| Is MSI Developing A SandForce-Based SSD? Posted: 13 Jul 2012 11:06 AM PDT  More options are always a good thing, right? We hope so, because the sheer number of competitors jumping into SSDs is definitely starting to saturate the market. It looks like we could be seeing another new entrant before too long: MSI, a company known more for its mobos, graphics cards and gaming notebooks than its storage capabilities.
The news doesn't come courtesy of MSI's PR team, but rather from the hawk-eyed crew over at TechPowerUp, who were browsing through the partner list up on SandForce's website and come across the curious listing pictured above. The tidbit doesn't give too much away, other than the fact that MSI will have an SF-2000 controller-based SSD "coming soon," but it's interesting to see the information up on the SandForce website with nary a peep having been uttered by MSI itself. TechPowerUp notes that a SandForce-based drive wouldn't be MSI's first foray into the SSD world; the company's new GT60 and GT70 notebooks optionally include third-party SSDs that utilize MSI's in-house Super RAID technology. |
| DigiTimes: AMD Trinity's Desktop Launch Pushed Back to October Posted: 13 Jul 2012 10:42 AM PDT  So far today, I've talked about Nvidia and Intel -- let's work AMD into the mix. Remember how earlier reports pegged October as the likely release window for the company's next-generation "Vishera"AM3+ CPUs? That month may just prove to busy one for AMD, as a new report claims that the launch of the desktop flavors of the Trinity APU have been pushed back from August to October.
Assuming DigiTimes' information is accurate -- and it isn't always -- the delay is taking place due to a mixture of production and design issues with the desktop Trinity chips themselves combined with a surplus of Llano desktop APUs still sitting on stockroom shelves. The publication claims that motherboard manufacturers are scrambling to adjust to the sudden shift in schedule. When asked, representatives from AMD Taiwan told Digitimes that its product lines are currently "on track," though they wouldn't comment any further. However, seeing as how AMD has yet to publicly commit to a firm launch window for the Trinity desktop APUs or Vishera CPUs, saying that its product lines are on track could mean, well, pretty much anything. In any case, we're excited to see what AMD's bringing to the desktop table this year. How about you? |
| Intel Releases WHQL-Certified Windows 8 Graphics Drivers Posted: 13 Jul 2012 10:16 AM PDT  While the rest of us were busy browsing through the deal-tastic Steam Summer Sale, Intel was busy quietly releasing a new set of WHQL-certified graphics drivers for Windows 8 to ensure that integrated graphics types -- including people who like to casually frag on their notebooks -- will be able to get their game on with a minimum of buggy fuss. The new drivers run with Windows 8 Release Preview, but Intel says they'll be good for Windows 8 proper, too.
The Windows 8 driver works with any Sandy Bridge chip packing Intel's HD 3000 or 2000 graphics as well as Ivy Bridge CPUs with HD 4000 or 2500 integrated graphics. There isn't too much more to report, really, although the drivers also bring OpenGL 4.0 support and "Windows Display Driver Model Version 1.2 features such as native stereoscopic 3D support, optimized screen rotation detection and integrated DirectX 11 video playback." Sounds good to us. If it sounds good to you -- and assuming you're running Windows 8, of course -- point your browser to this page, which will direct you towards both the 32-bit and 64-bit drivers. |
| Nvidia Forums Closed Following Password-Stealing Hack Attack Posted: 13 Jul 2012 10:01 AM PDT  Ruh-roh, 'Raggy: late yesterday, Nvidia announced that it has battened down the hatches and shut down both its general and developer forums after a series of hack attacks against the sites. So far, Nvidia's investigation confirms that "unauthorized third parties" gained access to the forum-goers' usernames, email addresses, passwords and public profile information.
