| Apple, Samsung Both Losers in South Korea Court Posted: 24 Aug 2012 12:47 PM PDT  The high profile trial between Apple and Samsung in the U.S. has yet to be decided, but in a South Korean court, a three-judge panel ruled that both firms are infringing on each other. Both were awarded damages, and hit with with sales bans to infringing smartphones and tablets, although not any of the newer devices, including the iPhone 4S, iPad, or Samsung Galaxy S III.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the judges found Apple in violation of two Samsung technology patents, and Samsung in violation of a single Apple patent. Even though both lost, Samsung has more to celebrate, as the South Korean court is the first to side with the firm in the argument that its standards-related patents are undervalued. The ruling gives Samsung ammunition in other related cases. "We welcome today's ruling, which affirms our position that Apple has been using our mobile telecommunications standards patents without having obtained the necessary licenses," Samsung said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. "Today's ruling also affirmed our position that one single company cannot monopolize generic design features." Barring an appeal, Aplpe must cease sales of the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and first and second generation iPad devices in South Korea. Samsung, meanwhile, was ordered to stop selling a dozen products, including the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, and Galaxy Tab, all effective immediately. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Modder Saves Dark Souls PC Port from Crappy Resolution Restriction Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:43 AM PDT  It took forever and a day (actually, just a year, it only feels longer), but From Software's popular console title, Dark Souls, is now available on the PC. The console version of the Japanese hit was generally lauded by reviewers and game critics, and for better or worse, PC gamers finally get to see what all the fuss is about in a faithful port of the title to Windows.
Perhaps too faithful. Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (as publisher Namco Bandai has rebranded it for the PC) locked the resolution at 1024x720. Most PC gamers, and especially hardcore ones, have long since graduated to bigger and better screen resolutions, and luckily for the lot of us, NeoGAF forum member and modder "Durante" came up with a mod within hours of the game's release that allows you to change the resolution. That's good news, because the game has potential. Our sister site, PC Gamer, posted a three-page online review of the PC port, awarding the game an 89/100 verdict and calling it a "deep, dark, challenging, and impossibly rewarding fantasy RPG." Check out the review, and if it floats your boat, you can grab the title for $40. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| MSI Upgrades GT70 0NE Gaming Laptop with GeForce GTX 680M GPU Posted: 24 Aug 2012 09:16 AM PDT  MSI describes its flagship G Series GT70 0NE as "the most awesome gaming notebook ever," a description we're sure its competitors would disagree with, though you can't argue with the laundry list of high end parts crammed underneath the hood. The newest piece of hardware to crawl inside MSI's GT70 laptop is Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680M GPU, only the fastest mobile graphics chip currently available.
You have to spend big to play big, though, and the GT70 0NE configured with a 680M GPU and loaded to the tilt streets for around $2,600. That's not cheap for a 17.3-inch laptop. MSI justifies the hefty price tag by equipping the system with heavy hitting components, including an Intel Core i7 3610QM quad-core processor (Ivy Bridge) clocked at 2.3GHz, 16GB of DDR3-1600 memory, a pair of 128GB solid state drives humming in RAID 0 and flanked by a 750GB hard drive, Blu-ray burner, Killer Gaming Network card, SteelSeries backlit keyboard, 720p HD webcam, 9-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. There are cheaper configurations available starting at around $1,500 street, which includes the same processor, 12GB of memory, no solid state drives, and a GeForce GTX 670M GPU. MSI also sells less expensive versions of the GT70 0NE built around the GTX 680M starting at $2,200, which is spec'd like the $2,600 rig above but with 64GB SSDs instead of 128GB. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Consumer Watchdog Group Barks at Google's FTC Settlement, Files Motion in Court Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:46 AM PDT  Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit consumer education and advocacy organization operating out of California, has filed a motion in U.S. District Court opposing Google's $22.5 million settlement with with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month. The organization isn't happy with the fine amount, but just as important, it doesn't believe Google should be able to deny any wrongdoing.
