| GPU-Z Update Adds Full Support for AMD A-Series Fusion Processors Posted: 05 Sep 2011 12:58 PM PDT  There's a new version of GPU-Z available for download (version 0.5.5) that now fully recognizes AMD A-Series Fusion processors. In addition, the latest build adds support for numerous videocards not previously recognized, fixes a shader count detection issue for Blackcomb (mobile AMD Cayman), adds a PowerColor hardware giveaway, and more.
Support for a dozen Nvidia GPUs were added to the latest build, including Nvidia GeForce GT 560 Ti OEM, GT 545, GT 530, GeForce GTX 580M, GT 555M GeForce 520MX, GT 520M, 510M, 305M, Quadro 5000, Quadro 4000M, and Quadro 400. On the AMD side, the list isn't quite as expansive, but now includes support for the Radeon HD 6290, E6760, E4690, FirePro V8800, V3700, and FirePro 2460 (FireMV). For those that don't know, GPU-Z is a lightweight utility similar to CPU-Z, but intended specifically for GPUs. It reveals all kinds of information about your graphics chip, things like the die size, number of transistors, BIOS version, manufacturing process, pixel fillrate, texture fillrate, shaders, and much more. It also pulls information from system sensors to troubleshoot an ailing card, or to ensure your GPU is firing on all cylinders. You can download the latest version here. |
| Chrome Web App of the Week: Offline Google Mail Posted: 05 Sep 2011 11:30 AM PDT  While eating pizza on the moon may still be a ways off and there's still no cure for cancer, these are nonetheless magical times, my friends. We are living in an era where WiFi is available on airplanes, phone calls can be made from the summit of a mountain and revolutions are stoked with 140 characters or less. Most amazing of all, Google's finally got their act together and given us the ability to work with our Gmail accounts without being connected to the internet, thanks to Offline Google Mail, our Chrome Web App of the Week.
Drawing it's two-paned good looks from Gmail's tablet interface, Offline Google Mail not only makes it possible to tinker with your Gmail with or without a connection to the interwebz, it does it with style. Intuitive and easy to navigate, this is Gmail as it should be, and after using it for a little under a week, we seriously hope that Google considers implementing the app's GUI for use with its online cousin as well. That said, all those good looks don't count for anything unless the web application's functionality is up to snuff. Fortunately, it is. 
Offline Google Mail allows users to access their Gmail accounts, read their mail, search their account's archives, respond to and even forward messages all without an internet connection. Once your computer's back in touch with the Web? Boom. All of the changes you made offline will be uploaded and reflected in your online Google account. Be sure to check back with us every Monday for another edition of Maximum PC's Chrome Web App of the Week. |
| Sony Tablet S Goes Up for Pre-order, Ships September 16 Posted: 05 Sep 2011 11:24 AM PDT  For those who go back to school the day after Labor Day, Sony managed to make its Tablet S available via pre-order on the final day of summer break, though don't expect any back-to-school discounts. The 16GB Wi-Fi model carries the now traditional $500 price tag, and you can add another C-note if you want the 32GB model.
Sony's Tablet S is a 9.4-inch slate powered by Nvidia's 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor. It has 1GB of RAM, a 1280x800 screen resolution with Sony's TruBlack technology, 0.3MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera, IR remote control function, Bluetooth, microUSB port, SD card slot, 3.5mm headphone output, and 5000mAh battery, and Android Honeycomb 3.1 running the show. Sounds like just another Android tablet, however the details are in the design. PCWorld spent some hands on time with a pre-production model and noted that Sony's "design mojo...infuses originality and flair into a tablet market that desperately needs both." It's a tapered tablet that starts off at 0.3 inches and increases in thickness to 0.79 inches. It's intended to replicate the feel of a folded magazine, and Sony says the center of gravity shifts the device's weight closer to your palm so that it's lighter and more comfortable while reading a book or watching a video. The Tablet S will starting shipping on September 16. |
| Unredacted WikiLeaks Cables Include Dutch Queen's Residential Phone Number Posted: 05 Sep 2011 11:11 AM PDT  Think you got a problem with telemarketers? Imagine being Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. While she might not get too many probing salesmen asking about the condition of her vinyl siding, Queen Beatrix may find her line clogged with inquirers wondering whether she has Prince Albert in a can before too long. That's because the recent blast of unredacted diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks contains, gulp, Queen Beatrix's residential phone number.
