| New Microsoft Office Software Sticks Head in Cloud, Gets Social Posted: 16 Jul 2012 07:49 PM PDT  Microsoft's inevitable Office 2013 announcement could be seen coming from a mile away, and now that the Redmond software maker has finally unveiled its next generation productivity suite, it's time to wade through the rhetoric to see if we can make heads or tails of it all. That's easier said than done. While Microsoft is making a concerted effort to simplify the decision making process with Windows 8 by offering just a few editions to choose from, users will ultimately have a bevy of online and offline Office versions to sift through.
The full lineup of offerings and pricing plans will be announced in the fall, but it's clear from the get-go that Microsoft is heavily emphasizing a subscription model, which will include three new Office 365 subscription services. As Microsoft breaks them down: - Office 365 Home Premium -- designed for families and consumers. This service also includes an additional 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype world minutes per month.
- Office 365 Small Business Premium -- designed for small businesses. This service also includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools, and HD webconferencing.
- Office 365 ProPlus -- designed for enterprise customers who want advanced business capabilities and the flexibility to deploy and manage in the cloud.
By Microsoft's own admission, it's taking "bold steps" with the new "modern Office" suites, which CEO Steve Ballmer described as "a cloud service" that "will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8." And by that he means it will have a heavy emphasis on touch controls. The new Office is also social. Yammer, Microsoft's enterprise social network, will play a role in the new Office, as will Skype and other connected technologies, such as being able to follow people, teams, documents, and sites in SharePoint. While pricing remains a mystery, Microsoft said Windows RT tablets on ARM (including its own Surface device) will include the Office 2013 suite for free, giving users access to new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote applications. For those who want to spy an early glimpse, Microsoft just made the Customer Preview available to download. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Comic-Con 2012 Gallery: The Maximum PC Editor's Choice Posted: 16 Jul 2012 03:15 PM PDT We may have been down in San Diego helpin' our parent company at the Future / Hyundai Undead booth, but we still found time to shoot some pictures of the weird, the wacky, the far-out, and the excellent among the costumes we saw on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Harley Quinns and Jake and Finns were some of the most common themes this year, but we also saw plenty of Chells, Leias, steampunks, Catwomen, Riddlers, and, well, odder things. |
| Nvidia GTX 660 Ti Rumored to Launch Mid-August Posted: 16 Jul 2012 11:17 AM PDT  Nvidia's GTX 670 delivers almost GTX 680-type frame rates for $100 less, but that doesn't change the fact that we've yet to see a true mid-range card from Nvidia so far this generation. That could be changing soon, however, as sources for two different enthusiast websites have said that the much more mainstream GTX 660 Ti is set to launch about a month from now, midway through August.
Both SweClockers and VideoCardz claim that the card is slated for release sometime between August 13 and 19, with an anticipated fate of August 16th seeing as how its predecessors were launched on Thursdays. Plus, that GPU-Z update we talked about earlier today added GTX 660 support. SweClockers indicates that launch window would allow the card to hit the streets just prior to the annual back-to-school upgrade rush. (Does that really exist? Are caring mothers really rushing out to buy their college-aged kids graphics cards?) Nvidia's kept mum on the specs of its upcoming cards, but rumors say the GK104-based GTX 660 Ti will sport either 1152 or 1344 CUDA cores (our money's on the former) with 1.5GB of GDDR5 memory, a 192-bit memory interface and a price tag south of $300. Any takers? Via TechPowerUp |
| Raspberry Pi Starts Flying Out of Factories, Now Available For General and Multiple Orders Posted: 16 Jul 2012 10:57 AM PDT  In yet even more itty bitty computing news, the Raspberry Pi crew has announced that they've overcome previous manufacturing difficulties and are now churning out their mini-PCs are the brisk rate of 4,000 a day. Whoop-dee-do, what does that mean for you? Simple: the shortage is over and the Raspberry Pi's various manufacturers are now taking general orders. Plus, you can order more than one now.
That doesn't mean if you order one (or more) today, it'll show up on your doorstep tomorrow, however. The Pi comes from Britain, you see, and all those mini-PCs are manufactured in China. The delay in shipping and customs processing means that UK-types who order from RS or Farnell, the two European suppliers, will need to wait an additional 4 to 5 weeks before being up a nice little slice of Pi. Americans need to purchase their Raspberry Pi PCs through Allied Electronics, with an estimated delivery time of up to 12 weeks. 
