| No BS Podcast #186: The Second-Loneliest Number Posted: 13 Jun 2012 06:36 PM PDT 
If one is the loneliest number, two is the second-loneliest number. Right? Episode 186 of the No BS Podcast finds Deputy Editor Gordon Mah Ung and Senior Editor Nathan Edwards trapped together in the podcasting studio, trying not to freak out. We couldn't avoid talking about the new MacsBook Pro and Air (just a little bit), but then get back to our roots with talk of three Z77 motherboards, some trouble in SSD-land, Origin vs Steam smack talk, and more Windows 8 thoughts. Baby Duck Syndrome! Design patents! "It's all, what do you call it, subjective." Nathan reports back from his trip to the Palo Alto Microsoft Store, we wave goodbye to the old Lab, introduce our new benchmark suite, and give just a few hints about this year's Dream Machine. Nathan rebuilds his home machine for no good reason, Gordon mixes up the Brat and the Rat Pack, and we argue about whether we even need optical drives anymore. Gordon rants about the internet dying, constant superhero movie reboots, and government-funded superhero teams. By the way, if you haven't picked up the Humble Bundle V, you have less than a day! And, of course, much more. So much we should probably start keeping notes or something. Tune in next time; we'll have guests! Guests to fill the gaping hole in our hearts and podcasts. Computer trouble? A secret to share? Opinions? Need advice? Just need to get something off your chest? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are not standing by. |
| Windows RT Tablet Licenses May Cost OEMs More Than $80 A Pop Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:55 AM PDT  It doesn't sound like Microsoft is interested in getting into a low-price slugfest with Amazon and Android for the bottom end of the tablet market. ARM processors are known for delivering good, energy efficient performance at low cost to OEMs, which would seem to make them a natural fit for decent, cheap Windows tablets when the next generation of Windows launches later this year. However, VR-Zone quizzed OEMs at Computex and found that Microsoft is charging $80 to $95 per device for Windows RT licenses, with $85 being the most common price point. Poof! Goodbye, dreams of low cost Windows tablets.
To be fair, VR-Zone's poll likely didn't include major manufacturers like HP, who probably wouldn't disclose licensing costs. Also, that price includes the licensing cost for Office 13 RT, which will come preloaded on all ARM-based Windows tablets. Even still, if the numbers prove to be true, Windows RT tablets will likely be priced more in the iPad range than the Kindle Fire range. It's hard to imagine a $200 Windows RT tablet hitting the streets if the manufacturer has to spend almost half that on an operating system license alone. In fact, VR Zone's sources say that ARM tablets available at launch will likely sport starting costs north of $500. At that price, Microsoft will need to bring something big to the table to lure tablet shoppers away from the iPad and top-end Android tablets. Remember, too, that ARM-based Windows RT tablets will only work with Metro apps, while x86-based slates will have access to the full range of legacy Windows apps. Plus, as Microsoft doesn't require Windows 8 devices to ship with Office, manufacturers of x86-based Windows 8 tablets are likely looking at lowering OS licensing costs, as well. The odds seem a bit stacked against ARM, here. Maybe that explains why there were 20 Intel Atom-powered Windows 8 tablets on show at Computex as opposed to a single, solitary ARM-powered Asus slate running on Windows RT (pictured above), though to be fair, a couple of other companies were showing of Windows RT prototypes. How well do you think Windows tablets will fare against Apple and Android? |
| Legislators Draft "Digital Bill Of Rights," Want Your Help Tweaking It Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:34 AM PDT  While the DoJ is apparently banging on cable company doors to ensure the Internet's pipes stay free of anticompetitive interests, a dynamic duo in Washington are doing their part to try and formalize what we should expect while virtually traversing said pipes. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), two key Congressional members in the fight against SOPA, are back with a draft for a "Digital Bill of Rights" -- and they're asking for your help to finalize the document.
