| CES 2015: Cherry Shows Off New MX Board 6.0 Utilizing RealKey Technology [Video] Posted: 07 Jan 2015 05:20 PM PST  New Keyboard has lower "debounce delay" and full anti-rollover
Looks like Cherry has been busy trying to improve the performance of its keyboards with some new technology that will make keyboards more responsive and provide full anti-rollover. Online Managing Editor visited the booth at CES 2015 where Cherry is showing its new MX Board 6.0 that utilizes the company's new RealKey technology that provides the improvements and enhancements. The MX Board 6.0 features an aluminium housing, detachable palm rest that latches on magnetically, and Cherry MX Red Stem key switch with red illumination. But while the new keyboard looks like it would suit a gamer, the Cherry representative told Jimmy that the MX Board 6.0 is being targeted for coders and those who do a lot of typing instead of gamers. Without a doubt, the keyboard sounds good, but it is the RealKey technology inside that will make it stand out. According to Cherry, the new tech provides full anti-rollover and anti-ghosting, which means that a user can press as many keys as they want simultaneously and all the keys pressed will be registered. This is a large step up when compared to the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth keyboard from Razer that has a 10-key rollover anti-ghosting feature. The new tech also reduces what the company calls a "debounce delay." This happens when a key is pressed, causing the contacts inside the switch to come together, and the key bounces. The keyboard controller is on a delay to allow for false signals from a key switch that might have been slightly pressed, causing a small bounce, and not registering it. For normal digital controllers, this results in a debounce time of around 20ms. However, RealKey utilizes an analogue controller that cuts the delay down to around 1ms. The Cherry MX Board 6.0 will be available this spring for $219. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Transcend 512GB SSD, Seagate Expansion 1TB External Drive, and More! Posted: 07 Jan 2015 04:39 PM PST |
| CES 2015: Sennheiser Rolls Out Several New Headphone Models Posted: 07 Jan 2015 02:42 PM PST  Cutting the cord on Momentum, and more
Whenever talk turns to audio, Sennheiser is a name that inevitably comes up. And with good reason -- we've sampled several different Sennheiser brand headsets and earphones over the years, and more often than not, we end up liking what we hear. Will that trend continue into 2015? Time will tell, though in the meantime, Sennheiser is talking up a big game at CES with several new and expanded headphones in the pipeline. It starts with the Momentum line, which you might already be familiar with. For 2015, Sennheiser is cutting the cord with wireless versions of its Momentum and Momentum On-Ear headphones. Sennheiser said they offer the "same fusion of performance" as the original ones, but in a wireless form factor with enhanced wearing comfort and a folding headband design. Both models sport NFC technology to quickly pair to NFC devices, along with Active Noise Cancellation technology. As for battery life, Sennheiser says you can rock out with your socks out for up to 22 hours. The Momentum Wireless and Momentum On-Ear Wireless will be available this month in two variants -- one that's optimized for iOS and another for Android and Windows devices. 
Sennheiser also cut the cord on its Urbanite -- the new Urbanite XL Wireless uses Bluetooth 4.0 and supports NFC for connecting up to eight compatible devices, as well as simultaneous connections to two devices. It also takes advantage of the latest apt-X codec for clear, CD quality sound, the company says. There's a control panel on the right ear cup to adjust the volume and skip the next track by sliding a finger across the panel or tapping it. Touch controls can also be used on a connected phone to receive and make calls. The Urbanite XL Wireless is available now for $300 MSRP. 
Moving right along, Sennheiser announced its next generation of RS products at CES, including the RS 165, 175, 185, and 195. Each one operates on the 2.4GHz band, with the RS 165 offering up to a 30 meters range, and the rest up to 100 meters. The new RS products will be available this month -- you can read more about them here. 
Finally, Sennheiser launched its all new Sports headphone range. The Sports line consists of the MX 686 and PMX 686 with open acoustics, and the CX 686 and OCX 686 with close ear-canal designs. "With the Sports range, particular focus has been placed on a rugged ergonomic design that conforms to the body whilst securing maximum freedom of movement. All new headsets feature reinforced, tangle-free oval cables, with cable sleeves that also reduce structure-borne noise", said Daniel Chee, Product Manager Consumer Electronics at Sennheiser. All four Sports models will be available this month. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Intel's $149 Compute Stick Turns Your TV into a Windows 8.1 Device Posted: 07 Jan 2015 12:27 PM PST  Turn an HDMI display into a Windows 8.1 PC
Intel already used the Consumer Electronics Show as a platform to introduce its newest 5th Generation Core micro-architecture (14nm Broadwell), but that's not all it wanted to show off. On a somewhat smaller scale, Intel today introduced its Compute Stick, a $149 dongle that turns your HDMI display into a low-power Windows 8.1 PC. And though it may seem similar to media streaming devices like Amazon's Fire TV stick, you can do more with Intel's device. The Compute Stick is powered by an Intel Atom Z3735F Bay Trail quad-core processor, at least for now -- a future version could come with a Core M CPU inside. There are two versions -- one that comes preinstalled with Windows 8.1 and includes 2GB of RAM and 32GB of flash storage, and a Linux variant with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. The Linux version runs $89. Both come with a microSD card slot to add more storage space, and both also sport a full-size USB port, micro USB, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11n Wi-Fi. There's enough power here to for light productivity work, surfing the web, streaming media, and more. Whether or not it proves popular we'll have to wait and see -- it's scheduled to be available in March. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Internet Archive Resurrects Over 2,300 MS- DOS Games in Your Browser! Posted: 07 Jan 2015 11:53 AM PST  Well, there goes all our free time!