That long lead time is part of what keeps the cost of the $35 Raspberry Pi B down so low, or as the team explained it on their blog: If you've been waiting for the Raspberry Pi to be in general delivery before you order, now's the time to get your order in; it helps us to plan the supply chain efficiently if we have a bit of visibility of what's just down the road. For those of you worried about how a bare-bones wide-open board like the Raspberry Pi could be useful, hit this link, then note that the various suppliers are also selling enclosures, network adapters, USB hubs and SD cards preloaded with a Raspberry Pi Linux OS, if you're so interested. A camera add-on is also in the works. |
| Kontron Preps First Tegra 3-Based Mini-ITX Motherboard Posted: 16 Jul 2012 10:11 AM PDT  Watch out, Atom CPUs and AMD APUs, there's a new contender vying for the attention of small box HTPC enthusiasts: Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Wait, what? Isn't that a mobile processor? Theoretically, but that hasn't stopped Kontron from creating the world's first mini-ITX Tegra 3 processor, complete with an itty bitty footprint and an equally itty bitty 7W power requirement.
We first heard about the 6.7-by-6.7-inch KTT30/mITX from Oliver at FanlessTech. (Which, by the way, is a great resource for silent/quiet PC aficionados.) The embedded quad-core Tegra 3 processor receives a bit of an underclocking, at 900MHz rather than 1.2GHz, but the mobo comes equipped with a host of options you'd expect to see in a traditional x86-based board, such as expandable RAM, S/PDIF, an HDMI port, three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and a pair of SD card slots. You'll also find three PCIe slots: one's straight-up, another's PCIe/mSATA, while the third has a SIM socket for 3G card support. Finally, there's also CSI/DSI camera support and a pair of RS232 connections for more industrial-type applications. The Tegra 3's graphical chops make this mobo capable of handling 1080p video and onboard H264 MPEG-4 processing. What the board lacks, however, is release details: Kontron hasn't ponied up pricing or availability info. You interested? |
| GPU-Z Update Adds Support for 21 Additional Graphics Cards Posted: 16 Jul 2012 08:24 AM PDT  One of our favorite utilities, GPU-Z, has yet to reach 1.0 status. We're not sure what the holdup is, but in the meantime, incremental updates keep rolling in, the latest one bringing the utility up to version 0.6.3 and adding support for nearly two dozen additional videocards in the process, along with improved Kepler boost clock detection, a handful of fixes, and other changes.
On the Nvidia side, GPU-Z 0.6.3 adds support for: - GT 620, 630, 640
- GTX 660
- Tesla M2090
- Quadro 1100M, 5000M
- NVS 5400M
- G510M
- GT 620M, 630M, 640M LE, 660M
And on the AMD side: - AMD Trinity
- Radeon HD 7570, 7670
- Radeon HD 6610M, 7550M, 7850M
- Radeon HD 7520G, 7640G
TechPowerUp says you can also expect better stability under Windows 8, and less crashing overall in various situations. You can download the latest build here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Panda Cloud Antivirus Upgraded with Faster Scan Engine, Better Malware Detection Posted: 16 Jul 2012 08:04 AM PDT  Panda Security had its head in the cloud long before it became vogue to do so, and today marks the launch of Panda Cloud Antivirus 2.0, a free cloud-based consumer antivirus service. There are several reasons to upgrade if you're rocking a previous build, including the fact that this new release is fully compatible with Microsoft's Windows 8 Release Preview. It also supposedly scans much faster than before.
How fast, exactly? According to Panda Security, version 2.0 of its cloud-based antivirus service boasts 50 percent faster on-demand scans compared to earlier versions, and is even more effective than before. "The new version of Panda Cloud Antivirus improves disinfection rates and reduces the memory footprint," said Pedro Bustamante, Senior research advisor at Panda Security. "Thanks to the useful feedback of our beta tester community we have improved this product yet again, providing maximum PC protection and disinfection power with minimum impact on PC performance." New to the free version with the 2.0 release are behavior-based scanning technologies, which were previously limited to Pro Editions. The Pro Edition is a $30 upgrade that adds a smart community-based firewall, around-the-clock technical support, and automatic USB vaccination. Panda Cloud Antivirus 2.0 Free and Pro Editions are available now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| ViewSonic Launches 27-inch VX2703mh-LED Monitor Posted: 16 Jul 2012 06:58 AM PDT  ViewSonic on Monday announced the latest addition to its high-performance line of monitors, the new 27-inch VX2703mh-LED. According to ViewSonic, everyone and their uncle should be interested in this display, including home consumers, small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), and educational institutions, the latter of which will appreciate the monitor's energy efficiency while hoping to sell the former two on the panel's overall feature-set.
