| TigerDirect Accepting BitCoin as Payment Posted: 24 Jan 2014 05:06 PM PST  Virtual currency for physical goodies
TigerDirect is now accepting BitCoin as payment on its website. The retailer revealed that BitCoin adopters can use the virtual currency to purchase anything excluding gift cards. The value of BitCoins will be based on US Dollars with the exchange rate provided by a TigerDirect partner, BitPay, and be valid for up to 15 minutes at the time of purchase. BitCoin, as of now, will only be accepted on the US version of TigerDirect.com and not at any of its retail stores or call centers. However, the website will accept worldwide orders from customers living outside of the US. TigerDirect has warned consumers that all transactions paid with the virtual currency will be final and that its acceptance of this particular form of payment can be changed at any time at its discretion without any advanced notice. BitCoin has continued to increase in value and popularity since its launch in 2009. Recently Xidax, a custom PC company, became one of the latest businesses, and the first system builder, to accept BitCoin as payment. And while the crypto-currency hasn't been recognized in the US as a legitimate form of legal tender, it hasn't stopped BitCoin miners from purchasing AMD's Radeon R9 290X, causing a shortage of supply, and other GPUs to mine for the virtual gold. The value of BitCoin is currently around $800 as of the publishing of this article. |
| HP Explains Decision Bring Back Windows 7 PCs Posted: 24 Jan 2014 09:26 AM PST  Selling Windows 7 in a Windows 8 world
In case you missed it, Hewlett-Packard (HP) last week began advertising the return of Windows 7 desktops. The OEM said its decision to sell Windows 7 systems in a Windows 8 world was influenced by "popular demand," but what we found interesting is how aggressively the world's second largest PC maker promoted its Windows 7 machines. Was there more than meets the eye? HP today posted a blog further explaining its reasoning for bringing back Windows 7. "The answer is dead simple: Choice. We like giving our customers the option to get the computer that's right for them," HP explains. "For some folks, that's Android. We've got everything from 2-in-1 detachables like the SlateBook x2 to the giant-sized Slate 21 All-in-One." HP reiterated that it still offers Windows 8.1 systems and emphatically stated in all caps that it has no plans whatsoever of dropping the touch-friendly OS from its lineup. However, "some people still want to run Windows 7 on their computers," hence why the last generation OS is still an option. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Zotac Upgrades Zbox Nano Series with Haswell Posted: 24 Jan 2014 09:01 AM PST  Tiny PCs receive a big upgrade
Zotac's been making miniature sized PCs since before they became vogue, and with technology advancing at a rapid clip, the company's latest boxes pack an impressive amount of power. That includes the latest Zbox Nano systems -- ID68 and ID69 -- which feature 4th Generation Intel Core processors (Haswell). These aren't gaming systems or Steam Machine candidates, but for daily computing chores, they look like serviceable solutions. The ID68 sports an Intel Core i5 4200U dual-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz (2.6GHz Turbo) with 3MB of L2 cache and the ID69 features a Core i7 4500U dual-core chip clocked at 1.8GHz (3GHz Turbo) and 4MB of L2 cache. Both boxes come with a single DDR3L SO-DIMM slot, 2.5-inch drive bay, HDMI and DisplayPort output, 7-in-1 memory card reader, GbE LAN, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, two USB 2.0 ports, and four USB 3.0 ports. Also available are Plus models, which come pre-populated with 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 500GB hard drive (5400 RPM). One thing to keep in mind with these devices is they don't come with an operating system or an optical drive. 
"The new ZBOX nano ID68 and ID69 series are our most powerful palm-sized mini-PCs yet. The addition of Intel Turbo Boost technology enables the two Zbox nano ID68 and ID69 series to deliver performance comparable to much larger systems while consuming much less energy," said Carsten Berger, senior director, Zotac international. No word yet on price or availability. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Finds Solid Footing on Surface, Posts Record Revenue Posted: 24 Jan 2014 08:14 AM PST  Holiday quarter was kind to Microsoft
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's the motto Microsoft followed with its Surface strategy, which initially failed to win over customers and led to a $900 million charge on unsold inventory. Oh, but what a difference a couple of quarters can make. Microsoft's Surface revenue more than doubled sequentially to $893 million en route to the Redmond giant posting record revenue of $24.52 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2013. Microsoft also benefited from its Xbox One console launch. The company sold 3.9 million Xbox One consoles during the quarter, or 900 million more than it previously announced, along with 3.5 million Xbox 360 consoles. "Our Commercial segment continues to outpace the overall market, and our Devices and Consumer segment had a great holiday quarter," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. "The investments we are making in devices and services that deliver high-value experiences to our customers, and the work we are doing with our partners, are driving strong results and positioning us well for long-term growth." Microsoft's record revenue came despite what it called "softness in the consumer PC market," which resulted in declining Windows sales. Windows OEM revenue dipped 3 percent. However, Microsoft grew its Bing search 18.2 percent and saw a 34 percent increase in search advertising revenue. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Revisit David Gerrold's Maximum PC Columns in Low Cost Kindle Edition Posted: 24 Jan 2014 07:21 AM PST  David Gerrold's perception and vision of the past, present, and future of technology
Sci-Fi author and former Maximum PC contributor David Gerrold needs no introduction, though if you've been cryogenically frozen for the past 50 years and find yourself just now getting up to speed on what's happened during your conscious absence, Gerrold is quite the accomplished writer. He's written episodes for the original Star Trek series, worked as a story editor on Star Trek: The Next Generation, penned the Star Wolf trilogy, and much, much more. Gerrold also used to contribute technology columns to Maximum PC magazine, and if you missed them (or want to revist), he's made them available on Amazon in Kindle form. The Kindle edition of Maximum Gerrold: Thoughts on Technology and the Future runs $2.99, and if you're a subscriber to Amazon's Prime service, you can borrow it for free. Inside you'll find 63 columns running the gamut from spam and the history of floppies, to super phones and Windows 8, plus everything in between and sideways. Several of the columns included in the e-book haven't been posted online. In any event, if you'd like to show Gerrold some love, head over to Amazon and grab a copy. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Cooler Master Hyper T4 CPU Cooler, Intel Core i5 3350P, and More! Posted: 24 Jan 2014 06:33 AM PST |
