| Internet Explorer Coming to Xbox 360, Will Leverage Kinect, SmartGlass Posted: 04 Jun 2012 04:28 PM PDT  Kinect's launch in late 2010 was accompanied by a lot of fanfare and excitement, all of which seemed justified initially as the motion-sensing Xbox 360 peripheral quickly became a huge sales success. Then millions of Kinect owners began waiting en masse for some top-drawer titles to come along and proverbially slap Kinect's critics smack in the face. Sadly, those AAA Kinect titles, especially the much sought-after "hardcore" ones, never really arrived. But if you haven't given up on your Kinect and are looking for fresh excuses to use it, Microsoft has just the thing for you: Internet Explorer for Xbox 360 with Kinect-enabled voice and gesture controls.
"Internet Explorer is coming to Xbox 360 this year," Xbox Live boss Marc Whitten announced at Microsoft's E3 2012 press conference today. According to Whitten, who took the E3 stage to demo the browser, web browsing on TVs hasn't quite caught on "because the controller and remote are not great input devices for the Web, and because keyboards don't belong in the living room." But he thinks all that will soon change with the arrival of Internet Explorer for Xbox, which will let users surf the web using Kinect-enabled voice and gesture controls. That's not all, though. The browser will also tap into the just announced Xbox SmartGlass technology to deliver a unique browsing experience. From the press release: Microsoft will launch Internet Explorer for Xbox this fall in all countries where Xbox and Xbox LIVE are available. Through the power of Xbox, the magic of Kinect and the intelligence of Xbox SmartGlass, you will be able to surf the Internet using your voice on your Xbox 360 and navigate using your mobile devices for an incredibly easy Web browsing experience on the television. Whether it is a new website you want to check out on the big screen, an HD video you want to share in your living room, or your favorite website you check daily and want to view in the 10-foot experience, you will have the power of the Web now on your TV. Image Credit: Kotaku |
| What Is Xbox Smart Glass? Posted: 04 Jun 2012 01:21 PM PDT 
As expected, Microsoft just announced something called SmartGlass at E3. Less expected? Just how awesome SmartGlass turned out to be. What could have been just an Apple AirPlay imitation, is something more ambitious. Something that could change television forever. But what is it, exactly? It's the lifeline that'll make your dumb TV smart. SmartGlass is an app... SmartGlass is a new app that turns your phone or tablet into another screen for your TV, another controller for a game, a companion feature for a show, a remote control for the Internet and more. More importantly, it'll work with iOS, Android and Windows, so you won't need to buy new hardware to fit into its ecosystem. ...that connects your phone, tablet or computer with your Xbox 360... SmartGlass does more than just push video and audio around. It turns the Xbox 360 into the beating heart of a multi-screen media experience in your living room. A tablet, phone or computer running SmartGlass essentially becomes a second and third screen for your TV. A concrete example: As Game of Thrones was being shown on the TV via Xbox 360, a SmartGlass-enabled tablet displayed a map of Westeros and other relevant information about the show. Content can either be pushed from the tablet/phone/computer to the 360, or from the 360 directly to the TV. SmartGlass connects all of those devices to make content engrossing on multiple levels. Your individual devices don't have to ignore each other, they'll work together to entertain you more. ...and works with games, movies, TV shows and the Internet.. But SmartGlass can be used with more than just movies and TV shows. Microsoft also showed how a gamer could use a tablet as a separate playbook while playing Madden on the Xbox. Even further, Microsoft will finally bring Internet Explorer to the Xbox, with SmartGlass turning your phone into mouse. Sure, it's silly to surf the web on your television with an old and gray keyboard and mouse setup—unless the keyboard and mouse are your phone and tablet. ...to make your living room a lot smarter... Microsoft very clearly wants to make the Xbox 360 the center of your living room transformation. It's the hub that powers everything. But if the Xbox 360 is the heart and the brain, SmartGlass gives users the limbs needed for a full functional, self-sufficient media beast. Combined with the Xbox's growing dominance as a top-flight streaming box, and you've got yourself a potentially very powerful monster. ...and it's all because of the Xbox. If you think about it, Microsoft's vision of the living room of the future is a throwback to what the company has already known and mastered: the PC. It's smartening up the living room by using the Xbox as the PC, the TV as the monitor, the phone and tablet as the keyboard and mouse, Kinect as its futureproof wild card technology. SmartGlass, then, plays the role of Windows, seamlessly connecting everything. But the real key to SmartGlass is its openness. Bring your own tools, Microsoft is saying. It doesn't matter. Because however you control it, all that really matters is the Xbox. And that's all Microsoft.
