| The 10 Coolest Things We Saw at CES 2015 Posted: 12 Jan 2015 04:43 PM PST  CyberPower Trinity PC, tiny PC on an HDMI stick, and more
While CES 2015 was more of an evolutionary year as opposed to a revolutionary one, there were some interesting devices in the PC space. If you've read our CES 2015 prediction piece, nearly all of that came true. We saw a bunch of VR headsets, assisted driving cars, and more. We've highlighted our favorite hardware from the show below. Did you have a favorite piece of hardware from CES this year? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Evolve to Lack SLI Support at Launch, Recommended Specs Revealed Posted: 12 Jan 2015 10:03 AM PST  A look at Evolve's minimum and recommended specs
Evolve by publisher 2K Games and developer Turtle Rock Studios is expected to release to Windows (as well as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) on February 10, 2015. However, up until now we didn't know what the recommended and minimum specs would be to run this game, which utilizes the 4th generation CryEngine game engine. Here's a look at what you'll need. To simply run the game, you'll need: - OS: Windows 7 64-bit
- Intel CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 or
- AMD CPU: Athlon 64 X2 6400
- System RAM: 4GB:
- Nvidia Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 560 or
- ATI Graphics Card: Radeon HD 5770
- Video Memory: 1GB
- Hard Drive: 50GB
Those specs will get you in the game, though if you want to crank up some of the graphics settings, here's a look at the recommended requirements: - OS: Windows 7 64-bit
- Intel CPU: Core i7 920
- AMD CPU: Athlon A8-3870K
- System RAM: 6GB:
- Nvidia Graphics Card: GeForce GTX GTX 670 or 760 or
- ATI Graphics Card: Radeon R9 280
- Video Memory: 2GB
- Hard Drive: 50GB
Sitting somewhere in between? Either way, you'll have access to a fair amount of graphics tweaks, including Texture Detail, Shader Detail, Model Detal, Shadow Quality, Particle Quality, Anti-Aliasing, Tessellation, V-Sync, and of course Resolution. On the topic of resolution, Evolve will support running at 4K from the get-go, though it lacks support for SLI. Turtle Beach Studios says it's working on implementing SLI and hopes to have it ready "as soon as possible." As mentioned, Evolved releases on February 10, though you can place your pre-order now for $60. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Asus Sees Rise in Do-It-Yourself Motherboard Sales Posted: 12 Jan 2015 09:26 AM PST  Score a point in favor of the home brewed PC
You don't have to sell us on the merits of building a PC from scratch -- it's what we've been doing for decades, and it's one of the core principles of our brand. Heck, the desire to roll your own rig may have even been what prompted you to pick up your very first issue of Maximum PC (or Boot). Well, we're embarking on a new year, and already there's evidence that this passion of ours is yet again in great shape -- the numbers are in from Asus, which shipped 5.6 million DIY motherboards in the fourth quarter of 2014 alone. The strong finish bumped the company's full year DIY mobo shipments to 22 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.3 percent, Digitimes reports. In other words, there's growing interest in building a home brewed PC. Asus' DIY motherboard shipments outpaced its laptop sales, which itself saw growth as well. The company shipped 20.1 million notebooks in 2014, representing an on-year growth rate of 6.9 percent, along with two million desktops, nearly 9.4 million tablets, and over 8 million smartphones. We'll have to wait and see how those figures compare with Gigabyte, especially the motherboard shipments -- the two companies were in a fierce race to outsell one another, with Asus in a small lead for most, if not all of 2014. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| G.Skill Sets DDR4 Memory Frequency Record Posted: 12 Jan 2015 09:07 AM PST  The need for speed
Now that Haswell-E and accompanying Intel X99-based motherboards requiring DDR4 RAM are here, we expect to see a lot of record announcements. It always happens when new platforms are introduced, and G.Skill is wasting no time adding to its virtual shelf of overclocking tropies -- G.Skill today announced that it set a new memory record for fastest DDR4 memory frequency at 4,255MHz. Record breaking attempts are sometimes marred by reality, which in this case is the realistic nature of running DDR4 RAM at 4255MHz. To achieve the record, G.Skill used a single 4GB stick of RAM in single-channel mode, even though the X99 chipset supports quad-channel memory. However, quad-channel mode requires four sticks, and running multiple modules isn't conducive to chasing frequency records. In any event, that's how these things are played out, and for now, G.Skill holds the record. It achieved the feat using its Ripjaws 4 Series plugged into an Asus Rampage V Extreme motherboard with an Intel Core i4 5960X CPU (liquid nitrogen cooling was also used). Timings were set at 18-18-18-63. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Calls Out Google for Disclosing Unpatched Windows 8.1 Vulnerability Posted: 12 Jan 2015 08:16 AM PST  Microsoft views Google's disclosure as a "gotcha"