"Where can a digital citizen turn for protection against the powerful?" Issa ponders in his intro to the draft, which is up and open to comments on Issa's KeepTheWeb#Open website. "This question lay at the heart of the fight to stop SOPA and PIPA and keep the web open. While I do not have all the answers, the remarkable cooperation we witnessed in defense of an open Internet showed me three things. First, government is flying blind, interfering and regulating without understanding even the basics. Second, we have a rare opportunity to give government marching orders on how to treat the Internet, those who use it and the innovation it supports. And third, we must get to work immediately because our opponents are not giving up." Rousing speech, general! Issa and Wyden's actual draft keeps things short and sweet, with just 10 basic principles that favor net neutrality and pro-privacy practices. Here's the list: - Freedom - digital citizens have a right to a free, uncensored internet
- Openness - digital citizens have a right to an open, unobstructed internet
- Equality - all digital citizens are created equal on the internet
- Participation - digital citizens have a right to peaceably participate where and how they choose on the internet
- Creativity - digital citizens have a right to create, grow and collaborate on the internet, and be held accountable for what they create
- Sharing - digital citizens have a right to freely share their ideas, lawful discoveries and opinions on the internet
- Accessibility - digital citizens have a right to access the internet equally, regardless of who they are or where they are
- Association - digital citizens have a right to freely associate on the internet
- Privacy - digital citizens have a right to privacy on the internet
- Property - digital citizens have a right to benefit from what they create, and be secure in their intellectual property on the internet
Now, this is far, far away from actual legislation, but it seems like a decent starting point, if a bit pie-in-the-sky. What would you add? Tell us in the comments, then head over to the Digital Bill of Rights page and voice your concerns directly. |
| Report: DOJ Investigating Whether Cable Companies Are Purposefully Keeping Streaming Media Down Posted: 13 Jun 2012 10:03 AM PDT  Netflix honcho Reed Hastings became mighty upset when it was revealed that Comcast's Xfinity TV app for Xbox 360 doesn't count against subscribers' Internet bandwidth cap, and he took to the Net to voice his displeasure with a barrage of Tweets, comments, and diatribes. Apparently, someone listened to his ranting: a new report claims that the Justice Department is quizzing streaming media companies and cable providers alike to determine if the cable companies, who also control Internet access for many, are "acting improperly" to reduce the threat of Netflix and co.
The Wall Street Journal's sources say that the DoJ has already spoken with Hulu, Netflix, Comcast and Time Warner about data caps imposed by cable providers. According to the sources, the DoJ is also asking whether or not requiring a user to be a paid cable subscriber in order to access streaming content -- such as the Xbox's ESPN app or Fox's streaming show delay -- is an acceptable practice, or an artificial, inappropriate barrier being put up by cable companies and content providers to bolster the lagging television business.
Apparently, several channels have "Most favored nation" clauses in their contracts with cable providers, which basically ensure they'll always be paid as much as the top-dollar contract in the industry. If another channel signs a bigger deal, channels with a MFN clause receive a similar pay bump. The Justice Department is said to be looking into these types of deals, as well; remember, MFN clauses are what landed Apple and the U.S. book publishers in legal hot waters a few months back. Comcast itself is also reportedly under a direct microscope, as the DoJ is said to be pondering whether the company's no-limit Xfinity TV app is a violation of the agreement it made when merging with NBC Universal. As part of that deal, Comcast agreed not to give its Net traffic any special priority over other companies' traffic. For its part, Comcast says the Xfinity TV App traffic never touches the public web and instead travels solely on Comcast's private pipes. For better or worse, it looks like the Justice Department is getting sick of old media flexing its muscle to keep new media down. Do you think cable ISPs are up to no-good, or is this much ado about nothing? |
| IHS iSuppli: High Prices Helped Hard Drive Makers Rake in Record Revenue Posted: 13 Jun 2012 08:13 AM PDT  If you haven't already, you can officially stop feeling sorry for the hard drive industry, which took a tremendous hit to its collective operations from last year's floods in Thailand. Those floods contributed to a tight supply of HDDs and higher prices all around, but lest you offer any more sympathy, consider this. HDD makers generated record revenue in the first quarter of 2012, and they did it by raising prices.
