Excuse us a moment as we wipe the dribble from our chin and compose ourselves. You see, we just received word that Samsung lowered the gauntlet by launching a massive 1TB solid state drive that performs in between its 840 Series and 840 Pro Series. The new Samsung 840 EVO is a potential game changer, depending on how the drive maker decides to price its latest SSD, which we hope to know soon.
In the meantime, we can share other details, such as the fact that the new 840 EVO makes use of the industry's most compact 10-nanometer class 128Gb (gigabit) NAND flash memory available, which Samsung began mass producing back in April. The 840 EVO combines these chips with Samsung's proprietary multi-core MEX controller, resulting in a rated 520MB/s sequential write speed -- more than twice as fast as the previous generation -- and up to 540MB/s reads, along with random read and write performance of 98,000 IOPS.
"After accelerating the growth of the SSD market with last year's launch of entry-level, high-performance SSDs, we are introducing much faster SSDs with up to 1TB capacities offering consumers a wider range of choices," said Young-Hyun Jun, executive vice president, memory sales & marketing, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung continues to enhance its SSD brand image by delivering the industry's highest quality solutions and continuously increasing its SSD market share by expanding the adoption of higher density SSDs especially in client PC segments."
Don't need 1TB? No need to fret, Samsung is also offering the 840 EVO Series in 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, and 750GB flavors. We'll provide a pricing update as soon Samsung gives us the skinny.
Flash Deals include Left 4 Dead 2 for $5 (normally $20), Lego Lord of the Rings for $7.49 (normally $30), Gunpoint for $6 (normally $10), and War of the Roses for $5 (normally $20). The current community choice is The Walking Dead for $6.24 (normally $25).
We love finding Easter eggs at Maximum PC, but because we're all geeks, we love finding software Easter eggs even more! We've rounded up 8 of our favorite software Easter eggs for you below. Do you have a personal favorite you would like to share? Let us know in the comments below!
Unless you live a cave far removed from society (yet somehow have Internet access to read this), chances are high that either you or someone you know owns a smartphone. They're everywhere these days, and if you're in the market for a high-end device, you have more choices than ever. According to IHS iSuppli, it's this phenomenon of choices, fueled by top brands introducing new flagship models in the first half of 2013, that will contribute to an expected doubling of shipments from 2012 to 2017.
Smartphone shipments totaled 712 million in 2012, less than half of the expected 1.5 billion units IHS iSuppli expects to see shipped in 2017. As for 2013, smartphone shipments are on pace to reach 897 million units, followed by 1.1 billion units in 2014 and 1.2 billion in 2015.
"The volume of new flagship smartphone releases from top original equipment manufacturers (OEM) this year has been astounding," said Wayne Lam, senior analyst for consumer and communications at IHS. "These include the new BlackBerry Z10, the aluminum uni-body HTC One, and an update to the Samsung Galaxy S4 featuring a Full HD 5-inch active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display."
What of Apple's iPhone line? IHS iSuppli says the iPhone franchise appears to be stalling, noting that the 37.4 million units shipped in the first quarter fell below expectations. It's not clear when Apple will launch a new iPhone model, though many suspect it will debut later this year.
AMD once tried to dispell the MHz/GHz myth when Intel's Netburst architecture was pushing clockspeeds to new heights. That was a long time ago, and these days AMD is totally psyched about its new FX-9590 processor, a Piledriver part that qualifies as the world's first commercially available 5GHz processor. It's actually stock clocked at 4.7GHz, though it can reach the braggadocios 5GHz mark under load (Turbo). Wondering how it benchmarks?
Wonder no more! The folks at KitGuru tossed the FX-9590 chip onto its treadmill of benchmarks, slapped its backside, and watched as it was off and running. The testbed it used consisted of a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5 motherboard, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance Pro Series RAM clocked at 2,133MHz (10-11-11-28), Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 6GB Toxic graphics card, Patriot 240GB Pyro SE solid state drive (SSD) as the boot device, Patriot 240GB Wildfire SSD for storage, Corsair HX850 power supply, Asus Blu-ray drive, Lian Li X2000 chassis, and an Apple 30-inch Cinema HD display.
