| Yes, VIA's Eight-Screen Video Wall Can Display Crysis Posted: 24 Apr 2014 12:22 PM PDT  Stale jokes leads to an awesome new demonstration
It doesn't matter if you're showing off a new 1,000-core processor armed with 100 gaming-grade graphics cards or a fancy new toaster with an LCD display, some yahoo is always going to ask, "Yes, but can it run Crysis?" It's an old joke, one that was again recycled recently when VIA was giving a demonstration of its 8-panel video wall, and VIA decided to answer it. Spoiler alert: the answer is yes, and we have the video to prove it. VIA's "Video Wall" solution is unique not just because of the multiple displays, but also due to the ways the screens can be arranged. According to VIA, they can be arranged in any required geometry, two of which it has on display in its labs -- one is a 15-panel video wall and the other is an 8-panel video wall in a fishbone design. "VIA MagicView software is used to lay out how available video content is shown across the screens, through an easy to use drag-and-drop interface. Besides playing back pre-recorded videos, the wall can show live recordings, or screen capture from an external computer. All it takes is connecting the video source with an HDMI-in cable to the VIA MW Video Wall Controller server," VIA explains. That includes the ability to run Crysis, provided the source is up to the task. Check it out: It was TweakTown that posed the question at the end of its write-up on the video wall technology. You can see additional pics of the setup by showing them aome love and clicking through. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Intel Quietly Rolls Out Updated Bay Trail NUC, Stomps Out USB 3.0 Bug Posted: 24 Apr 2014 11:39 AM PDT  A new revision NUC works out a few kinks
Intel's attempt at infiltrating the mini PC market with its Next Unit of Computing (NUC) device has been met with some growing pains, one of the first of which is it had a tendency to lock up unless you removed the internal Wi-Fi card. That's long been fixed, though there have been reports of other issues, such as a USB 3.0 bug. A new revision NUC is supposed to squash the USB 3.0 bug, along with a few other issues. The folks at FanlessTech alerted us to Intel's Product Change Notification (PDF). What is says is that Intel is replacing the original Celeron N2820 with a Celeron N2830. The newer chip has a new stepping (C0), faster clockspeed (2.1GHz to 2.41GHz), and adds support for DDR3L-1333 memory. Apparently users had reported several minor driver and USB issues with NUCs based on the original Celeron. The latest revision DN2820FYKH should address those issues, Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Dell's Entry Level Precision M2800 Mobile Workstation is Now Available to Purchase Posted: 24 Apr 2014 09:52 AM PDT 
Dell is taking aim at design professionals on-the-go and students Workstations aren't typically inexpensive, nor are they often portable (there are exceptions). Dell set out to tackle both barriers by introducing the Precision M2800 Mobile Workstation last month, though at the time the OEM wasn't able to share pricing information or an exact release date. Now we have both -- the Dell Precision M2800 Mobile Workstation is available to purchase today starting at $1,199 on the nose. The Precision M2800 is a 15.6-inch laptop that comes standard with a Full HD 1080p (1920x1020) anti-glare display, Intel Core i5 4200M processor (dual-core 2.5GHz, 3.1GHz Turbo, 3MB cache), 8GB of single-channel DDR3L-1600, 500GB solid state hybrid drive, AMD FirePro M4170 discrete graphics with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, DVD burner, Wi-Fi, GbE LAN, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and VGA output, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, ISV certification, and a few other odds and ends. "The 15.6-inch mobile workstation is ISV-certified for leading applications such as Autodesk AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit, Solidworks and PTC Creo, among many others. The M2800 has a choice of fourth-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors to have the battery and power to compliment handling massive amounts of data and an AMD FirePro W4170M graphics card to do the rendering to keep up with requirements on the go," Dell stated in a blog post Higher end configurations are available. There are four baseline systems to start from, the most expensive of which starts at $1,629. It and the others are configurable. You can order a Precision M2800 direct from Dell. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| OCZ Skips Over SATA, Announces PCIe-Based RevoDrive 350 Posted: 24 Apr 2014 08:52 AM PDT  Super fast drive offers up to 1.8GB/s of sequential speeds, according to OCZ
