| No BS Podcast #224: Surface Pro III, Alienware's Steam Machines, Xbox One & Kinect, FCC on ISPs, and Self Driving Cars Posted: 23 May 2014 03:00 PM PDT  Fresh hardware, recent legislation and a signature rant
There has been a lot happening in the world of tech this week, so we assembled in the podcast room to bring you episode 224 of the No BS Podcast! On this jam packed episode, we begin by sharing our thoughts on the Surface Pro III and argue about whether it can stand up to Ultrabooks and tablets. We then address Alienware's prediction that its Steam Machines will be its least profitable system yet, and speculate as to what may be Alienware's long-term strategy with Valve. Next up, Alaina gives us the scoop on Microsoft's announcement regarding the fact that the Xbox One will no longer require the Kinect to function. We follow that up with Tom's breakdown of the FCC's take on Net Neutrality. Afterwards, Clark discusses autonomous vehicle legislation, including the news that the DMV recently approved a set of rules and regulations governing the use of these cars. Finally, we answer your questions, give you our picks, and Gordon delivers another signature rant.   
Editors' Picks Tom McNamara: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey Jimmy Thang: Howlongtobeat.com Clark Crisp: 2048 Puzzle Alaina Yee: Child of Light, Classic Theme Restorer for Firefox 29 Stalk us on the following networks: Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes Become a fan on Facebook Tweet us on Twitter Subscribe to us on Youtube Check out our Windows 8 app in Microsoft's app store Subscribe to our RSS feed If you have any feedback or questions feel free to: Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or Leave us a voicemail at 877-404-1337 x1337 Subscribe to Maximum PC in print or on Google Play, iTunes, Kindle, Nook and Zinio. Thanks for listening! |
| Rig of the Month Roundup Posted: 23 May 2014 10:21 AM PDT 
We're looking for the coolest custom computer cases and we want your submissions! It's been a long time since we've deemed a case mod worthy of our Rig of the Month title. In fact, it's been over three years since we've featured a particularly badass project—see the 8-bit Black Mage. Fortunately, we've come to our senses and we're reviving the series, but we need your help! We know you guys have got some interesting case mods out there and we want to see them! We're also sure lots of other readers would like to gawk and drool over them as well so let us help you share your cool custom computer case with the world! If you're a case modder with something that deserves the Rig of the Month title, let us know by dropping us an email at mpcrigofthemonth@gmail.com. Make sure to include your name, a 300-word description of why your PC is amazing along with specs (and how it was modified), and no fewer than three high-resolution JPEGs of the build. Please try and use a high-quality camera with good lighting and make sure to bust out your photography skills! We will not accept any blurry, low-res camera-phone grade images because we'd like readers to see your awesome rig in the best light possible! Here are some specific case-shooting photography tips: - Try to avoid using flash and opt for existing natural light. In addition, use things like white curtains to diffuse the bright sun.
- Make sure your case is in focus! Nothing ruins a picture of a nice-looking case than a blurry shot.
- Clean your case before you shoot it. No one wants to see all that nasty dust all over the place!
- Experimenting with shooting from multiple angles.
- Select the right backdrop. Your system could look cooler with a nice/clean background as opposed to on your messy floor with cables strewn about.
- When shooting, use a tripod or if you can't get one, shoot from a stable surface such as a box or even a pillow.
- If your camera has exposure compensation, try playing around with under-exposing or over exposing until you get the effects you want.