There are a whole bunch of benchmarks to digest, including PCMark 7, 3DMark 11, Cinebench R11.5, Tomb Raider, Metro: Last Light, and many more.
As was the case in the Netburst days, clockspeed isn't everything, which would explain why Intel's Core i7 4770K quad-core processor clocked at 4.5GHz trumped AMD's flagship part in several tests, including video encoding. We'll save our verdict for when we post our own evaluation, but in the meantime, it's looking like the FX-9590 is a pricey part that's going to have a tough time justifying the expenditure.
Virtualization a foreign concept to many IT workers
Well now, here's something that's a bit surprising. According to a recent study by a nationwide network of Cisco Partners, there's a pretty sizable gap between IT managers and everyday employees when it comes to the topic of virtualization, what it's used for, and what its many benefits are. Taking it a step further, statistically speaking (based on the study), 4 out of 10 IT managers have never even heard of virtualization.
That isn't to say many aren't already using virtualization. Many are benefiting from the deployment of virtualization supported technologies, Cisco says, adding that 46 percent of workers can access their work desktops from any device. Nearly two-thirds -- 65 percent -- of workers who have had a virus on their work PC had it restored in a single business day, and a majority of workers reported that software is automatically deployed onto their machines.
"It's often that a revolutionary but functional technology goes unheralded by the greater public. Ask a group off the street what DNS or HTTP stands for and you won't get many right answers," Cisco notes.
"On the other hand, most people can see how smartphones, tablets and netbooks are changing the modern workplace," Cisco added. "Mobility as a tech trend is easier for people to see in progress. It means being able to work anywhere on any device. The Cloud is another example. The public is becoming more comfortable with the concept as brands like Apple and Spotify now offer consumers hosted offerings for music, file storage and disaster recovery. Yet a tech concept enabling all these technologies, virtualization, is still 'virtually' unknown among full-time information workers."
So, what's the big deal if IT workers are clueless about virtualization? According to Cisco, it's problematic because public opinion and conventional wisdom often guide the decisions of CEOs and managers. It's also worth noting that 80 percent of senior management are unaware of how virtualization will benefit their business.
Disappointed with the audio in your Ultrabook or ultrathin laptop? It's a common complaint, and the only real solution is to invest in a pair of external speakers. If that's the road you're going down, Logitech hopes you'll gear up with its new Z600 set of Bluetooth speakers, an "elegantly designed" pair of cans intended to "complement the sleek good looks of Mac and Ultrabook computers."
One of the neat features of the Z600 is that you can sync up to three devices at once. You could, for example, stream audio from your Ultrabook, smartphone, and tablet simultaneously, and switch between feeds by pressing pause on one and play on another.
"The Logitech Bluetooth Speakers Z600 were designed to resemble an object of art using shapes, materials, and colors that meld with the modern living space and complement the look of ultrathin laptops," said Charlotte Johs, Logitech global vice president of brand development and portfolio for PC accessories. "And with built-in Bluetooth connectivity, a first for Logitech multimedia speakers, these speakers are ideal for today's wireless, multi-device lifestyle."
Each speaker is equipped with three drivers. There's also a 3.5mm port hidden in the back if you'd rather go wired instead of use Bluetooth. Even the cables were designed with aesthetics in mind, as they lay flat between the speakers and power adapter.
The power button also sits in the back, and if you want to adjust the volume, you just glide your finger around the edge of the top panel of the right speaker.
Logitech says the Z600 will be available in August for $150 MSRP.
School is almost back in session, are you ready? Why not use the back-to-school shopping season as an excuse to build yourself a new rig? To help you along, check out today's top deal. It's for an Intel Core i7 3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) quad-core desktop processor for $275 with free shipping (normally $290 - use coupon code EMCXNWP22). It's a fast chip, and if you're willing to participate in the dark art of overclocking, it can be even faster!
What to do while waiting for an expansion? Learn as much as you can about it, of course! And thanks to the latest info from Snail Games, players anticipating Age of Wushu's first expansion can delve even deeper into the inner workings of the new systems coming in Legends of Mount Hua.