"'About Me' optional profiles could include a user's title, age, birthdate, gender, location, interests, email and website URL – all of which was already publicly accessible," Nvidia reports, apparently trying to somewhat downplay the significance of the breach. When the company gets the forums back up and running, all passwords will be reset and users will receive emails with information about how to set up a new one. In the meantime, although the passwords were hashed and not saved in plain text, Nvidia urges you to change your username and password at other websites if you're the type of person who likes to use the same combination over and over again in different places. Nvidia also says it won't contact you by email asking for any sensitive info, so if you receive a message from Big Green asking for your bank account info, run screaming. |
| This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 13 Jul 2012 08:13 AM PDT 
So who's going to buy a Google Nexus 7 next week then? We certainly can't wait to see how much of a difference it makes to the tablet market, but while we wait to see, why not check out some of the other tasty treats we've been testing this week! Samsung Series 5 Chromebook review Overall, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook XE550C22 is a big leap forward for Chromebooks, and is easily the best Chromebook we've reviewed. Of course, the previous generation of Chromebook was rather disappointing, so that's not saying too much. On the one hand it's a forward thinking device, geared towards cloud services and apps. We feel that this is definitely the way technology is heading, but the tech isn't quite there yet. So in some respects, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is a bit ahead of its time. However, its limited tech, along with the absence of next-gen internet standards such as 4G and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, means that it could soon start feeling out of date. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is a decent computer, and an improvement on its competitors, but it doesn't quite answer the Chromebook conundrum. 
Canon 650D review It may not have the pixel count of the Nikon D3200, but the Canon 650D is a very well-rounded DSLR with plenty of features for novices and enthusiasts. Image quality and high ISO performance is excellent. It's a worthwhile upgrade for anyone with a Canon 550D or a Canon 600D. Meanwhile, if you have an older 40D or 50D camera, you won't be disappointed if you 'downgrade' to a smaller Canon DSLR - although the specification of the Canon EOS 650D begs the question what we can expect to see when the Canon 60D and Canon 7D are replaced. However, it's worth remembering that that the 600D/Rebel T3i was priced at £679/$799 RRP body-only when it came out in April 2011, yet today it can be found for around £499/$579. It shouldn't be too long before the Canon EOS 650D street price becomes more palatable as well. 
Hands on: LG Optimus 4X HD review The LG Optimus 4X HD certainly has some neat tricks up its sleeve, with Nvidia's powerful 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 4-PLUS-1 technology, 1GB of RAM, 4.7-inch (1280 x 720) True HD IPS display, 16GB of internal memory and NFC technology. From our brief time with the phone so far, the Optimus 4X HD looks like a perfectly capable handset, with a style which will appeal to some people and enough power to guarantee its future for at least the next couple of years. We're not sure if it's quite as desirable as its quad-core rivals, and early hints of some slight lag do put a slight downer on a phone which boasts such powerful innards – we hope this will be ironed out before launch. Keep an eye out for our full LG Optimus 4X HD review, which will be available on the site soon. 
TomTom Via 135 review While TomTom should be applauded for trying to get voice recognition out there and in cars, the Via 135 doesn't feel like it's at a stage where it's ready for mass consumption just yet. There are moments where it works perfectly, but there are plenty of times where the sensitive microphone picks up background noise or the sat nav just fails to understand you. It's all too easy to resort to touch input, making other more affordable options look like better buys. Having used the TomTom Start 60, with its larger screen, we'd still rather spend our money there, especially given the European maps offered by that device. And this week's other reviews... Desktops Samsung Chromebox review Laptops Hands on: Toshiba Z930 Ultrabook review Toshiba Satellite P850-138 review Toshiba Qosmio X870 review HP Envy 4 Ultrabook review Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch review 
Media streaming Hands on: YouView review Mobile phones Hands on: Motorola MotoSmart review Hands on: Sony Xperia Tipo review Hands on: Sony Xperia Miro review 
Samsung Galaxy S Advance review Samsung Galaxy SIII (T-Mobile) review Nokia Lumia 900 review Monitors Samsung SyncMaster S27B750 review Network adaptors TP-Link TL-PA511KIT review D-Link DHP-501AV review Trendnet TPL-401E review 
Devolo dLAN 500 AVmini review Netgear XAVB5101 review Cisco Linksys PLSK400 review Operating systems Android 4.1: Jelly Bean review Printers Canon Selphy CP810 review Projectors Acer H5360 review BenQ W1060 review Epson EH-TW3200 review Epson EH-TW5900 review NEC V300W review Optoma HD23 review Viewsonic Pro6200 review Speakers Audyssey Audio Dock Air review Tablet accessories ION Audio iCade Core review Tablets Google Nexus 7 review 
Televisions Samsung UE46ES6800 review Panasonic TX-L47WT50B review Sony KDL-40HX753 review |
| Smartphones, Android Dominate Mobile Phone Sales, Nielsen Says Posted: 13 Jul 2012 07:13 AM PDT 
Over half (54.9 percent) of U.S. mobile subscribers were wielding a smartphone at the end of June 2012, according to Nielsen. The smartphone segment continues to grow, and if Nielsen's figures are correct, two out of three mobile phone shoppers now opt for a smartphone rather than a feature phone. Google's Android platform is the biggest benefactor of this trend, which claims the lion's share of the smartphone OS market. According to Nielsen, Android is still in pole position, bumping up its overall OS market share to 51.8 percent, and grabbing hold of 54.6 percent of smartphone shoppers in the past three months. Apple's iOS platform trails in a somewhat distant second place, though still accounts for more than a third (34.3 percent) of the market in the U.S. Not surprisingly, Apple had the highest manufacturer share of smartphone handsets at 34 percent, and of those who purchased a handset in June 2012, 36 percent chose an iPhone. Samsung leads the Android camp with a 17 percent share, followed by HTC at 14 percent, Motorola at 11 percent, and all others accounting for 9 percent. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| LG Display is Biggest Loser in LCD Price Fixing Settlement Posted: 13 Jul 2012 06:53 AM PDT  AU Optronics Corp., LG Display, and Toshiba Corp. have all three agreed to pay a combined $571 million in damages to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the three were involved in a scheme to artificially drive up the price of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. That's on top of over $550 million collected from seven other manufacturers earlier in the year, which tallies up to over $1.1 billion in class-action penalties.
