General Gaming Article |
- AMD Intros FX-4130 Quad-Core Chip, Reduces Desktop Chip Prices
- Mozilla Silences Updates in Firefox 15 Released Today
- Leaked Memo Confirms T-Mobile Still Won't Run with iPhone Crowd
- CyberPower Pokes Head into Ultrabook Arena with Customizable Zeus-M Series
- NASA to Send Android Smartphone Powered Nano-Satellites into Space
- Apple Readies Invasion of 7-inch Tablet Market with iPad Mini, Reports Say
- Maingear's Solo 21 All-in-One PC Receives a Facelift and New Hardware
- IBM zEnterprise EC12 Mainframe is Culmination of $1 Billion in R&D
| AMD Intros FX-4130 Quad-Core Chip, Reduces Desktop Chip Prices Posted: 28 Aug 2012 07:27 PM PDT A few days after a little-known e-tailer was found taking pre-orders for the FX-4130, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Monday officially added the budget quad-core processor to its FX chip family. Besides launching the FX-4130, the company has also slashed the prices of a dozen or so desktop chips. The FX-4130 is a budget-friendly desktop chip with four 32nm Zambezi cores clocked at 3.8GHz(3.9GHz in turbo mode). The chip, which has a thermal design point (TDP) of 125 watts, carries a $112 price tag, having snatched it from the FX-4100, which has just had its price reduced to $101. "The AMD FX-4130 processor, for enthusiasts who like their graphics (GPU) interchangeable and upgradeable, is a 4-core CPU that clocks slightly below a 4GHz operating frequency in a 125W thermal envelope. Suggested retail price for the part is a highly competitive $112," AMD said in a blog post Monday. The FX-4100 is not the only chip to have had its price slashed. In all, the chip maker has reduced the prices of as many as seven A-Series "Llano" APUs and as many FX CPUs. |
| Mozilla Silences Updates in Firefox 15 Released Today Posted: 28 Aug 2012 12:04 PM PDT
"This was one of the scariest projects that I've ever worked on, since messing something up in the updater component could have catastrophic consequences in case it prevents users from being able to update to newer Firefox revisions. I'm happy that the results of this project will soon get in the hands of millions of Firefox users," Mozilla developer Ehsan Akhgari wrote in a blog post. Other features included in Firefox 15 are several built-in development tools, WebGL enhancements (including compressed textures for better performance), and of course the usual assortment of bug fixes. Mozilla said it also made more optimizations to memory usage for add-ons, further chasing a cure for the common memory leak issues that have plagued some users. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Leaked Memo Confirms T-Mobile Still Won't Run with iPhone Crowd Posted: 28 Aug 2012 11:32 AM PDT
The leaked memo is one of two that fell into TMoNew's hands, providing more speculatory fodder that an iPhone 5 launch event is imminent (Apple hasn't officially announced plans to unveil its next generation smartphone next month, but piles of rumors and leaked info have all but confirmed it will). While T-Mobile doesn't look to be joining the iPhone party, it will offer party favors in the form of Monthly4G SIM and Monthly 4G Micro SIM kits that are compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S. Adding a layer of intrigue to all this is the uncertainty surrounding future sales of certain Samsung devices. Samsung ships more Android smartphones than any other vendor, but after losing a critical case to Apple and being found guilty of patent infringement, several of the company's devices could end up banned for sale in the U.S. Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T all are able to fall back on iPhone sales if that happens, but T-Mobile obviously can't. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| CyberPower Pokes Head into Ultrabook Arena with Customizable Zeus-M Series Posted: 28 Aug 2012 09:27 AM PDT
The Zeus-M starts at $699 and features a 14.1-inch 1366x768 display, Intel Core i5 3317U processor, 8GB of DDR3-1333 memory, 60GB SATA III SSD, 802.11n Wi-Fi, 1.3MP webcam, HDMI output, multi-gesture touchpad, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. CyberPower's Zeus-M2 is the same Ultrabook, only spec'd a little better. It starts at $799 and offers twice as much RAM (16GB) and double the amount of storage (120GB). That's not a bad way to spend an additional $100. Regardless of configuration, both systems measure under an inch thick and weigh less than four pounds, CyberPower says. They're available to order now with an estimated ship date of September 11, 2012. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| NASA to Send Android Smartphone Powered Nano-Satellites into Space Posted: 28 Aug 2012 08:42 AM PDT
HTC's Nexus One (PhoneSat 1.0) and Samsung's Nexus S (PhoneSat 2.0) are the two lucky Android devices making the trip to space, InformationWeek reports. Size and costs are the two main benefits to using Android smartphones. The PhoneSat 1.0, which will take pictures and record its position in space, consists of the Nexus One phone, batteries, radio beacon, and a watchdog circuit that add up to around $3,500. NASA's PhoneSat 2.0 adds solar panels and a GPS receiver, so it costs a little more, but overall NASA is looking at spending about $50,000 for the launch, compared to hundreds of millions of dollars for a typical satellite. The first Android-powered satellite is expected to launch by the end of the year on the Orbital Sciences Corporation's Antares rocket, Forbes reports. If the launch is successful, PhoneSat 2.0 will follow suit. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Apple Readies Invasion of 7-inch Tablet Market with iPad Mini, Reports Say Posted: 28 Aug 2012 06:58 AM PDT