That's according to IHS iSuppli, which says HDD revenue for Q1 was $9.6 billion, an industry high that bested the previous record of $9.3 billion set in the first quarter of 2010, even though the market saw 29 million less shipments this time around (149 million units in Q1 2012 versus 174 million units in Q1 2010). "Revenue in the first quarter was up because of a rise in HDD average selling prices to approximately $66.28, compared to $51.49 in the third quarter before the flooding," said Fang Zhang, storage analyst at IHS. "The ASP will not return to pre-flood levels in the short term and will stay at elevated levels throughout 2012 and 2013, helping the HDD industry make up for some of the losses following the disaster." Seagate enjoyed the lion's share of the record revenue at 46 percent, followed by Western Digital (32 percent), Hitachi GST (11 percent), and Toshiba (11 percent). These figures represent revenue in the period prior to Western Digital acquiring Hitachi GST. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| AMD Launches 28nm FirePro W600 Graphics Card Posted: 13 Jun 2012 07:31 AM PDT  Graphics professionals waiting for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to port its Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture over to its FirePro series need not wait any longer (sort of -- more on that in a moment). The Sunnyvale chip designer on Wednesday announced the immediate availability of its FirePro W600 graphics card, the company's first professional videocard to feature its GCN design and a 28nm production technology.
The FirePro W600 is a single-slot card that's able to drive up to six high-resolution displays or projectors via six mini DisplayPort connectors. It has 2GB of GDDR5 graphics memory, support for two HD video streams via AMD's Unified Video Decoder, and projection overlap capability to create a single seamless image (support for projection edge blending and image warping is coming in Q4 2012). Interestingly, the W600 FirePro chases a different market segment compared to other FirePro cards. AMD is targeting customers in need of graphics hardware for digital signage and multi-screen display wall environments. "Whether we are checking flight times at the airport or watching the latest ads on massive screens in city squares, digital signage has quickly become an important and ubiquitous part of our lives," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. "To enable these displays, the digital signage industry demands technology that can be regularly refreshed with new, feature-rich content. With the launch of the AMD FirePro W600 professional graphics card, AMD is helping advance the digital display wall industry by providing suppliers and developers with impressive display density, performance and exceptional value." Clockspeeds are a mystery, though AMD did reveal that the W600 has a 128-bit memory interface and 75W maximum TDP. Image Credit: AMD Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| ASRock Ready to Roll with Windows 8, First to Receive Official Certification Posted: 13 Jun 2012 06:37 AM PDT  Have you ever seen a peacock spread its feathers for all to see as it struts casually and confidently with its head held high? That's ASRock, the spunky company spun-off by Asus a decade ago and owned by Asus subsidiary Pegatron Corporation, which gleefully claims it's the first motherboard manufacturer in the world to pass Windows 8 hardware certification.
"ASRock is the real winner in Windows 8 competition," ASRock said in a statement. Added James Lee, ASRock Vice President of Sales and Marketing, "As a leader in mobo industry, it's our mission to bring the most fresh tech kit to users. Starting at ASRock motherboard, any ignoramus was able to reach every aspect of hardware. Users were able to select the right motherboard for their requirements." Something was obviously lost in translation, but clearly the company is stoked about its Windows 8 stamp of approval as it looks to "bring the top class tech stuffs." ASRock didn't say which specific motherboard models are ready to go Metro, other than the H61M-HVS, which appears in one of a handful of pictures accompanying the announcement. The H61M-HVS is an entry-level socket 1155 motherboard with two dual-channel DDR3 memory slots, a single PCI-E x16 slot, a PCI-E x1 slot, four SATA 3Gbps ports, and various other odds and ends. Windows 8 is currently available to download in Release Preview form. No official release date has been set, though it's widely believed the final version will ship in October. Image Credit: ASRock Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Acer Introduces Iconia Tab A700 with 1920 x 1200 Display, Tegra 3 Posted: 13 Jun 2012 06:06 AM PDT  On paper, Acer's newly unveiled Iconia Tab A700 appears full of win. It has a premium 10.1-inch Full HD 1080p touchscreen display, but not one of those panels sporting a 1920x1080 resolution. No, this one boasts 1200 horizontal lines across the screen (16:10 ratio), which helps add up to a 55 percent higher pixel density compared to 1280x800 displays. It also packs an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor underneath the hood and 32GB of onboard storage.
