| Minecraft PC Giveaway Posted: 24 Sep 2014 05:00 PM PDT 
Enter our Facebook giveaway for your chance of winning a small Gigabyte Brix Pro Minecraft PC! We are giving away a Minecraft-themed Gigabyte Brix Pro GB-BXi5-4570R bare-bones mini PC. This machine features a desktop quad-core 2.7GHz Core i5-4570R and a massive 128MB L4 cache that puts it above regular Haswell CPUs. To make this Brix Pro more special, Maximum PC tasked case artist Jim Sailing of Smooth Creations to give it a luxurious Creeper look. To get this mini PC up and running, all you'll need to do is add your own SSD or hard drive, RAM and OS. To enter the giveaway, fill out our Facebook form. One (1) grand prize winner will receive a Gigabye Brix Pro GB-BXi5-4570R Minecraft-themed bare-bones mini PC. Sweepstakes open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, except where prohibited or restricted by law. Contest ends October 21, 2014. |
| The Personal Computers of the 1980s Posted: 24 Sep 2014 04:16 PM PDT  Travel back in time to the decade that kick-started the home personal computer boom: the 1980s.
Hands up if you owned a computer in the 80s! After making some tentative steps in the late 70s, the 1980s saw home computing really take off. Back then, no young adult's bedroom was complete without a computer, tape deck, and trusty joystick on display. Home computing proved to be so popular it seemed like every company wanted a slice of the digital pie, with model after model released on an annual basis, all vying for dominance in the ultra-competitive marketplace. Some efforts, such as the Commodore 64 and Spectrum, were hugely successful and went on to sell millions. But for every success story there were many more that failed to make the grade, with some models even being released and then going out of business the same year. Here, Maximum PC presents 25 of the most memorable and noteworthy computers of the 1980s. Join us as we relive the golden age of home computing. |
| MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition Motherboard is for "Sophisticated" Builds Posted: 24 Sep 2014 11:02 AM PDT  Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
We've seen our share of colorful motherboards with loud designs that scream, "Hey, look at me!" They're typically aimed at gamers, overclockers, and enthusiasts in general, and so is MSI's Z97S SLI Krait Edition motherboard, though it's an attention-getter for a different reason. Rather than draw eyeballs with flashing LEDs and a range of colors, MSI opted for a classy black and white scheme. "Looking for that creative, one-off build? The new black and white design instantly adds a touch of class to a sophisticated build," MSI says. "The new MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition has been purposely designed together with the most elite case modders to meet the demands of community who craved a pure black and white motherboard." From the pictures we've seen, we have to admit that in a proper build, the Z97S SLI Krait Edition looks fantastic, assuming you're into the classic black and white theme. Regardless, there's more to this motherboard than a fancy design. Based on Intel's Z97 Express chipset, this socket 1150 board features four DIMM slots with support for up to 32GB of DDR3-3300 (OC) memory, two PCI-E x16 slots, three PCI-E x1 slots, two standard PCI slots, a SATA Express port, six SATA 6Gbps ports, a single M.2 port, GbE LAN, two front and four rear USB 3.0 ports, four front and two rear USB 2.0 ports, and a few other goodies. MSI's board also sports the company's Military Class 4 components such as Super Ferrite chokes (they run 35C cooler and have a 30 percent higher current capacity for more stable overclocking) and Dark capacitors. No word yet on when the Z97S SLI Krait Edition will be available or for how much. 
