VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Jul 2012 Issue by VR Media Pte. Ltd.

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Samsung to provide Jelly Bean upgrade for "eligible" devices Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-to-provide-jelly-beanupgrade-for-eligible-devices/16500.html July 1st, 2012

Samsung is really stepping up to the plate now-a-days, and unlike other Android OEMs, Samsung is quickly jumping on the Android Jelly Bean upgrade train. In a recent announcement, Samsung notified users that they will be providing upgrades for Jelly Bean “eligible” devices.

The Galaxy S II recently got an update to ICS so the S II Jelly Bean upgrade may not be a priority for Samsung. However, the S II is more than capable for powering the latest Android and it will be a shame if Samsung decides to not provide official Jelly Bean support for its S III predecessor. This is the message straight from the “world’s largest smartphone manufacturer”: “Samsung will soon announce which additional devices are eligible for the Jelly Bean update. As the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung leads the Android community with best-in-class devices like the Galaxy S III, and is creating new device categories with products like the Galaxy Note. Samsung has delivered the most Nexusbranded lead OS devices and we are pleased that Google will be bringing Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S customers the first experiences of Jelly Bean on a handheld device.”

Microsoft Office 2013 icons and built-in PDF editing Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-office-2013-icons-andbuilt-in-pdf-editing/16497.html July 1st, 2012

Office 2013 will be Microsoft’s next installment of its office suite software, and, as with all other previous releases, there will be new icons to represent each particular program. Oh yea, MS Office 2013 will also have built-in PDF editing! Office 2013 will be Microsoft’s next installment of its office suite software, and, as with all other previous releases, there will be new icons to represent each particular program. Oh yea, MS Office 2013 will also have built-in PDF editing! Samsung is really stepping up to the plate now-a-days, and unlike other Android OEMs, Samsung is quickly jumping on the Android Jelly Bean upgrade train. In a recent announcement, Samsung notified users that they will be providing upgrades for Jelly Bean “eligible” devices. Eligible devices can mean anything more than two, three, four, and maybe even all of Samsung’s Android devices. As much as we hope that Samsung will provide Jelly Beans for many of its devices, it’s also very unlikely that Samsung will put forth the resources to provide Android upgrades for its lineup of Android powered devices. Their flagship device, Galaxy S III, is the first candidate to receive the Jelly Bean update. If you consider the Galaxy Nexus a Samsung device (which it is…) then the S III will be the second. Nonetheless, the S III along with a few other Samsung devices will receive Jelly Bean in the coming months.

Two MS Office 2013 icons shown on liveside.net may be the blueprint to the whole suite. As seen from the OneNote and the Excel icons, the letter that corresponds to the programs, “N” and “X”, are imprinted in white into a rectangle at a slightly skewed angle. There’s a very slim chance that the rest of the icons for MS Office 2013 will deviate from that of the OneNote and Excel examples.

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Furthermore, the annoying font caching requirement is eliminated in the update so you’ll never have to wait for the cache to finish building before a video starts. For those that are on PowerPC Macs with ATI Radeon 7500/9200, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra, or Intel GMA 950 the update also means “video output improvements.” For those that want to edit PDF documents in MS Office, the 2013 suite will come with PDF editing built-in. All that needs to be done prior to editing a PDF is locating the file and opening it, and there is no need to install third party software. The public beta release of MS Office 2013 is rumored to be on the way within a week or two so be on the lookout for it. You may be able to try out all the nifty features and decide for yourself if the suite is worth an investment.

VLC 2.0.2 enhanced for Retina Display Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/vlc-2.0.2-enhanced-for-retinadisplay/16494.html July 1st, 2012

For those that already own a MacBook Pro with Retina Display (HiDPI), VLC 2.0.2 is now available for enhanced experience on devices with Retina Displays.

There are a variety of other improvements and fixes in VLC 2.0.2, but there are no official ETA on a Windows 64 bit package just yet. There is an experimental Windows 64 bits VLC installer, but the official release for Windows only has the 32 bits installer for now. Check out the official release page for full details on the VLC 2.0.2 update.

First Look: ASUS ROG Maximus V Extreme (Z77) - An Overclocker's Dream Motherboard Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/first-look-asus-rog-maximus-vextreme-z77--an-overclocker-s-dream-motherboard/16453.html July 1st, 2012

Last month we looked at the much coveted Maximus V Formula and today we have another board from the ASUS Republic of Gamers team in our hands. Featuring 4-way GPU support and an elaborate host of overclocker centric features in an extended ATX form factor, could the Maximus V Extreme be the Z77 motherboard that hardcore Ivy Bridge enthusiasts have been waiting for? Last month we looked at the much coveted Maximus V Formula and today we have another board from the ASUS Republic of Gamers team in our hands. Featuring 4-way SLi/CrossfireX support and a host of overclocker centric features in an extended ATX form factor, could the Maximus V Extreme be the Z77 motherboard that hardcore Ivy Bridge enthusiasts have been waiting for?

For those that already own a MacBook Pro with Retina Display (HiDPI), VLC 2.0.2 is now available for enhanced experience on devices with Retina Displays.

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

The package includes accessories like SATA cables and wireless antennas and the mandatory documentation and driver CD.

Here we have the box of the Maximus V Extreme, which includes a flip-open section highlighting some of the features of the motherboard and specifications.

First introduced with the X79 Rampage IV Extreme, one of the key attraction of ASUS's top Z77 offering is the "OC Key", a pass-through dongle which adds a menu overlay on the active DVI display signal to adjust usual overclocking parameters, without incurring any precious CPU interrupts. The latest version also allows direct trigger of OC Key without touching the ROG Connect button on the motherboard and can monitor actual CPU load with the amount of electrical current supplied. One minor drawback is that it only supports up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz (our Dell 30-inch native resolution is 2560x1600), due to the fact that it takes single link DVI only.

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 1st, 2012

Also found on the other Z77 ROG Formula/Gene boards, the bundled mPCIe combo card comes with a mSATA expansion slot and a wireless module capable of Wi-Fi 802.11 AGBN + Bluetooth 4.0. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating Google over patent abuse charges against Motorola Mobility Unit, which is now owned by Google. The FTC have allegedly issued a civil investigative demand and will be seeking to establish whether or not Motorola is reaching out to rivals such as Microsoft and Apple and making good faith efforts to license its technology to these competitors. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating Google over patent abuse charges against Motorola Mobility Unit, which is now owned by Google. The FTC have allegedly issued a civil investigative demand and will be seeking to establish whether or not Motorola is reaching out to rivals such as Microsoft and Apple and making good faith efforts to license its technology to these competitors. An anti-trust investigation is already being conducted by the FTC to establish whether Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s search-result rankings and other business practices are carried out in a way that is detrimental to competitors. "We take our commitments to license on fair, reasonable and non- discriminatory terms very seriously and are happy to answer any questions," a Google spokeswoman said today. Earlier this month, the FTC filed a statement with the ITC, whose primary responsibility is to protect US markets from unfair trade practices, recommending that limits should be placed on efforts by corporations to attain orders blocking imports of competitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; products over the use of patents that are essential to industry-wide technological developments..

In addition to the standard ribbon cables for CrossFireX and SLi, ASUS has also bundled convenient 3-way and 4-way SLi hard bridges for multi-GPU operation.

With regards to Motorola, the question at hand is whether it is licensing its patented technology on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. FRAND terms, which are intended to ensure that major corporations avoid abusive patent-related behavior, are an essential check and balance in the Information Technology industry and any behavior that seems to not be fair and reasonable can lead to complaints being filed by rivals. For instance, Motorola has been accused of demanding excessive licensing fees for legal access to its technology. Microsoft has made claims that Motorola has demanded about $4 billion per year for patents related to its Xbox gaming console. Motorola asserts that there is no truth to these claims. The European Commission has already opened a patent abuse investigation into Motorola, due to complaints from Microsoft and Apple.

Google Faces Anti-Trust Probe on Patent Claims Abuse

Apple Cleared of Scrambling Patent Infringement Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-cleared-of-scrambling-patentinfringement/16489.html July 1st, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-faces-anti-trust-probe-onpatent-claims-abuse/16491.html

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Apple has yet another win under its belt with a pre-trial decision by a US District Court judge that clears Apple of the scrambling technology patent asserted by Samsung. In yet another success on Friday, Apple convinced California District Court Judge Koh that it is not infringing Samsung's claim relating to U.S. Patent No. 7,362,867, which is an "apparatus and method for generating scrambling code in UMTS mobile communication system". Apple and Samsung are gearing up to go head-to-head in a trial scheduled to start in the US in late July. Last week Apple won a string of pre-trial decisions relating to patents in what many are describing as a 'winning streak'. Cupertino appears well-positioned for the upcoming trial, having already been granted pre-trial injunctions against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy Nexus, while Samsung's 10 claims against Apple has been reduced to 6 by the Court. The two companies are currently embroiled in legal disputes over smartphone technology patents in ten countries.

Apple registers 8 more patents with China's Hong Kong IP Dept Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-registers-8-more-patentswith-china-s-hong-kong-ip-dept/16490.html July 1st, 2012

Apple has successfully registered 8 more patents with Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hong Kong IP Department to add to its huge international patents portfolio. Apple has successfully registered 8 more patents with Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hong Kong IP Department to add to its huge international patents portfolio. The Newsstand design patent is self-explanatory, but the patents regarding the keypad and messaging aspects of iOS are not as obvious. Check it out for yourself and tell us whether or not you think Apple deserves to have these patents registered.

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

over the power load but also because laboratory grade instruments have to be used for taking readings. For that purpose, we performed major hardware and software upgrades on the testing station that we have been using for the past couple of years. In order to be able to fully control our testing procedures and emulate real world conditions as closely as possible, we upgraded our reading instruments and replaced our resistive loads with fully electronic loads, thus achieving quality and accuracy in line with the most expensive of power supply testers currently available.

Behind the scenes: VR-Zone's PSU Testing Station Mark II

In order to create a real-world environment for our testing we decided to modify and use a common SECC steel tower case for housing the power supplies during our testing. Inside the case we installed three Watlow Firerods, rated at 500W power each, the output of which is being controlled by a common AC rheostat.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/behind-the-scenes-vr-zone-s-psutesting-station-mark-ii/16485.html July 1st, 2012

Here at VR-Zone we continuously strive to provide you with the highest quality and most accurate product reviews. Thoroughly and accurately testing a power supply is a complicated matter, not only because the testing has to be done in a controlled environment and with full control over the power load but also because laboratory grade instruments have to be used for taking readings. For that purpose, we performed major hardware and software upgrades on the testing station that we have been using for the past couple of years. In order to be able to fully control our testing procedures and emulate real world conditions as closely as possible, we upgraded our reading instruments and replaced our resistive loads with fully electronic loads, thus achieving quality and accuracy in line with the most expensive of power supply testers currently available.

The stock rheostat and its axle have been replaced with a multi-turn precision rheostat for accuracy, driven by a DC motor with a modified speed control circuit which is controlled by our CompuLAB interface and custom software. In layman's terms, we only have to enter our desired ambient temperature in our software and it automatically adjusts the power of the Firerods to match it throughout our testing.

