General Gaming Article |
- Newegg Daily Deal: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, Corsair 760W PSU, and More!
- Apple, Google Have Been Target of Over 70 Court Orders to Unlock Devices
- Microsoft Windows 10 Rushes to 270 Million Active Devices
- Acer Predator Z850 Projector Throws 120-Inch Images at Gamers for $5,000
| Newegg Daily Deal: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, Corsair 760W PSU, and More! Posted: 30 Mar 2016 11:10 AM PDT Top Deal: When you lose your cool, you might shout out a few obscenities, punch a pillow, or fire up loud music until you feel better again. But when your PC loses its cool, things tend to freeze up, restart, and spit out errors, especially if you're overclocking. If you find that your CPU is losing its cool a lot lately, we suggest cleaning out any dust bunnies, ensuring proper airflow, and of course checking out today's top deal for a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan for $30 with free shipping (normally $35; additional $5 Mail-in rebate). This effective cooling solution uses four direct contact heat pipes and will keep your CPU chillier than the stock cooler. Other Deals: Asus M5A97 R2.0 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB 950 6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS for $80 with $3 shipping (normally $90 - use coupon code: [EMCEHGN34]) Intel Core i5-6600 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 1151 65W Desktop Processor for $220 with free shipping (normally $230 - use coupon code: [EMCEHGN22]) Netgear ProSAFE GS108Ev3 8-Port Gigabit Plus Switch for $35 with free shipping (normally $49 - use coupon code: [EMCEHGN42]; additional $15 Mail-in rebate) Corsair 760W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Power Supply for $125 with free shipping (normally $130 - use coupon code: [EMCEHGN35]; additional $30 Mail-in rebate) |
| Apple, Google Have Been Target of Over 70 Court Orders to Unlock Devices Posted: 30 Mar 2016 11:01 AM PDT More to the iPhone story The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice are no longer trying to force Apple to break into the iPhone 5c handset that belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters, but the precedent the U.S. government sought is an issue that will likely come up again. As it turns out, government agencies have a history of trying to legally force Apple and Google to unlock their devices. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) did some digging and found dozens of instances of government agencies using the All Writs Act, originally passed in 1798, as means of obtaining court orders forcing Apple and Google to unlock customers' devices. This has happened more than 70 times since 2008. One reason that's notable is because the FBI attempted to convince the public that using the All Writs Act against Apple was a special scenario. According to what the ALCU uncovered, that's simply not the case. "The government insisted that its effort to force Apple to help break into an iPhone as part of the investigation into the 2015 San Bernardino shootings was just about that one case. Even though the FBI no longer needs Apple's help in that case, the FBI's request was part of a sustained government effort to exercise novel law enforcement power," the ALCU stated in a blog post. These are cases that are spread out across the country, many of which involve drug crimes, not terrorist activities. Nevertheless, the government continues to apply a broad law written over 200 years ago to modern cases involving technical matters. The ALCU found 63 confirmed cases where government used the All Writs Act against Google or Apple, and it says it knows of up to 13 additional cases. Over two dozen of them are from the past two years. |
| Microsoft Windows 10 Rushes to 270 Million Active Devices Posted: 30 Mar 2016 10:04 AM PDT Keeping the pedal on the metal Microsoft's ultimate goal is for Windows 10 to be installed on 1 billion devices within the first 2-3 years of availability. Sure it's ambitious, but just 8 months removed from Windows 10's launch, the OS now finds itself on 270 million active devices. That's the word from Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group, who revealed the figure today at Microsoft's Build Conference. That number means Windows is outpacing the adoption rate of Windows 7 by 145 percent. And remember, these are active devices we're talking about, so it's not inflated by people who've upgraded to Windows 10 and then rolled back to their previous OS. If there's any fuzzy math going on, it's the alleged forced upgrades that some users raised a ruckus about recently. Microsoft's taken an aggressive approach to pushing Windows 10 upgrades, and that hasn't always sat well with customers. More recently, users on Reddit and Twitter complained that Microsoft upgraded their PCs to Windows 10 without their consent when they were away from their PCs for a period of time, like lunch or to sleep at night. Despite Microsoft's sometimes controversial tactics, Windows 10 continues to see steady adoption. Of course, it helps that Windows 10 is a free upgrade from Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 and will continue to be throughout its first year of availability (possibly longer if Microsoft decides to extend the promotion). It also helps that most new PCs ship with Windows 10. Does that mean Microsoft will reach its goal of getting Windows 10 on 1 billion PCs by 2018? According to Myerson, Windows 10 is on track to reach Microsoft's installation goal "in the next few years." |
| Acer Predator Z850 Projector Throws 120-Inch Images at Gamers for $5,000 Posted: 30 Mar 2016 09:26 AM PDT Big screen gaming in little spaces Forget about that 32-inch monitor you've been eyeing up, Acer's newly available Predator Z850 projector can beam images up to 120 inches on your wall or screen. The question is, are you willing to pay $5,000 for it? That's Acer's bold asking price for what it claims is the industry's first ultra-wide HD laser projector designed for gaming. It also sports a bold design, as do all of Acer's Predator products, this one in particular with a red and black chassis molded with aggressive angles. Acer designed the Predator Z850 to work in cramped spaces. Using mirror-less ultra-short-throw technology, the projector can display images up to 120 inches from as little as 18.5 inches from the screen or wall. "This means no more shadow interference at crucial moments during gameplay," Acer says. The Predator Z850 uses a top-mounted lens and adjustable feet to make it quick and easy to deploy without any drilling or mounting required. Once setup, you can start gaming at an ultra-wide 1920x720 resolution—that's a 24:9 aspect ratio, which is 50 percent wider than 16:9 display resolutions. Courtesy of an advanced laser diode, Acer says the Predator Z850 delivers bright images up to 3,000 lumens along with a 100,000:1 contrast ratio. Acer also claims a wide color gamut but stopped short of saying what percentage of the sRGB color space it covers (or any other metric it wishes to use). If your pocket still feels heavy after extracting $5,000 from it, you can purchase an optional Wireless HD kit for 1080p lossless wireless streaming to reduce cable clutter. The Predator Z850 is available now (or will be soon once retailers update their websites), but will it sell? We haven't tested the Predator Z850, but at $5,000, it's hard to imagine picking one over a much less expensive 4K monitor with all the bells and whistles. |
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