If your friends and co-workers all seem unusually busy as of late, it's probably because they discovered a virtual gold mine of gaming goodness. You can discover it too, courtesy of the Internet Archive and software curator Jason Scott, who assembled a collection of roughly 2,400 MS-DOS games, all of which are playable in your browser. We're talking titles like The Oregon Trail, Leisure Suit Larry 1 - Land of the Lounge Lizard, Golden Axe, Street Fighter, Silent Service, and so many more. It's a massive collection of nostalgic gaming titles, though bear in the emulation at work is still in beta, so expect a bit of a bumpy ride in some instances. Hey, a small price to pay for what amounts to a free trip back in time, no plutonium required. "First, I really worked hard to have only fully-functioning programs up, or at least, programs that gave viable, useful feedback. Some of them will still fall over and die, and many of them might be weird to play in a browser window, and of course you can't really save things off for later, and that will limit things too. But on the whole, you will experience some analogue of the MS-DOS program, in your browser, instantly," Scott stated in a blog post. This is a work in progress, and as such, some games will go, others will be updated, and of course there will be some new admissions. In the short term, it appears Scott has done some weeding -- what was a library of 2,389 games earlier this week is now down to 2,310. Still, this is a wonderful opportunity to revisit games you might have grown up playing, like Lemmingss and Prince of Persia, all accessible by going here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CES 2015: Dell Prepares to Release Its 34-inch Curved Monitor Posted: 07 Jan 2015 10:51 AM PST 
We're gonna need a bigger desk Dell announced today that it was going to start selling the U3415W, a 34-inch "ultra-wide" 21:9 curved IPS monitor, on its website tomorrow. We first heard about this hot item at PAX last year, but they weren't talking about availability at the time. It has a resolution of 3440 x 1440, giving you more than twice the pixels of a 1080p monitor, and its 34-inch screen translates to a pixel-per-inch count of about 110. Dell says that the U3415W's inward curve "optimizes the field of view and minimizes eye movement to deliver a more comfortable viewing experience than a flat screen," which we're a little skeptical about. The response time is rated at 8ms in "normal" mode and 5ms in "fast mode." But it also packs 18-watt speakers, which is unusually large for a monitor. We've had proper desktop speakers that didn't pull that much juice. Be advised that this screen also has an anti-glare coating, though Dell has been pretty good about not slathering that stuff on. 
It also features HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, a USB 3.0 hub, MHL, and an audio out jack. The monitor can tilt and swivel -- though due to its sheer width, rotating into portrait mode is not supported. And due to the display's sheer size, it weighs 18.6 pounds without the stand, so VESA mount users will need some robust gear. You can also expect the monitor to draw between 55 and 130 watts when in use. The MSRP is going to be $1200 when it hits retail tomorrow. |
| CES 2015: Razer Announces Forge TV, a $100 Android-Powered Game Console Posted: 07 Jan 2015 10:47 AM PST  Another attempt to get Android in the living room
You can always count on Razer to introduce a surprise product or two every year at the Consumer Electronics Show. Last year it was Project Christine, a modular PC concept that may one day become an actual consumer product. And this year? Well, Razer has multiple items on tap, including Forge TV, which it describes as a high-performance Android TV micro-console with a lofty goal. That lofty goal is to "bring hardcore PC gaming and Android gaming into the living room" through a new gaming ecosystem. The ecosystem in question consists of the following parts: - Razer Forge TV micro-console
- Razer Cortex: Stream -- a proprietary streaming technology that's hardware agnostic and DX9 (or higher) compatible
- Razer Serval -- console style Bluetooth gaming controller
- Razer Turret -- wireless living room gaming mouse and lapboard
"Razer Forge TV is a device that is able to bring together the most popular elements of an entertainment center," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. "It powers popular music and movie apps and plays Android TV games that an entire family can enjoy. For the hardcore gaming audience, it will bring PC gaming to the couch. Razer Forge TV is what we see as the future of consoles." The Forge TV is the main component here, and it consists of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core Krait 450 CPU clocked at 2.5GHz, Adreno 420 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage, Bluetooth 4.1 + HS, 802.11ac (2x2) Wi-Fi, and GbE LAN port, HDMI 1.4 output. In addition to gaming on the Forge TV, users will have access to other types of apps and will be able to interact with the console through their mobile devices, including iOS, Android, Chromebook, Windows, and more. Forge TV will be available in the first quarter for $100, or $150 bundled with a Serval controller. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CES 2015: Asus Gives Us Our Gaming Hardware and Peripheral Fix [Video] Posted: 07 Jan 2015 10:24 AM PST  Hardware overload for gamers
