| Google Chrome Becomes World's Most-Used Web Browser, Kinda Posted: 21 May 2012 11:20 AM PDT  Well, here's something we didn't think we'd be saying yet: by one group's numbers, Google Chrome just passed Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser in the world. The difference is only a fraction of a single percentage point, but nevertheless, the king has fallen in ridiculously short order -- Chrome passed Firefox for the second-place spot less than six months ago.
Although Chrome's come out ahead on the weekend a few times, this marks the first time it's snatched the crown for an entire week. The International Business Times (yep, we're well-rounded folks) pointed us to the latest StatCounter numbers, which have Chrome sitting pretty with a 31.88 percent global browser share for last week, compared to IE's 31.47 percent slice of the pie. Firefox sits in a not-too-distant third with 26.42 percent. Chrome's share has been steadily increasing over the past year, while IE's been in a constant free-fall. Don't count Internet Explorer out yet, though; Microsoft's baby is still tops in North America, South America and Asia, though IBT says the lead over Chrome in the U.S. is less than three percentage points, with Chrome expected to tip the scales in Google's favor by the end of June. Of course, all of these metrics have to be taken with a grain of salt, as they can be heavily skewed depending on their data collection schemes. While Statcounter's numbers are well-regarded in the grand scheme of things, it collects its data based off of straight page views from 3 million websites. Another top browser watching firm, Net Applications, only tracks around 40,000 sites, but it draws its data from daily unique visitors rather than page view metrics alone -- and that service has Chrome in third place in the browser wars with an 18.85 percent global share, compared to Firefox's 20.20 percent and IE's 54.09 percent. Basically, it's all in how you look at things, but no matter what angle you take, this is a big moral victory for Chrome -- and a big loss for Internet Explorer. Follow Brad on Google+ or Twitter |
| Thermaltake's Black Element Cyclone Edition Mouse Blows (Thanks To Detachable Fan) Posted: 21 May 2012 10:33 AM PDT  If your hot and heavy Diablo 3 sessions lead to sweaty palms and finger slippage, worry not: help is on the way courtesy of Thermaltake. Today, the company's Tt ESports division announced the Black Element Cyclone Edition mouse, which is an enhanced version of the basic Black Element mouse, complete with a detachable 6,000 RPM fan attached to cool down your overheated digits. No, really!
According to Thermaltake's press release, the Black Element Cyclone Edition hits 2.7 cubic feet of airflow per minute, a rate that the company claims can "efficiently dry off the hand" thanks to the close proximity of the fan to the mouse itself. Now, we know what you're thinking: mo' fans, mo' noise problems! Again, don't worry. The Black Element Cyclone rocks a scant 21.7 decibels, which Thermaltake says is less than the ambient noise level at a typical library. 
And as we said, if even that's too loud, you can always detach the detachable fan, neatly turning the Black Element Cyclone Edition into a traditional gaming mouse with 6,500 dpi laser sensitivity and 22.5g worth of customizable weights. It even packs a military-grade rubber coating to keep your hand from slipping if you do decide to deactivate the fan. Interested gamers can read up on the Black Element Cyclone Edition over on the Tt eSports website. So, time to share your thoughts: is a detachable mouse fan is genuinely useful or just a gimmick? Follow Brad on Google+ or Twitter |
| Linux 3.4 Released With Increased Graphics Support And Big Btrfs Improvements Posted: 21 May 2012 10:07 AM PDT  Some head-in-the-clouds philosophical types say time is like a rubber band, stretching out slowly then snapping forward in a burst; the proof to that hypothesis may just lie in the humble Linux kernel. It took Linus and co. a whopping 20 years to finally release Linux 3.0 last July, and less than a year later, Linux 3.4 is already here. The new build brings several new things to the table, with a multitude of Brtfs updates and support for the latest graphics options being the most noticeable changes.
Linux 3.4 sports initial support for Nvidia's GeForce GTX 600 series, although it's limited to basic unaccelerated modesetting. Experimental support for the graphics portion of Intel's new smartphone-focused Medfield chips is also included, as is full support for AMD's Radeon 7000 series and the brand spankin' new Trinity APU. (Now we just need Steam for Linux to finally rear its head…) Btrfs got a whole heap of improvements, including enhanced performance and error handling, larger metadata blocks and new repair data recovery tools. As with any Linux kernel update, that's just the tip of the iceberg, though most of the other changes are either minor or behind the scenes (including the interesting "X32 ABI," which lets some 64-bit programs run with 32-bit pointers). Read all the dirty details in Linus' LKML announcement or on the Kernel Newbies website. Follow Brad on Google+ or Twitter |
| MSI Sends Z77A-GD80 Motherboard to the Thunderbolt Party Posted: 21 May 2012 06:51 AM PDT  If someone sent out invitations to Intel's Thunderbolt party, consider MSI as having received one, hence the release of the company's Z77A-GD80 mainboard that was first introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year. Built around Intel's Z77 chipset with support for 22nm (Ivy Bridge) processors, the Z77A-GD80 is one of a handful of Thunderbolt-equipped motherboards making their debut today.
