| 26 Pictures from Intel's Extreme Masters eSports Event Posted: 08 Dec 2014 03:39 PM PST  Intel's first IEM gaming event in North America
This weekend Intel hosted its first Intel Extreme Masters gaming event in North America. The PC gaming/eSport event took place at the SAP Center in San Jose, California and featured a $50,000 League of Legends tournament and a $25,000 StarCraft II tournament. In addition to the aforementioned matches, which were all streamed online, there were several hardware vendors like Corsair, Roccat, Gigabyte, and more on the show floor showing gamers their latest PC hardware. We took over 20 pictures from the show floor that highlighted some of the booths, costumes, and games from IEM in the gallery below. If Intel held another event next year, would you like to go? Let us know in the comments section! |
| Samsung Releases Gear VR Innovator Edition for $200 Posted: 08 Dec 2014 03:27 PM PST  Mobile VR is here, for the Galaxy Note 4
Back in July, it was rumored that Samsung was diving into the world of virtual reality devices, which the company finally confirmed in September. But unlike the Oculus Rift, which is a standalone device, the Gear VR has been developed to make use of mobile devices as a source of power and content generation. But content creators and VR enthusiasts no longer have to wait for it. Today, Samsung has released the Gear VR Innovator Edition for $200. The Gear VR, which was developed in partnership with Oculus VR, features an optical lens that has a 96-degree Field of View and utilizes gyrometer, geomagnetic, proximity, and accelerator sensors. For controls, it comes with a built-in touchpad, back button, volume key, and a control for focal adjustment. A Samsung Gamepad, sold seperately or bundled, is also available for games that might require one. However, if you want to use the Gear VR you will also need to own Samsung's Galaxy Note 4. Once connected by microUSB, the Gear VR will make use of the Galaxy Note 4's 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, which has a resolution of 2560x1440, and power source to help generate content. Samsung's VR headset is also powered by the Oculus Mobile SDK, which is available for everyone to download, and lets Samsung's VR device take advantage of low-latency 3DOF tracking and is able to achieve sub-20 millisecond motion-to-photons latency. The Gear VR Innovator Edition will include sample games and VR experiences that include a dungeon exploration adventure game called HeroBound and a multiplayer space shooter titled Anshar Wars as well as other titles and demos. There will also be 3D 360-degree video content available such as a portion of the Cirque de Soleil show, Zarkana, that was specially filmed for the Gear VR. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Intel Core i7 5930K Haswell, AMD FX-4300 Vishera, and More! Posted: 08 Dec 2014 12:01 PM PST |
| The Witcher 3 Cursed with Another Delay Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:47 AM PST  The Witcher 3 is proving too big and complex to ship on time
All good things come to those who wait, right? If so, The Witcher 3 is going to be really, really good when it finally ships. Developer CD Projekt announced another delay for The Witcher 3, pushing back the release three months and setting a new launch date of May 19, 2015. According to an open letter published by The Board of CD PROJEKT SA, the delay essentially relates to the growing size of the game. "Ever since we started working on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we knew it would be an ambitious game. We wanted, and still aim, to give you an incredible experience, an epic adventure in a vast, completely open fantasy universe," the letter reads. "The sheer size and complexity of The Witcher, key features of the title, have had a decisive impact on production. Now, nearing the end of our work, we see many details that need to be corrected." CD Projekt considers this to be the "most important game" in the studio's history, and therefore wants to make sure it rids as many bugs from the initial launch as it can. With that in mind, the thinking heads came to the conclusion that an additional 12 weeks would suffice. It stinks for those who have been eagerly awaiting the game's release, but at the same time, you don't get the sense that CD Projekt is taking gamers' patience for granted. Plus, it's hard to argue with a studio wanting to put out a polished product rather than rushing out a buggy mess. "We owe you an apology. We set the release date too hastily. It's a hard lesson, one to take to heart for the future. We know what we want to do to make Wild Hunt one of the best RPGs you will ever play. And we continue to work hard to achieve just that. So, we apologize and ask for your trust," CD Projekt said. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Kicks Off '12 Days of Deals' with $79 Toshiba Encore Mini Tablet Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:28 AM PST  Save on a new item every day until December 19th