Gaming at 4K is still a pipe dream for many people. Too many roadblocks exist, one of them being the need for high-end hardware to push all those pixels around on a screen at a comfortable pace. However, for those who are equipped with sufficient GPU horsepower, you'll be glad to know that companies are paying more attention to 4K monitors. One of those companies is Asus, which brought its ROG Swift PG27AQ 4K IPS gaming monitor with G-Sync technology to the Consumer Electronics Show. It's a 27-inch display with a true 10-bit panel featuring a 3840x2160 resolution. The other main attraction, of course, is the inclusion of Nvidia's G-Sync technology, which synchronizes the refresh rates to the computer's graphics card to virtually eliminate screen tearing and vastly reduce stutter and input lag. Asus also showed off its 7.1 Strix headset. The company dismisses any notion that 7.1 surround is virtual, and instead points out that its headset boasts 10 discrete drivers positioned to bombard the eardrum from different angles. The company also said it did some tuning to its drivers to prevent roll off in the mids and highs. Some new gaming mice are also on tap from Asus. Have a look: After giving us our fix of gaming peripherals, Asus showed off its new and forthcoming routers, extenders, mini PCs, motherboards, and some other goodies. Check it out: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CES 2015: Origin PC Discusses Laptops with Desktops CPUs and Omega Console [Video] Posted: 07 Jan 2015 09:51 AM PST  Laptops and desktop CPUs and PC consoles, oh my!
We've already seen some interesting developments coming from boutique system builders at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, though there's still plenty more to talk about. Like what? Well, Origin PC arrived at CES with laptops configured with desktop processors and a few living room game systems (call them PC consoles, if you will, but not Steam Box) that should play nice with your 4K TV. Continuing our video coverage, Online Managing Editor and level 73 CES Wizard Jimmy Thang transported himself to Origin PC's hideout to get a glance at its new systems. Origin PC started off by showcasing three new laptop PCs -- EON15-S, EON15-X, and EON17-X. The latter two support desktop processors up to an Intel Core i7 4790K. Why shove a desktop CPU into a notebook? "Why not" and "it's totally awesome," is what we were told. Origin PC elaborated on its reasoning, saying that it comes to down to power -- desktop chips are typically faster than their mobile counterparts, and for customers who need or would otherwise appreciate the added horsepower, or "grunt on the go," these laptops are for them. What about cooling and throttling? Origin PC admits that these laptops can get a little loud, but they run cool and run at 100 percent without throttling, as it's performed extensive thermal testing. Origin PC also showed off its new Omega living room PC. It will come in multiple different cases, including one that supports up to three graphics cards. These are perhaps more expensive than what some of it competitors are offering, but also more powerful, allowing for game play at 4K and beyond (in some instances), rather than just 4K output. See more: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CES 2015: Spying Digital Storm's Stunning Aventum 3 PC [Video] Posted: 07 Jan 2015 09:20 AM PST  A killer system that's pre-wired for liquid cooling
Liquid cooling isn't new by any means -- enthusiasts have been cooling their PCs with water since around the discovery of fire (give or take a few years). But what makes Digital Storm's new Aventum 3 system a different kind of beast is how the liquid cooling setup is implemented. It's pre-wired and configured to allow for easy user upgrades without mucking up the intricate installation. Let's have a closer look. Online Managing Editor and shark wrestler Jimmy Thang steam rolled his way into Digital Storm's suite at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to give you an up close and personal view of the Aventum 3. According to Digital Storm, it's the only PC with a liquid cooling and power distribution system built into the chassis -- the cooling loop is inside the system, allowing customers to connect their own components and perform upgrades. Everything is pre-wired behind the chassis, giving it a bit of a plug-and-play characteristic. The Aventum 3 is a big case, though not quite as big as the Aventum 2 that earned itself a 9 verdict and Kickass award when we reviewed it last year. And of course it's also customizable, including the tubing -- you can choose from regular, acrylic, or copper tubing. Pricing will start at around $3,000 for an Aventum 3 when it becomes available in the Spring. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