In VR-Zone we continuously strive to provide you with the highest quality and most accurate product reviews. Thoroughly and accurately testing a power supply is a complicated matter, not only because the testing has to be done in a controlled environment and with full control 6

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Apple Users Unlikely To Switch Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-users-unlikely-toswitch/16487.html July 1st, 2012

A study by Goldman Sachs has shown that, not only are iOS users unlikely to switch from Apple's products to a competitor's products, but that they are also extremely valuable to the company, making up nearly half of the company's market cap. One analyst, Bill Shope at Goldman Sachs, has estimated the value of loyal Apple users, which are unlikely to switch to another platform, at nearly $295 billion. In a note to investors on Friday, the analyst said that he believes the average iOS customer is worth $1,053, assuming the average selling price of an iOS device is $535 with an erosion of 5%, a gross margin of 45%, and annual defections of 5%. Sharpe wrote that, without considering content, services, peripherals or growth potential, his valuation implies a value of nearly $295 billion for the current install base. That represents roughly 55% of Apple’s current market cap, before including the $110 billion cash balance the company has, a continuously growing install base or the Mac and iPod businesses.

It has been almost five years since Valve released Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and up until now there have been very little signs that Valve will continue or is working on another HalfLife game. A few days ago, however, some supposed leaked concept art of the next Half-Life surfaced via Valve Time.

Goldman Sachs also conducted a survey of 1,000 iOS users, which found that 21% of respondents would never defect from Apple’s platform, regardless of discounts. More than half of those who would switch, however, said they would need a discount of greater than 30% in order to do so. 71% of respondents said they were “highly likely” to choose Apple for their next tablet or smartphone; only 1% were “unlikely” to stick with Apple.

Possible Half-Life 3 concept art Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/possible-half-life-3-conceptart/16488.html July 1st, 2012

The concept art doesn't reveal much about what Valve may have in mind for the next Half-Life because most of the 7

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

pictures are depictions of Alyx Vance and some apparel for enduring cold weather. The ending of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 suggested that Freeman and Vance were heading to the Borealis, hence, the crashed helicopter in the snow and some snuggly outfits.

You can check out all the concept art via this Facebook page, and follow this steam forum thread and decide for yourself if Valve is indeed working on another Half-Life title. We have reached out to Valve concerning the concept art, but have not received any response. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll update if and when Valve decide to reply.

To begin with, the ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II (SKU: DRAGON HD7850-DC2O-2GD5) features slightly differerent board and cooler designs from those of the ASUS HD 7850 DirectCU II reference (HD7850-DC2-2GD5) and ASUS HD 7850 DirectCU II TOP (HD7850-DC2T-2GD5). The PCB features a strong 6 + 2 + 1 phase VRM, which consists of ASUS' SuperAlloy chokes (don't whine on load), high-grade LFPAK MOSFETs, Japanese condunctive polymer capacitors, tantalum capacitors, and Digi+ VRM controller (likely rebadged CHiL CHL8318), which works with the included GPU Tweak software to provide software voltage control. The card draws power from two 6-pin PCIe power connectors

ASUS Readies Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II Graphics Card Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-readies-dragon-hd-7850directcu-ii-graphics-card/16484.html July 1st, 2012

ASUS unveiled pictures of its Radeon HD 7850 DirectCU II Dragon Edition graphics card. The new SKU is designed for specific markets, and is expected to be priced on par with reference clock speed models, perhaps even replacing the HD 7850 DirectCU II. Factory overclocked speeds, and a revamped DirectCU II cooler give it the edge, even as it steers clear of the HD 7850 DirectCU TOP. Regardless of how high-end graphics card SKUs fare in the markets, it's the cost-performance "sweetspot" SKUs ($150$250), that provide bread and butter to GPU makers.As NVIDIA readies new GPUs for this segment in its GeForce GTX 600 series, AMD wants to make the most out of its current offerings. As part of its efforts, it recently altered the reference clock speeds of SKUs such as HD 7750. ASUS is ready with a new custom-design graphics card targeting select markets (Greater China region is one such market), which offers factory-overclocked speeds and noiseoptimized cooling at prices comparable to those of some of the most affordable Radeon HD 7850 graphics cards in the market, perhaps even replacing its own Radeon HD 7850 DirectCU II (reference clocks) graphics card. It is named Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II. To sweeten the deal in the immensely competitive market segment, ASUS tossed in a few goodies.

The cooling assembly of the ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II is a slight variation of the cooler featured on the other HD 7850 DirectCU II cards. While its top stage (shroud and two 80 mm fans) is identical, the heatsink beneath is different, in that it appears to make use of five greatly S-shaped 8 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes to convey heat from the GPU to the aluminum fin stack. In the other HD 7850 DirectCU II cards, there are just three 8 mm-thick heat pipes, which pass through the length of the heatsink. While the aluminum fins are stacked along the length of the PCB in this design, they are arranged along the height of the PCB, in the older HD 7850 DirectCU II cooling solution. The aluminum fins themselves feature a curvy, turbulenceinducing design, for better heat dissipation. Beneath the main heatsink is a base plate heatsink that draws heat from the VRM MOSFETs and memory chips. Although there are no hot components on the reverse side of the PCB (that we know of), ASUS strapped the PCB with a back-plate, complete with a "hot surface" caution sticker.

July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Judge Koh then ordered Apple to post a $96 million bond — the sum being an estimation of the damage suffered by Samsung from the temporary ban on its sales —should the iPhone maker lose to Samsung in later proceedings, scheduled for 2014. The sales ban in the United States will be effective immediately when Apple posts the bond. With the Galaxy SIII already the subject of preliminary legal proceedings by Apple, there is little doubt that either a settlement or further legal proceedings lie ahead for the Samsung Google partnership. The ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II comes with clock speeds that are higher than AMD reference specifications, but lower than those of the HD 7850 DirectCU II TOP. The GPU is clocked at 910 MHz, and the memory at 1250 MHz (5.00 GHz GDDR5 effective), against AMD reference clock speeds of 860/4800 MHz. It packs 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Based on the 28 nm "Pitcairn" silicon, the Radeon HD 7850 is armed with 1,024 Graphics CoreNext stream processors. Display outputs have changed with the ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II, compared to the other HD 7850 DirectCU II models. This card features two DVI, and one each of standard-size HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2, whereas the other cards have two mini-DisplayPort connectors. Pricing of the ASUS Dragon HD 7850 DirectCU II is a mystery, though it's expected to be highly competitive with the other reference-clocked HD 7850 graphics cards in the market. Expect a US $199-229 price-range, if the card ever makes it stateside.

Apple Wins Samsung Galaxy Nexus Injunction Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-wins-samsung-galaxy-nexusinjunction/16483.html July 1st, 2012

This case has ramifications for future patent disputes relating to fair and reasonable, non-discriminatory licensing.

Xbox 360's Future Hangs in Balance Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/xbox-360-s-future-hangs-inbalance/16482.html July 1st, 2012

Motorola's patent claim against Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console has resulted in a ruling by the ITC that the Xbox 360 console infringes four Google/Motorola patents; however it’s not all bad news for US Xbox fans just yet due to a remand ordered by the Federal Trade Commission. Motorola's patent claim against Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console has resulted in a ruling by the ITC that the Xbox 360 console infringes four Google/Motorola patents; however it’s not all bad news for US Xbox fans just yet due to a remand ordered by the Federal Trade Commission.

Apple has won a second victory in the space of a week against Android devices today with an American judge granting its request for an injunction against Samsung. The Galaxy Nexus smart phone by Samsung and Google has been barred from the US market - the world's largest just ahead of China – due to the probality that it is engaging in patent infringements against competitor Apple Inc. Judge Lucy Koh of the US District Court for the Northern District of California found the Galaxy Nexus probably infringes four patents belonging to Apple Inc and agreed to grant an injunction to Apple while the court considers Apple's claim that the South Korean company has infringed its patents. "Apple has clearly shown that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary injunctive relief," Judge Lucy Koh stated. The four patents that Samsung has likely breached are: Slide-to-lock/unlock, Data tapping, Auto correct and Siri's unified search function.

Motorola’s claim of Standard Essential Patents against Microsoft is allegedly being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, a six-member decision-making body who have now ordered a remand of the decision, referring it back to the Administrative Law Judge. While this doesn't necessarily mean that the preliminary ruling will be overturned, it is likely that a variation will be made to the initial determination in Microsoft’s favour. The Commission's remand decision has directed Administrative Law Judge Shaw to apply the Commission's opinion in the matter of S3 Graphics v. Apple, a case where the final outcome was an outright dismissal, despite an initial ruling that established several infringements. The ongoing patent dispute between the hardware giants has seen a rejection by Microsoft of Motorola’s offer of settlement. The future of both Android phones and Xbox 360s in the United States continues to hang in the balance 9

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with a deadline being set for a final decision to be made by the ITC on July 2.

KT will make indoor LTE speed faster with 'One Chip Femto Cell' Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/kt-will-make-indoor-lte-speedfaster-with-one-chip-femto-cell-/16447.html July 1st, 2012

KT (formerly Korea Telecom) announced yesterday that it will eventually expand the commercialization of 'LTE Femto Cell' throughout South Korea. 'LTE Femto Cell' is a miniscule base station that allows users to enjoy fast LTE WARP even in basements, buildings and metropolitan cities. 'LTE Femto Cell,' a miniscule base station, offers a stable LTE service inside buildings by being installed in gaps within the buildings. The installation can increase LTE speed in major areas by three to five fold.

Published by: VR-Zone July 1st, 2012

According to a study by Korea Communications Commission (South Korea's FCC equivalent), the Motorola Droid Razr XT910 emitted 1.38 SAR, the highest amount of radiation measured from popular smartphones since 2009. Prolonged exposure to harmful electromagnetic waves may cause ADHD in young humans. The smartphone that emits the most amount of electromagnetic radiation in South Korea is found to be Motorola's Razr. Korea Communications Commission disclosed the electromagnetic wave data of all the smartphones that have been registered since 2009 in South Korea. And on July 2nd, they are going to announce the measured data of smartphones' Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) through South Korean National Radio Research Agency's website (http://www.rra.go.kr).

LTE Femto Cell consists of a modem and a CPU in a typical SoC, built with the aim of small size, low electricity consumption and low cost. In addition, KT's LTE Femto Cell utilizes the world's best 424,000km optical communication internet cable, which enables it to provide a stable and fast LTE network, whereas the standard 3G Femto Cell utilizes VDSL interent cable. Moreover, LTE Femto Cell can send and receive LTE signals to and from all the gaps within buildings. The feature is being recognized as a critical technology for stable VoLTE voice calls. KT is planning to offer a stable VoLTE service by linking its service to virtualization technology of LTE WARP and LTE Femto Cell which will reduce any interference of borders between base stations.