The US diplomatic cable in question not only lists Queen Beatrix's residential line, it informs readers that Mr. Pim, the Grandmaster of the Queen's Household, will be personally screening all calls asking for the queen. Smarmy prank callers may have a better chance leaving a message at the Queen's office phone, which was also revealed and is available 24 hours a day. Queen Beatrix may not be the only Dutch government persona who needs a Grandmaster to intercept her calls; Graham Cluley at Sophos reports that the phone numbers of former Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, foreign minister Ben Bot and defense minister Henk Kamp all appear in the WikiLeaks cables as well. 
Image credit: Graham Cluley/Sophos |
| Thermaltake Launches Massive 23 GT Notebook Cooler to Conquer Desktop Replacements Posted: 05 Sep 2011 09:36 AM PDT  Thermaltake is kicking off the week with its Massive 23 GT Notebook Cooler "designed to provide maximum performance to gamers of all levels." The semi-garish looking cooler (at least from the pics we've seen) replaces the Massive 23 LX and CS notebook coolers that came before it, and like those, it can can accommodate everything from 10.1-inch netbooks to 17-inch desktop replacements, and even tablets. Say what now?
According to a badly translated press release, the Massive 23 GT sports a special design with a flip-up valve capable of holding tablets in either portrait or landscape mode, though if your tablet has a tendency to overheat, you should probably return it. There are five different angle adjustments to play with, making the Massive 23 GT one part cooler and one part notebook stand. Cooling duties are handled by a 200mm red LED fan blowing air through a mesh screen. There's a fan speed control dial that lets users adjust the fan from 500RPM to 800RPM, as well as dual-USB ports and a single mini-USB port. No word yet on price or availability. Image Credit: Thermaltake |
| Report: IT Services Market Falls to Lowest Point in Eight Years Posted: 05 Sep 2011 09:11 AM PDT  The bean counters at Ovum, a data monitoring firm located in Australia, crunched a bunch of numbers and determined that the IT services industry is in pretty bad shape, which is putting it nicely. According to Ovum, the value of new contract signings fell to its lowest point in eight years during the second quarter of 2011.
Ovum says the total contract value (TCV) of deals announced in the second quarter managed just $19 billion, a full 40 percent below the same period one year prior, and the lowest quarterly figure since Q1 of 2003. In addition, the number of deals around the world dropped to just 384 in Q2, marking the fourth consecutive quarter that number has gone down. "Not only was this down more than 20 percent on the number tracked during the second quarter of 2010, but it was also the lowest number of deals recorded by Ovum in a single quarter since Q4 2007," Ovum said in a statement. Ovum says there weren't any "mega deals" signed in the second quarter of 2011, which are deals valued at $1 billion or more. What's more, Ovum pointed out "Just two contracts in the second quarter were valued at over $100 million, including a major deal won by Indian vendor Tech Mahindra with Vodafone Hutchinson Australia." |
| Hackers Issue Rogue SSL Certificates for CIA, MI6, and Mossad; Apple Stands Pat Posted: 05 Sep 2011 08:27 AM PDT  A well known security firm warns that the number of compromised digital security certificates from DigiNotar, a Dutch certificate authority outfit owned by VASCO Data Security International, has doubled in size over the past week from 250 false SSL certificates to 531. False certificates have now been issued for Facebook, Google, Tor, Skype, Mossad, CIA, MI6, Twitter, and several other high profile sites.