"With Thunderbolt, external device connectivity problems faced by high-end users are alleviated such as: poor data transfer rates, every device requiring an independent connection port, and transfer speed dropping low when sending and receiving files simultaneously due to lack of bandwidth, etc," MSI explains. "The all new Thunderbolt transfer technology provides an extremely large bi-direction 10Gbps bandwidth, which allows simultaneous connection of high resolution monitors, storage devices and even a graphics card." Don't worry if you favor USB 3.0 to Thunderbolt, you'll find two of those on the rear, along with four USB 2.0 ports, plus a few more of each via headers on the mainboard. Other features include MSI's Military Class III components, UEFI BIOS, SATA 6Gbps ports, PCI Express Gen 3, Nvidia SLI and AMD Crossfire support, and other odds and ends. MSI didn't announce a price or specify when the Z77A-GD80 will find its way onto store shelves. Image Credit: MSI |
| What the Facebook? Shares of the Popular Social Playground Slide Below IPO Price Posted: 21 May 2012 06:35 AM PDT  Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg tied the knot over the weekend, marrying his sweetheart of more than 9 years, and hopefully his marriage doesn't sputter the way Facebook's initial public offering (IPO) has. On just its second day of trading, the world's largest social playground saw its shares dip below its IPO price of $38 on Monday, a bad sign for those who thought pouring a ton of money into Facebook at the outset would lead to easy riches.
A report in The Wall Street Journal noticed the poor pre-market trading price, which at the time of this writing had dipped to around $35 per share, down around 8.45 percent. It's hard to tell what will happen as the day goes on, but it's conceivable that Facebook's stock price could end up closing below its $38 IPO price. Facebook investors aren't the only ones paying the price, so to speak. The disappointing debut seems to have affected other online and social stocks, including Zynga (down 6.7 percent in pre-market trading), Groupon (down 3.89 percent), LinkedIn (down 3.55 percent), and Pandora (down 2.76 percent). |
| Asus One of the First to Strike with an Intel Thunderbolt Certified Motherboard Posted: 21 May 2012 06:18 AM PDT  Asus on Monday announced the launch of its P8Z77-V Premium motherboard, the flagship slice of silicon in the P8Z77 Series and, as it happens to be the case, the first Intel certified mainboard to boast a Thunderbolt interface, the company claims. Remember Thunderbolt? It's the previously much hyped high-speed interface from Intel that was supposed to give USB 3.0 a run for its money, though Intel claimed from Day 1 that the two technologies were meant to co-exist and not necessarily compete with each other.
Whatever the case may be, Asus made sure to point out that "Thunderbolt is 2 times faster than USB 3.0 and an incredible 20 times faster than USB 2.0." It has a maximum bi-directional speed of 10Gbps, and you can daisy chain up to six Thunderbolt devices on the P8Z77-V Premium, which also offers full display support for a seventh Thunderbolt or DisplayPort equipped monitor. Luckily for those of you who are lovers of technology and not fighters of interface standards, there are plenty of USB options on the P8Z77-V Premium as well, including four USB 3.0 ports on the back panel and two on the mainboard, and half a dozen USB 2.0 ports overall (two on back, four on the mainboard). Full specs can be found on the P8Z77-V Premium's product page. No word yet on price or availability. Image Credit: Asus |
| U.S. Cable Companies Team Up Like Avengers, Envision Wi-Fi Hotspots for All Posted: 21 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT  To answer Rodney King's question, yes, we can all get along, even U.S. cable companies, a handful of which formed a super alliance of sorts to give subscribers access to tens of thousands of hotspots. Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable are the five stateside cable companies working together to expand what's known as 'CableWiFi' into more areas other than New York City and central Florida, where the hotspot service has already launched.
Each of the five above mentioned cable outfits will integrate CableWiFi into their own Wi-Fit hotspot areas, creating a massive wireless network for subscribers to use, no matter which of the participating cable companies they're signed up with. "This effort adds great value to our high speed Internet customers by providing free wireless Internet access on all of their Wi-Fi enabled devices in our markets and additional areas across the country," said Nomi Bergman, President of Bright House Networks. Collectively, the five cable operators participating in the CableWiFi initiative offer more than 50,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in New York City and the surrounding Tri-State area, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando, and Philadelphia, both indoor and outdoor. Subscribers can find the nearest Wi-Fi hotspots by visiting www.cablewifi.com. This is the largest and most inclusive Wi-Fi sharing initiative to date, the participating cable companies said in a joint press release. Image Credit: Bright House Networks |