In the Jianghu Gratitude and Revenge System, players have the opportunity to gain enough reputation with an NPC to convince him or her to fight alongside their character. On a darker note, players can also use that reputation (and a little gold) to hire an NPC to exact revenge upon another player. How far will the punishment go? That all depends on how much the player is willing to pay.
The Jianghu Hero and Treasure System, on the other hand, focuses on rewarding players for defeating Jianghu martial arts experts in duels to the death. These earned treasures are a new type of equipment with powerful stat bonuses, varying in power ranks and benefits. How does one come into one of these duels? By catching the eye of the experts by defeating certain enemies.
Players can also get a glimpse of the conflict that awaits them in Yanmen Pass, a new instance where players will choose which story to complete, in the trailer after the break.
If you thought you were safe from giant bosses in ArcheAge if you avoided sailing, think again. XLGAMES' latest update introduced a massive red dragon to harass the landlubbers like the kraken does the seafarers. Massive, scaly, and with breath that can incinerate adventurers, this dragon might just drop in on your party whether invited or not.
Also included in this latest update is the new cash shop. In a unique twist, players wishing to browse through and buy the wares visit an actual in-game shopping mall in the Market District. There are no generic icons to pour over, but full-scale items on display instead. Shoppers can peruse different departments filled with clothing, animals, gliders, even cars.
Want a glimpse of the dragon before it lands on your head? Or need a tour of the mall before you lose yourself -- and your funds -- in it? Then take a look at the two videos below courtesy of Steparu.com, and head to the site for more in-game footage of a dragon fight.
I will be perfectly frank when I say that I tremendously dislike PvE in Age of Wushu. It's not that the PvE is bad compared to other games; it's that I feel that the point of the game is ultimately PvP, whether that comes in the form of economics or direct combat. I play Age of Wushubecause I like the PvP, and I don't see the point in spending hours in co-op dungeons to get rewards that I could just buy on the market.
However, the playerbase pretty much disagrees with me. Most high-level guilds focus heavily on PvE. There seems to be a very fixed mindset in place with MMO players that encourages them to go for "endgame" PvE content, even though it is really just one path of many in Age of Wushu. Therefore, I feel obligated to cover it. If you are interested in learning more about forbidden instances, I advise you to get into a high-end guild and ask questions. I can give you the basics of what to expect and how to prepare, but there are a lot of specifics and everyone does things a little bit differently.
It's good to be back in the Choose My Adventure seat, and I'm very excited about the MMOs I have up in the polls this time around.
In the past, I've always done Choose My Adventure as a roleplaying series and had fun doing it. I've been a glutton for punishment and stood to the challenges thrown at me by the readers (namely, playing "bad" games on purpose). This time, though, I've chosen a handful of my favorite games (that haven't already been written in a CMA since 2011), and I'm going to focus more on exploring the chosen game and giving my impressions of what I'm seeing. Not to say that this will be anything approaching a review, but I'm just looking forward to jumping in to one of these games and letting you know what treasures (or travesties) I find.
So follow me after the jump to read more on the games I've selected for nomination and to vote for how I'll spend the next six weeks in Choose My Adventure.
In my informal survey of comments on Massively, one of the common dealbreakers that I see for MMOs is a combat system that just doesn't feel right for the player. Maybe the animations are off, the sounds are too wimpy, or the pacing is annoying. Whatever the case may be, the art of war isn't enjoyable and that pushes a player away.
But what about the flip-side? I'd like us to examine MMOs that get combat right and provide that "feel" that hits a sweet spot in your gaming pleasure center. I love it if weapons sound the way that I think they should, that there are reactive effects when I hit the enemy, and that skills go off more or less right when I activate them.
So which MMO has the best combat feel? Let's duke it out!
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Main themes seem to be a strong favorite among video game music fans (and even the casual set), but I've talked about them a few times already. So instead of puttering around with main MMO themes, why not give expansions some of the credit?
Not every expansion gets its own theme tune, of course, but plenty do. We've covered a few of them in this column so far, including Riders of Rohan and EVE Online: Apocrypha. What we haven't done is spend an entire week looking at these upstart themes and see how they compare to the originals.
