| Newegg Daily Deals: APC Uninterruptible Power Supply, Asus AC1900 Router, and More! Posted: 20 Oct 2015 11:25 AM PDT |
| Fallout 4 Discs for PC Intentionally Missing Content to Thwart Piracy Posted: 20 Oct 2015 11:03 AM PDT The pirates win  For those of you who prefer to hold PC games in your hand through physical media, you'll still need to hop on Steam and download content in order to play Fallout 4. Why? It turns out the disc is missing content. Pete Hines, Vice President of Public Relations and Marketing for Bethesda, revealed as much on Twitter when asked if it would be possible to install Fallout 4 from discs (as opposed to them simply containing a Steam installer). "Yes, though you will still have to download from Steam. The disc doesn't contain the entire game," Hines said. When pressed on why Fallout 4 media for consoles contain the entire game while the PC version doesn't, Hines said it's because "PC requires activation on Steam. Console does not. Console ship on Blu-rays, PC ships on DVDs." That's only half the explanation. Hines told the rest of the story in a follow-up Twitter post, noting that the reason is, quite simply, "piracy." The reaction on Twitter was mostly negative to Hine's explanation. "I'm sorry, but this is BS. If anything, this encourages piracy. You guys should learn a thing or two from CDPR," a user responsed. Hines countered that Bethesda's been doing it this way for over a decade and it "seems to be doing OK," adding that "lots of people bought Skyrim, Wolf, etc." When another user stated he plans to pass on Fallout 4 because he doesn't have a Steam account and doesn't want to make one, Hines offered up a curt "Ok" in response. What do you think about Bethesda's decision to not include the full game install on discs for PC? Is it total BS, as one Twitter user put it, or no big deal since you already use Steam anyway? Sound off in the comments section! Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Last Chance to Receive $200 (PC) or $300 (MacBook) Toward a Windows 10 PC Posted: 20 Oct 2015 10:37 AM PDT Trading up  Today is the last day to take advantage of Microsoft's " EasyTrade Up" promotion in which you can receive $200 for trading in a Windows laptop and $300 for a MacBook and purchasing a select Windows 10 PC. The offer requires that you purchase a qualifying system from the Microsoft Store priced at $599 or more. If you do, Microsoft will reimburse you up to $200 when you submit your old laptop, 2-in-1, or all-in-one, or up to $300 when sending in a MacBook or iMac. Any system you submit must be no more than six years old, able to power on, and free from "serious defects" or "major wear and tear." Systems with "normal signs of use" are okay. In addition, laptops and MacBooks must have a minimum 11.3-inch display. There are lots of qualifying systems from various manufacturers to choose from, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, Razer, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba. The least expensive of the lot include three $599 systems: Asus Zenbook UX305FA-USM1 Signature Edition, Acer Aspire R 13 Signature Edition, and Dell Inspiron 15 i5558-5716SLV Signature Edition. This is Microsoft's latest effort to boost the footprint of Windows 10, which is now installed on more than 110 million devices. Go here if you want to take advantage of the promotion. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Apple Pulls Apps Found Collecting Private User Data Posted: 20 Oct 2015 09:42 AM PDT 
Analytics service SourceDNA said on Sunday that as it was adding the ability to scan apps for private API usage to its Searchlight service, the company discovered that "hundreds" of iOS apps on Apple's App Store were collecting private information from consumers. These apps acquired the device serial number, the user's AppleID email address, and a list of installed apps. Given Apple's strict policies against acquiring user data, how did this happen? That's a good question. Surprisingly around 256 apps were discovered – with an estimated 1 million downloads – violating Apple's user privacy policy. All linked back to the Youmi advertising SDK from China. "Most of the developers are located in China. We believe the developers of these apps aren't aware of this since the SDK is delivered in binary form, obfuscated, and user info is uploaded to Youmi's server, not the app's," SourceDNA reports. "We recommend developers stop using this SDK until this code is removed." Given that these apps made it past Apple's review process, the question now is whether other published apps on the App Store are also collecting user information in a similar method. SourceDNA said that it's continuing to add features to its Searchlight engine to scan the published apps for "anomalous behavior." Hopefully the Youmi incident is an isolated case and other malicious apps based on a private SDK