Black Friday? Check. Cyber Monday? Check. Ongoing savings, Steam Weeklong Deals, and GOG DRM-Free Big Winter Sale? Check, check, and check again! Phew, talk about a busy holiday shopping season, and it doesn't feel like it's coming to a close anytime soon. Instead, more and more promotions keep popping up, like Microsoft's 12 Days of Deals starting with a Toshiba Encore Mini tablet for $79, marked down from $119. It's the first of a dozen deals over as many days, and to sweeten the pot, Microsoft is throwing in a 16GB microSD card ($20 value) with the package. The tablet already has 16GB of built-in storage, so the microSD card brings the total storage space to 32GB, minus what's used for Windows and Office 365 Personal, the latter of which you get free for a year (a $70 value). Toshiba's Encore Mini sports a 7-inch HD touchscreen display powered by an Intel Atom Z3735G processor and 2GB of RAM. Other features include a micro USB 2.0 port, microphone/headphone combo port, 802.11n Wi-Fi (Miracast enabled), front-facing and rear-facing cameras, and the aforementioned software. Tomorrow's deal will feature an unlocked BLU Win HD phone for $129, marked down from $179. Beyond that, you'll have to keep checking the 12 Days of Deals website for the latest offer. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Windows 10 Expected to Release in Early Fall of Next Year Posted: 08 Dec 2014 11:07 AM PST  The general release time frame for Windows 10 gets narrower
In the past, we were told that Windows 10 would launch to the public sometime in late 2015. While no specific release date has yet been set, Microsoft has at least tightened the launch window by revealing Windows 10 is on track to come out in late summer or early fall" of next year. That's according to Microsoft Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Turner, who talked a little about Windows 10's release at a Credit Suisse Technology Conference recently. "We'll have a developer preview and be able to talk to that in depth in the early summer timeframe," Turner said. "And then by next late summer and early fall we'll be able to bring out this particular OS." The other thing to extrapolate from all this is that Windows 10's ongoing development appears to be on schedule and coming along without any hiccups that might cause a delay. And according to CNET, Microsoft next month will show off its January Technology Preview of Windows 10, along with a first preview of the Windows 10 mobile build that will run on Windows Phones, ARM tablets, and Intel tablets. Windows 10 is the next major release of Windows after Windows 8/8.1. Microsoft decided to skip over Windows 9 because the next version is supposed to be such a drastic change, that a single number jump wouldn't do it justice. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Ralph H. Baer, Father of Video Games, Dies at 92 Posted: 08 Dec 2014 10:35 AM PST  A gaming legend passes away
If you play video games at home, you have Ralph H. Baer in part to thank for that. For those of you who are not familiar with the name, Baer was a video game pioneer who led the development team that created the Magnavox Odyssey, the first commercial home game console with a mere 40 transistors and 40 diodes. Sadly, Ralph H. Baer died last Saturday at his home in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the age of 92. Remarkably, Baer was still tinkering and inventing right up until his death. However, he's best known for his contributions to early gaming and helping create an industry that's now estimated to be worth over $90 billion. It all started with the Odyssey, which set in motion being able to play games at home. Not long after, Atari debuted Pong, the first arcade video game. Magnavox ended up suing Atari, claiming that Pong was too similar to a tennis game for the Odyssey. Atari settled the suit for $700,000 and became Odyssey's second licensee, The New York Times reports. Magnavox would go on to sue several other companies over the next two decades, winning over $100 million. 
