| Orbitz Shows Mac Users Higher-Priced Hotel Rooms Than Windows Users Posted: 26 Jun 2012 12:23 PM PDT  Well, isn't this amusing and scary at the same time: Orbitz is now starting to show visitors who use Macs different, often higher-priced rooms than their PC-based counterparts because the company's data shows that Mac users tend to spend more on their bookings. While it's easy to poke fun at Apple-ites -- are they gullible or simply high maintenance? -- the report also highlights a possible consequence of having all your online interactions driven by scads of big data.
Orbitz bigwigs were quick to tell the Wall Street Journal (paywalled*) that prices for rooms weren't different for Windows and Mac users; Mac users just see classier options by default. That's because the company's data showed that Mac users spent an average of $20 or $30 more per room than Windows users. They're also 40 percent more likely to book a room at a top-rated hotel, and when Windows users decide to step up from the hovels they're apparently staying in to make a reservation at a hotel that both Windows and Mac users frequent, the Mac users usually stay in the nicer suites. For example, almost half of the Orbitz reservations for a swanky Chicago hotel come from Mac users. The use of predictive analytics and big data are bound to increase as time goes on and so-called success stories like this one make the headlines. Targeted advertising and service offerings definitely have their place, but still: how do you feel about being classified and treated differently because of your chosen operating system? Does it make you think twice about Google's personally tailored search results? *Sure, it's paywalled, but if you found a way around it -- say, by heading to Techmeme and clicking the "On Orbitz, Mac Users Steered to Pricier Hotels" WSJ link that's down the page a little bit -- you can read the article in its entirety. |
| This Scratch-Built, Desk-Based PC Mod Looks Great, Runs Cool And Rocks Three Monitors Posted: 26 Jun 2012 11:40 AM PDT Something about case mods that build a PC into an actual desk are just plain cool. We loved Peter Brands' L3P Desk (featured in our kick-ass case mods gallery) and a new mod by Shazim Mohammed continues on in the fine tradition by cramming a water-cooled, plenty powerful PC with a three monitor Eyefinity setup into a desk that was built completely from scratch. It might not be overly flashy, but it's impressive nonetheless. 
The biggest challenge, Mohammed reports, was figuring out a way to get good air flow moving around the MDF-built desk. He enlisted the help of a Tom's Hardware forum-goer and planned a layout that includes three exhaust fans, two intake fans and a liquid cooling setup for the CPU and GPU. The final setup runs at 31 degrees Celcius. 
Speaking of final setups, here's what Mohammed put into his desk, straight from the man himself: - Asus Gene IV Motherboard
- i5-2500k Processor
- Radeon HD 7950 Graphics card with Water Cooling block (EK)
- 3x Dell UltraSharp (U2312HM) Monitors (in Eyefinity setup) with a modded ergonomic mount.
- 3x Gelid UV Reactive Green fans
- XSPC Raystorm CPU waterblock
- XSPC RX360 Radiator
- PrimoFlex UV Green tubinh
- Swiftech pump
Head over to Mohammed's build log to see tons and tons of both in-progress and finished product pics. Seriously, there are a lot of them: just so you don't think your broadband connection's acting up, we'll warn you in advance that the website takes a long time to load. It's worth the wait, though. Via Engadget (suprisingly) |
| Seagate, DensBits Want To Transform Underperforming SSDs Into Long Lasting Gold Posted: 26 Jun 2012 10:30 AM PDT Seagate's getting into the SSD business, and it's doing so by converting coal into diamonds. Yesterday, Seagate inked a deal with DensBits, which has an SSD controller that it says can dramatically improve the speed and longevity of NAND flash memory -- basically making fairly low-quality SSDs into average-quality SSDs. Seagate bought an undisclosed stake in DensBits and together, they hope to bring "low-cost, high-performance" SSDs to both consumers and corporate buyers. 
In the flash world, SLC NAND uses only a single bit per cell and offers the best performance and longest lifespan. MLC NAND increases that to two bits at the cost of speed and lifespan, while TLC NAND uses three bits per cell and offers the worst performance and lifespan of all. On the flip side, lower-quality SSDs have lower prices, always a crucial factor amongst consumers. DensBits says its Memory Modem controller "provides a TLC solution with more than double the endurance of MLC, and an MLC solution with more than twenty times endurance gain." The company also claims its controller delivers in a "significant" performance gain both reading and writing data thanks to the memory management optimizations in its firmware. Basically, DensBits claims manufacturers (like Seagate) can have their cake and eat it, too, by offering TLC and MLC-based SSDs that are cheaper, faster and longer lasting than their similarly multi-bit competitors. The press release says that the two companies plan on creating a consumer SSD line based around TLC NAND, and an enterprise-focused MLC line. Do you think the DensBits controller will be enough to secure Seagate a firm stake in the crowded SSD market? |
| Zalman Announces ZM1250 Platinum Power Supply Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:25 AM PDT  As we approach the limit of how much juice power supplies can realistically pull from the wall, PSU makers are turning their attention to other differentiating factors, like efficiency. Zalman is one such company taking this approach, and has just unveiled its new ZM1250 Platinum "extreme efficiency" power supply. As the name implies, the 1,250W PSU is 80 Plus Platinum certified, partially the result of using high quality components like 105C solid capacitors.