The VX2703mh-LED is a 27-inch display with a Full HD 1920x1080 screen resolution. It has a 3ms response time (gray-to-gray), 300 cd/m2 brightness rating, 10,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (1,200:1 typical), and plenty of inputs for the average user, including HDMI (with HDCP), DVI (with HDCP), and VGA. The monitor also boasts built-in SRS Premium Sound speakers. On the eco-friendly side, ViewSonic claims the VX2703mh-LED delivers up to 40 percent energy savings when compared with a regular 27-inch monitor. Energy savings come courtesy of a mercury-free LED backlight and an ECO-mode feature with a three-phase self-adjusted power-saving mode. You should be able to find the VX2703mh-LED shipping any day now for $299 MSRP. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Unloads MSNBC.com Stake to Comcast for $300 Million Posted: 16 Jul 2012 06:03 AM PDT  It's been a 16-year run for Microsoft and NBC in a joint venture known as MSNBC.com, and that run is coming to a halt. Comcast, the parent company of NBC, has acquired Microsoft's 50 percent stake in the online interactive news site, paying a reported $300 million to gain full control of the digital business. As part of the deal, the site loses its MS tag and is now renamed to NBCNews.com.
Jennifer Sizemore, Editor-in-Chief of NBCNews.com, posted a note announcing the name change, while assuring readers that this move doesn't signal a dying interest in the site. "While our name is changing, our commitment is not," Sizemore said. "In fact, in the weeks and months ahead, we'll be bringing you more of what you love today, and NBCNews.com will stay true to its mandate of delivering the news you need with the innovative spirit you've come to expect across all of our digital platforms. Over the years, we've won dozens of awards for our digital coverage, but the real reward has been serving you, our audience." A report in The New York Times valued the transaction at $300 million, a number it obtained from "people with knowledge of the transaction." Part of that money is based on the site's past profits. As for MSNBC, it isn't marching off into the digital graveyard, not yet anyway. Sizemore says it will relaunch as MSNBC TV next year. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Giada Rolls Out Mini PC with Ivy Bridge Inside Posted: 16 Jul 2012 05:47 AM PDT  Giada, a Chinese manufacturer specializing in mini PCs, last week announced a "book-sized" mini PC called the i53, which is very similar to the last Giada product reviewed by us—the Giada i50—in that both look virtually identical and pack an Intel Core i processor. While it may be hard to distinguish between the Giada i50 and i53 at first glance, the two are actually quite different.
The i53, which is slightly bigger than the i50, is equipped with the latest-generation Intel Core i processors. Starting at $520, the i53 comes standard with an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, but is also available in Core i3 and Core i7 flavors. Here are the complete specs: - Processor: 3nd Gen Intel Core i7/i5/i3(Optional)
- Chipset: Intel HM76 Express
- GPU: Intel GMA HD 4000
- Memory: 2GB DDR3-1333 (1 x SO-DIMM slot Max 4GB)
- Storage : 320GB2.5″HDD/500GB 2.5″HDD
- I/O: 1 x USB3.0, 4 x USB2.0, 1 x Card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
- 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA
- LAN: Gigabit LAN + Wi-Fi 802.11n + Bluetooth
- Audio: AUDIO-out/MIC-in
- Power: 30W
- Size: 192 x 155 x 26 mm
- Color: Black & White
- OS: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (Optional)
"It's an ideal home theater PC (HTPC) thanks to the included infra red remote control that allows for remote boot-up; its support for full HD 1080P video and Intel HD Audio with 5.1 channel surround sound," reads the press release announcing the i53. "The low power consuming Giada i53 runs cool and quiet, thanks to its advanced heat control technology, including a smart temperature-controlled fan. This Mini PC makes a perfect household download station - leave it downloading all night without being troubled by noise, heat or energy costs. Its slim design lets it fit neatly into even the tiniest space." Image Credit: Giada |
