General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Asus TD300 Dual-booting Tablet Reportedly Postponed After Google Pressure

Posted: 09 Mar 2014 04:19 PM PDT

Asus TD300 dual-booting tabletThe device was showcased at CES 2014

How often do we see promising prototypes and concepts mesmerizing attendees at trade shows, only to never be heard of again or, if they do, fail to hit store shelves in a timely manner? Although not the first device of its kind, the Android- and Windows-booting Transformer Book Duet TD300 did get some decent press when it was first showcased at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. Sadly for those holding their breath for the device, the TD300 is said to have run into a major hurdle.

Apparently, Google is not too pleased with the whole idea of Android being made to share tablet/laptop screen space with rival Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system and has, per a Digitimes report, managed to exert enough pressure on Asus for the latter to postpone the x86-based TD300.

In light of some recent developments, it appears as though that Microsoft may have softened its stance on such dual-booting devices. Perhaps Microsoft is hoping that a more conciliatory approach in this matter is likely to do it more good than harm, especially considering how it has very little to lose in the smartphone and tablet compared to Google. Even though this report may not be true (often the case with Digitimes), we can see why Google might have an issue with devices capable of booting both Android and Windows.

Image Credit: AsusTek

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Holdouts Take Note: Microsoft Readies Penultimate Patch for Windows XP

Posted: 09 Mar 2014 03:56 PM PDT

Windows XP Support to End Next Month

Support for Windows XP to end next month

Windows XP support is entering its final stages. This coming Tuesday will see the release of some of the last security patches for the operating system which, despite its advanced age, still commands a sizable share of the PC market and simply refuses to die.

Microsoft will be delivering five security bulletins on this month's Patch Tuesday. If you're a Windows XP holdout, what you should really be concerned about is the fact that all five security bulletins affect Windows XP. With Windows XP support scheduled to end on April 8, now is a good time to abandon the 13-year-old operating system if you haven't done so already.

Of the five security bulletins, two are rated "critical" and three "important". One of the critical bulletins will address a zero-day bug in Internet Explorer that last month prompted the Redmond-based company to issue a "Fix it" tool to help temporarily block ongoing attacks until such time as a more permanent fix was available.

"Windows XP is affected by all five updates, and there is really no reason to expect this picture to change; Windows XP will continue to be impacted by the majority of vulnerabilities found in the Windows ecosystem, but you will not be able to address the issues anymore," wrote Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek in a recent blog post.

"So you need a strategy for the XP machines remaining in your infrastructure. We are still seeing a significant number of XP machines in our scans, ranging from around 25% in our consumer oriented service BrowserCheck to under 20% in our enterprise oriented data from QualysGuard."

"Of the remaining issues, one is an important privilege issue, probably going to be a kernel or kernel driver patch; never something to ignore but less important than a critical/remote issue," wrote Ross Barrett, senior manager of security engineering at Rapid 7, in a post on security news site Help Net Security. "The other two are the seldom seen 'security mechanism bypasses', probably the same issue being patched in Windows and in Silverlight.  We will have to wait and see how exploitable this turns out to be.  If it turns out that some of these issues are in the wild and under exploitation, then that will be change the circumstances of what to prioritize."

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Asus Chromebox Now Available for Preorder

Posted: 09 Mar 2014 12:57 PM PDT

Asus Chromebox

The $179 device will begin shipping on March 14

The Chrome OS-powered mini desktop PC Asus announced last month is now up for preorder from online retailers in the States. The $179 Asus Chromebox-M004U, which is the Taiwan-based company's first stab at a Chrome OS-based desktop, is one of three SKUs announced by the company.

Available for preorder from Amazon, NewEgg and TigerDriect, this particular SKU packs an Intel Celeron 2955U processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 16GB solid state storage, four USB 3.0 ports, Intel HD Graphics, one HDMI port, one DisplayPort, and 802.11 n dual-band wireless, Bluetooth 4.0,  LAN connectivity, and an SD card reader.

Asus, which has yet to launch a Chromebook, has become only the second vendor to launch a Chromebox, with Samsung being the only other company in the fray. However, the two companies will soon have some more company, as Hewlett-Packard has also announced plans to launch a Core i7-powered Chromebox sometime during spring 2014.

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Steelseries Unveils Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls Accessory

Posted: 07 Mar 2014 07:02 PM PST

Diablo 3 accessoriesDiablo-themed accessories for the fan

In anticipation of the upcoming expansion for Blizzard's Diablo 3, SteelSeries has released a limited edition Reaper of Souls QcK mousepad. The mousepad retails for $14.99 on the manufacturer's website with a mousepad bundle also being offered for $45.00 that includes four other Diablo 3-themed pads. 

Those wishing to further show their love of Blizzard's action role-playing game can also purchase the Diablo 3-themed mouse and headset to accompany the mousepad. The Diablo 3 mouse, that has a 10 million click lifespan, retails for $69.99. The Diablo 3 headset, that costs $119.99, is a closed-back headset and has full feature support of the SteelSeries Engine 3 software. It also has a uni-directional microphone that is retractable and in-line volume and mute controls. 

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls will be released on March 25 for the PC, Mac, and PlayStation 4 platforms for $39.99. 

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