In addition to requiring pretty photos, we'll be judging the rigs based on creativity and craftsmanship. To kick things off, we've gathered up some of our favorite Rig of the Month winners in the gallery below. Click the gallery image for the full shot and feel free to get more detail on each custom case by clicking on their individual respective links in the descriptions. |
| Rig of the Month: Black Gold Posted: 23 May 2014 10:14 AM PDT  It's not black and yellow, but we think we know what it is
Some rigs are built to stand out. Others are purely functional with little to no attention given to aesthetics or design. Adam Birli's Black Gold stands somewhere in between the two extremes. It's sexy, but understated; flashy, and stealthy at the same time. It's no Orogenesis, but it's beautiful in its own way. Beautiful enough, that it's worthy of being this month's Rig of the Month. For some, the inspiration behind Black Gold will be obvious. Adam even admits that the idea for his rig came from Charles Hardwood's Murderbox MK II Gold. The resemblance is undeniable, but we think that Adam has done a great job of imitating and innovating in his own way. Adam says that his overarching goal for the "build was to make a computer so clean that people would stop and think it came from the factory that way." His initial instinct was to keep the gold highlights to a minimum, but in the end, he was inspired by the splashes of gold in the Asus Z87-DELUXE motherboard and went all-out. Adam painted fans, grills, and PCI brackets gold to match the theme. The attention to detail is obvious; every single cable in the build is sleeved in alternating black and gold and it's all housed in a Corsair Air 540 case. Under the hood, Black Gold is no slouch. In fact, it's a well-powered machine with an Intel i5-4670K and two Titans. It's intended to be a showpiece, but Adam says that he wanted to make sure it was fast enough to run a triple monitor setup for racing sims. Have a case mod of your own that you would like to submit to our monthly feature? Make sure to read the rules/tips here and email us at mpcrigofthemonth@gmail.com with your submissions. Follow Ben on Twitter and Google+. |
| Google Gives Netflix Free Access to Fiber Fast Lane, Calls It a "Win-Win" Situation Posted: 23 May 2014 09:34 AM PDT  Google Fiber's approach is the exact opposite of Comcast's
Net neutrality is one of the biggest topics on the web right now, and lest anyone thing it's being overstated, see the spat between Netflix and Comcast. In short, Netflix inked a multi-year agreement with Comcast to ensure that its traffic is pumped into homes at the fastest speed possible to avoid buffering, low quality video, dropouts, and other undesirable effects of slowed connections. Not long after, Netlfix announced it was increasing its subscription by $1 for new subscribers. In other words, it's the customers that ultimately foot the bill when big companies fight, which is why it's refreshing to see Google take a different approach. In a blog post this week, Google talked about the behind-the-scenes efforts at Google Fiber and how it's working with, not against, content providers to minimize buffering. Whereas Comcast took a hard line approach to the situation and essentially told Netflix to pay up or shut up, Google said it isn't charging for unfettered access into Google Fiber homes. "We give companies like Netflix and Akamai free access to space and power in our facilities and they provide their own content servers," Google explains. "We don't make money from peering or colocation; since people usually only stream one video at a time, video traffic doesn't bog down or change the way we manage our network in any meaningful way — so why not help enable it? "But we also don't charge because it's really a win-win-win situation. It's good for content providers because they can deliver really high-quality streaming video to their customers," Google added. Having Google as your ally is a pretty big deal, but will it be enough to sway other ISPs to follow suit? Don't hold your breath. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Cox Plans to Offer All Residential Customers 1Gbps Service by 2016 Posted: 23 May 2014 08:42 AM PDT  Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Omaha will be the first to receive 1Gbps service from Cox
Maybe by the end of the decade we'll all be rocking 1Gbps Internet connections. There seems to be an increased interest on the part of broadband Internet providers to keep pace with Google and its Google Fiber service, so it's not a matter of "if" but "when" we'll see gigabit speeds. If you're a Cox Communications customers, expect to see 1Gbps broadband Internet service available by the end of 2016. Cox is planning to roll out gigabit service across all of its markets within the next couple of years, starting with Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Omaha. "We are excited about our road map to offer gigabit speeds to all of our residential customers," said Cox Communications President Pat Esser. "Starting today, we will begin deploying new technology and infrastructure that will give customers the choice of gigabit speeds in all markets we serve." As gigabit service is being rolled out to new areas, Cox said it will double the speeds on its most popular tiers from 25Mbps to 50Mbps. Meanwhile, Cox High Speed Internet Premier will jump from 50Mbps to 100Mbps. Between the two, they represent 70 percent of Cox's high-speed customers. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Marvell Unveils New PCI Express Solid State Drive Controller Posted: 23 May 2014 08:24 AM PDT  New SSD controller supports SATA Express
Marvell this week announced the launch of its new 88SS1083 PCI Express solid state drive controller, a two-lane PCIe Gen2 SSD controller supporting SATA Express. According to Marvell, the new controller will enable a simple migration from SATA to PCIe with high-performance transfer rates up to 1GB/s. It's supposedly the world's first controller to be fully compliant with SATA Express. "Improving performance while maintaining low power becomes more important than ever, especially for today's ultrathin notebooks and tablets," said Rajan Pai, Vice President, Sales and Field Applications Engineering at Marvell. "The new 88SS1083 allows SSD OEMs to offer higher performance, PCIe-based SSD solutions at similar prices to SATA and is quickly becoming the controller of choice for global OEMs. Marvell is proudly pioneering a new generation of high-performance and low-power silicon solutions that is driving our industry forward." Marvell says its 88SS1083 controller also supports Separate RefClock with Independent SSC (SRIS), which is a feature that eliminates the need for a pricey shielded cable to minimize noise, using instead a cost-effective SATA Express cable. The 88SS1083 was designed on a 28nm low power manufacturing process technology. According to Marvell, it can scale to support 15nm NAND flash. Image Credit: Flickr (Doug Kline) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Intel Core i7 4930K Ivy Bridge-E, Western Digital RE 4TB Hard Drive, and More! Posted: 23 May 2014 06:25 AM PDT |