During the holiday break, Google's Project Zero team disclosed a vulnerability in Windows 8.1 after Microsoft failed to issue a patch within the 90-day deadline that Google gives vendors. That sparked a debate on whether or not Google did the right thing, and while many (not all) of our readers sided with Google, Microsoft has some information that warrants asking the question again. Specifically, Microsoft says it was scheduled to patch the vulnerability on Patch Tuesday, two days after Google's deadline, and that Google ignored its request to withhold details until that time. "Although following through keeps to Google's announced timeline for disclosure, the decision feels less like principles and more like a 'gotcha', with customers the ones who may suffer as a result. What's right for Google is not always right for customers. We urge Google to make protection of customers our collective primary goal," Microsoft's Chris Betz stated in a blog post. The vulnerability in question could give low-level users in Windows 8.1 administrative rights. Google's Project Zero team let Microsoft know about its findings with its usual 90-day deadline attached, and when the deadline arrived, the team went ahead and posted the full exploit details online. Those in favor of Google's decision point out that Microsoft had plenty of time to issue a fix. They also point out that hackers don't take breaks during holiday periods, so the timing of the deadline didn't matter. However, if it's true that Microsoft asked for two additional days, do you still feel it was right for Google to ignore its request? We know Google's view, based on its actions, but what of Microsoft? Here's what Betz had to say: "In terms of the software industry at large and each player's responsibility, we believe in Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure (CVD). This is a topic that the security technology profession has debated for years," Betz explains. "Ultimately, vulnerability collaboration between researchers and vendors is about limiting the field of opportunity so customers and their data are better protected against cyberattacks. "Those in favor of full, public disclosure believe that this method pushes software vendors to fix vulnerabilities more quickly and makes customers develop and take actions to protect themselves. We disagree. Releasing information absent context or a stated path to further protections, unduly pressures an already complicated technical environment. It is necessary to fully assess the potential vulnerability, design and evaluate against the broader threat landscape, and issue a 'fix' before it is disclosed to the public, including those who would use the vulnerability to orchestrate an attack. We are in this latter camp." Why did it take Microsoft 92 days to issue a fix? We don't know for sure -- it could be that other, more serious vulnerabilities were a higher priority, though Betz didn't say as much, at least not directly. "Responding to security vulnerabilities can be a complex, extensive and time-consuming process. As a software vendor this is an area in which we have years of experience. Some of the complexity in the timing discussion is rooted in the variety of environments that we as security professionals must consider: real world impact in customer environments, the number of supported platforms the issue exists in, and the complexity of the fix," Betz added. "Vulnerabilities are not all made equal nor according to a well-defined measure. And, an update to an online service can have different complexity and dependencies than a fix to a software product, decade old software platform on which tens of thousands have built applications, or hardware devices. Thoughtful collaboration takes these attributes into account." As the late Paul Harvey would say, now you have the rest of the story. The question is, does it change your opinion of what Google did, or does the fault still lie with Microsoft for letting 90 days elapse without a fix? Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Samsung Starts Mass Producing Crazy Fast SM951 PCIe SSD for Laptops Posted: 12 Jan 2015 06:04 AM PST  Low power SSD hits ultra high speeds (2,150MB/s reads, 1,550MB/s writes)
One of the biggest developments in the solid state drive market has been that of falling prices over the past couple of years. We hope that trend continues, though it's not the sole storyline -- there's also the transition to PCI Express, and with it comes much faster speeds than their SATA 6Gbps counterparts. How fast are we talking? Well, Samsung's SM951 SSD for ultra-slim laptops and workstations is rated to read and write data at up to 2,150MB/s, and 1,550MB/s, respectively. Those figures represent ultra-slim laptops and workstations that choose to adopt the PCIe 3.0 interface. In those situations, Samsung says the SM951 is about four times faster at sequential reads than current SATA SSDs, while also remaining power efficient -- it requires about 450MB/s per watt for sequential reads and 250MB/s per watt for sequential writes, which is more than a 50 percent improvement over the XP941, its predecessor. Samsung's drive also supports PCIe 2.0. When installed in PCIe 2.0 system, it can read and write data at up to 1,600MB/s and 1,350MB/s, respectively, along with random read speeds of up to 130,000 IOPS and random writes of up to 85,000 IOPS. That's still pretty darn fast. "We are helping to accelerate growth of the ultra-slim notebook PC market with the introduction of this energy-efficient, high-speed PCIe SSD," said Jeeho Baek, Senior Vice President of Memory Marketing at Samsung Electronics. He added that, "We will continue to introduce next-generation high-density SSDs with improved performance and increased differentiation, as we further strengthen our business competitiveness in global SSD market." Outside of raw speed, the SM951 is notable because it's the first SSD to adopt the L1.2 low power standby mode. This is a mode defined by the PCI-SIG standards body, which allows for all high-speed circuits to be switched off when a PC is in sleep or hibernation mode. No word yet on cost, though Samsung says the SM951 comes in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Asus RT-AC66R AC1750 Wireless Router, Dell 24-inch LED Monitor, and More! Posted: 12 Jan 2015 05:38 AM PST |
| Mozilla Deal Propels Yahoo’s U.S. Search Share to Five-Year High Posted: 12 Jan 2015 01:03 AM PST  Yahoo recently replaced Google as the default search provider for Firefox in the U.S.