Motorola's Droid RAZR emits most radiation, Korean study shows Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/motorola-s-droid-razr-emits-mostradiation-korean-study-shows/16479.html

SAR means how much electromagnetic wave can be absorbed into bodies. The maximum allowed upper limit in South Korea is 1.6W/kg. Only products that meet the standard rate are allowed to be manufactured and sold. So far, there has not been a centralized database of such records, which made it difficult for users to check every single time they purchase a new phone. Korea Communications Commission has been preparing disclosing a comprehensive list of SARs based on 10

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'Electromagnetic wave Comprehensive Policy' established in September of 2011. A certain fruit flavoured company's products also showed a relatively high SAR. Among Apple's products, 'iPhone 3G' is tops with 1.18W/kg, followed by 'iPhone 3GS' with 1.13W/ kg. The only Apple product that had SAR below 1.0W/kg was 'iPhone 4', which emits 0.89W/kg. Samsung's products boasted the lowest SARs among all the products that were tested, which were only about 30% of the standard rate. Galaxy S2 HD was measured to output from 0.24 to 0.402W/kg and Galaxy Note 0.269 to 0.405W/kg. Meanwhile, although LG's 'Optimus LTE Tag' had a relatively low SAR about 0.607-0.749W/kg, 'Optimus LTE 2' was shown to emit a high SAR with 1.12-1.2W/kg. In last May, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute announced that the more a child uses a cellphone, the more he or she is likely to develop ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

Today's Announcements: Guardians of Middle-Earth, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Prototype 2 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/today-s-announcements-guardiansof-middle-earth-star-wars-the-clone-wars-and-prototype-2/16481.html July 1st, 2012

Next, Star Wars: The Clone Wars complete season four will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD October 23. If an animated spin off of one of the most popular franchise in history has made it past the fourth season then it has some substance to it (personally, I love it). You can save yourself some money and enjoy watching the CG version of Obi-Wan hack enemies with his light saber on DVD or spend extra on the Blu-ray. If you opt to purchase the Blu-ray version then you’ll be getting extra content such as an extensive database of special effects footage, concept art, and 3D character and object turnarounds visualization. More details here.

Time for another quick update on what’s going on in the gaming and entertainment world. Today we have news regarding Lord of the Rings: Guardians of Middle-Earth, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Prototype 2. Time for another quick update on what’s going on in the gaming and entertainment world. Today we have news regarding Lord of the Rings: Guardians of Middle-Earth, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Prototype 2. First off, Monolith showed us a preview video of its upcoming title Lord of the Rings: Guardians of MiddleEarth at E3, but no actual gameplay. So finally it arrives, a video revealing some actual game play. Will it be another disappointing LOTR title or will developers get it right this time around. You decide. Expect the game to hit the shelves this fall.

To end things off, Activision made it clear that they will no longer create games for Radical Entertainment, thus a possible indefinite end to the Prototype franchise. However, Activision will release the PC version of Prototype 2 on July 24th as planned. “We're very proud of what we achieved with the Prototype franchise, but unfortunately, the Blacklight virus didn't spread as far as it could,” Radical said on their Facebook. Activision is looking into what it can do with Radical, and one option is to sell the studio.

Twitter and LinkedIn call it quits Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/twitter-and-linkedin-call-itquits/16480.html July 1st, 2012

July 1st, 2012

After several years of partnering with each other, Twitter and LinkedIn have decided to part ways. Their partnership began in 2009, but even a long term relationship such as theirs was not strong enough to keep them together. After several years of partnering with each other, Twitter and LinkedIn have decided to part ways. Their partnership began in 2009, but even a long term relationship such as theirs was not strong enough to keep them together. LinkedIn suffered a huge blow recently when over 6 million users had their password stolen, and this could possibly be one of the reasons why Twitter decided to distant itself from LinkedIn. Furthermore, a $5 million lawsuit came about when users said that LinkedIn’s security policy had contradictions that did not abide to industry standards. Secondly, Twitter has amassed such a huge following that it simply doesn’t need or want to share its potential ad revenues with LinkedIn. Users can post a Tweet directly from LinkedIn, but they can no longer directly share their post to LinkedIn from their Twitter account. The split could be mutual in every respect, but LinkedIn’s recent security breach suggests that it will take some time for LinkedIn to restore its reputation.

Published by: VR-Zone

games. That’s not including tasks that uses less time than making phone calls. What about for making phone calls? Well, according to O2, making phone call accounts for less a tenth of the total amount of time people spend on their smartphone—12 minutes. If you want to analyze it even further, just take 12 minutes and times that by 30 and you’ll find out that (based on O2’s data) people are spending roughly 360 minutes on their smartphones making or taking calls per month! So unless people have carry overs on their smartphone plan, the thousands of minutes they’re paying for are going to waste every month. Now you know why carriers offer high minute plans, and charging outrageous amounts for the data. Even they know you will most likely NOT use your phone for making or taking calls.

Megaupload's Kim Dotcom extradition update Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/megaupload-s-kim-dotcomextradition-update/16477.html July 1st, 2012

Talking on a smartphone is not a priority Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/talking-on-a-smartphone-is-not-apriority/16478.html July 1st, 2012

The case against Kim Dotcom has just gotten a little weaker, and there may be a slim possibility that his extradition to the U.S. may not happen. The case against Kim Dotcom has just gotten a little weaker, and there may be a slim possibility that his extradition to the U.S. may not happen.

According to analytics from O2, people are using their smartphones more for tasks that are unrelated to making or taking phone calls. According to analytics from O2, people are using their smartphones more for tasks that are unrelated to making or taking phone calls.

We reported earlier that New Zealand’s High court ruled that the FBI’s warrants for searching and seizing of Dotcom’s properties were “invalid.” In the ruling, the court determined that the warrants were too vague and that they didn’t specifically state any evidence or offenses against Dotcom’s Megaupload site. Dotcom’s lawyer, Ira Rothken, told a radio station in New Zealand that his client has been violated not only once but twice during the search and seize process. Rothken is defending his client’s innocence by saying that Megaupload is used for storage and that Dotcom is not directly involved in the distribution of any copyrighted materials. Secondly, after New Zealand’s High court verdict, Rothken claims that the FBI’s seizure of Dotcom’s properties was wrongful because “they weren’t allowed to.” Under New Zealand law, extradition requires that a person must be punishable by jail sentence in both of the countries. Therefore, if somehow Dotcom manages to wiggle his way out of jail sentence in New Zealand then his extradition to the U.S. may not happen. The New Zealand High court ruling is a small victory for Dotcom and company, but he and his supporters still have long ways to go.

People spend about 25 minutes on average per day on their smartphone surfing the internet, 17 minutes on social networking, 16 minutes on music, and 14 minutes on playing 12

July 1st, 2012

UMC and IBM to create 20nm FinFET chip Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/umc-and-ibm-to-create-20nm-finfetchip/16476.html July 1st, 2012

After having reportedly landed a contract to produce Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chip, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) has confirmed that they will be partnering with IBM Corp to produce a next gen 20nm chip that features FinFET 3D transistors. After having reportedly landed a contract to produce Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chip, United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) has confirmed that they will be partnering with IBM Corp to produce a next gen 20nm chip that features FinFET 3D transistors. FinFET is a space saving, finbased, multigate architecture aimed at energy efficiency. According to UMC, they are hoping that their 20nm R&D capacity along with IBM’s FinFET know-how will help expedite the development of the next gen 20nm chip. “We are happy to engage with a recognized technology leader such as IBM for this technology advancement effort,” says UMC’s VP, I.C. Chen.

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competitions have got to offer before releasing a product of their own. However, it still stands that the opportunity cost of delaying BlackBerry 10 is that RIM has to keep on losing money if they aren’t making money from their main product. “It is necessary to change the scale and refocus the company on areas of highest opportunity,” Thorsten Heins, RIM’s CEO, answered to the press regarding the company’s decision to delay BlackBerry 10 and laying off workers. RIM is reporting that it’s losing almost much as money this year as it earned last year. RIM netted $695 million last year in profit, but it posted a net loss of $518 million this year. Part of RIM’s refocusing involves reducing the number of phone offerings to put more resources into developing BlackBerry 10. Apple is not doing this, but Android and Microsoft are licensing their OS to OEMs, so RIM is said to be looking into eliminating the exclusiveness of the BlackBerry brand.

Google blames Android fragmentation on manufacturers Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-blames-androidfragmentation-on-manufacturers/16473.html July 1st, 2012

“Leveraging IBM’s technology expertise to shorten our 20nm and FinFET R&D cycle will create a win-win situation for UMC and our customers.” UMC has announced prior that it plans to invest $8 billion to expand its 28nm chip making capacity, and therefore establishing a solid foundation for R&D of 20nm chips in the future.

RIM's "refocusing" plans Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-s-refocusing-plans/16474.html July 1st, 2012

RIM has confirmed that the BlackBerry 10 will be delayed until the first quarter of next year because developers cannot deliver a complete software by the end of this year. Adding injuries to insult, RIM is hemorrhaging money and has to lay off nearly a third of its employees. RIM has confirmed that the BlackBerry 10 will be delayed until the first quarter of next year because developers cannot deliver a complete software by the end of this year. Adding injuries to insult, RIM is hemorrhaging money and has to lay off nearly a third of its employees.

Google has blamed the fragmentation of the Android platform on manufacturers and suggested the nature of the ecosystem would mean that it would never be the same as Apple's approach with iOS. Google has blamed the fragmentation of the Android platform on manufacturers and suggested the nature of the ecosystem would mean that it would never be the same as Apple's approach with iOS. Hiroshi Lockheimer, VP of Engineering on the Android team, said that it was up to manufacturers to provide upgrades to the latest version of Android, and that since Android is open source, they have the freedom to make those upgrades or not, and on their own timeframe. “It’s up to the manufacturers to see what their targets are; some may say we want to be the first one, or they may decide a fully customised reskinned experience is what they want to do,” Lockheimer said.

At this point, RIM may be better off delaying BlackBerry 10 until a highly refined product is completed. iOS 6 and Jelly Bean will most like make their debut later this year, so that might give RIM a competitive edge by looking at what the

July 1st, 2012

Fragmentation has long been a major criticism of Android, with hundreds of devices out there on different versions of the mobile operating system, which means many people cannot access the latest features, games, or apps, which require the newest version of the software. While Lockheimer argues that this is a natural side-effect of the freedom of the Android model, he also suggested that fragmentation would be less of a problem in future, as Google is working on a platform developer kit to encourage developers and manufacturers to accelerate updates and to make sure the manufacturers have time to optimise their products to ensure those updates are released.

Google brings Chrome browser to iPhone and iPad Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-brings-chrome-browser-toiphone-and-ipad/16472.html July 1st, 2012

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If you thought Google might start stealing away Apple customers, however, you'd be wrong, as initial reports and benchmarking tests show that Chrome for iOS suffers speed issues when it comes to JavaScript, with Anandtech reporting that MobileSafari works faster, and one reviewer of the app stating that Chrome â&#x20AC;&#x153;runs 3.5 times slower doing JavaScript than Safari.â&#x20AC;? Apple's policy on not allowing custom JavaScript engines, like Google's open source V8 engine, is the reason behind the slower speeds, and, of course, Apple won't share Safari's Nitro engine either, leaving rival browsers on iOS lagging behind unnecessarily.