Google settled a suit with the FTC in early August following an investigation that it was planting advertising cookies on machines running Apple's Safari browser, and doing so by circumventing built-in cookie blocking measures. The $22.5 million fine was the largest ever handed out by the FTC and was intended to send a "clear message to all companies" that such behavior would not be tolerated. However, the fine hardly amounted to a kiss on the wrist for Google, which raked in $37.9 billion in revenue last year, almost all of which came from advertising. "The Commission is proposing to let Google buy its way out of trouble for an amount that is less than the company spends on lunches for its employees and with no admission it did anything wrong," said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project director. "Corporations need to be held accountable when they willfully violate a consent agreement." The motion (PDF) requests that Consumer Watchdog be granted friend-of-the-court status, thereby allowing it to submit briefs opposing the settlement. It also asks for a hearing on the proposed deal, with Consumer Watchdog being allowed to attend. Image Credit: Flickr (MandeeSears) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Amazon Inks Expanded Prime Instant Video Deal with NBCUniversal Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:19 AM PDT  With Google's recently launched Nexus 7 tablet encroaching on what had been Amazon's territory led by the Kindle Fire, the e-tailer is busy beefing up what it hopes will prove a trump card. You can't stream Amazon Prime Instant Video to the Nexus 7, but you can on the Kindle Fire (provided you didn't root the device and feed it Ice Cream Sandwich), which will now enjoy access to an even larger catalog courtesy of an expanded content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal and New Media Distribution.
The expanded deal adds hundreds of popular TV episodes to Prime, including past seasons of Parks and Recreation, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, and more. "We continue to invest heavily in our content selection for Prime members, and have now reached over 22,000 movies and TV episodes available instantly with unlimited streaming," said Brade Beale, Director of Digital Video Content Acquisition for Amazon. In addition the Kindle Fire, Amazon's Prime Instant Video service is available on the iPad, Roku, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and several other compatible devices. The subscription service costs $79 annually and also includes free two-day shipping on millions of items, along with one free Kindle eBook rental per month from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. If you're a student, you can access the service free for six months, after which time it flips to a discounted $39/year membership. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 24 Aug 2012 08:08 AM PDT 
If you're a PC user, Windows 8 is coming to get you whether you like it or not. Upgrade prices are thoroughly reasonable and you should see a performance increase no matter how old your system is. But before you buy it, you should probably read our mammoth review, because Windows has changed… a lot. This week we've also been looking at a wide range of other exciting gear, so check it out and let @techradar know what's on your techy wish list! Canon 1DX review A price tag of £5,299/$6,799 brings certain expectations, and the Canon EOS-1DX's build lives up to them. This is a camera that you can expect to survive several years of heavy use. Thanks to the control layout and deep comfortable grips it is also one that you can enjoy using. The Canon EOS-1DX's noise control and autofocus performance particularly impress, and these are key areas for professional photojournalists who need a camera that they can rely on to get a decent image, whatever the conditions. With an f/2.8 lens, the 1DX can focus in very low light, and even at high sensitivities it delivers images that are clean enough to turn into full-page prints. 
Windows 8 review Windows 8 is faster - you'll notice the difference on older PCs as much as on new ones. Battery life improves enough to be noticeable. And it's significantly more secure. That makes the low upgrade price a bargain, and given that you can upgrade from any version of Windows, you only need to pay more than the upgrade price if you're building a new PC from parts. And then there are the features, such as Storage Space and File History, or the new Windows Explorer, or better multi-monitor support. The charm bar, especially the handy icons on the Setting bar, puts most of the tools you actually use to manage your PC at your fingertips. The cloud integration in Windows 8 is a game changer. 