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| Samsung Reportedly Plans to End Laptop and Chromebook Sales in Europe Posted: 24 Sep 2014 09:50 AM PDT  Company's decision only affects European market
Samsung, one of the biggest participants in Google's Chromecast movement, is planning to cease all laptop sales in Europe, multiple outlets are reporting. The decision effectively ends Samsung's presence as a traditional PC player in Europe, as it doesn't sell deskop computers in the region, either. Samsung does, however, continue to sell tablet PCs and smartphones in Europe. The company's decision might be a temporary one. In addition, it doesn't affect other markets around the world. "We quickly adapte to market needs and demands. In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of laptops including Chromebooks for now. This is specific to the region -- and is not necessarily reflective of conditions in other markets," a Samsung spokesperson told PC Advisor. The timing of Samsung's announcement is interesting. Samsung unveiled an Ativ Book laptop back at CES and more recently launched its Chromebook 2 model. It's also worth pointing out that Samsung's first generation Chromebook is the 10th best selling laptop on Amazon in the U.S. and 3rd best selling laptop on Amazon's U.K. portal. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Nvidia GeForce 344.14 WHQL Drivers Add Support for GTX 980 and 970 Maxwell Cards Posted: 24 Sep 2014 09:22 AM PDT  New GeForce drivers now availble to download
So, you've gone out and acquired one or two of Nvidia's new Maxwell-based GeForce GTX 980 or GTX 970 graphics cards, is that right? As our benchmarks show, you'll be happy with your purchase, and you may even see better results than we did when applying the latest WHQL-certified drivers. No need to wait -- Nvidia's GeForce 344.14 WHQL drivers are now to available to download and install. In addition to adding support for Nvidia's latest Maxwell cards, the new driver release purportedly offers the best gaming experience for a handful of titles, including Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, The Evil Within, F1 2014, and Alien: Isolation, according to the accompanying release notes (PDF). You'll also find added or updated application profiles and 3D Vision profiles for a bunch of games, plus 3D compatibility mode support for Assassin's Creed: Freedom City, Halo: Spartan Assault, Murdered Sould Suspect, and Sniper Elite 3. Hit up Nvidia's website when you're ready to grab the new drivers. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Early iPhone 6 Plus Owners Get Bent Out of Shape Over Warping Issue Posted: 24 Sep 2014 09:03 AM PDT  First major complaint of the iPhone 6 Plus emerges
Some of Apple's iPhone launches have been marred by controversial design flaws, such as the iPhone 4's antenna issue in which Steve Jobs accused owners of holding their handsets the wrong way, and the iPhone 5's tendency to ruin photos with a purple flare when there's a bright light source (a side effect of the sapphire glass covering the phone's camera). Well, you can add the iPhone 6 Plus to the list -- some users are complaining that their ultra-thin iPhone 6 Plus phones are bending out of shape just by having the handsets in their pockets. A forum member at MacRumors got things rolling with a post claiming that after having his iPhone 6 Plus in his pocket for a day, most of which was spent sitting down, his device became warped. "Yesterday, I left at 10AM with the iPhone in my left FRONT pocket of my suit pants. I drove 4 hours to a wedding, which also involved a lot of sitting during dinner, etc., but also 2-3 hours of dancing," forum user "hanzoh" recounts. "I left at 2AM and went to bed, driving home 4 hours back. So in total, the 6 Plus was about 18 hours in my pocket while sitting mostly." He posted a picture of his iPhone 6 Plus sitting on a flat table, and sure enough, there's a visible warp in the upper section. Unfortunately, his isn't an isolated incident. A search on Twitter for #BendGate brings up similar complaints and pictures, though not every iPhone 6 Plus is experiencing the issue. The complaints prompted Unbox Therapy to post an iPhone 6 Plus Bend Test video on YouTube. Check it out below: DisplayMate founder and presidet Dr. Raymond Soneira recently put the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus displays through their paces, noting that they represent the bost mobile LCD displays currently available (read more here). As a follow-up to that article, he addressed the Bendgate situation. "The iPhone 6 is designed to be as thin and lightweight as possible - as a result it is not rugged or meant for any significant mechanical stress or abuse. The obsession with thinness has consequences," Dr. Soneira said. According to Soneira, the metal back of the iPhone 6 Plus should do a good job protecting the device, and that in most cases, moderate stresses are unlikely to permanently deform the device -- it should return back to normal after the pressure is relieved. In any event, we suspect this will be something Apple quietly addresses in the inevitable iPhone 6s Plus, perhaps by including some metal reinforcements on the interior. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| ARM Aims to Supercharge Smart Devices with Cortex-M7 Processor Posted: 24 Sep 2014 07:54 AM PDT  New chip paves the way for more power IoT gadgets
ARM on Wednesday unveiled its Cortex-M7 processor, a 32-bit part that offers double the compute and digital signal processing (DSP) capability of today's most powerful ARM-based MCUs. The company intends for its Cortex-M7 chip to find a home inside high-end embedded applications in next generation vehicles, connected devices (think: Internet of Things, or IoT), smart appliances, and more. The M7 is the most recent and highest performance member of the energy efficient Cortex-M processor family. It will enable a new generation of faster and smarter devices in a range of categories -- smartwatches, automotive electronics, high-end audio, medical devices, robotics, and the list goes on. ARM's latest chip combines a six-stage, superscalar pipeline with flexible memory interfaces including AXI, AHB, caches, and tightly-coupled memories, and delivers high integer, floating point, and DSP performance in an MCU, the company says. The chip operates at up to 400MHz and offers the same performance as multiple M0 or M3 chips (5 CoreMark per MHz). By using an M7 processor instead, device makers can save space. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 480GB SSD, Dell 24-inch LED Monitor, and More! Posted: 24 Sep 2014 06:10 AM PDT |