BlackBerry 10 delay drives analyst fears of RIM bankruptcy Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blackberry-10-delay-drives-analystfears-of-rim-bankruptcy/16471.html July 1st, 2012

Google has released its Chrome web browser on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, allowing users to sync with the browser on their desktop and laptop computers.

Research In Motion (RIM) could face bankruptcy, analysts say, after delaying the release of its BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system and cutting staff numbers by 5,000.

Google has released its Chrome web browser on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, allowing users to sync with the browser on their desktop and laptop computers.

Research In Motion (RIM) could face bankruptcy, analysts say, after delaying the release of its BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system and cutting staff numbers by 5,000.

The 12.8MB download gives iOS users access to version 19.0.1084.60 of Chrome, which will help Google expand the reach of the browser beyond the 310 million active users it currently has, up from 160 million at last year's I/O event.

The Canadian firm, which was once a dominant player in the burgeoning smartphone market, reported abyssmal quarterly results, with losses of $518 million, several times more than analysts predicted. This sent shares down by more than 20 percent and lead to some brokerages cutting their price targets by up to 50 percent.

Chrome touts high browsing speeds, a bookmark sync option, and deep integration with other Google products, including Google Drive and Google Apps, so it is interesting to see it show up on Apple's tightly-controlled App Store.

RIM had originally planned to release BlackBerry 10 this year, but fans of RIM will need to wait until early next year at the earliest to get their hands on a new smartphone powered by the operating system. The delay comes at a bad time for the company, as it was this software and the range of

July 1st, 2012

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devices built around it that were largely expected to save the company.

One of the main reasons why Android has drawn so many loyal users is because many Android devices support Adobe Flash. The days of “I can watch Flash videos on phone” will soon be over as Adobe has declared that it will cease to support mobile Flash on August 15th.

Nomura Equity Research believes “the company will eventually fail” if it continues its current operational plan, and even BlackBerry 10 will not help it make a successful turnaround. Analysts at Citi said the company “could run out of cash” and also expressed doubt about the viability of BlackBerry 10 as the saving grace many expect it to be. Cannacord Genuity agreed on this point, suggesting that RIM's only hope would be to sell. However, Baird Equity Research believes there are no buyers interested in the plummeting firm. The delay has also forced RIM to implement new costcutting measures, including plans to axe 5,000 jobs, which amounts to 30 percent of its workforce. With fewer employees and the threat of bankruptcy looming ever closer, there are tough times ahead for the BlackBerry maker.

Adobe will stop supporting mobile Flash beginning August 15 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/adobe-will-stop-supporting-mobileflash-beginning-august-15/16470.html July 1st, 2012

Okay, we all know (or at least people that care enough to dig into these things) that Steve Jobs—and by extension— Apple had issues with Adobe, therefore iPad loyalists never got official Flash support. Essentially, Jobs decreed that the iPad will not have Flash support, and therefore it doesn’t. Some devs have managed to make some flash contents work on the iPad through certain app, but it’s nothing comparable to streaming YouTube contents from a desktop. It’s simple with the iPad, but why is Adobe deciding to stick it to Android users now after several years of supporting mobile Flash? There could be a variety of reasons, but one main reason is perhaps there are just too many Android devices (with all sorts of specs) to support —fragmentation. Imagine working on trying to make one software compatible with literally thousands of devices from different OEMs. On top of that, Android users are all over the place with regards to the OS that’s powering their phone. Albeit, over half of all Android users are still on Gingerbread, there are many more that are on Froyo, Eclair, ICS, etc… Did I mention that some OEMs also heavily modify their Android OS (i.e. Amazon’s Kindle Fire)? Okay, you get my point by now—that is, it just takes a lot of work to make Flash work on Android devices. People that purchased Android tablets and smartphones recently with the intention of using their devices to view Flash content will just have to live with the fact that their device may not support Flash in the future. Flash may become obsolete in the future, as HTML 5 is supposed the next medium for delivering media online. So Adobe may not be dropping Flash support for mobile devices based solely on how much work is needed to make it work, but rather they may see HTML 5 as replacing Flash sooner than we expect. It’s unknown when HTML 5 will become the predominant form for delivering online content, but we can’t help it if Adobe wants to stop supporting mobile Flash. Until then, Android users will have to anxiously await a complete YouTube transition to HTML 5. Again, Android users will have until August 15th to get the most out of their “Flash enabled device.” Click here to see Adobe’s reasoning on why they are dropping mobile Flash support.

July 1st, 2012

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Today's Announcements: The Expandables 2, The Amazing Spiderman and Guild Wars 2 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/today-s-announcements-theexpandables-2-the-amazing-spiderman-and-guild-wars-2/16467.html July 1st, 2012

We have a bunch of video game announcements for you today. Starting things off is The Expendables 2 Video Game, coming to the XBLA, PSN, and PC. A tie-in to the upcoming Expendables 2 movie, the game will tell the story leading up to the movie. Players will be able to play one of four characters as they attempt to rescue a kidnapped billionaire. Offering four-player local and online co-op as well as challenges to compete with each other in, the game will feature the over-the-top action the Expendables franchise is known for, and has been set up to provide a seamless introduction to the upcoming movie. While no exact release date has been given, look for it to release before the movie

Dropbox adds "undo" command Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/dropbox-adds-undocommand/16469.html July 1st, 2012

comes out on August 17th.

Undoing an accidental action while using many computer programs is as easy as hitting an “undo” option, and Dropbox has only just started implementing the undo command. Undoing an accidental action while using Dropbox is as easy as hitting an “undo” option, and Dropbox has only just started implementing the undo command.

Next up is a game that already released on PS3 and Xbox 360: The Amazing Spiderman. While it has garnered mediocre reviews in the press, Activision has confirmed that the game is being brought to the PC. PC gamers wanting to get their hands on the web-slinger’s newest game will be able to purchase the game on Steam on August 10th.

“We just launched a quick way for you to unwind those slips of the mouse or gaffes on the keyboard when you’re using Dropbox on the web. Now if you make a mistake when moving, renaming, copying or even deleting a file or folder, you can quickly reverse it. Just click the ‘Undo’ link in the green dialog that appears at the top of your screen. (Ctrl+Z and ?+Z work too!)”

Finally, the highly-anticipated MMO, Guild Wars 2, has had its release date announced by NCSoft. Guild Wars 2 will have its final beta weekend July 20-22, with the game releasing in North America and Europe on August 28.

So the next time you accidentally uploaded a file to Dropbox, you can instantly undo that action without having to go through the troubles of manual removing those files from your box.

Microsoft Surface Tablet may not come preloaded with Office 2013 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-surface-tablet-may-notcome-preloaded-with-office-2013/16468.html

July 1st, 2012 July 1st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 1st, 2012

Microsoft has begun to share with select partners some specific details about what users can expect when upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows XP, Vista, or 7. Reportedly, the following points were released privately this month by Microsoft: • Users upgrading to Windows 8 from Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic or Home Premium will be able to maintain their existing Windows settings, files and applications. • Users upgrading to Windows 8 Pro from any Windows 7 edition will be able to maintain all existing settings, files, and applications. • Users upgrading to Windows 8 Enterprise (which will only be available to volume licensees with Software Assurance contracts) from Windows 7 Professional or Enterprise will be able to maintain all settings, files and applications. • If upgrading from Windows Vista, only personal files will be maintained, unless SP1 is installed, in which case system settings will also be maintained.

If you are planning on purchasing the upcoming Windows RT Surface tablet, keep in mind that it may not come with Office 2013 preloaded. Insiders suggest that Microsoft has only just finished the beta, and therefore Office 2013 may launch a few months later than Windows 8 and the Surface RT tablet. Now if consumers won’t get a Surface tablet with MS Office 2013 then what will they get? Chances are MS will preload the RT tablet with an earlier version of MS Office and offering Surface tablet users opportunities to upgrade to Office 2013 when it’s ready. People that are interested in the Pro Surface tablet may not have to worry as much as MS Office 2013 may launch alongside the Pro tablet. MS does not have a robust app developing community like that of iOS or Android, so an MS Office preloaded Surface tablet will be one of the main reasons why people will consider the Surface at launch. Savvy tablet users know that office suite apps are available for purchase on both iOS and Android, and for increased productivity they just need a small and cheap keyboard add on (some peripherals are more expensive than others, it just takes a little bargain hunting to find a cheap alternative). Polaris Office, Documents To Go, and OfficeSuite Pro, among others, are some of the popular office software that are available for Android and iPad. The prices of these apps vary, but if paying for a document editing app is not a priority then people can opt to use free software like Google Doc. We don’t know how robust MS Office is on the Surface tablet, yet, but hopefully the Office suite that comes preloaded with the Surface tablet is on par with its desktop counterpart.

Windows 8 Upgrade Details Leaked Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windows-8-upgrade-detailsleaked/16458.html

• Users can upgrade from Windows XP with SP3 installed, but only personal files will be maintained. All other installations of Windows 8 will require a full format, leaving none of the data intact. This includes crosslanguage installations and cross-architecture installations (i.e., moving from a 32-bit edition to a 64-bit edition). Earlier this month, Microsoft launched its latest Windows Upgrade Offer, which will allow users who purchase a Windows 7 PC between June 2, 2012 and January 31, 2013 to purchase a copy of Windows 8 Pro for just $14.99 when it becomes available. Analysts expect that Windows 8 will be shipped to manufacturers in July, with general availability coming sometime this fall.

Delta Expanding WiFi Offering to International Flights Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/delta-expanding-wifi-offering-tointernational-flights/16456.html July 1st, 2012

Delta Airlines has announced that by early 2013 its fleet of international aircraft will have internet connectivity through the use of Ku-band satellites. Delta has announced that they will begin offering their inflight internet service on their fleet of international aircraft, encompassing roughly 150 aircraft including models such as the Boeing 777, 767, transoceanic 757, 747, and the Airbus 330. The satellite-provided service will begin operations on the planes in early 2013, complementing existing air-toground service already in place for domestic flights. Delta Airlines, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is among the largest WiFi-enabled aircraft providers in the world, with over 3,000 daily flights connected to the web. These flights include the entirety of its domestic fleet, some 550 mainline aircraft, and more than 250 additional aircraft, including all of their Delta Connection regional jets. 17

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Delta’s WiFi portal, called “Delta Connect,” provides free access to real-time travel information, news from The Wall Street Journal, People magazine, and other services, including Amazon.com (from March). The new international service will use high-bandwidth Ku-band satellites for internet coverage. Scheduled for 2015, when the rollout is complete, Delta plans to be operating roughly 1,000 WiFicapable aircraft in its fleet.

Google unveils Nexus 7 tablet, Nexus Q music device, Google Glass, and Siribusting Google Now Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-unveils-nexus-7-tablet-nexusq-music-device-google-glass-and-siri-busting-google-now/16466.html July 1st, 2012

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the tablet market for Google will result in more developers flocking to this area, so this may not be a major problem.

