| Tech Champions Part Deux: 16 More Geek Heroes! Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:52 PM PDT You may remember our previous assortment of geek heroes. A fine gathering of geeky go-getters, indeed. But in the wide whacky world of TV and movies, the nerd well runs deep and your suggestions as to who was left off the initial list were noted. So why not go back for another bucketful of geeky goodness? In true Hollywood fashion we've one-upped ourselves—literally. So, in this blockbuster sequel to our previous gallery, we bring you not 15, but 16 more of the greatest geek heroes to ever grace the screen. |
| FCC Moves To Fund Rural Broadband Posted: 27 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT  In Washington today, someone got something done. If that was not shocking enough, it was the FCC. We can wait while you compose yourself. The FCC voted unanimously today to re-purpose the universal service program, which was used to get phone service to rural Americans. The fun will now be used to deliver broadband internet access to the most remote areas of the nation.
The new rules will expand broadband by shifting the $4.5 billion dollar fund from subsidizing phone service to pay for the deployment and service costs associated with rural broadband. The FCC has also mandated changes to the way the newly renamed America Connect Fund will be collected, meaning a savings of over $2 billion that will hopefully be passed on to consumers by way of lower bills. It is important to note that the old universal service program still exist, but in a much smaller form. Companies now receiving phone subsidies will have early access to the new broadband fund if they wish. The FCC is moving ahead with the rollout of high-speed internet because past efforts have been unable to encourage ISPs to deploy service in remote, lightly-populated areas. Is this the right call? |
| Ghoulish Redbox Price Bump Coming This Halloween Posted: 27 Oct 2011 02:43 PM PDT  It was a war on two fronts that eventually drove Blockbuster into bankruptcy. Netflix was on one side, and Redbox on the other. Redbox has long been a favorite of thrifty film-buffs with its super-cheap $1 per-night movie rentals. Unfortunately, the party is over, or is at least getting a little less raucous. Redbox is upping that DVD charge to $1.20 a night starting October 31st.
On the positive side, pricing for Blu-Rays and video games are staying put at $1.50 and $2 respectively for the time being. Parent company Coinstar discussed the change in its earnings report, stressing that this is the first rate increase on Redbox machines in eight years. A likely cause of the price hike is the increasing stresses caused by disc exclusivity windows imposed by the studios. As a bit of an olive branch, Redbox will allow customers to reserve discs online and rent then for $1 for just the first night through the end of November. Does this small price hike make you less likely to use a Redbox? |
| HP Will Stay In PC Business Posted: 27 Oct 2011 02:25 PM PDT  After leaving the markets hanging for a few weeks, HP has finally clarified its future plans in the PC business: it's in. HP will not undertake the course of action began by former CEO Leo Apotheker to spin off the PC business. This marks the first major change led by new CEO Meg Whitman. Don't get too excited; webOS is still dead (we checked).
Analysts, for once, called this one correctly. When looking at the numbers, it would be foolish for HP to cede its current high ranking in PC sales. That position affords the company extensive leverage over component suppliers like AMD, Intel, Western Digital, and others. This move would have been a big hit to the server business, which is highly profitable. Even in the commodity market, HP's PC business still makes money. There's no reason to risk the massive uncertainty of spinning it off, as Netflix recently learned. Do you agree with HP's decision? |
| ARM Grabs Hold of Its First 64-bit Architecture Posted: 27 Oct 2011 12:18 PM PDT  With all the success ARM is enjoying in the mobile market, including tablets PCs, smartphones, and just about every handheld device you can think of, it's somewhat surprising the company hasn't had a 64-bit instruction set up to this point. That's about to change. ARM just disclosed some technical specs of its new ARMv8 architecture, the first to include a 64-bit instruction set.
The new architecture consists of two main execution states, AArch64 and AArch32. As the name implies, the AArch64 is the one that introduces a new A64 instruction set for 64-bit processing, while the AArch32 state supports existing ARM instruction sets. "With our increasingly connected world, the market for 32-bit processing continues to expand and evolve creating new opportunities for 32-bit ARMv7 based processors in embedded, real-time and open application platforms." said Mike Muller, CTO, ARM. "We believe the ARMv8 architecture is ideally suited to enable the ARM partnership to continue to grow in 32-bit application spaces and bring diverse, innovative and energy-efficient solutions to 64-bit processing markets." ARM says initial support for a range of open source OSes, applications, and third-party tools is already in development. Microsoft called the new instruction set a "significant development for ARM and for the ARM ecosystem," while Nvidia said "the new ARMv8 architecture will enable game-shifting breakthroughs in devices across the full range of computing," smartphones and supercomputers included. |
| Gigabyte Shows Off New A75N-USB3 mini-ITX Motherboard Posted: 27 Oct 2011 11:32 AM PDT Sometimes, Maximum PCs can be minimum PCs. Bigger isn't always better. Gigabyte is giving love to the little guys with their new mini-ITX HTPC motherboard, gracefully named the A75N-USB3. As you may have guessed from the name, it's based around AMD's A75 Fusion chipset and packs in four speedy USB 3.0 slots, but that's not all. 