So strap on your headphones and prepare for symphonic excellence. Here are six great MMO expansion themes that deserve a few minutes of your time!
MAG used to be a thing here at Massively. We wrote about it a fair amount way back in 2010, and some of us played a fair bit of it around that same period. Sadly, Sony has decided to shutter the PlayStation 3 shooter effective January 28, 2014.
PlanetSide 2 is gearing up for game update 13, which is tentatively scheduled for a July 24th release. Creative Director Matt Higby marched onto the forums to give players an advance warning as to what to expect when it arrives. Among the new surprises? Implants. Sexy, sexy implants.
Implants are cheap consumables that offer interesting abilities but only last for a few hours on a single load-out. One implant might protect you from fall damage while another increases the range that you can spot enemy names and health bars.
Other changes coming with GU13 include a revamp of the Esamir area, four new weapons, platoon enhancements, and a ton of bug fixes. The team plans to have the update on the test server next week.
There's some hemming and hawing about the return of the Gree event (July 23rd), and there's also a mention of August 6th's 2.3 update and August 13th's Bounty Contract Week. Most interestingly, though, is the info toward the bottom of the post concerning update 2.4.
BioWare is tentatively targeting October 1st for the patch, which will introduce a new short story arc (The Planet Oricon), two new operations, new 4-on-4 warzone arenas, and new "elder game PvE and PvP gear." Hit the links below for full details.
ArenaNet's Game Director Colin Johanson sat down with Community Manager Martin Kerstein to talk about the future of Guild Wars 2 and answer some questions from the community in the latest developer livestream. Johanson confirmed that while players won't be confronting another Elder Dragon this year, there will be three new Fractals of the Mists joining the lineup: fractalized versions of the popular living story dungeons Molten Weapons Facility and Aetherblade Retreat, as well as one of two brand new scenarios to be chosen for development based on the outcome of the upcoming Cutthroat Politics content. However, he warned that Lion's Arch politics aren't necessarily a straightforwardly democratic process; this is a pirate election, and pirates are known for playing dirty.
Johanson further discussedthe evolution of GW2's living story and the reception of temporary content, and explained some of the difficulties the team faced when the living story was in its beginning stages. While he admitted that the beginning of the year was too heavy on temporary events, the formation of four living world teams will help them deliver more permanent changes to the game. He added that some temporary events, such as trade with the Zephyr Sanctum and popular game-within-the-game Super Adventure Box are likely to return periodically.
We've all heard the incredible dreams that the Make-a-Wish foundation accomplishes for seriously ill children, but what if a boy with brain cancer wanted to tour his favorite game studio and become an honorary producer instead of go to Disney World? No problem: wish granted!
Eleven-year-old Ryan and his family were granted an all-access tour of KingsIsle Studios through Make-a-Wish's efforts. The studio posted an article with Ryan's adventures throughout the day, including a voice recording session, a Pirate101 play session with developers, and time spent learning about what each department does.
Ryan's mother related how important the day was to her son: "For him to see some of the actors and creators in person and see how a game he loves to play is created is just so special. It's something we could never give him and just an amazing opportunity for him."
KingsIsle had a special surprise in store for Ryan at the end of the day. The team created a new Pirate101 NPC named Ryan the Relentless and equipped the character with the sound files from Ryan's recording session that day. Ryan the Relentless and his Yum-n-ade stand will be added to the live game this week.
CCP loves tweaking EVE Online's internet spaceships. And according to a new dev blog by CCP Rise, the guy behind the Odysseybattleship rebalance, industrials are about to get a major makeover. Not only are a bunch of them getting new names, but many are seeing their core performance shifted in other, more tangible ways.
Here's the nitty-gritty: Industrials have been divided by roles instead of tiers. Every race will now have one cargo-focused industrial and one focused on travel time. Specialized bays have also been added, with dedicated bays for minerals, planetary commodities, and charges (ammunition, nanite paste, etc.) now available on specific ships. Every industrial has been given a special feature to make it more appealing. For instance, the Wreathe offers the fastest travel time, while the Badger gained slots for missile launchers.