Nexus Q Those looking for a less mobile device for music may enjoy the Nexus Q, an unusually-designed home entertainment sphere, which plugs into speakers or a TV and allows streaming of music from Google Play. With a price-tag of $299, however, it is more expensive than Google's new tablet and does less things, so consumers may not be as enamoured by it as interior designers appear to be. It will ship in midJuly as well.

Google Glass

Google has unveiled the Nexus 7 Android tablet, the Nexus Q music device, Google Glass for consumers, and a Siri-like Android service called Google Now, making the search giant's I/O event this year jam-packed with exciting announcements. Google has unveiled the Nexus 7 Android tablet, the Nexus Q music device, Google Glass for consumers, and a Siri-like Android service called Google Now, making the search giant's I/O event this year jam-packed with exciting announcements. Nexus 7 The company showcased the Nexus 7, its 7-inch Androidpowered tablet computer with a 1280x-800 pixel highdefinition display, a Tegra-3 chipset, quad-core CPU, 12core GPU, and a dirt cheap price tag starting at just $199, with a release date of mid-July in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. The low price is for an 8GB model, with a 16GB version available for $249. Google is hoping to entice multimedia buffs of all kinds by preloading the Nexus 7 with the film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the book The Bourne Dominion, magazines like Condé Nast Traveler and Popular Science, and music from bands including Coldplay and the Rolling Stones. There is also $25 free credit provided on Google Play for a limited time. Not everyone is impressed with the announcement, however. Jan Dawson, chief telecommunications analyst at Ovum, criticised Google's approach, suggesting the tablet would not be sustainable long-term, due to subsidising of the cost to keep the price down, and that Google has failed to address problems with Android for tablets, such as the sparsity of tablet-sized apps. Of course, more success in

It was only a few short months ago when Google unveiled a new research project to develop augmented-reality glasses, but a mock demo of its features had fans salivating and throwing their wallets at Google employees in anticipation. The company is now going beyond merely a “what if” scenario, with the only questions remaining being “when?” and “how much?” Google is hoping to have a version of the glasses ready for public consumption within two years, with a price tag expected to be drastically lower than its existing developer cost of a pricey $1,500. The glasses are effectively a smartphone on your head, albeit without a phone network, allowing users to see, hear and speak in a semi-android experience. The company hopes to bring a Google Maps experience to the glasses, among a variety of other features shown in the demo. If none of that was impressive, some Google Glass-wearing skydivers almost stole the show. Google Now If you were won over by the sweet nothings whispered in your ear by Siri, you might want to consider cheating with a certain little green robot. As part of the Android Jelly Bean offering, Google announced a new service called Google Now. As the name implies, it's all about getting information to the user immediately, and so it mimics many of the offerings of Siri, such as finding the score of a sports match or locating a nearby restaurant. That is all pretty standard fair, but where Google Now differs, and potentially wins out, is that it seeks out information before you even ask it. When you leave your house it looks for traffic updates. When you go to a restaurant it checks the menu and recommends the toprated choices. So instead of having an electronic friend who 18

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will answer your questions, you have an electronic friend who will make suggestions and pre-empt your actions.

Nintendo announces release date for latest Pokemon games Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nintendo-announces-release-datefor-latest-pokemon-games/16465.html July 1st, 2012

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the Pokéstar Studios to make their own Pokémon-starring movies. Some of the Pokémon up for grabs include Eevee, Riolu, Tyranitar, Arcanine, and Mareep. Those who get Dream Radar will also be able to catch the new Therian Formes of Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus. Gamers looking to learn more about the various Pokémon will also be able to buy the Pokédex 3D Pro from the Nintendo eShop, expanding upon the original Pokédex 3D with details about all known Pokémon to date.

Twitter to combat trolling and hate speech Nintendo has announced the release date for the latest Pokémon games, including two DS titles and one downloadable 3DS game.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/twitter-to-combat-trolling-and-hatespeech/16454.html July 1st, 2012

Nintendo has announced the release date for the latest Pokémon games, including two DS titles and one downloadable 3DS game. Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2 will join a host of other Nintendo colour variations of the classic monster-catching series on 7 October, playable on both the DS and the 3DS in 2D mode. Collectors will want a 3DS, however, as there are rare Pokémon to catch in the downloadable Pokémon Dream Radar title, which lets players use their 3DS camera, motion control and augmented-reality technology for a more interactive experience. Creatures caught can then be transferred into the other two games.

Twitter is attempting to combat trolling and hate speech on its micro-blogging service, which could see a difficult balance between removing offensive material and maintaining freedom of speech. Twitter is attempting to combat trolling and hate speech on its micro-blogging service, which could see a difficult balance between removing offensive material and maintaining freedom of speech. Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter, told the Financial Times that the company was planning to address the issue, which he said was in some cases “horrifying.” Racial abuse appears to be on the increase on the service, which limits messages to 140 characters. Recent examples of high-profile cases include racist remarks by users against footballers Ashley Cole, Ashley Young, Stan Collymore, and Fabrice Muamba, all of which resulted in police investigations and, in some cases, arrests. Measures to tackle the problem could include censoring responses from accounts that do not have followers, a profile picture, or a biography, making them more likely to be newly-created accounts designed specifically for the purpose of “trolling,” internet lingo for users who go out of their way to cause offence purely for the fun of it.

The sequels to the Black and White versions will see the return of Cheren and Bianca to the region of Unova two years after the events of the original games, with new areas to discover, including Virbank City, where players can visit

July 1st, 2012

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Of course, the problem with such measures is that genuine accounts that have failed to secure followers or update their profile may be caught up in this. That said, if Twitter is clear about its policy then more users will update their profiles to avoid the restrictions. Trolls may do likewise, however, simply uploading fake photos and biographies, and possibly even following themselves from multiple troll accounts. However, Costolo does not want to Twitter to be too heavyhanded with its actions. He said the service will continue to allow pseudonyms, as that is the only way some people can speak freely in some parts of the world. He expressed frustration at finding the perfect balance between the two extremes, recognising that â&#x20AC;&#x153;emboldening people to speak politicallyâ&#x20AC;? can also embolden trolls and lead to further cases of hate speech. The debacle is a problem for many on the internet, as it is a fine line between protecting people and crossing into the dangerous waters of online censorship.

July 3rd, 2012

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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Next Xbox could be called Xbox 8 as Microsoft secures domains Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/next-xbox-could-be-called-xbox-8as-microsoft-secures-domains/16528.html July 3rd, 2012

Microsoft's next-generation gaming console may be called Xbox 8 rather than the expected Xbox 720. The Redmond, Washington-based company managed to secure a number of domain names from a Chinese national named Cheng Juan, after bringing two cases to the National Arbitration Forum. The domains include XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxCompanion.com, Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org, according to Fusible. On the surface of it, Microsoft may simply be pre-empting any potential future Xbox products it may plan to release and ensuring it owns the relevant domain names. However, the new Xbox would only be the third of its kind, so a literal Xbox 8 would be decades away, making a move to protect its name now a little hasty.

The number 8 is clearly a big deal for Microsoft over the next year or two, with many considering the next version of Windows to be a potential game-changer and moneymaker for the company. Windows Phone 8 is also looking promising, and, of course, Xbox is central to Microsoft's strategy to entice people to its operating systems. Xbox 8 as the next console name is all about brand unity then, and the gamble could pay off big-time, as it ensure that people think of Microsoft's collective product line when approaching any of the three. Using 720 only differentiates the Xbox console from Windows, while Xbox 8 could be the beginning of a new marketing style for the software giant.

Activision and Tencent announce Call of Duty Online for China Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/activision-and-tencent-announcecall-of-duty-online-for-china/16527.html July 3rd, 2012

Activision and Tencent have announced Call of Duty Online, a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter targeted at a Chinese audience. Activision and Tencent have announced Call of Duty Online, a massively multiplayer online first-person shooter targeted at a Chinese audience. Gamers are still gearing up for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which is to get a revamped Nuketown map, but players in China will have something potentially just as exciting within the Call of Duty franchise. Details are thin, but a trailer shows that the game plays fairly similarly to other titles in the series, with pretty good graphics to boot, which is often an area that receives some cartoonisation by many studios in order to combat the intense lag possible in MMO games.

Xbox 720 is a logical extension of the Xbox 360 name, simply doubling the number, but Xbox 8 seems like an odd potential choice for the console, until we take into consideration Microsoft's big investment in Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, which will have a shared core.

According to reports, the game will be free-to-play, likely charging players for additional content, maps, gear and weapons. It will also draw on previous content from other Call of Duty titles, while adding new material from Tencent. 1

July 3rd, 2012

The game would undoubtedly appeal to players around the world, but it looks like it will initially only launch in China. This may be a strategic move to entice gamers to buy Black Ops II later this year or localisation may simply be taking some time to do. It may also turn out that Call of Duty Online never launches elsewhere in the world, but we expect that this is unlikely.

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will return lower than previously estimated growth and profits.

Twitter opens up through transparency campaign Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/twitter-opens-up-throughtransparency-campaign/16525.html July 3rd, 2012

Microsoft writes off $6.2 billion over 2007 acquisition Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-writes-off-6.2-billionover-2007-acquisition/16526.html July 3rd, 2012

Microsoft has written off a whopping $6.2 billion after admitting that one of its largest acquisitions, made five years ago, was essentially worthless.

In an effort to make their business more transparent, Twitter has released some rather interesting figures in regards to its compliance to remove copyrighted materials and government requests. In an effort to make their business more transparent, Twitter has released some rather interesting figures in regards to its compliance to remove copyrighted materials and government requests.

Microsoft has written off a whopping $6.2 billion after admitting that one of its largest acquisitions, made five years ago, was essentially worthless.

In the category of copyrighted content removal, Twitter received 3,378 requests from January 1 to June 30 this year. Out of the 3,378 requests, Twitter complied with about 600 of them—so the compliance rate is roughly 20%.

The software giant bought aQuantive, an advertising agency, in 2007, hoping to compete with Google after it bought DoubleClick. It was the largest acquisition in the company's history at the time, with $6.3 billion spent, dwarfed only by the $8.5 billion it spent on Skype last year.

However, when it came to government requests for user information and withholding of content, Twitter complied 75% of the time. Another thing to note is that the majority of the government requests are through agencies in the United States.

The deal failed to deliver, however, with Microsoft still lagging behind its rivals in the advertising market and many of aQuantive's executives moving on to greener fields.

Christine Chen, Spokeswoman for Twitter, told Venture Beat that “the more transparent that companies and governments are, the more meaningful the public debate can be about the free flow of information online.” Get full details on what exactly Twitter is trying to do here.

iPhone combusts in teenager's pocket Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-combusts-in-teenager-spocket/16524.html July 3rd, 2012

It took five years for Microsoft to admit its failure, announcing to investors that it would take a “non-cash charge” of $6.2 billion, almost the entire amount spent on the ill-fated acquisition. The decision will have a significant affect on the company's profits this year, and particularly for the company's fiscal fourth quarter. Microsoft is expecting to turn a net profit of $5.25 billion, almost guaranteeing the company will lose money this quarter.

iPhones are supposed to be of the highest quality, and rarely do we get news about an Apple product exploding while in someone’s pocket.

