| Hulu Going After Netflix with Original Series of its Own Posted: 14 Feb 2012 02:52 PM PST  Not to be beaten at its own game, TV streaming service Hulu has started airing its first original series to compete with Netflix. The show is called Battleground, and it centers around a Senate campaign in Wisconsin. Netflix just debuted it's first series Lilyhammer, but the two companies are going about things quite differently.
Netflix is a subscription-only service, whereas Hulu has a public-facing version with limited content. Battleground is being offered up to paying and non-paying users alike on Hulu. Netflix chose to release all 8 episodes of the big-budget Lilyhammer at once for viewers to plow through. Hulu's Battleground is dropping a new episode every Tuesday in classic TV fashion. Both companies are trying to gain a foothold in scripted content outside the traditional TV industry. For Netflix, this is only natural, but Hulu is partially owned by TV studios. It seems unlikely its benefactors would like to see too much original web content take off. |
| Time Warner Releases Live TV Streaming Web App Posted: 14 Feb 2012 02:41 PM PST  Time Warner has rolled out a new TV viewing option for its customers to enjoy from the safety of home (and only from home). Live TV streams are now flowing to compatible web browsers for those with Time Warner TV and internet services. The TWC TV web app is in beta, but supports Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Although, the service does have a number of catches.
Users will first need to install the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in if it's not already present. Viewers can only watch live TV at home, where the cable box is set up. Additionally, content from Viacom (like Comedy Central and MTV) are not included in the new streaming service. It was Viacom that pitched a fit last year when Time Warner started streaming content to mobile devices. The TWC TV app also has guide data for 7 days and DVR controls. These features will work anywhere; it's just the streaming that is limited to the home. Do you think content companies will ever get over their fear of online streaming? |
| Google Open DNS Now Out of Experimental Phase with 70 Billion Daily Requests Posted: 14 Feb 2012 02:25 PM PST  Most users are content to use the default DNS servers run by their ISP, but it turns out that quite a few folks have made the jump to a third-part solution. Google announced today that its public DNS system is no longer "experimental" and has become the largest in existence with upwards of 70 billion requests every single day. To top it off, 70% of that traffic comes from outside the U.S..
DNS servers are used to turn the URL you type into the address bar into the IP address your computer actually connects to. Since Google Public DNS launched in December 2009, Google has been hard at work making the system faster for users in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Google also added access points in new regions like Africa, India, and Japan. There are also IPv6 versions of Google's DNS servers. Anyone that wants to try Google DNS can change their DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Your ISPs servers might work just fine, but users in many places fear government mandated DNS blocking. If you've been using Google Open DNS, let us know how it works for you. |
| HP Breaks New Ground with First 27-inch All-in-One Workstation Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:47 AM PST  We've seen workstations before, and we've seen plenty of all-in-one (AIO) PCs, but according to Hewlett-Packard, there has never been a 27-inch AIO that qualified as a workstation. Until now. HP claims its Z1 Workstation is the world's first to combine both types of systems into a 27-inch form factor, and what's more, the OEM says it's a snap to swap out parts without using any tools, a feature that's few and far between in the AIO sector, but critical if it's to be taken seriously as a workstation.
"The revolutionary HP Z1 sets a new industry standard for workstation design, performance and serviceability," said Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager, Commercial Solutions Business Unit, HP. "With its game-changing design and an experience that optimizes visual and computing performance, the HP Z1 will help attract new customers and expand our market leadership." The Z1 can be configured with an Intel Core i3 2120, Xeon E3-1245, or Xeon E3-1280 processor. It supports up to 32GB of DDR3 memory, integrated and discrete level graphics (up to a Nvidia Quadro Q4000M), various HDD and SSD options, and up to a Blu-ray writer for optical duties. The Z1 also ships with six external USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, 6-in-1 media card reader, GbE LAN, a single PCI-E x16 slot, three mini PCI-E slots, and a 400W power supply. HP says the Z1 Workstation will be available in April starting at $1,899. Image Credit: HP |
| Analyst: Tablet Sales Will Leave PC Sales in the Dust by 2015 Posted: 14 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST  We have a hard time believing tablet PCs will knock the desktop and notebook markets out cold, but that doesn't mean these portable slabs of hardware aren't ultra-popular. They're so popular, in fact, that at least one analyst believes tablet PCs sales will skip way ahead of traditional PC sales in just three years. There is, however, a major caveat
Here's the deal. A new report by BI Intelligence predicts tablet sales will reach nearly 500 million units by 2015, compared to 'just' 360 million traditional PC sales. However, those tablet PC figures also include dedicated eBook readers, which is a popular market in and of itself, and one that doesn't compete with PCs in any form. That right there might be enough to render the report worthless in the eyes of some, though it appears that even without eBook readers included in the mix, BI still thinks tablet sales will surpass PC sales, but by a much slimmer margin (around 40 million units). Lower prices will help drive tablet sales, and according to BI, the Kindle Fire was proof positive that there's a lot of "pent-up demand" for a solid, sub-$500 tablet. |
| Cooler Master Outs Silent Pro M2 Series PSUs Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:52 AM PST No matter how Kick Ass your gaming rig is, the PC's bound to crash and burn if your power supply isn't up to snuff. Cooler Master's Silent Pro M series of PSUs gets a lot of love from hardcore system builders for its efficiency, silent running and reasonable price -- and now it's getting an update. Today, the company pulled the proverbial curtain off the creatively named Silent Pro M2 series, which Cooler Master claims is better than its predecessor in every possible way. 