Out of the three defendants in this latest settlement, LG Display will pay the biggest sum, forking over $380 million in damages, $19 million of which is earmarked for civil penalties to state governments, The Wall Street Journal reports. AU Optronics Corp. will shell out $170 million and Toshiba Corp. will cut a check for $21 million. Joseph Alioto, one of the leading attorneys in the case, claims "this is the largest consumer class-action price fixing settlement ever." According to Alito, all that money will funnel down to consumers and companies. "Companies who fill out the forms could receive substantial amounts," Alioto told WSJ, referring to a system that will be setup to make sure the funds go to where they need to go. The price fixing case dates back several years to when nearly a dozen companies allegedly held secret meetings in hotel conference rooms, tea rooms, and karaoke bars in Taiwan to inflate LCD panel prices. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft May Unveil Touch-Friendly Office 15 Suite on Monday Posted: 13 Jul 2012 06:26 AM PDT  Microsoft let it be known at its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) that Windows 8 is bound for general availability by the end of October and RTM (release to manufacturers) in August, but what about its next generation Office suite? Office 2013, the likely title for what's currently codenamed Office 15, is said to be prepped for an official unveiling by Redmond on Monday.
For whatever reason, Microsoft hasn't been as forthcoming about Office 2013 as it has been with Windows 8, keeping most of the details close to its vest. That's set to change on Monday, according to USA Today, which didn't say where its information is coming from. While details are light, it's expected Office 2013 will be heavy on touch-friendly features, just like Windows 8. It's a safe bet it will integrate well with Microsoft's Surface, and there's also been talk of a version for the iPad, though the latter is a less likely scenario. Assuming USA Today is sitting on solid information, we'll find out more after the weekend. It's also been rumored Microsoft will make available a Consumer Preview of Office 2013 later this month. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Betaworks Buys What Remains of Digg for $500,000 Posted: 13 Jul 2012 06:05 AM PDT  Digg, at one time a superstar of the social news scene, has sold itself to Betanews for a rather paltry $500,000. That's not chump change, to be sure, but when sites and services like Instagram are trading hands for a billion dollars, well, half a million doesn't seem like much. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what Digg could have sold for just a few short years ago, before it was shoved aside by the likes of Facebook and Twitter in their rise to news sharing relevance.
In a post on its website, Digg CEO Matt Williams points out that over the years, his company has amassed over 350 million Diggs, 28 million story submissions, and 40 million comments. As one of the first social media sites, Digg remains a recognizable brand, and according to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the company had other, more lucrative offers on the table, but decided on Betaworks because of its vision for reviving the brand. "We are turning Digg back into a startup," Betaworks said in a statement. "Low budget, small team, fast cycles." Betaworks plans to do that by putting its News.me team to work taking "Digg back to its essence." The vision is to return Digg to what it once was -- a prominent spot on the Web to "find, read, and share the stories the Internet is talking about." That's easier said than done when the likes of Twitter and other social sites aren't going anywhere. The hope is that Digg can once again stand out and become a valuable resource for news, and a valuable asset for Betaworks. According to The New York Times, Digg was once worth as much as $150 million based on a round of funding in 2008, the same year Google was reportedly interested in acquiring the site for $200 million. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