YouView review As small, affordable upgrade to a BT Vision box, we can see YouView carving a tidy little niche. As a stand-alone service for the rest of us, YouView could be a world-beater - and the addition of Sky Movies via Now TV will attract some. Still, we're sure YouView was primarily meant to be for those who want to watch EastEnders reruns from the previous day without firing up a laptop; the creators of this platform will have to be very careful in adding apps and services that dilute its free-to-air roots. Perhaps content from the likes of Now TV and other on-demand film apps such as Netflix, Lovefilm or Acetrax should only be present on YouView if you activate them. Its development will be interesting to watch, though we do know one thing; YouView is so much nicer to use than separate apps on a smart TV. Other reviews this week: Cameras Nikon Coolpix S9300 review Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-TX20 review Cases Cooler Master Elite 120 Advanced review Lian Li PC-Q03B review Chillblast Fusion Vacuum Mini review HIS HD 7870 IceQ GHz Edition review Desktops ViBox Boss-X review Graphics Cards Asus GTX 660 Ti DCU II Top review Zotac GT 640 ZONE review Keyboards Corsair Vengeance K90 review Monitors BenQ GW2750HM review Tablets Hands on: Archos 10 XS |
| Powercolor Dances with the Devil 13 HD7990 Dual GPU Graphics Card Posted: 24 Aug 2012 07:01 AM PDT  TUL Corporation's PowerColor division just unveiled one hell of a graphics card. It's the Devil 13 HD7990, and this fiery card wages war with dual Tahiti XT GPUs, the same as found in AMD's single GPU Radeon HD 7970 videocard. It's the first to launch out of AMD's much anticipated HD 7990 series, and the card looks every bit as beastly as you would expect from a part that takes up three slots.
PowerColor clocked the Devil 13 HD7990's GPU at 925MHz and 6GB of GDDR5 memory at 1,375MHz. With the flip of a dual-BIOS switch button, the core clockspeed is goosed to 1,000MHz. There are 10 heatpipes and three fans cooling the hardware underneath the massive shroud. Pop it off and you'll discover a printed circuit board (PCB) with a 12+2+2 power phase design and several other enhancements as part of PowerColor's "platinum power kit" designed to enhance stability and deliver steady voltage to the GPU. There's no word on price, but considering the Radeon HD 7970 streets for $410 and up, we'd be surprised if this one one didn't come close to the $1,000 mark. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| PC Shipments Stagnate Ahead of Windows 8 Launch, IDC Says Posted: 24 Aug 2012 06:25 AM PDT  With Microsoft getting ready to launch its next generation operating system (OS), buyers and vendors appear stuck in a holding pattern staring at soon-to-be dated inventory. As a result, analysts at International Data Corporation (IDC) lowered their outlook on the market and now predict the PC shipments will grow just 0.9 percent in 2012. That's actually up slightly compared to one year ago, though it's the second consecutive year of sub-2 percent growth, IDC says.
IDC's analysis is reflected in disappointing quarters by major OEMs like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, the latter of which noted it's been "challenging" trying to grow a PC business lately, the same word IDC used to describe the current environment. "The U.S. market will remain depressed until Windows 8 products hit the shelves in the fourth quarter of 2012. The industry is responding by reducing shipments of PCs and clearing Windows 7-based inventories to pave the way for a new generation of systems. But, as we move into the tail end of the third quarter, PC activity will continue to slow as demand drops. The third-quarter back to school season is also proving to be a challenging period, despite prices dropping to their lowest levels. We expect the year will end with shipments in the U.S. falling by 3.7 percent, marking the second consecutive year of contraction," said David Daoud, research director, Personal Computing at IDC. It's not all gloom and doom, however; IDC says Windows 8 coupled with Ultrabooks could present a positive turn of events next year, though that assumes the market will react positively to Microsoft's touch-friendly OS rather than run it out of town like Windows ME, which was only on store shelves a year before XP appeared. Image Credit: Dell Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
![[Gamescom] Warface Winning Best Social/Casual/Online Game in Gamescom Awards 2012](https://lh3-testonly.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vhEXX3XInvkuaGqzN5A6WSlZguF0aKW72MtOI0xXBcUaUmSqLvmS4yiA9hiFVo1WnDp8jqRECjbhbstBSb9z8i7Tg5wYzQaC-CuuIwswXhUe4AtCKbXQrM5W68eo6-=s0-d)
