General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Rumor Roundup: No Cable Subscription? No Hulu For You!

Posted: 01 May 2012 10:58 AM PDT

Netflix may be king of the streaming video hill, but millions of intrepid cord cutters have turned to Hulu Plus to feed their next-day fix for newly aired television shows. That may change one day, however; new reports indicate that Hulu is considering requiring its users to have a verified cable subscription, a la HBO GO.

Could the proposed change have anything to do with Comcast/NBC, Disney and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. owning the majority of Hulu? Nah, that couldn't be it… although now that you mention it, the New York Post -- which broke the news -- says that the move to verified cable subscription is the reason that Providence Equity Partners, the fourth and only non-content-focused major shareholder in Hulu, was rumored to be cashing out its stake in Hulu last week.

TechCrunch took the Post's story and ran with it; according to that publication's sources, Hulu has considered moving to cable verification since way back in 2009. TechCrunch's insider agreed with the Post's in saying that the drastic "Cable subscription or GTFO" change is likely a couple of years off, but he indicated that a tiered-type model could appear much sooner, with cable subscribers receiving access to shows the day after they air and non-subscribers being forced to wait as long as a month for fresh content.

If that tiered model takes effect, TechCrunch's source says that even Hulu Plus subscribers would most likely need a cable subscription in order to watch new shows the day after they air. As far as the carte-blanche "Cable subscription or GTFO" rumor goes, there's no word on whether the limitation would bar Hulu Plus members from streaming TV shows if they aren't also cable subscribers. That's the way rumors work, unfortunately.

Would you stop watching Hulu if it required you to subscribe to cable services and jump through hoops in order to prove it? Or would you just turn to illegal torrents, as hordes of people did after Fox enacted new streaming content delays for folks who don't subscribe to cable?

Will Ivy Bridge's Integrated Graphics Ring The Death Knell For Discrete GPUs?

Posted: 01 May 2012 10:16 AM PDT

If you ask an everyday gamer, he'll probably tell you the PC graphics market is basically a two-horse race between AMD's Radeon and Nvidia's GeForce. Ask a financial analyst and you'll get a different answer: the beancounters think that the graphics market is less of a race and more of a massacre, with Intel playing the role of Leatherface and Ivy Bridge's integrated graphics acting as the chainsaw that delivers the death blow.

The improved Intel HD 4000 graphics chops of Ivy Bridge chips means that the CPUs are capable of carrying out basic gaming and HD video tasks, and that makes them more than functional enough for the average PC user, the market researchers at Five Star Equities claim. The firm says that Ivy Bridge has "functionally destroyed any reason to buy a basic video card" for most consumers. (The graphics processors in AMD's APUs are even more powerful than the ones in Ivy Bridge, for comparison; FSE never mentions AMD directly.)

Financial analyst Jack Gold chimed in on the press release to drive the point home. "Extreme gamers who want very powerful graphics cards are in a niche market already, and it's shrinking," he says. "For 95 percent of the folks out there, integrated graphics will be what they want." He also made a way-too-easy "This is… a game changer" comment. (Try harder, Jack!)

Mocking of obvious jokes aside, do you think that discrete graphics are going the way of the dodo, or maybe the small, niche way of the St. Vincent Amazon Parrot? Does the future lie in gaming consoles and supercomputers for AMD and Nvidia? Or is this much ado about nothing?

Check Point Rolls New ZoneAlarm Antivirus and Firewall Protection into a Pro Bono Package

Posted: 01 May 2012 07:18 AM PDT

Check Point appears to be on a mission to prove you don't need to pay for full-fledged PC security, a motto that sits well with Maximum PC readers and enthusiasts in general. Starting today, you can download Check Point's ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2013, purportedly "the most complete free Internet security solution for consumers," at absolutely no charge. You can't beat the price, but can you beat the security?

That's something we look forward to testing. In the meantime, some key features include a robust antivirus and spyware scan engine that scans, detects, and removes both known and unknown malware, including nasty rootkits; two-way firewall that monitors both inbound and outbound traffic; an 'OSFirewall' that monitors behaviors within a PC to root out sophisticated attacks that typically evade AV scanners; identity theft protection; anti-phishing protection; and online backups.

"Most consumers are unwittingly making themselves an easy target for cyber criminals," said Bari Abdul, Vice President and Head of ZoneAlarm, Check Point Software Technologies consumer business. "They lack a strong 2-way firewall, are unwilling or unable to pay for security, or they just have left their security on the backburner. People are putting themselves at serious risk by not having minimum security, which at least includes a firewall and antivirus software. It's basically like leaving your home with the doors unlocked."

"By making ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall free and convenient, we hope to spur a widespread Internet security movement that will help consumers better protect themselves from dangerous predators lurking online," continued Abdul. "This movement will in-turn help provide a more secure experience for all PC users."

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall 2013 is free for individuals and not-for-profit charitable organizations. It's available to download here.