A wide range of models will be available when the PSUs hit the streets sometime next month: 420W, 520W, 620W, 720W, 850W and 1000W models are all planned in prices ranging from €80 ($105) to €170 ($223). The 850W and 1000W variants are 80 Plus Silver, while the rest are "just" 80 Plus Bronze. All of the Silent Pro M2 PSUs sport a single 12V rail, modular cabling, and a new 135mm Hydraulic Dynamic Bearing fan that should help to keep things cool and quiet (with a little help from a copper-aluminum heat sink.) The series also includes a host of different power protections, and if those safeguards somehow fail to work, Cooler Master backs up its product with a 5-year warranty. Listing out the various specs would take a lot of space, so if you're interested, head on over to the Silent Pro M2 Series page over at the Cooler Master website for more info and pics. As we said, expect to start seeing these in March. |
| OCZ Unveils 16TB Solid State Storage Solution for Cloud Computing Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:30 AM PST  With so much data moving to the cloud these days, OCZ figured the time was right to roll out its Z-Drive R4 CloudServ PCI Express solid storage solution, essentially a massive 16TB solid state drive (SSD) designed to accelerate cloud computing applications and significantly cut down operating costs in the data center, the company explains.
"The Z-Drive R4 CloudServ PCIe solid state drive delivers game-changing performance and enables clients to process massive data-sets with up to 16TB of storage capacity on a single, easy-to-deploy card," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology. "With this new solution, system architects are able to design more efficient and dynamic cloud computing infrastructures while simultaneously reducing system complexity and the high maintenance costs associated with traditional infrastructures." OCZ says its Z-Drive R4 CloudServ serves up to 6GB/s of bandwidth and delivers up to 1.4 million IOPS. It's built around cost effective multi-level cell (MLC) memory, supports 256-bit AES encryption, and implements OCZ's proprietary Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) 2.0 to provide a multifaceted virtualization layer with TRIM, SCSI unmap, and SMART monitoring. The Z-Drive R4 CloudServ will be available in capacities ranging from 300GB to 16TB. No word on price. |
| Proview Seeks iPad Export Ban In China, Could Choke Off Worldwide Supply Posted: 14 Feb 2012 10:06 AM PST  Apple's been harassing Samsung (and others) around the globe, using legislation and intellectual property nuances to suffocate competitive sales and yank Galaxy Tabs off store shelves. Now it's Apple's turn. After a Chinese court ruled that Apple has no right to use the "iPad" name in mainland China because a company called Proview Technology (Shenzhen) holds the trademark, Proview announced they were suing Apple for $1.6 billion in damages. Now, Proview wants a complete iPad import/export ban -- and since all iPads are manufactured in China, an export ban could choke off worldwide supply for the mega-popular tablet.
Yesterday, the Verge reported that government officials began confiscating iPads from stores in Shijiazhuang, the capital of the Heibei province. Today, Proview told the Associated Press that it is seeking similar actions in 30 additional cities, as well as the aforementioned ban on exports and imports. "We are now working on a request to China Customs to ban and seize all the import and export of the iPad products that have violated the trademark," said Xie Xianghui, a lawyer for the company. Funnily enough, the MPAA/RIAA's plight against overseas pirates is helping Proview try to strangle to iPad sales. The laws that allow Proview to ask for the iPad ban were originally enacted to stop Chinese counterfeiters from shipping trademark-infringing items to other countries. Of course, since Apple is sitting on $97.6 billion in cold, hard cash, we're guessing the company would just peel off a few bills for Proview before it let the supply of iPads grind to a halt. Still, we have to ask: now that you've had a taste, does your litigious medicine taste bitter, Apple? (For more information about the complicated trademark battle between Apple and Proview, read our coverage of the Chinese judge's ruling back in December.) Image credit: myessentia.com |
| Google Evangelist Recommends Against Using Swipe-to-Unlock on Android Posted: 14 Feb 2012 09:23 AM PST  If your penchant for frequently washing your hands ventures into obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) territory, by all means, you're probably safe to use Android's swipe-to-unlock security feature to keep nosy Nancys from spying your contacts and text messages. But for the rest of us, so-called '"reverse smudge engineering" might be the bane of greasy fingers.
Canadian software developer, entrepreneur, and current Google employee, Tim Bray, warns that the swipe-to-unlock feature in Android is fairly easily thwarted just be looking at the pattern of smudges your fingertips leave behind. "Last year I was touring around with a bunch of Googlers doing DevFests and Developer Days and so on, and an emergency arose when a couple of colleagues had my original Galaxy Tab and needed to use it for something, but I wasn't there. They managed to figure out my pattern by looking at the fingerprints on the glass and it only took them a few minutes. Maybe I'm a little greasier than average, but that's still sobering," Bray explained in a blog post. Bray, whose opinions are his own and don't necessarily reflect that of Google's, favors the PIN feature, which works for him because he feels he could punch in his code "really, really fast" so even if someone were to peer over his shoulder, they'd have no clue what numbers he pressed. Do you lock your phone down, and if so, what method do you use? Image Credit: Gizmodo |
| Samsung Weighing Pros and Cons of Spinning Off LCD Business Posted: 14 Feb 2012 08:58 AM PST  Samsung's mobile DRAM business is at the top of its game, and the company is doing pretty well moving smartphones and tablets, too. The company's LCD flat-screen television business is an entirely different story. Samsung has been losing money on LCD TVs and is reportedly thinking about spinning its LCD division off, though no decision has yet been made.
"We are internally reviewing various options," Samsung spokesman James Chung told Reuters, "but nothing has been decided yet." Samsung's LCD business resulted in an $891 million operating loss for all of 2011, so it's easy to see why the company would consider ditching TVs and focus more heavily on profitable sectors like mobile devices and memory products. Another option being discussed is merging Samsung's LCD business with Samsung Mobile Display, a joint venture with Samsung Electronics and affiliate Samsung SDI Co. that produces OLED panels. News of the possible spinoff and merger comes after Samsung's LCD partnership with Sony ended in late 2011. |
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