General Gaming Article

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• This is What the Reversible USB Type-C Connector Will Look Like
• Windows 7 is Growing Too Fast for Windows 8 to Catch Up
• Best April Fools 2014 Pranks
• Amazon Hopes to Burn the Streaming Competition with $99 Fire TV Box
• AMD Tweaks Wafer Agreement with GlobalFoundries to Include GPUs
• Dropping Support for Windows XP Could Drive Users to Chromebooks
• Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Radeon R9 270 Gaming Graphics Card, AMD FX-8350 Vishera, and More!

This is What the Reversible USB Type-C Connector Will Look Like Posted: 02 Apr 2014 12:34 PM PDT No more plugging in USB cords the wrong way! How many times have you wanted to curse a USB connector after it's taken you three attempts to plug it in correctly? You know what we're talking about -- there's the first attempt, which seemingly doesn't fit, so you switch it around and try again. Do'h, that's the wrong way! You then turn the connector back to the original orientation you tried, only this time -- the third time -- ti works. Go figure. Thankfully, there's a solution in sight, and we have pics of what the USB Type-C connector will look like. The USB-IF is exhibiting this week at IDF Shenzhen and sent us the first renderings of the USB Type-C connector. You'll notice that it's an entirely new design, one that's been tailored for emerging product designs. USB-IF settled on this design because it's robust enough for laptops and tablets, and slim enough for mobile phones. It's similar in size to a USB 2.0 Micro-B connector. The reversible design means you won't have to fiddle with flipping it around, and there will be an audible "click" to let you know it's been fully inserted. And in case you're wondering, the answer is yes, it will support fast transfers -- USB 3.1 Gen1 (5Gbps) and Gen2 (10Gbps). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Windows 7 is Growing Too Fast for Windows 8 to Catch Up Posted: 02 Apr 2014 11:29 AM PDT Will Windows 7 become the next XP? With yet another month's worth of data to digest, it's becoming increasingly clear that Windows 8 might never catch up to Windows 7. How you want to view that is up to you -- it could mean that Microsoft hit it out of the park with Windows 7, making it exceedingly difficult on itself to duplicate that kind of success, or that Windows 8 is a foul ball off of a broken bat. Let's look at some numbers. According to NetMarketShare's data, Windows 7 gained more than a percentage point in March, increasing its share of the desktop OS market from 47.31 percent to 48.77 percent (+1.46 percent). Meanwhile, Windows 8 and 8.1 grew from 10.68 percent to 11.3 percent, representing a 0.62 percent gain. As for XP, it's share of the market fell from 29.53 percent to 26.69 percent, a drop of 2.84 percent. What this appears to indicate is that twice as many people jumping ship from XP are going to Windows 7 instead of Windows 8/8.1. If we zoom out, it becomes increasingly clear that Windows 7 is a tough act to follow. In March 2013, Windows 7 accounted for 44.73 percent of all desktops. Minus a few minor blips along the way, it's been gaining share ever since. The good news for Windows 8/8.1 is that its share is in double digits. And as far as competing platforms go, both Windows 8 (6.41 percent) and Windows 8.1 (4.89 percent) individually account for more desktops than Mac OS X 10.9 (3.75 percent). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Best April Fools 2014 Pranks Posted: 02 Apr 2014 11:17 AM PDT 10 of the best tech gags of 2014 April Fool's Day has become the ultimate Internet holiday. Memes, jokes, gags, and fake products abound as tech companies go crazy with April Fools' jokes. Want an automatic selfie bot that follows you around and takes stellar selfies? Or maybe you're in the mood for a Pokémon-catching challenge?  To be honest, we wouldn't mind seeing some of these products come to life. As funny as Cats You May Know is, we can't help but wonder what it would be like if we actually had a social network for cats. Which pranks did you fall for? Tell us in the comments! Follow Ben on Twitter and Google+.

Amazon Hopes to Burn the Streaming Competition with $99 Fire TV Box Posted: 02 Apr 2014 09:41 AM PDT This might be the streaming box you've been waiting for The tech sector is terrible at keeping secrets, and as such, we've long suspected Amazon was working on a streaming device of its own. It turns out the rumors were true. At long last, Amazon today announced a 1080p streaming set-top box it's calling Fire TV, and though it's small, it packs a punch. Powering the device is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8064 quad-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz with Adreno 320 graphics and 2GB of RAM. It also has dual-band, dual-antenna (MIMO) 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 8GB of internal storage, HDMI output, 10/100 LAN, USB 2.0 port, Dolby Digital Plus support, and a few other odds and ends wrapped in a chassis that measures 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches by 0.7 inches and weighs 9.9 ounces. One of the touted features of Fire TV is "voice search that actually works." Just speak the name of a movie, TV show, actor, director, or genre into the remote and you're finished. Fire TV offers instant access to Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, WatchESPN, YouTube, and more. You can also listen to music through Fire TV via Amazon MP3, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and other services. And as for gaming, there's even some of that  -- think games like Minecraft, Monsters University, The Game of Life, The Walking Dead, NBA2K14, and so forth. "Tiny box, huge specs, tons of content, incredible price—people are going to love Fire TV," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "Voice search that actually works means no more typing on an alphabet grid. Our exclusive new ASAP feature predicts the shows you'll want to watch and gets them ready to stream instantly. And our open approach gives you not just Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video, but also Netflix, Hulu Plus, and more. On Fire TV you can watch Alpha House and House of Cards." You can order Amazon Fire TV immediately for $99. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

