| AMD Radeon R9 380X Rumored to Arrive in Second Quarter of 2015 Posted: 20 Jan 2015 10:33 AM PST  Rumor has it the Radeon R9 380X will feature 4,096 GCN cores
Keeping in mind that nothing is ever official until it's official (one of the many mottos of Captain Obvious), purported details of AMD's forthcoming Radeon R9 380X have started to emerge. If they turn out to be accurate, you can expect the Radeon R9 380X to arrive sometime between April and June of this year with 4,096 GCN cores in tow, along with 4GB of 3D stacked High Bandwidth Memory (HDM). That's according to WCCFTech, which is getting its information from Swedish website SWEClockers, "which have been proven to be quite accurate in their estimations." In this case, the report points to AMD running with the 380X nomenclature rather than 390X, which would indicate that an even more powerful graphics card is on tap for 2015. As for the 380X, the use of HBM is reported to be 9 times faster than GDDR5. Looking at just the increased number of compute units, however, it's estimated that the 380X could be 45 percent faster than AMD's R9 290X, and that's without taking into considerations architectural improvements or memory bandwidth. The card will be based on a GPU code named Fiji XT. Along with its release, AMD is expected to refresh its current lineup with new GPUs, including a Radeon R9 270 replacement called Trinidad. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Kingston SSDNow V300 240GB SSD, WD Black Series 4TB HDD, and More! Posted: 20 Jan 2015 10:12 AM PST |
| Oracle Plugs 167 Critical Security Holes Pertaining to Hundreds of Products Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:56 AM PST  Fixes for vulnerabilities in 48 different products
Oracle today rolled out a Critical Patch Update for the month of January 2015, which contains fixes for 167 vulnerabilities found in hundreds of the company's products. The most severe of these received a score of 10.0 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), the highest score available -- they pertain to Fujitsu M10-1 of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite, Java SE of Oracle Java SE, M10-4 of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite, and M10-4S Servers of Oracle Sun Systems Products Suite. "Some of the vulnerabilities addressed in this Critical Patch Update affect multiple products. Due to the threat posed by a successful attack, Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply Critical Patch Update fixes as soon as possible," Oracle stated in a pre-release announcement. Of the 19 security fixes for Java SE, 14 of the vulnerabilities may be remotely exploitable without authentication, meaning they can be exploited over a network without the need for a username and password, Oracle said. And of the 29 security fixes for Sun Systems Products Suite, the same goes for 10 of them. However, it was Fusion Middleware that received the most attention. Oracle included 35 new security fixes for Fusion Middleware, 28 of which may be remotely exploitable without authentication. Image Credit: Flickr (D. Miller) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| HP Pro Slate 12 Wins Race to Retail Ahead of Apple's Rumored iPad Pro Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:30 AM PST  A bigger size Android tablet with a Duet Pen
It's been rumored that Apple is going to come out with a 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablet, but while iOS fans wait for that day, Android users have another large size option in the new HP Pro Slate 12, one of many mobile devices the company officially launched today. There's also a smaller 8-inch version (HP Pro Slate 8), both of which are powered by an Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series processor and 2GB of RAM. Comparisons on the web are being made to HTC's One M8 handset, only bigger. To be clear, these are tablets, and the main difference between the two (other than panel size) is resolution -- the 7.9-inch Pro Slate 8 sports a 2048x1536 resolution and the 12.3-inch Pro Slate 8 features a 1600x1200 panel (no, we don't have that backwards). HP says the Pro Slate 8 is one of the first tablets to use Corning Gorilla Glass 4. In addition, both come with the HP Duet Pen, the first to use Qualcomm Snapdragon digital pen technology on both a tablet and regular paper. Other features include 32GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, micro USB 2.0 port, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, 2MP front-facing camera, 8MP rear-facing camera, and Android 4.4 KitKat. 
