| 40 Awesome 3D Wallpapers Posted: 17 Oct 2014 03:52 PM PDT  Deck out your desktop with some awesome 3D wallpapers
Bold 3D wallpapers are a growing trend that we happen to think look extremely cool. They often are beautifully rendered, have interesting subject matter, and feel like you can reach out and touch them. Whether you're looking for some additions to spice up your collection or needing some new desktop adornments, we've rounded up 40 of the best 3D wallpapers we could find, with some fun geeky surprises here and there. Warning: Before you continue willy-nilly downloading wallpapers, do understand that we can't be held accountable for any third-party links you download. Many of these websites may be plagued with adware. We suggest you read our how-to-download-without-installing-adware article in case you plan on downloading from third-party sites. |
| Apple Starts Accepting Pre-Orders for iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 Posted: 17 Oct 2014 09:00 AM PDT  New tablets all around
Market research firms like Gartner report that tablet growth is slowing as consumers are reluctant to upgrade, but be that as it may, it hasn't stopped Google and Apple from releasing new models. Google earlier this week unveiled it's HTC-built Nexus 9 tablet with a 64-bit Tegra K1 SoC inside, and following yesterday's press event, Apple is now taking pre-orders for its iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 slates. The iPad Air 2 is thinner than its predecessor at 6.1mm and faster courtesy of its custom A8X processor. It also features a Touch ID sensor, improved FaceTime HD camera that's better equipped to take those all-important selfies, and a superior 8MP rear camera that can take burst photos, timelapse videos, and record in slo-mode. Apple also upgraded the Wi-Fi to 802.11ac MIMO supporting data rates up to 866Mbps, along with faster LTE connectivity (up to 150Mbps). As for the iPad mini 3, not much is different, other than it too has a Touch ID sensor and comes with a gold color option. The iPad Air 2 runs $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, $599 for 64GB, and $699 for 128GB. LTE versions of each one carry a $130 premium. Meanwhile, the iPad mini 3 costs $399 and up. You can place your pre-order on Apple's website. Incidentally, Google's Nexus 9 will also be up for pre-order sometime today (scroll down) through Google Play, Best Buy, Amazon, and GameStop. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Play 10 Titles on Steam for Free Until Sunday Posted: 17 Oct 2014 08:35 AM PDT  No reason to be bored this weekend
Did your significant other break up with you recently? Are your friends out of town on business trips? Whatever the reason is for your weekend being in need of filling, Steam has you covered. Going on now is Steam's first ever "Free Weekend Weekend," which features 10 games that you can play for free up through Sunday, October 19, at 1 PM Pacific. If you like any or all of them, you can purchase each one at a discount. The temporarily free to play and discounted titles include: - Payday 2 ($7.49, down from $29.99)
- Company of Heroes 2 ($9.99, down from $39.99)
- Awesomenauts ($2.49, down from $9.99)
- Don't Starve ($5.09, down from $14.99)
- Trine 2: Complete Story ($3.99, down from $19.99)
- GRID 2 ($7.49, down from $29.99)
- Killing Floor ($4.99, down from $19.99)
- Blade Symphony ($3.74, down from $14.99)
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown ($7.50, down from $29.99)
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition ($9.99, down from $19.99)
The discounts range from 50 percent off on up to 80 percent off, with the majority marked down 75 percent. Though you have until the afternoon on Sunday to play for free, the discounts will remain in effect until Monday, October 20, at 10 AM Pacific, Steam says. You can check out the Free Weekend Weekend games here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Samsung Chromebook 2 with Intel Inside is Now Available to Pre-Order Posted: 17 Oct 2014 08:16 AM PDT  Leather-wrapped Chromebook 2 models from Samsung start at $250
If the only thing that's stopping you from picking up a Chromebook is that you're waiting for a company to stitch a strip of leather-like material to the lid, well, you're in luck. Samsung today announced that it's taking pre-orders for its 11.6-inch Chromebook 2. According to Samsung, the build is nearly seamless, supported by a strong metal frame from top to bottom and covered with a leather-like case, giving the system the appearance of an expensive briefcase. Not just for looks, Samsung says there's a function to the material -- it makes the Chromebook 2 easier to grip and hold, which the company points out is especially important for students and children. That's a good point, considering that Chromebooks are becoming popular in education circles. The Chromebook 2 sports an Intel Celeron N2840 processor (2.58GHz, 1MB L2 cache) inside, along with 2GB of DDR3L-1333 RAM. It also features a 1366x768 resolution, 16GB of internal storage, Intel HD Graphics, a pair of 2W stereo speakers, 720p HD webcam, and up to 9 hours of battery life. As for dimensions, the Chromebook 2 measures 11.40 x 8.6 x 0.66 inches and weighs just 2.65 pounds. You can pre-order the Chromebook 2 for $250 on Samsung's website, or at least you will be able to sometime today (we're not seeing the listing at the time of this writing). It will be widely available next week. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| AMD Sees Decline in Computing and Graphics Segment, Readies for Round of Layoffs Posted: 17 Oct 2014 05:33 AM PDT  Santa Clara chip designer plans to reduce headcount by 7 percent
AMD's revenue for its fiscal third quarter of 2014 was flat sequentially and down 2 percent year-over-year at $1.43 billion, though the company still eeked out a $17 million profit, or $0.02 per share, along with operating income of $63 million. However, AMD's Computing and Graphics segment -- desktop and notebook processors and chipsets, discrete GPUs and professional graphics -- took a 6 percent sequential hit and declined 16 percent year-over-year. "AMD's third quarter financial performance reflects progress in diversifying our business," said Dr. Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. "Our Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom segment results were strong; however, performance in our Computing and Graphics segment was mixed based on challenging market conditions that require us to take further steps to evolve and strengthen the financial performance of this business. Our top priority is to deliver leadership technologies and products as we continue to transform AMD." Part of Dr. Su's restructuring plan for AMD includes laying off 7 percent of the company's workforce, most of which will be completed by the end of the year. This will result in a restructuring and impairment charge of around $57 million next quarter, primarily related to severance packages, and a restructuring charge of around $13 million in the first half of next year that will be mostly related to real estate actions. "While decisions that impact the size of our global team are never entered into lightly, this is the right step to ensure we prioritize our resources and engineering investments in our highest-priority opportunities that can drive improved profitability and long-term growth," said Dr. Su. Heading into next quarter, AMD expects revenue to decrease 13 percent sequentially, plus or minus 3 percent. News of AMD's rough quarter, impending layoffs, and expected decrease in revenue next quarter prompted investors to hit the sell button. Shares of AMD tumbled more than 8 percent to $2.42 in after hours trading before recovering slightly to $2.64 today. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3-1600, Intel Core i3-4150, and More! Posted: 17 Oct 2014 04:59 AM PDT |