The dire news for Microsoft does not end there, however, as it also admitted that some of its other products are not performing so well, including Bing and MSN, which it said 2

July 3rd, 2012

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under the California sun. Although you can find an article on Samsung's recent Galaxy smartphone explosion here. Orange cones along with yellow caution tape now surround the out-of-commissioned Jelly Bean statue, but prior to that, some passerby allegedly dipped their hands into the Jelly Bean’s torso and stole some of the flavorful organs.

Chinese woman sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing a mobile phone iPhones are supposed to be of the highest quality, and rarely do we get news about an Apple product exploding while in someone’s pocket. In a recent Finnish pub SK24 report, 17-year-old Henri Helminen had his iPhone spontaneously began to heat up and nearly drowned him in a cloud of smoke. The phone’s Lithium battery may have something to do with the combustive event, and although there are no confirmations as to what caused the iPhone to fail so miserably, a video may help you figure out how. Unprintable Content (Video, Flash, etc.)

Android Jelly Bean melts under California sun Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/android-jelly-bean-melts-undercalifornia-sun/16522.html July 3rd, 2012

Google’s Android Jelly Bean is hot, so hot that it melted. I’m not talking about the actual OS causing smartphones to melt, but rather the Android Jelly Bean’s head on the lawn of Google’s Mountain View campus melted due to extreme heat under the California sun. Although you can find an article on Samsung's recent Galaxy smartphone explosion here.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/chinese-woman-sentenced-to-10years-in-prison-for-stealing-a-mobile-phone/16521.html July 3rd, 2012

What is a justifiable punishment for a mobile phone theft? How about a slap on the wrist, reparation, and a month or two in jail? Apparently, a Chinese woman’s phone theft crime landed her a 10 year prison sentence. The woman’s punishment has sparked a debate on whether or not the sentence is absurd or just. What is a justifiable punishment for a mobile phone theft? How about a slap on the wrist, reparation, and a month or two in jail? Apparently, a Chinese woman’s phone theft crime landed her a 10 year prison sentence. The woman’s punishment has sparked a debate on whether or not the sentence is absurd or just. Forty-eight year old Zhang Yun stole a mobile phone from her employer—claiming, she did so because she was not compensated for her service. The phone theft was traced back to Zhang through the use of security surveillance. Yun tried to hide her tracks by burying the phone in a radish field, but ultimately her employer managed to cast a decade long prison term unto her former employee. According to ecsn.cn, the phone’s value is 60,000 (~$9,444), and if you think that’s an absurd number then you have every right to think so. The average income per year for people in China is less than the value of the phone which Yun stole. On top of her 10 year prison term, Yun has to also pay a fine of 20,000 yuan (~$3,148). A Survey taken on tencent.com has revealed that 95% agreed that the sentence is much too harsh. Will people’s interest in this Yun’s punishment give her a chance at another trial to reduce the degree of punishment? What do you think?

Ivy Bridge i7 vs Bulldozer FX @ 4.6GHz - July 2012 Battle of the Flagships Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-i7-vs-bulldozerfx--4.6ghz--july-2012-battle-of-the-flagships/16520.html

July 3rd, 2012

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July 3rd, 2012

After months of BIOS firmware updates and software patches, both platforms from Intel and AMD should have reached some level of maturity by now. We run a myriad of tests with HD 7970 GHz Edition CrossfireX and G.Skill 16GB 2400MHz ram to see how everything goes at a typical 4.6GHz CPU overclock. Price Comparison Intel Core i7-3770K -USD$349 AMD FX-8150 - USD$199.99 Prices from NewEgg as of 3rd July 2012 CPUID Validation Intel Ivy Bridge i7-3770K setup valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2425748

http://

AMD Bulldozer FX-8150 setup - http://valid.canardpc.com/ show_oc.php?id=2426606 Operating System Windows 7 SP1 with all Windows Update patches until 2nd July 2012 Core Parking Fix

July 3rd, 2012

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Apple faces Snow Leopard trademark lawsuit in China Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-faces-snow-leopardtrademark-lawsuit-in-china/16519.html July 3rd, 2012

Apple is facing yet another lawsuit over trademarks in China, and this time it deals with their Snow Leopard OS.

Apple is facing yet another lawsuit over trademarks in China, and this time it deals with their Snow Leopard OS. The recent Chinese court decision to award Proview Technology $60 million in its dispute with Apple over the “iPad” trademark may be considered as extortion to an extent, but no one really knows what went on behind the scene three years ago. Move forward a few days, and a Chinese household chemical company by the name of Jiangsu Xuebao is suing Apple for infringing on their “Snow Leopard” trademark. The Chinese translation for “Xuebao” is Snow Leopard, hence, they are claiming that Apple is infringing their trademark based on the translation. The case against Apple this case may not be as strong as Proview’s case since the chemical company registered “Xuebao” and not the English translation. In the end, however, it all depends on how the Chinese court decides to rule this matter. Jiangsu Xuebao is demanding an $80,645 compensation as well as an apology, and a court hearing has already been scheduled for June 10. Apple can settle this matter with money demanded and apologize, but if that Apple does that it may be perceived as a crack in the Cupertino-tech giant’s armor. Whichever method Apple decides to go about the Snow Leopard trademark dispute, it’s almost a guarantee that other companies, individuals, and/or organizations are

July 3rd, 2012

currently looking into to how Apple has violated their trademarks.

Microsoft's Risky Move: Upgrade to Windows 8 for Just $14.99 and $39.99 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-s-risky-move-upgrade-towindows-8-for-just-14.99-and-39.99/16515.html July 3rd, 2012

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Which leads us to the question - why Microsoft started to follow Apple with its OS prices? Is Windows 8 bombing that badly with the user experience groups, media and analysts that the company is going for price dumping so that it could say that Windows 8 installed on XXX million of computers?

ITC denies Apple's bid for emergency ban on HTC products Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/itc-denies-apple-s-bid-foremergency-ban-on-htc-products/16517.html July 3rd, 2012

Microsoft chose the first working day of the third quarter to announce the Windows 8 Upgrade pricing model. We expect to see a lot of fireworks over this one, since the upgrade cost dropped beyond belief. Bought a new computer and want Windows 8 Pro? That’ll be $14.99, sir. Even with all the marketing preparations, Microsoft pulled a never-before-seen move to get as much traction as possible. The whole idea of paying hundreds of dollars for an operating system seems like an idea from 1990s. Faced with obvious competition in the form of Apple and its continuous reductions in upgrade prices, Microsoft pulled quite an unexpected move.

In a last-minute ditch to prevent HTC from importing HTC’s One series smartphone into the U.S., Apple filed for an emergency ban of HTC’s product with the U.S. ITC, but ultimately the agency denied the request. In a last-minute ditch to prevent HTC from importing HTC’s One series smartphone into the U.S., Apple filed for an emergency ban of HTC’s product with the U.S. ITC, but ultimately the agency denied the request. Apple filed a complaint against HTC for infringement of a patent that dealt with the detection of phone numbers in emails, and if tapped, the number can be directly dialed without having to manually input the number. After several days of reworking the phones, HTC received approvals of U.S. customs officials. However, Apple remained adamant that HTC had not completed all the requirements necessary to get the ban lifted. HTC argued that the infringement which Apple was referring to was beyond HTC’s control, because the Gmail app which infringed Apple’s patent was a closed-source software from Google. Since HTC’s product bans were lifted, their stock prices rose and today it added nearly 1 percent to its NT$393.50 at closing—a tremendous boost for a company that haven’t seen a figure like that in almost four weeks. HTC’s peaked smartphone market share was 10.7 percent in the second quarter of 2012, but has since slipped to 4.5 percent due to Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy line.

If you own a Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 operating system, you will be able to upgrade the system to Windows 8 Professional for just $39.99. The company released images of its Windows 8 upgrade advisor which will take you through the process. If you wish to order the version on a DVD, you will have to pay $69.99. If you have just bought the computer (Windows 7 SP1), you will be able to upgrade for just $14.99, with that offer expiring end of January next year (2013). This is a quantum shift from Windows 7 upgrade prices, which ranged from $119.99 for Windows 7 Home Premium to $199.99 for Windows 7 Professional.

Today's Announcements: Assassin's Creed III, Rome: Total War sequel, Starship Troopers: Invasion, and Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/today-s-announcements-assassin-screed-iii-rome-total-war-sequel-starship-troopers-invasion-and-halo-4forward-unto-dawn/16516.html

Naturally, if by some odd reason you don't have a Windows license already, regular prices will be announced in the next couple of weeks. 6

July 3rd, 2012

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July 3rd, 2012

Metacritic raved about Rome: Total War in 2004 and gave it a 92 rating, and in 2012 Sega announced that they will be releasing a sequel. Surprising? Not especially. Rather, it’s surprising that it hasn’t occurred to the developers sooner that they can capitalize on an outstanding game by releasing a sequel. The cinematic of Hollywood’s Starship Troopers may have disappointed many, but perhaps CGI-animated Starship Troopers: Invasion will help the franchise regain the interest of fans. The Blu-ray and DVD is set to hit August 28. Last but not least, Halo 4 the game is taking up much of the spotlight surrounding the Halo brand, but don’t forget that the series Halo 4: Forward unto Dawn is coming this fall. So while you wait for Halo 4 to launch, you can catch some Master Chief live-web action via Halo Waypoint and Machinima. Trailer? Of course. It's a little short, I know. Enjoy!

Assassin’s Creed III, if you don’t already know, is headed to a retail store near you October 30 along with fandom extras. If RTS is your flavor then Sega has announced that it will release a sequel to the 2004 Rome: Total War. If you’re not in the mood for video games then some futuristic sci-fi flicks may tickle your fancies. Starship Troopers: Invasion hits store on Blu-ray and DVD August 24. The game won’t drop for couple more months, but the live-web series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn will begin airing this fall. In the next Assassin’s title you will take on a young American frontier in the midst of a revolution, but there’s no point in outlining that now. What’s important at the moment, however, is that Ubisoft will deliver a special edition for North and South America. For $119.99 you can purchase the special edition of Assassin’s Creed III for PS3 or Xbox 360 with a 9’’ statue of connor, a special flag, and a belt buckle.

Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $40 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/upgrade-to-windows-8-profor-40/16518.html July 3rd, 2012

An upgrade to Windows 8 won’t set anyone back, and if one carpools for a couple days he will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

If you’re not a console gamer, then the downloadable Digital Deluxe Edition for PC is available for $64.99. The PC Deluxe Edition won’t come with any physical toys, but there will be extra in-game contents such as George Washington’s notebook which contains actual stories from the American Revolution.

July 3rd, 2012

An upgrade to Windows 8 won’t set anyone back, and if a person carpools for a couple days he will be able to upgrade to Windows 8 Pro from Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

Published by: VR-Zone

The next step will be downloading the upgrade, and how fast the download finishes varies on network conditions on both sides.

In addition to wooing consumers to upgrade with a relatively reasonable promotional price tag, Microsoft is also tagging on Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” after an upgrade is purchased.

Once the upgrade finishes downloading, users will be given the options to install the upgrade now or later via various methods which include USB drive or ISO-to-DVD.