"This is really bad news. As DigiNotar is a 'root' certificate, they can assign authority to intermediaries to sign and validate certificates on their behalf," security firm Sophos explains. "It appears the attackers signed 186 certificates that could have been intermediate certificates. These certificates masqueraded as well-known certificate authorities like Thawte, Verisign, Comodo, and Equifax." According to Sophos, computers users of IE and Safari on Windows 7/Vista/2008/2008R2 and/or Chrome and Firefox on all platforms are immune from exploitation, so long as you're rocking a fully patched browser and OS. Things aren't as peachy for Apple users. "Mac OS X users using the latest Chrome and Firefox (6.0.2) versions are fine, but Safari and OS X itself have not been patched," Sophos says. "There are instructions on doing so on the ps | Enable blog, although it is non-trivial." Many security experts believe Iranian hackers are to blame, and at least one hopes this will serve as a wake-up call to the U.S. government. "Now that someone (presumably from Iran) has obtained a legit HTTPS cert for CIA.gov, I wonder if the US gov will pay attention to this mess," security and privacy researcher Christopher Soghoian tweeted over the weekend. The big deal with stolen certificates is that they can be used in so-called "man-in-the-middle" attacks in which users think they're visiting a legitimate, secure site, but are really not. Image Credit: pcauthority.com.au |
| BlackBerry PlayBook Goes on Sale, Tablet Price War to Follow? Posted: 05 Sep 2011 07:51 AM PDT  The past several weeks have seen some interesting developments in the tablet space. Hewlett Packard's discontinuation of its TouchPad and subsequent $99 firesale continues to be the big story, but it's not the only one. It appears Amazon is getting ready to launch an affordable 7-inch tablet, and perhaps in anticipation, Best Buy just dropped the price of the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Best Buy slashed $50 from the 16GB and 32GB models, knocking the prices down to $450 and $550, respectively. Oddly enough, the electronics chain knocked a generous $150 off the 64GB model, which now sells for $550, the same price as the 32GB. That renders the 32GB an obvious bad buy, though some would argue that without native email and contacts, all versions are bad buys, even at the reduced prices. Regardless of how anyone feels about the PlayBook, could this mark the beginning of a tablet price war? Probably not, as you're still being asked to fork over nearly $500 (after tax) for a 7-inch slate. That doesn't mean a price war isn't forthcoming. The rapid sellout of $99 (16GB) and $149 (32GB) TouchPads prove there's rabid demand for affordable tablets with high end hardware, even ones that have been abandoned by the manufacturer. Getting back to the PlayBook, the sale price affects both in-store and online orders. No word on how long the sale will run. Image Credit: RIM |
| Researchers Demonstrate PIN Code Theft via Thermal Imaging Posted: 05 Sep 2011 07:08 AM PDT  Here's another rule of thumb to live by. If you're getting ready to punch in your PIN code at an ATM and notice the guy behind you is wielding a digital camera, find another ATM. That's because researchers at the University of California, San Diego, published a study showing how digital cameras capable of digital imaging can capture PIN codes by picking up heat patterns left on the keypad.
According to the study, this technique is effective more than 80 percent of the time if there isn't any time lapse, and has about a 50 percent success rate after a minute goes by. Wait a minute and a half and the chances of it being effective drop to around 20 percent, Physorg.com reports. Before you go and rip up your ATM card, understand there are several things that make this kind of surveillance scam impractical. The biggest one is the type of keypad. While highly effective on plastic keypads, thermal imaging is practically useless on metal keypads, as the heat quickly dissipates. Even if your PIN code does get picked up by some guy in a tree zooming in with his camera, he still won't know the order of the key presses. And finally, high-end cameras that make this technique possible typically run $18,000. Image Credit: physorg.com |
| Google Spring Cleaning Marks an End to Desktop and Several Other Projects Posted: 05 Sep 2011 06:43 AM PDT  Google didn't let the Fall season get in the way of its Spring cleaning effort, which saw the sultan of search announce a plethora of project terminations, including Google Desktop, Google Maps API for Flash, and a laundry list of other platforms. Some are being merged into others, and many are closing outright.
Here's the full list: - Aardvark: Closing outright, though Google will "continue to work on similar tools to help people connect and discover richer knowledge about the world."
- Desktop: Will be discontinued September 14, including all associated APIs, services, plugins, gadgets, and support.
- Fast Flip: Concept will "live on in our other display and delivery tools."
- Google Maps API for Flash: Being replaced with JavaScript Maps API v3 going foward. Google will continue to support Premier customers.
- Google Pack: Discontinued due to emergence of Web apps.
- Google Web Security: Integrated into other products, including Safe Browsing in Chrome.
- Image Labeler: Discontinued outright.
- Notebook: Shutting down in the coming months. Google will automatically export all notebook data to Google Docs.
- Sidewiki: Shutting down in favor of "broader social initiatives."
- Subscribed Links: Shutting down, though developers will be able to access and download their data until September 15.
That's a long list of projects to kick to the curb, though Google insists it doesn't represent a change in mentality towards it's approach to software. "We've never been afraid to try big, bold things, and that won't change," Google explained in a blog post. "We'll continue to take risks on interesting technologies with a lot of potential. But by targeting our resources more effectively, we can focus on building world-changing products with a truly beautiful user experience." By closing all these projects, Google also frees up resources it can apply towards Google+. |