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| Corsair Vengeance K60 Gaming Keyboard Review Posted: 04 Jun 2012 12:42 PM PDT A straightforward, rock-solid keyboard for FPS gamers CORSAIR IS aiming at the very top of the gaming keyboard market with its Vengeance line—two boards with exquisite build quality and luxury price tags. The FPS-oriented K60 may be the cheaper of the two, but it still comes in at more than $100 MSRP, and will never be accused of feeling cheap. In fact, the primary draw of the K60 is its elegant, simple design. The keyboard's thin, heavy foundation has a brushed-aluminum face, and houses the mechanical Cherry MX Red switches in a unique non-recessed configuration that leaves no place for dust and crumbs to collect. The nicely spaced keycaps are rugged-feeling with a very light texture. We prefer the clicky Cherry MX Blue switches for typing, but the smooth Reds only require a light touch and provide an excellent, highly responsive gaming experience. Interestingly, Corsair seems to have opted to save money by using membrane switches for the function and navigation keys, giving the keys a non-uniform feel. 
Aside from the build quality, the K60 is light on features. It includes a small selection of important media keys, including a nice metal volume wheel, and a much-appreciated Windows key lock switch that prevents you from accidentally minimizing your game. They keyboard's biggest gimmick is that it includes an alternative set of keys for the WASD and 123456 keys, with a bright red textured-rubber finish. These alternate keys do make it very hard to misplace your hand in the midst of a game, but we found them rather uncomfortable for typing, so we didn't keep them on for long. The spare keys (as well as the key-removal tool) are stored in a compartment inside the K60's detachable wrist-rest. The simplicity of the keyboard extends to the operating system—it requires no drivers and has no customization software. Most other keyboards in this price range offer some amount of customizable bindings or hotkeys, but it's hard to hold their absence against the K60. This is a keyboard that's clearly all about the fundamentals: clean design, quality materials, and responsive gaming. |
| Toshiba Trots Out Industry's First Solid State Drives Built with 19nm Manufacturing Process Posted: 04 Jun 2012 09:08 AM PDT  Toshiba Storage today announced a new line of high-performance, energy efficient solid state drives (SSDs) that are supposedly the first to take advantage of 19nm processor toggle multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips. The new 'THNSNF' drives, as Toshiba named them, are designed for a variety of applications, from high-end and thin and light notebooks, to all-in-one desktops and embedded systems.
"Our customers are increasingly looking to SSDs as a storage solution across multiple products and markets because of the performance and reliability they deliver," said Joel Hagberg (PDF), vice president of marketing at Toshiba's Storage Products Business Unit. "The THNSNF series provides not only great performance, but also extremely low power consumption across a broad range of form factors and capacities. These are critical features for our customers as they design the next generation of PCs and embedded systems." Available in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB capacities, Toshiba's THNSNF drives feature read/write speeds of up to 524/461MB per second, along with 80,000 random 4K IOPS read and up to 35,000 random 4K IOPS write performance. Mass production of these new drives is scheduled for August 2012, which means they should trickle into retail by the end of the year, if not sooner. Image Credit: Toshiba Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Asus, Nvidia Lay Claim to First Windows RT (ARM) Consumer Device Posted: 04 Jun 2012 08:48 AM PDT  There's a whirlwind of products being introduced at the this year's Computex convention, including one that Asus and Nvidia gleefully claim is the world's first Windows RT consumer device. They're talking about the Asus Windows RT Tablet 600, a nifty device built around Nvidia's ARM-based quad-core Tegra 3 platform that, when combined with the optional dock, transforms itself into notebook.