Along with all of these changes come new names for some ships: Nereus (Iteron), Kryos (Iteron Mk. II), Epithal (Iteron Mk. III), Miasmos (Iteron Mk. IV), and Tayra (Badger Mk. II). The industrial ship update is set to go live with the Odyssey 1.1 patch due later this summer.
It's pretty crazy to think that BioWare's first foray into the Star Wars Universe, Knights of the Old Republic, turns 10 years old this week. For me, it doesn't seem that long ago that the game came out. Although I have trouble going back to play the game now (it's not aged well), I still appreciate what that game did to change a genre. At the time, the biggest story-driven RPGs tended to be JRPGs like the Final Fantasy series. Although Bethseda did a bang-up job with Morrowind, Knights of the Old Republic captured its audience by weaving in an amazing story with classic table-top style RPG elements. Happy birthday, KOTOR!
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of KOTOR's release, BioWare gave every subscriber 500 Cartel Coins to spend any way he or she would like. And for a limited time, subscribers can buy the title Revan's Heir from the Cartel Market for 10 Cartel Coins, about 10 cents in US currency.
But really this is small protatoes* compared to the new content coming out in Update 2.3, which includes Bounty Contract week, two new flashpoints, and a new daily area. With the recent update to the public test server, I was able to take my level 55 Assassin on a trip through the planet of CZ-198 (the daily area) to get a sense for what it's like to visit this Czerka-controlled world. Let me tell you that story.
*protato -- a protein-enhanced synthetic vegetable, orange with no eye spots on the surface. Not to be confused with potatoes, which are vegetables shaped like Kessel that make Duros sick.
The Steam Summer Sale is a hard time for any gamer to save money. There was a time when MMOs were at least somewhat safe, since a discounted MMO still requires the full subscription price. But right now The Secret World is on sale for half price, and those of you who have followed the game for a while know that this is a buy-to-play title. Once you've purchased this game, you can play for free forever.
Need a little time to think this over? That's understandable. The sale is running for 48 hours (well, 47 hours as of this writing), so you don't have to decide right now. But if you've been waiting for a chance to get into this modern horror and conspiracy game, $15 isn't a bad price to start in. And the game did just get a secret agent-themed update, if that floats your boat.
Spreadsheets, seesaws, and songs -- it's going to be a weird, weird show today, folks. Just giving you a heads up about it. Perhaps you should go do something exceedingly normal and boring before giving this a listen so as to counterbalance it. And as always, make sure to take a drink and shout, "MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!" any time that Bree mentions a certain deceased sandbox.
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Hi there! I'm Anatoli Ingram, and starting today I'll be your friendly neighborhood Flameseeker Chronicles columnist. Some of you probably know me from my previous life as commenter RingBonefield, but thanks to the kindness and pure heart power of the Massively lead editors, I've evolved into my final form: a guy who not only won't shut up about Guild Wars 2 but gets paid to not shut up about Guild Wars 2.
If you're anywhere near as easily distracted as I am by shiny objects placed tantalizingly out of reach, it's probably been difficult to tear yourself away from the Zephyr Sanctum. But GW2 fans have recently gotten huge chunks of information regarding the future of the game -- biweekly content updates, big plans for upcoming content, a possible lack of expansions, holy cats! -- and there's been no shortage of player concern and controversy to go along with them. Join me after the break, where I'll take a breather from dashing around as an ethereal being of light and wind to talk about what all of this potentially means for GW2's living world.
If you've loved the chance to have nautical pirate battles right in your browser courtesy of Kartuga, we've got sad news for you. InnoGames announced today that the the game has not managed to meet the company's standards for quality. The game also fails to meet the company's standard for cross-platform games, and with no way to bring it up to speed in an appropriate timeframe, the decision has been made to shut the game down in the very near future.
Players with existing cash shop currency will be able to transfer that currency to another title run by InnoGames by August 14th. No exact date for the server shutdown has yet been established, but the official announcement specifies that the game will be available for a few more weeks. Our consolation goes out to all players and any development team members affected by this unexpected cancellation.
Pick your jaw up off the floor
Smartphone sector is a buyer's market
Peppy chip put through its paces
Virtualization a foreign concept to many IT workers
For when built-in speakers don't cut it
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's 