This is the part where Billy Mays, if he were still around and pitching the Iconia Tab A700 at four in the morning, would excitedly talk about the tablet's Dolby Mobile 3 with 5.1 channel home theater surround sound capabilities when piped through HDMI to your big screen TV. Rounding out the feature-set is 1GB of RAM, a microSD card slot with support for up to 64GB microSD cards, micro USB 2.0 port, 1MP fixed-focus front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera with auto-fucos and HD recording, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, and a 9800 mAh battery good for up to 10.5 hours of video playback or nearly 8 hours of surfing the Web. All this comes wrapped in Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) with a $450 price tag on top. The A700 is available for pre-sale in silver (A700-10s32u) or black (A700-10k32u). Image Credit: Acer Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Sony Offering Free PS3 or PS Vita with Select VAIO PCs Posted: 13 Jun 2012 06:05 AM PDT  In a repeat of last year's back-to-school promotion, Microsoft last month began offering a free Xbox 360 to U.S. and Canadian students buying a new Windows PC. But what about those students whose allegiances lie elsewhere in the HD video game console wars? They need not worry, for there's a deal for them too.
Taking a leaf out of Microsoft's book, Sony is offering eligible students a free Playstation 3 (160GB) or PS Vita (Wi-Fi only) with select VAIO computers as part of "our best back-to-school deal ever." Alternatively, students can also opt for a $200 discount on their choice of PlayStation gear. For those not interested in any of the PlayStation-related offers, Sony is offering an 8% discount on the eligible S, T, Z or L Series PCs themselves. The PCs eligible for this offer include ultrabooks, laptops and desktops priced between $769.99 and $1,699.99. |
| Dell Announces Ivy Bridge-powered Vostro 3000 Series Notebooks Posted: 13 Jun 2012 05:35 AM PDT  Dell on Tuesday announced the launch of the first Ivy Bridge-powered Vostro business notebooks: the 13-inch Vostro 3360, 14-inch Vostro 3460, and 15-inch Vostro 3560. While the Vostro 3560 is available now on Dell.com, its smaller siblings will be available starting June 21.
The prices are $649 for the Vostro 3360, $599 for the 3460, and $599 for the 3560. However, please note that not all models come with Ivy Bridge processors and the base models are all still limited to Sandy Bridge parts. Here's a quick rundown of the specs of these new Vostro 3000 Series notebooks: - Processor: Sandy Bridge (standard) and Ivy Bridge processor options
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics with the option of AMD and NVIDIA graphics
- Display: 13.3-inch, 14.0-inch and 15.6-inch HD (1366x768) WLED Anti-Glare Displays; optional Full HD (1920x1080) display available on Vostro 3560
- Memory: Configurable with up to 8GB DD3 memory (4GB standard); 2 DIMM slots
- Storage: Vostro 3360: 320GB 7200RPM HDD (standard); optional 500GB 5400RPM HDD, optional 32GB mSATA SSD Vostro 3460 and 3560: 320GB 7200RPM HDD (standard), optional 500GB and 750GB 7200RPM HDD, optional 32GB mSATA SSD
- Optical Drive: DVDRW drive
- Keyboard: Standard full size, spill resistant keyboard; optional backlit keyboard on Vostro 3460 and 3560
- Camera: HD Webcam with integrated dual digital array microphone and Waves MaxxVoice Pro
- Security: Standard fingerprint reader with Digital Persona Software for added security
- OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional options
- Connectivity: Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth Combo(BT V4.0+HS), Wireless WAN: HSPA 2.0 and EVDO-HSPA mini-card (Vostro 3360 and 3460 only)
- Ports and Connectors: VGA, HDMI, LAN RJ-45, headphone/ headset /speaker out, 8-in-1 card reader. 34mm Express Card slot available on 3460 and 3560. Vostro 3360 - USB 3.0 (2), USB 3.0 with Power Share (1) Vostro 3460 and 3560 - USB 3.0 (3), USB 3.0 with Power Share (1)
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