The Tablet 600 boasts a 10.1-inch Super IPS+ panel with a 1366x768 screen resolution. It has 2GB of memory, 32GB of built-in storage, 8MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing camera, Wireless-N and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, and other odds and ends. Capable hardware aside, Asus and Nvidia are promoting Windows RT hard with this thing, and in particular the built-in productivity tools. Microsoft's Office Suite comes pre-installed on Windows RT, giving Tablet 600 owners access to programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint at no additional cost. It's still unclear how much the Tablet 600 will cost or when exactly it will ship, but in the meantime, you can check out the video preview below: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Sony Shows Off New Vaio Notebooks, First Ultrabook Model Posted: 04 Jun 2012 08:29 AM PDT  Showing up fashionably late to the Ultrabook party is Sony, which is just now unveiling its first Vaio model in Intel's high-performance, ultraportable category of laptops. The Vaio T, as it's called, is a 13.3-inch Ultrabook with a flat brushed aluminum design and magnesium chassis. Sony also unveiled a number of other Vaio notebook models, but let's take a closer look at the Vaio T before moving on.
Combining the Ultrabook form factor with Sony's Vaio nomenclature sounds like a recipe for a wallet-busting price tag, but surprisingly, the Vaio T starts at a relatively affordable $770. The baseline model ships with an Intel Core i5 3317U processor (1.7GHz / 2.6GHz with Turbo Boost), Intel HD 4000 graphics, 320GB hard drive + 32GB MLC, 4GB DDR3-1333 RAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Not too shabby for a 13.3-inch model. Moving on, Sony also unveiled its Vaio E Series featuring a new wrap-around design. These are available in 11.6-inch, 14-inch, and 15.5-inch form factors, the smallest of which features an AMD processor inside. The rest are built around Intel's 2nd Generation Core processors (Sandy Bridge), and all of them ship with discrete Radeon graphics. Pricing starts at $500. Next up is the Vaio S Series available in 13.3-inch and 15.5-inch form factors. These purportedly offer the "best combination of mobility and performance" with standard voltage Ivy Bridge processors, Nvidia graphics, HDD and SSD options, and slot-load optical drives (Blu-ray optional). Pricing starts at $900. Finally, there's the Vaio Z series starting at $1,600. These laptops are designed for "multi-tasking business professionals" and include a glossy carbon fiber Z Series Anniversary chassis to celebrate the Vaio line's 15th anniversary. Image Credit: Sony Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Patriot Memory Launches EP Pro Series Flash Storage Cards Posted: 04 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT  Patriot Memory's begun waving around a new flagship secure digital card line called the EP Pro Series. The new SDHC/SDXC flash storage cards were designed with high definition video and photography gurus in mind, the company says, and boast blazing fast read and write speeds that are nearly five times faster than the transfer speeds of standard SDHC cards.
More specifically, these are SDXC UHS-I Class 1 and SDHC Class 10 memory cards with read speeds of up to 90MB/s and write speeds up to 50MB/s. Several capacities are available, up to 128GB for SDXC cards and up to 32GB for SDHC cards. "The EP Pro delivers the enhanced performance needed for multimedia enthusiasts who use advanced capture techniques such as burst photography and full 3D videography," said Meng J. Choo, Patriot Memory's Product Manager. With read and write speeds of 90MBs/50MBs, the EP Pro series is also capable of recording at next generation 4K resolution for truly stunning HD content creation." Patriot Memory's new flagship EP Pro Series will begin shipping July 16, 2012. No word yet on price. Image Credit: Patriot Memory Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Origin PC Crams Kepler Based GeForce GTX 680M GPU into EON15-S, EON17-S Gaming Laptops Posted: 04 Jun 2012 07:05 AM PDT  The boutique system builders over at Origin PC are now equipping EON15-S and EON17-S gaming laptops with Nvidia's latest and greatest mobile graphics chip, the GeForce GTX 680M. Based on Nvidia's Kepler architecture, the GeForce GTX 680M is a high-octane GPU with 1344 CUDA cores, 4GB of GDDR5 graphics memory, and full support for Nvidia's battery-friendly Optimus technology.