Zalman claims it's also using a powerful and highly reliable DC-DC module in its latest PSU, along with a full bridge and LLC resonant circuits. If you don't have a degree in electrical engineering, you can read a detailed explainer on LLC resonant topology at EETimes. The ZM1250 Platinum is equipped with a 140mm fan, flat modular cables (save for the main cables, which are permanently attached), and a dual +12V rail design with 45A available on +12V1 and 65A on +12V2. That's enough to support 4-way SLI and CrossFire configurations This one's a bit of challenge to find stateside at the moment, but if you do find a unit, expect to pay north of $300. Image Credit: Zalman Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Dell Welcomes 14-inch Ultrabook, 15-inch Notebook to XPS Family Posted: 26 Jun 2012 07:01 AM PDT  Dell today added a pair of new notebook models to its flagship XPS brand, one of which is a 14-inch Ultrabook (XPS 14) and the other a 15-inch laptop (XPS 15). As one would expect, both models are equipped with 3rd Generation Intel Core processor options (Ivy Bridge), and both bring new digs to the mobile party with edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass and a machined aluminum finish precision cut from a single block of aluminum.
Cost of entry for the XPS 14 Ultrabook is $1,100, which positions it in premium territory. A baseline configuration consists of a 1600x900 resolution display with 400-nit brightness, Intel Core i5 3317U processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, 500GB 5400RPM hard drive + 32GB mSATA SSD, 1.3MP webcam, 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0, Intel WiDi technology, two USB 3.0 ports, mini DisplayPort, HDMI output, 3-in-1 card reader, and Windows 7 Home Premium. For $100 more, Dell upgrades the graphics to an Nvidia GeForce GT 630 GPU. Starting at $1,300, the XPS 15 offers a 1920x1080 resolution driven by an Intel Core i5 3210M processor and GeForce GT 630M GPU. A baseline config also consists of 6GB of DDR3-1600 memory, 500GB 7200RPM hard drive + 32GB mSATA SSD, and an optical drive. Both the XPS 14 and XPS 15 are available to purchase now. Image Credit: Dell Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| It Takes 16,000 Computer Processors to Recognize a Cat Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:35 AM PDT  The Internet community is obsessed with cats, so if you're going to build a neural network consisting of 16,000 computer processors designed to simulate the human brain, then what better task is there than to have it scour the Web for felines? Researchers from Google's X laboratory saw the logic in doing exactly that, and remarkably, the massive neural network actually taught itself to recognize the Internet's favorite type of furball with surprising accuracy.
A detailed report in The New York Times outlines Google's efforts, noting that the newest simulation bests all previous efforts by being twice as capable of picking out objects from a "challenging list of 20,000 distinct items." In order to successfully learn what a typical cat looks like, Google's research team presented the neural network with random thumbnail images taken from 10 million YouTube videos. The Google brain, as they refer to the network, constructed a hierarchy of memory locations based on the millions of images it saw. "It is worth noting that our network is still tiny compared to the human visual cortex, which is a million times larger in terms of the number of neurons an synapses," the researchers wrote. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Bing Maps Upgraded with 165TB of High Resolution Imagery Posted: 26 Jun 2012 06:06 AM PDT  Bing Maps this week added a boatload of satellite imagery and Global Ortho photography covering nearly 38 million square kilometers (over 23.6 million miles) over North America, South America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Asia. This represents Microsoft's largest satellite release to Bing Maps yet, which more than doubles the aerial footprint, which previously totaled 129TB of data.
A Bing Maps blog post announcing the publication of new aerial photography details a sampling of what's now available, from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada, to the Space Park Promenade in Germany and Sarychevo Peak Volcano in Russia. "As of today the Global Ortho project is 85 percent acquired and published. Just this month, Bing Imagery Technologies hit a significant milestone by completing 100 percent of aerial photography over the United States," Microsoft said. "The photography in Europe is slated to be finished by this fall and all updated imagery should be published by the end of 2012." Take a look for yourself by loading up Bing Maps World Tour and either watch a slideshow or go off exploring on your own. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
