBLE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. INTERNET CONNECTION AND ORIGIN ACCOUNT (EA) REQUIRED. YOU MUST BE 13+. EA MAY RETIRE ONLINE FEATURES AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE POSTED ON WWW.EA.COM/2/SERVICE-UPDATES. PC PRODUCT REQUIRES ACCEPTANCE OF END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT. ACCESS TO PC ONLINE FEATURES LIMITED TO ONE ORIGIN ACCOUNT (EA). More details and ordering information here. |
| Nifty "Kinect For Media Center" Application Does Exactly What You'd Expect Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:47 AM PST Have you ever been browsing through your Windows Media Center library, stopped on your significant other's stockpile of Jersey Shore episodes, and wave your hands dismissively before continuing on to Netflix? Some new tech lets that disgusted gesture alone speed you away from Snooki's yawn-inducing antics. The straightforwardly named "Kinect for Media Center" software taps into Kinect for Windows and adds both voice and gesture controls to your Media Center browsing experience. The software supports add-ins (like Netflix and Heatwave) as efficiently as it does the normal Media Center interface, as you can see in the demo video above. It doesn't include support for the 360 or any other Media Center extender, however. A whole range of motion and voice controls let you boss your PC around -- all of which can be seen at the Kinect for Media Center web page -- and "advanced Voice features" keep audio coming from your speakers from accidentally controlling Media Center. The speed of your gestures determines the velocity of the UI movement, too. Not too shabby, if you're into the "arm-swinging, sweet-talking" control thing. If you are into it, you'll need a PC with a dual-core, 2.66 GHz processor, at least 2GB of RAM (although 4GB is better), Kinect for Windows -- duh -- and a copy of the Kinect for Media Center software, which developer Brad Mauk is selling for $7 a pop. So, does the thought of controlling Media Center with your arms and mouth interest you? Would you be likely to pick this up if you used a dedicated HTPC with your TV? Thanks to Engadget for pointing this out! |
| Apple Turns Attention to Bankrupt Kodak as Relentless Patent Litigation Continues Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:29 AM PST
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple believes Kodak is infringing on a number of patents that relate to various technologies used in printers, digital cameras, and digital picture frames. Apple, which doesn't need to seek permission from a bankruptcy judge to sue Kodak over patent claims, took the step precautionary of announcing its intentions in a court filing yesterday. "Apple requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution," Apple's lawyers wrote in the filing, according to Bloomberg. This has been an ongoing thing between Apple, Kodak, and Research In Motion (RIM). It dates back to 2010 when Kodak sued Apple and RIM for allegedly infringing patents relating to technologies found in smartphone cameras. The issue was never fully settled, and Apple later fired back with a lawsuit of its own saying it was the rightful owner of an image-preview patent that's at the heart of all this. |
| Gigabyte, HWBot Join Forces For AMD-Focused "Spring Extreme" Overclocking Competition Posted: 15 Feb 2012 10:11 AM PST
The overall winner nabs the high-end GA-990FXA-UD7, while the runner-up and second runner-up will walk away with the GA-990FXA-UD5 and GA-990FXA-UD3, respectively. Of course, every competition needs rules, and the Spring Extreme Competition has four benchmark "stages" designed to separate the best from the rest. Contenders need to submit benchmark scores from Wprime 32M, Super PI 32M, PiFast, and PC Mark 05. In case of a tie, the PC Mark 05 score will be used as the tiebreaker. If you're rig meets the specific AMD/Gigabyte criteria needed to enter the contest, you have until March 15th to submit your benchmark scores. Head over to the Spring Extreme Competition page on HWBot for more info, including detailed information for the requirements for each stage of the event. Now get to tweaking! |
| CyberPower PC Unleashes Zeus Gaming Desktops (Sans Thunderbolt) Posted: 15 Feb 2012 09:58 AM PST
All six systems are housed in NZXT's Switch 810 Hybrid full-tower chassis. The least expensive of them all is the Zeus Lightning 1000, which starts at $1,000 (or less, if you downgrade certain default components) and includes an AMD FX-8120 eight-core processor with CyberPower PC's Pro OC option (overclocked by 10 percent or more), CoolIT ECO II-240 liquid cooling system, Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 motherboard, 8GB of DDR3-1600 memory, AMD Radeon HD 7750 graphics card, 2TB SATA 6Gbps hard drive (7200 RPM, 64MB cache), 24X DVD burner, 800W power supply, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. If you prefer to roll with Intel, the Zeus Thunder 1000 runs $1,325 for a baseline configuration that's mostly similar to the Lightning, but with an Intel Core i7 2600K processor overclocked by 20 percent or more (Extreme OC), Asus P8Z68-V LX motherboard, 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory, and an AMD Radeon HD 7770 graphics card. If you drop down to the same Radeon HD 7750 and 8GB of RAM found in the Lightning 1000 system, the price drops with it to $1,216. Image Credit: CyberPower PC |
| SanDisk Announes 'Extreme' Solid State Drive Series for Performance Junkies Posted: 15 Feb 2012 08:20 AM PST
The new drives are available in 120GB ($200), 240GB ($400), and 480GB ($750) capacities with varying levels of performance. Starting with the smallest one, the 120GB drive boasts up to 550MB/s sequential read and up to 510MB/s sequential write speeds, along with up to 23K random read and up to 83K random write IOPS. Performance numbers are similar for SanDisk's 240GB Extreme SSD, which features the same sequential read (550MB/s) and random write (83K IOPS) performance, but slightly better writes (up to 520MB/s sequential) and random read performance (33K IOPS). Finally, SanDisk's 480GB model offers up to 540MB/s sequential read and up to 460MB/s sequential write performance, up to 44K IOPS for random reads, and up to 45K IOPS for random writes. Interestingly, SanDisk rates the MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) on the 480GB at 1.4 million hours, compared to 2 million hours for the 240GB model and 2.5 million hours for the 120GB model. All three capacities will ship sometime later this year. Image Credit: SanDisk |
LG has not had the same presence in Android as the likes of Motorola, Samsung, and HTC, but the company might be looking to change that at the upcoming Mobile World Congress show. The 
As it searches for a way to turn its fortunes around, struggling phone maker HTC is reportedly investigating the possibility of launching its own music 
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Boutique system vendor CyberPower PC is out to prove that Zeus doesn't need a Thunderbolt to whip up a storm (but we'll gladly take USB 3.0, thank you very much). Zeus is the name of CyberPower PC's newest gaming desktop line with half a dozen models to choose from, including the Zeus Thunder 1000, 2000, 3000, and MAX, all of which feature Intel processors, and the Zeus Lightning 1000 and 2000 models built around AMD's FX platform.
If the high prices of mechanical hard drives has you feeling blue, perhaps you should use it as an excuse to kick a little green at a high performance solid state drive instead. You won't save any money by going that route, but if it's a matter of principle, or if you've been shopping a fast SSD anyway, SanDisk is hoping you'll consider its | 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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