Pricing starts at $2,091 for an EON15-S featuring Nvidia's flagship mobile GPU (or $1,567 for the lower end GTX 660M). A baseline configuration consists of an Intel Core i5 3320M processor, 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory, 8X DVD burner, 320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi with Bluetooth, built-in media card reader, fingerprint reader, USB 3.0 ports, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Not exactly a barn burner, though there are plenty of upgrade options, if your budget allows. Starting price for an EON17-S equipped with a GeForce GTX 680M is $2,122 (or $1,598 for one sporting a GTX 660M). Baseline specs are nearly identical, save for the larger display, which features a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) resolution, same as the 15-inch model. Both systems with GTX 680M GPU option are available now. Image Credit: Origin PC Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Facebook Considers Lifting Ban on Kids Under 13 Years Old Posted: 04 Jun 2012 06:48 AM PDT  Facebook's ban on kids under the age of 13 is sort of like most DRM policies; all it does is keep some of the honest ones out. Nevertheless, whether for legal purposes or a sense of moral responsibility, Facebook as seen fit up to this point to disallow, at least officially, children who haven't hit their teen years from joining the most popular social networking site on the planet. That might soon change.
A report in The Wall Street Journal suggests Facebook is currently testing mechanisms that would tie a child's account to that of their parents', giving mom and pop ultimate control over their friends list, applications, and other features. Why do it? Cold, hard cash, of course. WSJ says the under-13 features could give Facebook a way to monetize minors, flipping parents the bill for games and other content. Perhaps another reason is that blocking kids is ultimately a losing battle, in terms of enforcement. "Recent reports have highlighted just how difficult it is to enforce age restrictions on the Internet, especially when parents want their children to access online content and services," Facebook told WSJ. Facebook speaks the truth, but let's not, uh, kid ourselves. This is about the money, and Facebook is under pressure to sustain profitability after forging ahead with its (lackluster) initial public offering (IPO). Mark Zuckerberg and company have investors to answer to, and by inviting game playing children to the fold, Facebook would gain another steady source of revenue. Do you think Facebook should lift its ban on kids under 13? Image Credit: tag-pictures.com Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Asus Unveils 'Taichi' Dual-Screen Notebook/Tablet Hybrid at Computex Posted: 04 Jun 2012 06:26 AM PDT  Having trouble deciding between a notebook or a tablet? Asus invites you to splurge on both by announcing the Taichi at this year's Computex convention. The Taichi isn't unique for the fact that it's a hybrid notebook that pulls double duty as a tablet PC -- there are plenty of other products on the market that pull off the same trick -- but it's unlike anything else out there because it's the first hybrid with a double-sided IPS screen that we're aware of.
Flip open the lid and the Taichi is just like any notebook (one with an IPS display), Asus says. It has a full-size QWERTY keyboard with LED backlight and trackpad, 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 (Ivy Bridge) processor options, 4GB of DDR3 memory, solid state storage options, dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and front and rear facing cameras. Close the lid and the other side reveals a second IPS display with multi-touch support. It shares the same hardware as the notebook configuration, which may not do battery life any favors, but imagine having an Ivy Bridge processor power your tablet. Way cool. The Taichi will be available in both 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch configurations. No word yet on price or availability. Image Credit: Asus Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