The Windows 8 upgrading process is very similar to previous versions of Windows. Users are notified that the upgrade may cause incompatibilities among the users’ current hardware, and then they will be given the options to keep all, some, and none of the current Window’s files and settings. Also, depending on the version of Windows a user is upgrading from, he may not be able to keep all settings and or files.

If people prefer to purchase the physical backup DVD it will cost an extra $15, and a complete retail upgrade version will also be available for $69.99. The promotions of both retail and downloadable upgrades end January 31, 2013.

Micron Acquires Elpida and the Future of Computer Memory for $5 Billion Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/micron-acquires-elpida-and-thefuture-of-computer-memory-for-5-billion/16514.html July 3rd, 2012

The modern world has ton of companies that were on the verge of making a revolution, only to exhaust its cash reserves and crash before they could change the world. 8

July 3rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Regardless of are we talking about 3dfx and 48-bit color, or Elpida and ReRAM i.e. Resistive RAM - the story remains the same. In the very recent past, we saw many of long-lasting industry standards coming to pass, but the basic principle how computer operates - hasn’t changed in a very long time. Regardless of being a mainframe, server, desktop or a smartphone, the principle is the same - computing logic (CPU, GPU, SoC) has several layers of immediate memory (Level 1-3), followed by the system memory (Level 4) and ending with storage subsystem (5th level onwards). That subsystem ranges from a hard drive or a USB stick to large external storage boxes (NAS – Network Area Storage). But what if a technology comes along that unifies the system memory with the storage, and offers bandwidth exceeding the one offered by the Level 1 memory (L1 cache, for example)? Last year, we saw Micron and Intel Demonstrating Hybrid Cube Memory, a 512MB stacked DRAM which achieved bandwidth of 128GB/s from a single chip (imagine a CPU with 4 memory channels and 512 GB/s).

If you ask any fan for any company, he or she will tell you that the most important asset of that company are the products, be that a mobile phone, graphics card or a Formula 1 team. However, should you ask the CEO of the said companies “what is the most important asset”, the answer would be almost unanimous: people. There are no products if there aren’t people behind them, and Roy Taylor’s career was quite stellar - from founding NVIDIA Europe, The Way Its’ Meant To Be Played to first Tegra design wins with telecoms around the world. After leaving NVIDIA, we saw relatively unknown MasterImage 3D rising into the technical and mainstream press. Now, Roy’s job is to make Rightware a well-known brand.

That concept is just the beginning. ReRAM or Resistive RAM is considered to be the next phase of memory, supporting the pairing with DRAM and NAND Cells, and ready to replace both in the future. Elpida was considered as the company closest to mass production but due to turmoil in the DRAM industry and as one of consequences of big earthquake in Japan - had to file for bankruptcy in March 2012. Enter Micron - the company announced that “the parties have signed a definitive sponsor agreement for Micron to acquire and support Elpida.” For 200 billion yen, i.e. 2.5 billion U.S. Dollars will be paid off to Elpida’s creditors (secured and unsecured). Furthermore, the company will acquire Elpida as a company for $750 million, as well as additional $1.75 billion secured in annual payments going until 2019. This caused another shakeup on the Taiwanese market as well, as Micron acquired 24% Share of Rexchip Electronics Corporation for about $334 million. Elpida owned 65% of Rexchip, bringing Micron’s share to 89%. Jointly, Elpida and Rexchip can manufacture more than 200,000 300mm wafers (wspm), increasing Micron’s overall capacity to massive 600,000 wafer starts per month (all foundries manufacture chips using 300mm wafers).

Roy Taylor, Ex-VP in NVIDIA and MasterImage 3D Joins Rightware

This Futuremark spinoff may be creating and shipping its creations to Volkswagen-Audi Group (VAG) or BMW, but the real challenge will be to enter one of “big-wigs” such as Samsung, Sony, HTC - you’ve guessed it right - smartphone and tablet makers. If you like in China, you can already enjoy their 3D interface for Android operating system made in cooperation with Konka, as well as some other designs we’re not able to publish at present. Can Rightware become a household name or will the company end up being acquired by some player? There’s no answer. Just like Dave Perry’s Gaikai and its recent $380M acquisition by Sony Computer Entertainment.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/roy-taylor-ex-vp-in-nvidia-andmasterimage-3d-joins-rightware/16512.html July 3rd, 2012

Today, Rightware announced that a former MasterImage 3D and NVIDIA executive joined the team in the position of Chief Sales Officer (CSO). The person that started NVIDIA’s push in Europe and won many deals for MasterImage 3D will push its future outside the hardware world - by expanding the 3D user interface to as many devices as possible.

July 3rd, 2012

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In a recent investment report from Pacific Crest, analysts predict that Apple will launch a 7.85’’ iPad mini this October priced at around $299. In a recent investment report from Pacific Crest, analysts predict that Apple will launch a 7.85’’ iPad mini this October priced at around $299. Rumors of a 7’’ budget slate from Apple have been on the table for a while, and they’re still rumors. However, many OEMs have been either rumored or confirmed to be developing and launching 7-inchers, so it’s no surprise that Apple don’t want other tablet makers to cannibalize their brand. “Based on our supply checks, we expect Apple to launch a 7.85” iPad in October. We anticipate an entry-level 7.85” iPad with 8GB of NAND capacity to price at $299,” states the report. The late Steve Jobs, was an opponent of a 7-incher, but apparently Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO, have something else in mind. An article from Tab Times a couple of months ago rumored that the R&D in Cupertino was testing a 7.85’’ tablet. Also in the report, analysts suggest that the current gen iPad will receive some upgrades which may include a repositioning of the camera, improved touchscreen interface, reduced weight, and improved battery life. As for the iPad 2, the firm predicts that its shelf-life will end with the launch of the iPad Mini.

Mozilla announces Firefox Mobile OS Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mozilla-announces-firefox-mobileos/16511.html July 3rd, 2012

Apple iPad Mini to launch this October

The WebOS platform is virtually extinct due to stiff competitions from iOS and Android, but more than anything else, the WebOS “technology wasn’t there yet.” Paul Mercer, former senior director of the WebOS project, claimed that WebOS was “ahead of its time.” So perhaps now is the time for a web based mobile OS to take on the challenge. Firefox announced today that they will be partnering with various OEMs and carriers to create an open sourced HTML5-driven mobile platform using the Firefox brand—it’s called, “Firefox Mobile OS.”

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-ipad-mini-to-launch-thisoctober/16513.html July 3rd, 2012

July 3rd, 2012

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Firefox claims that they will be able to “unlock many current limitations of web development” by utilizing their “Boot to Gecko project.” The Mozilla technology, they also claim, will allow HTML5 applications to access capabilities of phones which have been only available through native applications previously.

In an earlier presentation this year, Mozilla teamed up with Telefónica’s Digital unit to demonstrate how every feature of a phone such as calling, messaging, and games can be powered by HTML5. Mozilla is quick to hint that they are not aiming to take on the “high-end” smartphone market just yet. Their mobile OS platform will initially be aimed at entry-level smartphones, whereby, they are hoping that the elimination of “unnecessary middleware layers” will allow mobile operators to fully customize the OS for the right price and functionality. OEMs such as ZTE has announced that they intend to produce smartphones featuring Qualcomm's Snapdragon CPUs to run the Firefox Mobile OS. The project has already submitted various Web APIs to W3C for standardization, and Gary Kovacs, Mozilla’s CEO, hope that the arrival of Firefox Mobile OS will spark “openness, innovation and opportunity” from users and developers on the web. 11

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Press Release: Industry support is growing behind Mozilla’s plans to launch a new fully open mobile ecosystem based on HTML5. The operating system, which Mozilla today confirmed will use its Firefox brand, will power the launch of smartphones built entirely to open Web standards, where all of the device’s capabilities can be developed as HTML5 applications. Mapping to key Firefox footprints around the globe, leading operators Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica and Telenor are backing the open Firefox OS as an exciting new entrant to the smartphone marketplace. They have also identified the potential of the technology to deliver compelling smartphone experiences at attainable prices. Device manufacturers TCL Communication Technology (under the Alcatel One Touch brand) and ZTE today announced their intentions to manufacture the first devices to feature the new Firefox OS, using Snapdragon™ processors from Qualcomm Incorporated, the leader in smartphone platforms. The first Firefox OS powered devices are expected to launch commercially in Brazil in early 2013 through Telefónica’s commercial brand, Vivo. The Firefox OS for mobile devices is built on Mozilla’s “Boot to Gecko project” which unlocks many of the current limitations of web development on mobile, allowing HTML5 applications to access the underlying capabilities of a phone, previously only available to native applications. Telefónica’s Digital unit joined forces with Mozilla earlier this year to take this work and showcase a new phone architecture where every phone feature (calling, messaging, games, etc.) is an HTML5 application. Due to the optimization of the platform for entrylevel smartphones and the removal of unnecessary middleware layers, mobile operators will have the ability to offer richer experiences at a range of price points including at the low end of the smartphone price range, helping to drive adoption across developing markets. Mozilla and all other participants are committed to ensuring the project is fully open and the reference implementation of the required Web APIs is being submitted to W3C for standardization. “The introduction of the open mobile OS continues the Mozilla mission to promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the Web for users and developers. As billions of users are expected to come online for the first time in the coming years, it is important to deliver a compelling smartphone experience that anyone can use,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla. “The large number of operators and manufacturers now supporting this effort will bring additional resources and diversity to our global offerings.” About Mozilla Mozilla has been a pioneer and advocate for the Web for more than a decade. We create and promote open standards that enable innovation and advance

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the Web as a platform for all. Today, hundreds of millions of people worldwide use Mozilla Firefox to discover, experience and connect to the Web on computers, tablets and mobile phones. For more information please visit https://www.mozilla.org/ Supporting Quotes from Operators Matthew Key, Chairman & CEO of Telefónica Digital commented, “Firefox OS will bring a better smartphone experience to a higher proportion of the population at a lower cost. This is crucial for us to accelerate the adoption of smartphones in developing markets. The breadth of support for this initiative across the industry makes it clear that there is an opportunity in the market for a new, open mobile ecosystem.” Fared Adib, Product Chief at Sprint said, “Sprint continues to support an open mobile ecosystem that enables choice for Sprint customers and a healthy competitive ecosystem for the technical community. Firefox Mobile OS can help us drive an HTML 5-based platform for creating lower cost smartphone options for prepaid, postpaid and wholesale customers.” Thomas Kiessling, Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Deutsche Telekom said, “Deutsche Telekom’s objective is to provide our customers a choice from a variety of attractive, and best of breed, products and services – from DT as well as from our partners. Partnering is key for Deutsche Telekom and our cooperation with Mozilla is one important initiative for us. We support Mozilla’s Firefox OS project since we really believe that it embodies openness, innovation, and competition, and it is part of a growing cloud and HTML5based ecosystem. As a function of our commitment, our Innovation Laboratory’s Silicon Valley Center is working closely with Mozilla’s development team and e.g. is contributing NFC enabling software to Boot to Gecko Platform.” Orlando B. Vea, Chief Wireless Advisor of Smart said, “We welcome the introduction of the Firefox OS, and we recognize the exciting potentials of an HTML5-based, fully open mobile ecosystem. As the leading wireless services provider in the Philippines, we are keen to work with industry players like Mozilla to create relevant and delightful mobile Internet experiences for Filipino mobile users as we make data connectivity even more pervasive in the country.” “Firefox entering the smartphone market is a welcome development and we look forward to seeing HTML5 bring mobile technology to new levels not thought possible before,” Vea added. Cesare Sironi, Head of Innovation and Industry Relations, Telecom Italia commented, “Mobile operating systems natively based on HTML5 will lower the barriers to provide our customers with performing and innovative mobile applications and services. Open web technologies are the key for the development of a sustainable and valuable application ecosystem.”