It wasn't all that long ago when it seemed silly to think we'd ever saturate the SATA interface. Solid state drives have made that possible, which is why OCZ decided to tap into the PCI Express Gen. 2 x8 interface for its latest storage product. According to OCZ, it's RevoDrive 350 can hit up to 1.8GB/s in sequential performance, along with up to 140,000 4K random write IOPS. Toshiba's OCZ Storage Solutions division built the RevoDrive 350 for professional content creation, multimedia, and extreme gaming applications. It uses Toshiba's 19nm NAND flash memory paired with up to four LSI SF-2282 processors to deliver blazing fast RAID performance in an easy-to-deploy, single card solution. "The new RevoDrive 350 is built using proven technology with the added benefit of utilizing in-house premium Toshiba flash and OCZ's proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) 2.0 to deliver highly efficient performance aggregation while reducing the burden on host resources," said Daryl Lang, Senior Vice President of Product Management for OCZ Storage Solutions."This next generation PCIe SSD is the ideal solution for performance-minded users looking to maximize both bandwidth and density for the complete gamut of gaming, content creation and workstation applications." In terms of longevity, OCZ claims its RevoDrive 350 can withstand up ot 50GB of host writes per day for 3 years, which is the length of the warranty. The RevoDrive 350 is available 240GB ($530), 480GB ($830), and 960GB ($1,300) capacities with support for both Linux and Windows. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Sayonara, Net Neutrality: FCC Proposes Premium Priced Internet Fast Lanes Posted: 24 Apr 2014 08:08 AM PDT  FCC proposes rules that would allow broadband providers to charge companies for faster Internet service
Net neutrality activists are up in arms over a set of proposed rules that would give broadband providers the green light to charge companies a premium for access to faster Internet access. The proposal was developed by FCC chairman Tom Wheeler as a compromise between keeping the Internet an open environment while preventing ISPs like Comcast from blocking or throttling certain types of traffic. You may recall the recent spat between Netflix and Comcast in which subscribers of both services were caught in the middle. Since Netflix consumes so much bandwidth and accounts for a large portion of Internet traffic, it was believed by many that Comcast began throttling Netflix streams, especially during peak hours (Comcast denies this). Comcast wanted Netflix to pay a premium for unfettered access into homes, and while the two were caught in a standoff, Comcast subscribers logging into Netflix experienced frequent buffering, a degradation in video quality, and even service dropouts. Netflix eventually agreed to pay what it considers an Internet toll and inked a multi-year agreement with Comcast to ensure its traffic has direct access into homes. In essence, the FCC's proposed rules sides with Comcast and says this practice is perfectly acceptable. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, ISPs could give preferential treatment to traffic from some content providers if the arrangements are available on "commercially reasonable" terms for all parties involved. That's a bit vague, perhaps on purpose, as the FCC would decide these things on a case-by-case basis. "The FCC is inviting ISPs to pick winners and losers online," Michael Weinberg, a vice president at Public Knowledge, stated in an email to PCWorld. "The very essence of a 'commercial reasonableness' standard is discrimination. And the core of net neutrality is nondiscrimination. This is not net neutrality." Similar sentiments are shared by net neutrality activists far and wide. Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron told PCWorld "the FCC is aiding and abetting the largest ISPs in their efforts to destroy the open Internet." To be fair, that's not the FCC's intent, but one thing the proposal fails to touch on is how the costs of dedicated pipes gets passed on to the consumer. Is it any coincidence that Netflix is raising its prices for new members by $1 to $2 following its multi-year agreement with Comcast? Probably not. You Have a Voice If the FCC's proposal ticks you off, you'll have a chance to voice your concern. The FCC will circulate the propose on Thursday followed by a vote to move forward with the proposal at its May 15 meeting. In the meantime, you can write, call, or email your local representatives to let them know how you feel about the proposal. You can also add your name to a petition that's already over 1 million signatures long. Image Credit: Flickr (Blaise Alleyne) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive, Intel Core i5 4570 Haswell, and More! Posted: 24 Apr 2014 06:25 AM PDT |