In November, Yahoo and Mozilla reached an understanding to make Yahoo Search the default search provider for the latter's Firefox browser in the United States and the results are already out there for all to see. According to the latest U.S. search data from web analytics provider Statcounter, December saw Bing-powered Yahoo Search finish with 10.4 percent share of the U.S. search market, a significant increase from the 8.4 percent share it held at the start of the month. This is also Yahoo's highest U.S. search share since 2009. If Statcounter's data is accurate then it is clear that Yahoo's gains in December came at the expense of Google, which the former replaced as the default search provider for Firefox 34 users in the States. In December, Google's market share fell from a shade over two percentage points to reach 75.2 percent, its lowest US share since Statcounter first began keeping track of global search statistics in July 2008. But with Mozilla itself having considerable trouble retaining its existing share in the browser market, this sudden spurt in Yahoo's search share is unlikely to become a long-term trend. Follow Pulkit on Google+ |
| Mionix Reaches Kickstarter Goal for Its Unique NAOS QG Bio Mouse Posted: 12 Jan 2015 12:18 AM PST 
The team at Mionix reaches their Kickstarter goal for the first biometric gaming mouse. One of the few interesting things that we managed to get our hands on during CES this year was an unlikely candidate: a mouse. But unlike other more traditional gaming peripherals, Mionix's new NAOS Quantified Gaming device is both a body sensor and pointing device rolled into one. Mionix says that its new NAOS QG mouse helps its user identify gaming habits at the biometric level to further improve gaming performance as well as help keep the user aware of the performance of their actions in relation to their team. The NAOS QG is equipped with a heart rate sensor as well as multiple galvanic skin response sensors working in unison with specially designed software. Users will be able to monitor real time stress levels, reaction times, actions-per-minute, and other data. What I think is interesting with the NAOS QG mouse though, goes beyond even gaming. The concept behind the mouse can be applied in different applications such as military training. But within the scope of gaming, there's quite a few interesting possibilities. I spoke with Peter Nygren, founder and VP of Product Developement, about the possibilities. According to Nygren, a team-based game could potentially be enhanced by allowing say, the leader of a squad to monitor what's going on within the team. Someone at the front-lines getting ambushed would likely show an increased heart rate and increased APM, versus someone playing the role of sniper, calmly stalking the enemy. Over the past several weeks, Mionix's Kickstarter page, which it launched to back the production of the NAOS QG, steadily climbed its way towards the goal, and managed to pass its $100,000 USD mark today. Judging from the Kickstarter target, Mionix would be using the $100,000 to fund the prototyping, tooling and other costs associated in producing the NAOS QG. It remains to be seen if the NAOS QG will be a critical hit, but we're happy to see that innovation in the PC space is alive and well. Congrats to the team at Mionix. |
| Microsoft Outlines Plan to Improve OneDrive Sync Experience Posted: 12 Jan 2015 12:12 AM PST 
Company trying to get rid of multiple sync engines Microsoft drew the ire of many Windows 10 Technical Preview testers when Build 9879, which was released in November, was found to be missing a key OneDrive functionality: "smart files", which are offline placeholders containing thumbnails and metadata of OneDrive files. At the time, the company said the feature had been withdrawn in response to consumer feedback and some key parts of placeholders could return once it was done making "fundamental improvements to how Sync works." A few days back, the company outlined its OneDrive improvement plans much more clearly. "Prior to Windows 8.1, we had two sync experiences. One used on Windows 7/8/Mac to connect to the consumer service, and a second sync engine to connect to the commercial service (OneDrive for Business). In Windows 8.1 we introduced a third sync engine that supported placeholder files, an innovative capability that lets you access all the files you have stored in OneDrive whilst only using a fraction of the local storage space," wrote, corporate vp for OneDrive and Sharepoint, Chris Jones in a recent blog post. According to Jones, the company felt it necessary to "step back and rethink our approach" once it realized that there are many people out there — particularly those that use both the commercial and consumer versions of OneDrive — who find placeholders confusing. To make matters worse, the company also found "certain file operations (including copy, move, and delete) had a higher degree of failure when placeholders were utilized." "It was clear that the right approach was to converge to a single sync engine and experience that would be able to provide all of the benefits of the consumer and business service to all customers faster," Jones wrote, adding that the said convergence is already taking place and Windows 10 Technical Preview, which no longer has a separate engine for placeholders, is at the forefront of this effort. "There are important capabilities that we need to bring to Windows 10 – some will make it into the first release – including shared folders and support for the consumer and business service. However, others will come in updates that follow later in the calendar year – most notably the core capabilities of placeholders that are both reliable and comprehensible. "For those of you in the Windows Insider Program and running the Windows 10 Technical Preview, thanks for bearing with us as we make these changes and be assured that we have a clear roadmap to bring the best experience we can to you between now and the end of the year." Follow Pulkit on Google+ |