Baer, who testified in most of the lawsuits, amassed more than 150 U.S. and foreign patents for a range of inventions that include talking doormats and greeting cards. He also co-invented the iconic Simon game with Howard Morrison "Coming up with novel ideas and converting them into real products has always been as natural as breathing for me," Baer wrote in his 2005 autobiography, Videogames: In the Beginning. Baer is survived by his two sons, James and Mark; his daughter, Nancy Baer; and four grandchildren. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Samsung Brings 3D NAND to Mainstream with 850 Evo SSD Line Posted: 08 Dec 2014 08:10 AM PST  New SSD line starts at $100
Samsung's 3D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology is no longer reserved for just its premium solid state drives (SSDs). With the introduction of its affordable 850 Evo SSD family, mainstream customers now have access to the same technology that was previously only found in Samsung's 850 Pro line released earlier this year. What that ultimately means for consumers is access to SSDs that are presumably more reliable and less expensive. As opposed to the 2D planar NAND found in the 840 Evo, Samsung's new 850 Pro utilizes NAND flash memory stacked vertically 32 layers high. This allows for higher density in the same or smaller packages, and also improved reliability since the NAND cells that store bits aren't packed so tightly together. According to Samsung, drive endurance in the 850 Evo line is twice that of its predecessor, along with a 25 percent improvement in power efficiency. The Samsung 850 Evo series comes in 1TB, 500GB, 250GB, and 120GB capacities. All four capacities sport the following performance ratings: - Sequential Read: Up to 540MB/s
- Sequential Write: Up to 520MB/s
- 4KB Random Read (QD1): Up to 10,000 IOPS
- 4K Random Write (QD!): Up to 40,000 IOPS
The 1TB and 500GB capacities also offer 4KB random read (QD32) performance of up to 98,000 IOPS, while the 250GB and 120GB boast up to 97,000 IOPs and up to 94,000 IOPs, respectively. For 4KB random write (QD32) performance, the 1TB and 500GB are rated for up to 90,000 IOPS, while the 250GB and 120GB are both rated for up to 88,000 IOPS. Pricing for the 850 Evo has been set at $100 (120GB), $150 (250GB), $270 (500GB), and $500 (1TB). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Cyber Criminals Using Fake Browser Warning to Distribute Zeus Trojan Posted: 08 Dec 2014 01:14 AM PST 
Cyber scoundrels have begun taking grammar seriously Security researchers and cyber criminals are locked in a ceaseless game of cat and mouse, with the latter constantly trying to come up with new ways of delivering malware. However, this does not mean there is no room for an old workhorse like the notorious Zeus malware, a trojan virus that has been in circulation for over seven years now. Researchers at PhishLabs recently stumbled on a fake browser warning that is being used to distribute Zeus, which cyber scoundrels have been known to use to steal banking info. But the use of Zeus is not the only thing that caught the eye of the company's researchers. They found the fake warning to be better written than what they are used to seeing. "Another observation that differentiates this malicious prompt from others is the language usage and spelling. Generally speaking, grammar and spelling are often indicators of fake or malicious requests that lead to malware but cyber criminals have caught on to this vulnerability and stepped up their game. Although it is not perfect, the warning observed in this case was much more accurate than what we usually see," Paul Burbage, a threat analyst at PhishLabs, wrote in a recent blog post, warning that clicking on the "Download and Install" results in the user being redirected to a malicious site that downloads the malware. "Web users should be on the lookout for this kind of social engineering that capitalizes on fear and misleads users to believe the alert is showing up based on user-defined preferences. Zeus is a dangerous malware that continues to be distributed through sophisticated avenues. In the past, Zeus infections have led to exploitation of machines, making them part of a botnet, as well as bank account takeovers and fraud. Please stay tuned – we will post more information as our R.A.I.D. further investigates the threat." Follow Pulkit on Google+ |
| Keewifi Router Features Proximity-Based Authentication Posted: 08 Dec 2014 12:09 AM PST 
No passwords! Granted, Maximum PC readers are not the type to mind having to grapple with some ornery hardware every once in a while — ah, the thrill of taming such devices — but it's no fun when an entire device class is a royal pain the derriere. One such class of devices is that of wireless networking equipment. Notorious for often being difficult to configure, Wi-Fi routers can be just as frustratingly fickle later on. Well, Keewifi is supposed to be a bit different. Chinese company Keewifi Inc. has launched a Kickstarter campaign for this eponymous Wi-Fi router that it says is unlike any other as it "doesn't require a password to connect to WiFi or a frustrating and tedious configuration process to install." It instead relies on a proprietary proximity authentication technology — supports devices with Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. "Devices must come in close contact with the syncing panel in order to be authorized to join your network. This patented feature ensures that others cannot connect to your WiFi without this physical action so rest assured that your private network is protected," reads the Kickstarter campaign page for Keewifi. "We built Keewifi with the latest wireless technology in mind. Equipped with 802.11ac, it supports simultaneous dual-band transmissions (2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz) with WiFi speeds up to 867Mbps. Keewifi also features Beamforming technology which targets your WiFi devices and boosts signal strength in that direction. Instead of sending an equal signal in all directions, Beamforming enables Keewifi to broadcast a more direct, concentrated signal to your devices, which allows for lower interference and much better coverage." This router, which is said to run a custom Linux-based OS with a majorly modified Wi-Fi driver, has a button to detect any interference from nearby Wi-Fi networks. If any interference is found, it can automatically switch to another channel to maintain optimum network quality. Scheduled to begin shipping in July 2015, you can reserve a Keewifi right now by pledging $69 to the Kickstarter campaign, which has already raised over $40,000 of its funding goal of $50,000. Follow Pulkit on Google+ |