The FM1 socket-rocking mobo supports AMD's A and E2 series accelerated processors, which include Radeon-based integrated graphics. Audio capabilities include Dolby Home Theater, high definition audio and 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1-channel surround sound support, while HDMI, S/PDIF and DVI-D ports handle sending out those spiffy HD signals. Upgrade abilities are limited with a single PCIe x16 slot, 4 internal 6Gb/s SATA connections, and just two full-sized DDR3 DIMM slots, although those two slots support up to a whopping 32 GB of RAM, a bit of future-proofing that just seems like overkill for this pint-sized mobo. For a full list of specs, check out the A75N-USB3's product page over at the Gigabyte website. |
| Browser Extension of the Week: Facebook Classic Posted: 27 Oct 2011 11:27 AM PDT  Despite rampant privacy concerns, annoying ads, creepy stalkers and the aggressive time stealing demands of the games it offers, for many of us, Facebook is still a much-loved way to share our lives with the people who matter to us. While we might be willing to put up with the social network's many quirks and eccentricities, there's one thing that most of us won't tolerate when it comes to Facebook: A change to it's interface or functionality. If your blood boils every time you hear the words 'News Ticker' you'll want to download Facebook Classic, our Browser Extension of the Week.
Available for use with Chrome, Facebook Classic lets social networkers relive the salad days of Mark Zuckerberg's darling: A simpler time time when News Feeds were in chronological order and the News Ticker was nothing more than a fairytale monster that parents threatened their kids with when they misbehaved. Thanks to Facebook Classic, the Ticker can be toggled on or off with a click of your mouse. 
While this might not force your mom stop sending you requests to buy cabbage from her virtual farm, the extension mitigates the social networks more recent changes, and goes goes a long way towards making Facebook a lot more user friendly for those of us who prefer to kick it old school. Be sure to check back every Thursday for another edition of Maximum PC's Browser Extension of the week. |
| Study: Fragmented Android Users "Get Screwed" Posted: 27 Oct 2011 11:19 AM PDT  The fragmentation that exists on the Android platform is an annoying side effect of Google's open-source ecosystem, and we'll be reminded of that once Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) slowly rolls out to certain devices, while others are left out in the cold. Such will be the case of the Nexus One, a phone Google said is simply "too old" for a major OS update. But do Nexus One owners have it all that bad?
Not according to a study posted on The Understatement blog. Michael Degusta, the study's author, says he "tracked down every update that was released" for every Android phone shipped in the U.S. up through the middle of last year, and it turns out Nexus One owners have had it better than most, though the overall "picture isn't pretty." Other than the G1 and MyTouch, Degusta says virtually all of the millions of Android phones in his chart are still under contract, yet seven of the 18 never ran a current version of the OS. A dozen of the 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less, and 10 of them are at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period. The numbers only get bleaker. There are a number of possible explanations that dive deeper into the issue of fragmentation. According to Degusta, one widely held viewpoint is that there's no incentive for smartphone makers to continually update and support their devices since they don't make any money after the sale. "If that's really the case, the phone manufacturers are spectacularly dumb: ignoring the 2 year contract cycle & abandoning your users isn't going to engender much loyalty when they do buy a new phone," Degusta says. "Further, it's been fairly well established that Apple also really only makes money from hardware sales, and yet their long term update support is excellent. "In other words, Apple's way of getting you to buy a new phone is to make you really happy with your current one, whereas apparently Android phone makers think they can get you to buy a new phone by making you really unhappy with your current one. Then again, all of this may be ascribing motives and intent where none exist - it's entirely possible that the root cause of the problem is just flat-out bad management (and/or the aforementioned spectacular dumbness)." View the chart and read more of Degusta's analysis here. |
| Enermax Goes Nuts with Brushed Aluminum, Applies Liberally to New Keyboard and HDD Enclosure Posted: 27 Oct 2011 10:46 AM PDT  Can't get enough brushed aluminum in your daily life? You're in luck because it just so happens Enermax is interested in catering to your fetish with a pair of peripherals that should serve as nice complements to your brushed aluminum desktop tower or notebook PC. The first is the Aurora Lite RF Wireless Keyboard (KB010W-B) and the second is a portable 3.5-inch hard drive enclosure Enermax oddly calls a 'Brick.'
The Aurora keyboard is encased in a brushed aluminum frame with diamond-cut edges for that "timeless and elegant" look, or simply to let everyone know you're not jumping on the glossy bandwagon. It's a slim plank that operates on the 2.4GHz radio frequency with a range of up to 10 meters. Also constructed of brushed aluminum is the Brick. This works with all 3.5-inch drives with a SATA interface and a maximum height of 26.10mm. It comes with a desktop stand so you can plop it on your work area. There are two versions to choose from, including one that supports SATA-to-USB 3.0/2.0 (EB308U3-B), and one that is USB 2.0 only (EB308S-B). The Aurora Lite RF Wireless Keyboard (€59.90), Brick USB 2.0 (€19.90), and Brick USB 3.0 (€29.90) are available now overseas. Enermax didn't say when or if it plans to ship these stateside. Image Credit: Enermax |
| Mozilla And Microsoft Introduce "Firefox With Bing" Posted: 27 Oct 2011 10:43 AM PDT  For a long time, Mozilla and Google were a match made in heaven. Both of them were spunky open-source aficionado and that common goal sent them into each other's arms; even now, the vast majority of Mozilla's funding comes from a search deal between the two organizations. Then, with the launch of Chrome, things got complicated. Google wasn't quite the same search engine Firefox fell in love with. And now, Mozilla is officially Keeping Its Options Open with the unveiling of the new "Firefox with Bing" Browser.
The name pretty much says it all. It's the same Firefox you know and love/hate, but with Microsoft's Bing replacing Google as the default search engine and homepage. It isn't a complete split for Google and Mozilla, though; while Microsoft hosts the simply named Firefox with Bing page, the version of Firefox found at Mozilla.org still packs in Google. But could Firefox with Bing a taste of the future? We may know soon enough – the agreement between Mozilla and Google is set to end next month. |