Reports of an iPad Mini tablet have slowly crawled through cyberspace, and the most recent news comes from Macotakara, a Japanese tech site that claims to have confirmation on the "iPad Mini" name. In addition to what it claims is the official name for Apple's tweener device, Macotakara also reports some type of hole next to the iSight camera, which is similar to the Wi-Fi antenna on the third generation iPod touch. Other than the name and size, not a whole lot is known about the iPad Mini, though that's reportedly about to change. According to All Things D, Apple will unveil the iPad Mini sometime in October, around a month after the iPhone 5's launch event. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| Maingear's Solo 21 All-in-One PC Receives a Facelift and New Hardware Posted: 28 Aug 2012 06:28 AM PDT
On the outside, Maingear says the Solo 21 now features "clean lines" and an "attractive silhouette" that will feel right at home in any room, whether it's in the living room serving as a media hub or on the kitchen counter dishing up recipes and shopping lists with its 21-inch Full HD 1080p display. Inside and around the Solo 21 are upgraded parts and features built around Intel's 3rd Generation Core platform (Ivy Bridge). It's customizable and upgradeable, even the motherboard, which Maingear says is a first in the industry. Pricing starts at $949 for a default configuration built on top of Intel's last generation Core i3 2125 processor (Sandy Bridge); It takes a $237 additional investment to step up to an Ivy Bridge CPU (Core i7 3770s). The rest of the baseline configuration consists of 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory (upgradeable to 16GB DDR3-1600), 500GB Seagate 7200 RPM hard drive (larger size HDD and SDD options available, along with mSATA SSDs), 8X DVD burner (Blu-ray burner optional), multi-memory card reader, 1.3MP webcam, GbE LAN, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The redesigned Solo 21 is available now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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| IBM zEnterprise EC12 Mainframe is Culmination of $1 Billion in R&D Posted: 28 Aug 2012 05:55 AM PDT
The zEC12 supports up to 120 cores, offers 50 percent more total capacity than its predecessor, and boasts ironclad security. It's the only commercial server to achieve Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level 5+ security classification, part of which is due to the inclusion of a state-of-the-art, tamper-resistant cryptographic co-processor called Crypto Express4S. IBM equipped zEC12 with 3TB of system memory, along with a new type of memory called Flash Express designed to improve performance of data intensive applications. "We continue to drive innovation on System z, allowing a broader set of clients to apply its leadership capabilities in security and resiliency to the current demands of their business, be they from analytics, cloud or mobile computing," said Doug Balog, general manager IBM System z. "Our end-to-end design approach for smarter computing -- from processors to systems to software optimization -- is targeted to handle complicated business challenges associated with managing, protecting and analyzing a client's most critical information. It's what makes the mainframe the ultimate enterprise system." The zEC12 will be available to commercial customers starting December 31. Image Credit: IBM Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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Mozilla took another page from Google Chrome when designing Firefox 15, which was released today. Like Chrome, the new version of Firefox features silent updates that are downloaded and installed in the background. Once installed, Firefox seamlessly and quickly switches to the new version the next time the end user exits and restarts his or her browser session.
T-Mobile has never been invited to the iPhone party, and that's probably not going to change when Apple unveils the iPhone 5 next month. Instead, an internal company memo leaked to the Web suggests T-Mobile is working on a strategy for "Selling Against the iPhone," which would be an awfully awkward thing to train its employees to do if, in fact, the wireless carrier was receiving iPhone devices.
Boutique system builder CyberPower PC is looking to put the pressure on Ultrabook vendors with a sleek and sexy looking model of its own. Unlike many Ultrabooks, however, CyberPower says its new 
The Curiosity rover on Mars isn't the only thing NASA is busy with these days. According to reports, NASA is getting ready to send a pair of cube-shaped nano-satellites weighing just over 2 pounds into space, but just as interesting as the size and weight is the fact that they're powered by Android smartphones. It's part of a nifty project called PhoneSat overseen by the agency's Small Spacecraft Technology program.
Rumor has it the iPad Mini -- a smaller, 7.85-inch version of the iPad tablet -- is real and nearly ready to ship. It's the type of device the late Steve Jobs never approved of, having once unaffectionately referred to 7-inch tablets as "tweeners," and slides into a trending category of mobile products currently led by Amazon's Kindle Fire, Google's Nexus 7, and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet (not necessarily in that order).
In less than a month, Microsoft will release its next generation operating system, Windows 8, to the general public, and we suspect OEMs will take advantage of the touch-friendly interface by introducing new all-in-one (AIO) desktop models. Getting a head start is boutique system builder Maingear, which today announced a redesigned version of its Solo 21 AIO with a fresh new look and upgraded internals.
IBM's newest mainframe server, the zEnterprise EC12, is purportedly the most powerful and technologically advanced enterprise system Big Blue has ever assembled. It sports the world's fastest processor, a six-core 32nm part running at 5.5GHz, that offers 25 percent more performance per core than the 45nm quad-core chip used in the previous generation zEnterprise 196. According to IBM, zEC12 is the result of an investment of more than $1 billion in research and development.| You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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