The Pro Slate 12 starts at $569 and the Pro Slate 8 at $449. HP also announced a handful of other tablets, including an 11.6-inch 2-in-1 Windows device (Elite x2 1011 G1), 8-inch Windows tablet powered by an Intel Atom processor (Pro Tablet 408 G1), and specialty tablets aimed at healthcare and environments where ruggedness is a priority. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Batman and Superman Infiltrate List of 25 Worst Passwords Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:43 AM PST  User a super hard password to guess, not a superhero
Dark Helmit warned viewers way back in 1987 that 1-2-3-4-5 is the kind of combination only an idiot would have on his luggage, yet nearly three decades later, it ranks number three on SplashData's list of the 25 worst passwords of 2014, which takes into account the most commonly used combinations from 3.3 million leaked passwords last year. In 2013, it ranked number 20. It's hard to know what to make of SplashData's list. On one hand, our knee-jerk reaction is to feel depressed that so many people are using such easy-to-guess passwords to lock down their accounts, especially with how hyperactive the hacking community has become. But at the same time, we wonder how many of these passwords represent one-time use accounts, where a user is simply registering with a bogus email and password combination to access an article. Either way, there's reason to be somewhat optimistic. "The good news is that it appears that more people are moving away from using these passwords. In 2014, the top 25 passwords represented about 2.2 percent of passwords exposed. While still frightening, that's the lowest percentage of people using the most common passwords I have seen in recent studies," noted Mark Burnett, online security expert and author of Perfect Passwords. Here's a look at the full list: - 123456 (unchanged from 2013)
- password (unchanged)
- 12345 (up 17)
- 12345678 (down 1)
- qwerty (down 1)
- 1234567890 (unchanged)
- 1234 (up 9)
- baseball (new)
- dragon (new)
- football (new)
- 1234567 (down 4)
- monkey (up 5)
- letmein (up 1)
- abc123 (down 9)
- 111111 (down 8)
- mustang (new)
- access (new)
- shadow (unchanged)
- master (new)
- michael (new)
- superman (new)
- 696969 (new)
- 123123 (down 12)
- batman (new)
- trustno1 (down 1)
There are quite a few new entries to the list, including a pair of comic book superheroes -- Batman and Superman, both DC Comics fare. SplashData says many of the remaining passwords in the top 100 list include swear words and phrases, hobbies, famous athletes, car brands, and film names. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Samsung Portable SSD T1 Review Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:06 AM PST The little engine that could With the US still lagging behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to the availability of high-speed Internet, there's still a lot of need for high-capacity external storage. It's also a good idea to have local system backups. A few years ago, your choices were mostly clunky 3.5-inch drive enclosures that needed external power. We've since graduated to sleek 2.5-inch units that get their juice straight from USB 3.0 cables that shuttle bits between the drive and your PC. Today, Samsung is taking it a step further with the Portable SSD T1, an external solid-state drive that can operate in the neighborhood of SATA III speeds. An enterprising gearhead can get most of the T1's functionality by purchasing an internal SSD and a drive enclosure that supports UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol). In short, UASP lets an external storage device use commands normally reserved for internal storage devices. The two key differences between UASP and standard USB are the ability to deal with data requests in an arbitrary order, and the ability to process multiple data requests at once. This can boost your performance by hundreds of mehabytes per second, putting UASP drives in a completely different performance class from USB 3.0. As you might imagine, this also requires a more sophisticated USB controller on the motherboard, and a driver for your operating system. Your mobo manufacturer customarily provides drivers or software to enable the UASP function of its USB controller. 
