| Asus Rolls Out Overclocked and Custom Cooled Strix GTX 980 and GTX 970 Cards Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:58 AM PDT  Cooler and quieter than reference
Are you of the opinion that speed limits are more like suggestions than enforced rules? Do you believe reference designs are for suckers? If you answered yes to one or both questions, you might be interested in the new Strix GTX 980 and Strix GTX 970 graphics cards from Asus. Both of these Maxwell-powered parts sport factory overclocks and custom cooling solutions that are supposedly 30 percent quieter than Nvidia's reference cooler. As Asus is prone to do, it outfitted its new cards with its Digi+ voltage-regulator module (VRM) technology and Super Alloy Power components -- fancy terms for higher end components intended to increase durability and cooling. Both cards also feature a DisplayPort interface to support gaming at up to 4K Ultra HD. The Strix GTX 980 is overclocked to 1279MHz, up from 1126MHz, and the Strix GTX 970 is goosed to 1253MHz, up from 1050MHz. Both sport 4GB of GDDR5 memory that runs at boosted speeds of up to 7010MHz, which is essentially reference. With regards to cooling, the cards use Asus' DirectCU II cooling technology that consists of 10mm heat pipes capable of transporting 40 percent more heat away from the GPU. The design also offers 220 percent more heat dissipation. According to Asus, the cards run 30 percent cooler and 3x quieter than reference. Both cards should be available today. At the time of this writing, Newegg shows the Strix 970 as out of stock and priced at $340 (plus $6.31 shipping); there's no listing yet for the Strix 980. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Turtle Beach Launches Ear Force Z60, Claims First PC Gaming Headset with DTS Headphone:X 7.1 Posted: 19 Sep 2014 09:16 AM PDT  Now available in stores
Turtle Beach hasn't forgotten about PC gamers. In fact, Turtle Beach just announced the availability of its Ear Force Z60 PC gaming headset that was first unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) earlier this year in Las Vegas. According to Turtle Beach, the Ear Force Z60 is the first and only PC gaming headset to utilize the new DTS Headphone:X 7.1 surround sound. DTS Headphone:X is supposed to make games, movies, and music sound better over headphones by enabling discrete control over speaker position and angles. Turtle Beach said it created audio presets using DTS Headphone:X for more realistic sound. How so? "Most surround sound mixes put the center channel about eight feet in front of the listener perceptually, which is the default for TV and film because the dialogue is coming from the screen," Turtle Beach explains. "With a first person shooter and many other game genres, much of the center channel audio comes from the player's character for example the sound of the player's feet walking in the snow, their inbound radio, and the sound of spent cartridges being ejected from their gun. Using DTS Headphone:X, the audio engineers at Turtle Beach created gaming presets that pull the center channel in towards the players' midsection to make the placement of those sounds more realistic." The Ear Force Z60 boasts large 60mm speakers. It also features an inline control unit to adjust chat and game audio individually, surround sound modes, and microphone mute. You can purchase the Ear Force Z60 now for $120 MSRP. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| NFL TV Announcers Still Referring to Microsoft Surface Tablets as iPads Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:57 AM PDT  Microsoft has some coaching to do
Microsoft's arch rival Apple is receiving some free publicity for its iPad line during NFL games. That's because TV announcers can't seem to tell fathom that not all tablets are iPads. Take the Surface, for example. After paying the NFL $400 million for Surface to be the official tablet of the league, Microsoft is understandably ticked that its slate keeps being referred to as an iPad on national television. It happened on more than one occasion through the end of last week, and then again this past Sunday when the San Diego Chargers played against the defending champions Seattle Seahawks. In that instance, it was a local TV announcer who was confused when told the teams were using Surface tablets. "What? I thought it was an iPad," the announcer said, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. In addition to paying the NFL a reported $400 million to feature its Surface as the official tablet of the league, it also provided the NFL with hundreds of Surface 2 systems. Each team received 13 Surface tablets to use on the sideline and 12 to use in the coaches' booth. They're not connected to the Internet and teams are only allowed to view photos, not videos. The NFL then collects them after each game to prevent tampering. "Despite the majority of our friends in the booth correctly identifying the Surface on NFL sidelines, we're working with the league to coach up a select few," a Microsoft spokesman said. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Qualcomm's Awesome Vuforia SDK Brings Augmented Reality to Eyewear Posted: 19 Sep 2014 08:00 AM PDT  Some exciting things are happening in the world of virtual reality, and we're not just talking about the Oculus Rift. Multiple companies are jumping on board with the VR movement, including chip maker Qualcomm, which unveiled its Vuforia mobile vision platform that developers can use to build augmented reality (AR) applications for a new generation of digital hardware.
The Vuforia Software Development Kit (SDK) for Digital Eyewear offers a "major advance in user experience," Qualcomm says. Using the SDK, developers can program apps with interactive 3D content that's visually aligned with the underlying world. This has all kinds of potential uses -- everything from gaming to shopping and education, etc. "The promise of digital eyewear is to create a heads-up display for our daily lives. While the realization of this promise remains in the future, Vuforia is taking a big step in the right direction by enabling a first generation of applications for consumer and enterprise use," said Jay Wright, vice president of product management for Qualcomm Connected Experiences, Inc. "Developers will now have the tools required to build experiences that will drive the adoption of the digital eyewear category. We look forward to seeing what developers make possible." Two new features of the Vuforia SDK include Smart Terrain and HD Camera View. Short and to the point, these technologies allow users to build their own gaming environment using everyday objects. Smart Terrain then creates a 3D map of the environment you created in real-time, which in turn gives apps the ability to interact with those objects. In the video above, you can see various McDonald's objects -- cola cup, fry box, burger box -- placed on a table. A soccer app then maps the objects and allows you to make trick shots off of those items. As it pertains to wearable headsets, a lot of neat things are possible with the Vuforia SDK, and not just for gaming. For example, you could be staring at an object like a water pump through a digital headset and see how to tear it down, step-by-step. Or an engine or any other object. The Vuforia SDK for Digital Eyewear will be available this fall in beta form for a select group of developers. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: PNY Optima 240GB SSD, AMD A8-5600K Trinity Quad-Core APU, and More! Posted: 19 Sep 2014 06:14 AM PDT |