aren't sneaking in under the radar. After the SourceDNA report was published, Apple pulled the Youmi-based apps and issued a statement: "We've identified a group of apps that are using a third-party advertising SDK, developed by Youmi, a mobile advertising provider, that uses private APIs to gather private information, such as user email addresses and device identifiers, and route data to its company server. This is a violation of our security and privacy guidelines. The apps using Youmi's SDK will be removed from the App Store and any new apps submitted to the App Store using this SDK will be rejected. We are working closely with developers to help them get updated versions of their apps that are safe for customers and in compliance with our guidelines back in the App Store quickly." |
| Asus May Make Its Own HoloLens Posted: 20 Oct 2015 09:40 AM PDT 
Microsoft's Terry Myerson and Asus CEO Jonney Shih recently hinted that the latter company may end up making its own version of Microsoft's HoloLens device. Unlike the Oculus Rift, HoloLens is Microsoft's augmented reality headset that will project 3D images and overlays in front of the user's eyes rather than immerse them in a virtual world. According to Shih, Asus is still trying to figure out how its version of the HoloLens will take shape… if it plans to release a HoloLens model at all. All Shih had to say was "wait and see." The Asus version will supposedly be cheaper than Microsoft's consumer model. Taiwan-based Asus is ranked as the world's sixth PC maker, known for making splendid motherboards, graphics cards, affordable PCs and tablets. Naturally, the HoloLens clone may be released under the company's Republic of Gamers (ROG) label, which focuses on gaming hardware. Myerson indicated in a recent report that Microsoft is hoping that many companies will take interest in the HoloLens technology. "Everything we're doing in hardware, we do with the mind of how do we grow the Windows ecosystem," Myerson told CNET. "That is why we're investing to create a category." HoloLens was first introduced back in January during a Windows 10 event. The focus of the glasses not only centers on gamers, but allows users to have video conferences, build 3D models and more. The headset is powered by Windows 10, which Microsoft says is "the first platform to support holographic computing with APIs that enable gaze, gesture, voice, and environmental understanding on an untethered device." Currently, Microsoft plans to ship the $3,000 developer model in 2016. Does that mean consumers will be forced to pay $3,000 when HoloLens hits the streets? No. The company will presumably sell a cheaper version, but right now there's no sign of when HoloLens will hit the streets. However, Myerson indicated that consumers will know when HoloLens will be ready for general consumption. "When my kids can't put the Minecraft on HoloLens down," Myerson said, "we know it's ready for Minecraft players." VIA: CNET |
| HP Gives Chromebook 14 a Colorful Makeover Posted: 20 Oct 2015 09:33 AM PDT A better looking Chromebook  Low cost Windows laptops have taken some of the appeal away from Chromebooks, though HP is banking on there still being an audience for Chrome OS machines. As such, the OEM has given its 14-inch Chromebook a fresh coat of paint and an upgraded display. The HP Chromebook 14 now comes in "Turbo Silver" and "Sky Blue" color options. Both sport an optional 14-inch Full HD 1080p IPS panel for better overall visuals and viewing angles, though if you want to go bigger, HP says you can stream content to your TV with Chromecast (not included, of course). Inside the Chromebook 14 is a passively cooled Intel Celeron N2840 processor, a dual-core part clocked at 2.16GHz to 2.58GHz with 1MB of L2 cache. It also features 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in storage + 100GB of cloud storage for two years via Google Drive, microSD card reader, a USB 3.0 port, two USB 2.0 ports, and HDMI output. The thin (17.8mm) and light (3.94 pounds) Chromebook 14 delivers up to 9 hours and 15 minutes of battery life, albeit for the HD version, according to HP. In addition to free cloud storage for two years, extras include a dozen free Gogo in-air Internet passes, three free Google Play movie rentals, and 90 days of free Google Play music. The Chromebook 14 will be available November 8, 2015, starting at $250 for the HD model and $280 for the Full HD version. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Origin PC Millennium Posted: 20 Oct 2015 12:00 AM PDT AT A GLANCE (+) Lake Superior: Bold styling; good performance; plenty of storage. (-) Lake Erie: Overpriced; terrible doors; no custom loop. For now, Intel's new, high-end i7-6700K Skylake CPU is still somewhat hard to track down. You can, however, find them in prebuilt OEM machines, and Origin PC proudly sent us its new Millennium Skylake system to test. The system uses the same chassis, designed by Origin PC, as the Genesis we reviewed back in April. The key difference is that unlike the Genesis, it does not include the bottom bay expansion with radiator and extra fans, and is thus a midtower build to the Genesis' full-tower setup. You can still orient the motherboard 90 degrees if you want to, or have it reverse-mounted (to face the other door), but ours has a traditional setup. The case comes in a wide variety of colors; ours is black and grey. The Origin PC logo in the front glows red, and to top it off, there are RGB lights inside the chassis that you can tweak through a variety of 16 colors with a wireless remote. The front of the case has a swinging door that opens to reveal the Blu-ray burner and five 5.25-inch front bays, which is pretty cool. Inside our particular configuration was a single 6TB WD Red drive. On top of the case you've got a fan controller and four USB 3.0 ports. Inside the chassis, the cable management and wiring is top notch. This isn't to say the case is perfect, however. While the chassis uses a steel frame, the doors are plastic, feel flimsy, and are a huge pain to take off and put back on. To open the case, you have to lift up a latch on the back of the case, and the doors just fall off without warning. We felt like we were degrading the doors every time we took them off. Once you're inside the case, you'll notice the new star of the show. Intel's i7-6700K is a 95-watt TDP proc using Intel's 14nm process. While the CPU carries a base frequency of 4GHz and a turbo speed of 4.2GHz, it's a heavily overclockable part; Origin PC overclocked our unit to 4.8GHz. While we've experienced some over-aggressive overclocking from Origin PC in the past, this time around we encountered no blue screens. For cooling, Origin went with a 360mm closed-loop cooler designed by Asetek. While it keeps the PC cool and quiet, it's a little disappointing to pay over four grand for a computer and not get a custom loop. All of this sits atop an Asus Maximus VIII Hero. With this mobo, we're getting USB 3.1 and USB Type-C. Filling the RAM slots is 16GB of DDR4 clocked at 2,666MHz in a dual-channel configuration. For speedy storage, Origin PC outfitted our config with a 512GB Samsung SM951 PCIe M.2 SSD. And of course, who could forget the two GeForce GTX 980 Ti cards in SLI? These cards are overclocked to carry a base GPU clock of 1,195MHz, a memory clock of 1,853MHz, with a boost clock of 1,271MHz. Powering all of this is a 1,000W PSU from Corsair. Now for the most pressing question: How does the Skylake CPU perform? Quite well, as it turns out. Its aggressive 4.8GHz overclock allowed it to beat our zero-point's eight-core 5960X CPU by about 21–28 percent in our single-threaded benchmarks. In our multithreaded CPU benchmark, however, the octa-core was able to flex its extra cores to thrash the quad-core part by roughly 30 percent. If you're wondering how it compares to Devil's Canyon, we saw roughly a -2 to 12 percent difference in single-threaded tests compared to the Digital Storm Bolt 3's quad-core part we reviewed recently. Surprisingly, we saw a 14 percent bump in our multithreaded benchmark as well. Overall, it's certainly not bad. GPU performance was good, too. The two overclocked 980 Tis were able to best our ZP's three 980s by roughly 3–20 percent in all of our game tests. It did fall behind five percent in 3DMark Firestrike, but that's most likely due to the the test leveraging multiple CPU cores in its physics tests. So, there's a lot to like about this Millennium, but there are a few things that keep us from wholeheartedly recommending it. Aside from the absolutely terrible doors, the PC is overpriced for what you're getting. For $4,370, you'd think you'd get a Haswell-E processor with more physical cores and a custom-loop cooler. As it is, it should be a couple of hundred dollars cheaper, but perhaps that's just pie-in-the-Skylake wishful thinking. $4,370, www.originpc.com Benchmarks | ZP | Origin PC
Millennium | Percent
difference
| | Stitch.Efx 2.0 (sec) | 806 | 627 | 28.5% | | ProShow Producer 5 (sec) | 1,472
| 1,216 | 21.1% | | x264 HD 5.0 | 33.8 | 23 | -32% | | Batman Arkham City GOTY (fps) | 204 | 214 | 4.9% | | Tomb Raider (fps) | 87.5 | 90.7 | 3.7% | | 3DMark Firestrike | 8,016 | 7,566 | -5.6% | | Shadow of Mordor (fps) | 70.1 | 84.5 | 20.5% |
Our desktop zero-point PC uses a 5960X CPU, three GTX 980s, and 16GBs of RAM. Arkham City tested at 2560x1440 max settings with PhysX off. Tomb Raider at Ultimate settings. Shadow of Mordor at Max settings. Specifications| Processor | Intel Core i7-6700K (overclocked to 4.8GHz) | | Mobo | Maximus VIII Hero | | RAM | 16GB DDR4/2666 | | GPU | 2x GeForce GTX 980 Ti | | Storage | 512GB M.2 | | Optical | Blu-ray burner | | Case/PSU | Origin Millennium |
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