The Portable T1 has an additional advantage, however, and it's not the compact dimentions. It has integrated drive encryption. When you plug it into your PC, it will ask you to set a password for your new drive. You don't have to set one immediately. You can do it later by double-clicking the turquoise gear icon in your system tray and clicking on the arrow next to the drive's security status. Your password can be up to 22 characters, which isn't as long as we could like, but the only way to reset it is to wipe the drive. This is actually a good thing. An external drive whose encryption can be bypassed with a physical switch or a call to customer support isn't all that encrypted. You can set up all kind of fancy encryption with that SSD that you've put into a UASP enclosure, but it's not going to offer encryption out-of-the-box. It needs third-party software to interact with the drive before it's secured. Having this built into the drive is a big advantage for non-expert users. If you don't need encryption, or you don't mind the logitistics of using third-party encryption software, then getting your own internal SSD and a UASP enclosure is definitely more cost-effective; the 250GB version we tested has a list price of $179.99. The 500GB version comes in at $299.99, and the 1TB is $599.99. They may end up selling for much less than the list price, which happens frequently with PC components. But it's starting out on the high end. Right now, you can get a 960GB Sandisk Ultra II internal SSD for $350 from NCIX US, and a UASP enclosure from Amazon for less than twenty bucks (which comes with a USB 3.0 cable). Most internal SSDs in that size range hit between $400 and $450, but the price difference is still pretty significant. Its performance isn't too shabby, either. Without UASP, the drive will transfer data in the neighborhood of 200MB/s, which is very respectable. It still leaves the Sandisk Extreme Pro at the top of the heap when it comes to external storage speeds. That's ironic, because it's just a thumb drive. The Portable T1 has 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities, though, so there's that. The Extreme Pro's largest size is 256MB. With UASP in the mix, the Portable T1 leaps ahead of the pack, with a sustained read speed of 433MB/s, and a sustained write speed of 355MB/s, according to CrystalDisk Mark. But your results will vary. When paired with an Asus Rampage IV Extreme motherboard, we couldn't manage a sustained read speed of more than 350MB/s. When we plugged it into a USB 3.0 port on the back of a Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H, we could read at around 450MB/s, but the write speed maxed out at only 85MB/s. We tried another port on the back, and the sustained write speeds jumped up to 355MB/s. It's not the drive's fault, but it is disappointing to see this much variance from one USB controller to another, even on the same motherboard (which will sometimes use multiple controllers). PCMark Vantage also locked up while attempting to test this drive, but it reports a somewhat abstract score, rather than actual performance numbers, so it's not critical to our understanding of the drive's capabilities. The Portable T1's cable is also extremely short, measuring only about four inches long. This is perfect for laptop users, but desktop users will have the device basically dangling off one the ports on their case. We also regret to report that it uses a bright blue LED to indicate connectivity, though it's a small one, thankfully. It doesn't look like the electronics industry is in any hurry to return to the red LEDs we used for decades that never distracted the retina. On the bright side, it continues to push the envelope of external storage performance. In that light, our benchmark chart compares the drive to internal SSDs, since it completely outclasses non-UASP external drives. It's still not ideal for sustained high-bandwidth things like HD video editing, but it's a surprisingly snappy little unit otherwise. |
| Steam Client Update Adds Broadcasting Support and FPS Overlay Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:22 AM PST  Fancy new features graduate from beta
In case you need any added incentive to hop on Steam and play games, there's a Steam client update available that adds a few new features and a bunch of bug fixes. One of the big additions is that of Steam Broadcasting, support for which was first introduced to beta client users last month -- now it's available to the general public, allowing you to broadcast your gameplay for others to watch. You can invite a friend to watch your gameplay, and likewise, if a buddy is having a tough time getting through a level that you've already beat, you can watch what they're doing and offer pointers. With regards to privacy, it's up to you who gets to watch your gameplay. The first time a friend asks to watch your game, you'll be asked to choose a privacy setting consisting of: - Only friends that I invite
- Friends can request to watch my games
- Friends can watch my games
- Anyone can watch my games
You can find more information about the Broadcast feature in a related FAQ. Moving on, Valve also added the frames-per-second overlay to the regular client, another feature that had previously been available to beta client users. This one's self explanatory, though it's worth mentioning that it might negate the need for third party programs like FRAPS, at least for those who are only interested in viewing FPS performance. Most everything else included in the update pertain to bug fixes and performance enhancements, including tweaks to the general client, Big Picture mode, in-home streaming, Linux, and Steam OS. You can view them all here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