Image Credit: Check Point

Dell May Rebrand Alienware M11x Gaming Laptop, Alienware Ultrabook Possible, Too

Posted: 01 May 2012 07:01 AM PDT

Fans of the Alienware M11x gaming laptop were essentially told to go pound sand when Dell announced Ivy Bridge upgrades to its 2012 Alienware notebook range, which didn't include the 11.6-inch notebook. Dell apparently decided to pull the plug on the M11x, a system we liked so much that we awarded it a 9/10 verdict back in 2010. But is it really the end of the road for the M11x?  A tipster who spoke with Dell tells us otherwise.

A Maximum PC reader forwarded us a set of emails in which he discusses with Dell the M11x's demise and his disappointment with that decision. During the exchange, a member from Dell's Corporate Escalation Team offered to discuss the situation with our tipster, but only over the phone.

"I know this is NO solid confirmation of anything but I just hung up with a guy from Dell that informed me that the Alienware M11x will not be completely discontinued but that it will be rebranded within Dell's current product portfolio, maybe XPS or Inspiron," our tipster tells us.

In addition, he claims he was told that the "current Ultrabook trend would lead Dell to release an Alienware Ultrabook" sometime later this year. He told us this before yesterday's revelation that the XPS 13 Ultrabook is exceeding Dell's sales expectations by nearly three times.

We reached out to Dell for comment but have yet to hear back about a rebranded M11x or Alienware Ultrabook.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II Pre-order Website Pops Up Ahead of Official Trailer

Posted: 01 May 2012 06:10 AM PDT

Those of you rocking Team CoD t-shirts rather than Team Battlefield gear, you'll be pleased to know that Activision is getting ready to release Call of Duty: Black Ops II. We know this not because of a rumor or whispers in the wind, but because an official pre-order page by Activision popped up in the U.K. advertising that the upcoming game will start shipping November 13, 2012.

"Pushing the boundaries of what fans have come to expect from the record-setting entertainment franchise, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 propels players into a near future, 21st Century Cold War, where technology and weapons have converged to create a new generation of warfare," Activision explains on its pre-order website.

The site isn't fleshed out with images and videos, and is instead littered with "Coming Soon" placeholders, but according to a report in USA Today, Activision plans to air the game's first official trailer tonight on TNT during a break in the NBA playoffs. In the meantime, you can poke around the site here, provided someone at Activision doesn't pull the plug.

Image Credit: Activision

Acer's B243PWL is a 24-inch IPS Display for Commercial Customers

Posted: 01 May 2012 05:38 AM PDT

Typically when a company advertises a product for enterprise or commercial customers, what they're really saying is, 'Hey, we jacked up the price, thanks for your business.' That doesn't appear to be the case with Acer's new B243PWL monitor, a 24-inch "commercial display." It's a $329 (MSRP) monitor, but it boasts an IPS panel with a Full HD (1920x1200) 16:10 screen resolution and a 100,000,000:1 contrast ratio (dynamic).

Acer eschewed an HDMI port in favor of equipping the B243PWL with a DisplayPort, VGA connector, and DVI with HDCP support. It's an energy efficient display with an EPEAT Gold rating, the highest of any EPEAT certification available, which means that it meets at least 75 percent of EPEAT's optional criteria.

"We're pleased to offer our commercial customers a premium IPS display, which provides the image caliber necessary for photo editing, digital video creation and media-rich presentation development," said Chris White, senior director of product marketing, Acer America. "Not only does it produce superior picture quality, but its low power consumption provides a low total cost of ownership."

Other features include 300 nits brightness, an integrated eColor Management tool, built-in speakers, integrated USB hub, and tiilt, swivel, height adjustment, and rotate options with support for both landscape and portrait mode.

The B243PWL is available now and backed with a three-year warranty.

Image Credit: Acer

Britain: Court Orders ISPs to Block Pirate Bay

Posted: 30 Apr 2012 11:28 PM PDT

The Pirate Bay (TPB) may soon need to get those "Low Orbit Server Station" (LOSS) drones it talked about in March airborne, for things aren't looking all that bright on the ground for the world's largest torrent site. The latest setback for TPB comes in the form of a UK High Court ruling directing five of the country's largest internet service providers (ISPs) to block the popular torrent site. Hit the jump for more.

This order comes in a lawsuit filed against Britain's top six ISPs by a bunch of music labels representing themselves and other members of the music industry trade group the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In February, the court held that TPB's operators along with its users in the UK were infringing the claimants' copyrights.

Now, the music labels have got what they were after: an injunction forcing the ISPs to "take measures to block or at least impede access by their customers to a peer-to-peer ("P2P") file-sharing website called The Pirate Bay ("TPB")." The five ISPs to whom this order applies are Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media. As for BT, the UK's largest ISP, it has been granted some more time to review the matter.

"We continue to have discussions with the BPI and we hope to announce an outcome acceptable to both of us soon," a BT spokesman told ZDNet UK.

"Sites like The Pirate Bay destroy jobs in the UK and undermine investment in new British artists," reads a statement issued by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). "The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale. Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them."
Posted by Shri Krishna

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