AMD Tweaks Wafer Agreement with GlobalFoundries to Include GPUs Posted: 02 Apr 2014 09:13 AM PDT Amended agreement includes $50 million in additional purchase commitments AMD bumped up its purchase commitments with GlobalFoundries in 2014 by about $50 million. Under terms of the amended Wafer Supply Agreement (WSA), AMD expects to pay $1.2 billion in all this year, though what's interesting is that the deal is no longer limited to traditional CPUs and APUs; it now includes GPUs and semi-custom game console chips, such as those found in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4. AMD has leaned on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to produce graphics chips, including more than 10 million Xbox One and PS4 chips. With console sales expected to keep climbing, AMD essentially ensured that a shortage of parts won't become an issue. "The successful close of our amended wafer supply agreement with GlobalFoundries demonstrates the continued commitment from our two companies to strengthen our business relationship as long-term strategic partners, and GlobalFoundries' ability to execute in alignment with our product roadmap," said Rory Read, president and chief executive officer, AMD. "This latest step in AMD's continued transformation plays a critical role in our goals for 2014." While specific figures weren't disclosed, AMD and GlobalFoundries did establish fixed pricing and other commitments as part of the amended agreement. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Dropping Support for Windows XP Could Drive Users to Chromebooks Posted: 02 Apr 2014 08:29 AM PDT Don't be surprised if there's a surge in Chromebook sales Windows XP is a dead OS walking and it's highly unlikely to get a last second reprieve. Instead, Microsoft is anxious to bury the legacy OS in the backyard in hopes that those still clinging to XP will opt for a newer, more secure version of Windows. Some inevitably will, but one thing that will be interesting to keep an eye on is how many users replace their aging XP machines with a Chromebook. This isn't just a theoretical thought -- the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham is set to replace aging XP machines with Chromebooks, TechEye.net reports. By doing so, the council figures to save more than £200,000 (around $333,000 in U.S. currency) in hardware, plus an additional £200,000 in power savings over its desktop PCs. The council had 3,500 desktops and 800 laptops for its 3,500 employees. As part of the upgrade plan, they'll replace those machines with 2,000 Chromebooks and 500 Chromeboxes for reception desks and shared work areas. To maintain support for apps that can't be delivered through its Citrix network, the council will invest in 600 Windows 7 desktops and 1,000 Windows 7 laptops. Businesses that rely on Windows software aren't likely to switch to Chromebooks, which are limited in software support and raw computing power. However, it's conceivable that smaller firms and home users could replace their XP machines with Chromebooks. Despite Chrome OS's shortcomings, the top two selling laptops on Amazon are both Chromebooks, as are five of the top 10. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Radeon R9 270 Gaming Graphics Card, AMD FX-8350 Vishera, and More! Posted: 02 Apr 2014 07:42 AM PDT Top Deal: Titanfall. Thief. The Crew. Mad Max. We could go own naming titles that have either come out this year or are scheduled to release in 2014, or you can just click over to "The 20 Most Anticipated PC Games of 2014" and scroll through at your leisure. Either way, this isn't the year to be caught with integrated graphics. PC gaming is alive and thriving, and if it's been a long time since you've upgraded your graphics card, now would be a good time to start looking. You can start by checking out today's top deal for an MSI Radeon R9 270 Gaming Video Card for $180 with free shipping. This card features MSI's Twin Frozr IV cooling solution, Military Class components, and an invisible unicorn (while supplies last). That's right, each purchase comes with an invisible unicorn that you can't see, hear, smell, taste, or feel. But it's there, watching and rooting you on (silently) as you game into the wee hours of the morning. Other Deals: AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 4.0GHz (4.2GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W 8-Core Desktop Processor for $180 with free shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code: [EMCPFPW22]) Kingston SSDNow V300 Series SV300S37A/120G 2.5-inch 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive for $66 with free shipping Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive 3TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive for $125 with free shipping (normally $135 - use coupon code: [EMCPFPW33]) Asus A88X-PRO FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 AMD Motherboard for $109 with free shipping (normally $124 - use coupon code: [EMCPFPW34])

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