July 3rd, 2012

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Kristin Skogen Lund, CEO Telenor Digital Services commented, “We are pleased to be part of the coalition supporting the launch of the new open mobile ecosystem. This will enable free and open service distribution to our customers, in addition to providing attractive smartphones at attainable prices, which is especially important for the adoption in emerging markets”. Essa Al Haddad, Chief Commercial Officer at Etisalat Group said: “Etisalat aim to enrich the user experience and improve the life of its customers by providing enhanced services across a complete portfolio of devices and operating systems. Firefox OS will provide an open source platform to our customers and various ecosystem players, such as application developers, to experience innovative services. Thanks to this strategic initiative, the industry will benefit from a sustained growth in mobile data and the development of cutting edge applications, as well as the promise of affordable smartphone devices that provide an enriched customer experience.”

Call of Duty: Black Ops II to get reimagined Nuketown map Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/call-of-duty-black-ops-ii-to-getreimagined-nuketown-map/16510.html July 3rd, 2012

“Multiplayer fans of Call of Duty: Black Ops LOVE Nuketown,” said Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch. “Flat out, Nuketown was a blast to play before, and we're excited about the reimagined Nuketown 2025 in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. We can't wait to play with everyone come this November.” The map will be given for free as a bonus download across all platforms to anyone who pre-orders the game before its release on 13 November.

Weekend website troubles raise questions over internet reliability Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/weekend-website-troubles-raisequestions-over-internet-reliability/16508.html July 3rd, 2012

Treyarch has revealed that it is revamping the popular Nuketown map for the upcoming first-person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Treyarch has revealed that it is revamping the popular Nuketown map for the upcoming first-person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The original Nuketown was a small multiplayer map set in a fake town used for simulating nuclear effects on urban life, replete with mannequins and other interesting terrain. Nuketown 2025 will involve a re-imagining of the classic map, though Treyarch is remaining tight-lipped about what this will involve. The combat will remain close-quarters like the original, but the setting will involve a 1960s conception of what a futuristic home would look like, giving that somewhat dated science-fiction appeal.

Storms and the “leap second” have caused severe downtime for many websites over the weekend, including popular services like Reddit, Foursquare, Netflix, Instagram, and Amazon Web Services, raising questions over the reliability of the internet in the face of relatively simple obstacles. Storms and the “leap second” have caused severe downtime for many websites over the weekend, including popular services like Reddit, Foursquare, Netflix, Instagram, and Amazon Web Services, raising questions over the reliability of the internet in the face of relatively simple obstacles. The United States has suffered lightning storms in recent days, with many along the East Coast left without power, which has caused a knock-on effect to any internet-based service operating in the area. This meant that Amazon Web Services was partly knocked offline, with even its back-up generator roasted by the storms. Since many companies rely on this service for hosting, thousands of other websites were affected by downtime. Netflix, Instagram and Reddit were also affected. 13

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Published by: VR-Zone July 3rd, 2012

Nature is one thing, but the addition of an extra second added to the world clock, designed to address fluctuations in the Earth's rotation, resulted in chaos in the way many feared the Millenium Bug would. Samsung has launched the S Health “personal wellness” application for the Galaxy S III, hoping to help improve the health of its smartphone users. Samsung has launched the S Health “personal wellness” application for the Galaxy S III, hoping to help improve the health of its smartphone users.

The leap second added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) at midnight on 30 June meant that many services that rely on the precision of time to deliver data suffered disruption, including severe errors where data was out of sync or missing entirely. Websites affected by this included Reddit, FourSquare, LinkedIn, Gawker, and StumbleUpon, among many others. Even online booking systems were disrupted, and doubtless there were other incidents around the world as a result of the extra second.

The app, which was first demonstrated at the Galaxy S III Unpacked launch event in May, collects and collates data on the user's health to chart changes and help with improving lifestyle. The software is compatible with a number of healthcare sensors, including blood glucose meters, blood pressure monitors and body composition scales. These currently include the Lifescan Blood Glucose Meter, connected via USB, the OMRON Blood Pressure Monitor and Body Composition, and the A&D Blood Pressure Monitor and Body Composition, the latter two connecting via Bluetooth.

Google avoided the problem by dividing the extra second throughout the day, adding just a few milliseconds at a time over regular intervals. This meant its clocks had already taken the extra second into account before it was suddenly added to UTC. The disruption raises questions about the reliability of the internet in the face of such relatively simple issues. Electrical storms are a common occurrence, and when even backup generators face outage because of them it suggests we have not yet developed sufficient protection for computer equipment from the forces of nature. The leap year issue is a computer problem, but since Google was able to bypass any difficulties, and since 25 leap seconds have been added since 1972, this is more of a sign of lack of preparation than lack of skill. In fact, Google shared its "leap smear" solution on a blog last September, giving many services ample time to copy its approach and save themselves and their customers many headaches.

Samsung launches S Health app for Galaxy S III

Much of the data is added automatically through the above devices, but users can also manually enter information about diet, exercise, medication intake, and other relevant health data. For those who need a little motivation to improve their health, the app is integrated with Twitter, allowing users to share goals and achievements, and get the support of others in their quest for better health. The app can be downloaded through the More Services app on the Galaxy S III.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-launches-s-health-app-forgalaxy-s-iii/16507.html

July 3rd, 2012

Court Deals Blow To Samsung Patent Claims Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/court-deals-blow-to-samsungpatent-claims/16492.html July 3rd, 2012

On Saturday the ongoing legal battle over patents between technology giants Apple v Samsung & Google took another step forward as California District Court Judge Lucy Koh refused all of Samsung's pre-trial summary judgement motions against Apple's smart phone patents. On Saturday the ongoing legal battle over patents between technology giants Apple v Samsung & Google took another step forward as California District Court Judge Lucy Koh refused all of Samsung's pre-trial summary judgement motions against Apple's smart phone patents. Samsung submitted the motions after Apple filed motions against it for purported smartphone-related IP infringments, plus Apple's FRAND-related antitrust claims. As the matter has progressed, Apple's defense of it's patents has been found to be mostly sound , while Samsung's technology and Google's programming ethics have been called into question by Apple's string of wins. In this decision the Court found Samsung / Google did not have sufficient property rights over the patents in dispute to justify an injunction favoring them, and they were all refused. By rebuffing Samsung's claims to those patents, the court has put the Samsung / Google partnership on the back foot in the lead-up to the trial in late July. The string of courtroom wins by Apple in relation to several patents as well as procedural issues are highlighting Samsung's design strategy and direction and the ethics of Google's programming involvement in the smartphone market. Judge Koh's decisions and Apple's concise submissions on this matter highlight what appears to be a dubious design and software practices by Samsung and Google.

Gaikai Cloud Gaming Platform Sold to Sony for $380 Million

Published by: VR-Zone

Four years ago, he started an adventure called Gaikai i.e. a cloud gaming service which would harness the power of GPUs to run multiple virtual instances of the same game and give the high-end gaming experience to everybody. For example, Gaikai technology was able to virtualize six instances of World of Warcraft onto the single Kepler-based GPU, presumably GeForce GTX 680. Naturally, the problem with pixel streaming services was that in order to serve, let’s say a million WoW gamers you would need to have - in the very best case scenario – 166,666 GPUs. For some other games, they were able to run from eight to twelve instances. Now, while we know of two cases where future Tesla GPUs will be deployed in a similar volume, you can be sure that those supercomputers won’t be used for gaming. Thus, when we heard the announcement between Gaikai and Samsung, it was clear to us that there is a bidding war going on for the company, and the biggest question was – who will provide the biggest ROI to the investors that backed the project since 2008, as well as who will expand the service. The answer to that is no other than Sony Computer Entertainment. While Sony has laid low following one of the biggest security disasters of our time (70 million accounts stolen), the company wants to come back swinging into profitability, and it is obvious that SCE believes Gaikai is the “Secret Sauce” the company needs to win over tens of millions of gamers. Also, big winners are investment groups and companies such as Benchmark Capital, Intel Capital, Limelight Networks, NEA, Qualcomm, Rustic Canyon Partners and TriplePoint Capital. Even though it is not mentioned, we were informed that some players at NVIDIA are also quite happy with the acquisition as there were some green people funds involved in not just one, but several funds which invested in Gaikai. What we find especially funny though, is that the executives at Sony Computer Entertainment specifically denied any takeover attempt. However, we all know when the big companies are lying e.g. deceiving the general audience and its own investors in order to outbid the competitor, which in this case was – Samsung. The Korean CE giant was very close to Gaikai and announced quite a substantial “get together” at the Electronic Entertainment Expo held in early July in Los Angeles, CA.

Ultrabook Sales Picking Up: 11% of the Market Already? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ultrabook-sales-picking-up-11-ofthe-market-already-/16401.html July 3rd, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gaikai-cloud-gaming-platform-soldto-sony-for-380-million/16506.html July 3rd, 2012

Ever since Dave Perry started his big push in the media for Gaikai, seasoned analysts could see a distinctive pattern – this will be the year of sale or the last funding series ahead of the IPO. In the end, it was the first one, with Sony winning the bidding war alongside quite a few interested parties. There is no doubt in our mind that David “Dave” Perry is an industry legend with several multi-million titles that came from the era before gaming became “larger than Hollywood”.

According to Intel, 2012 is the year of the Ultrabook. According to AMD, 2012 is the year of the Ultrathin. No matter how you look at it, the fall should be marked with thin notebooks. NPD Group shows that both companies are right, as consumers are starting to purchase more and more compact laptops.

July 3rd, 2012

All the major players in the industry are pulling forward with the thin notebooks. Regardless of the platform manufacturer, being thin is not just the obsession in fashion, but the computing world seems to like thin as well. NPD Group, a well-known market analysis firm released a report on notebook sales in the U.S. during the first five months of 2012. The report states that Ultrabook and Ultrathin devices (the group makes no difference between Intel and AMD) already make for almost 11% of premium priced notebooks on the U.S. retail market. When it comes to premium price, the bar is set at $700. While this sounds quite good, the fact of the matter is that the premium notebook market in the U.S. is allegedly dominated by Apple, as sales of premium Windows-based notebooks dropped by 17%. Looking into the report, it seems that Windows devices are pressured from multiple sides. For starters, we are witnessing the rise of mobile devices such as tablets, as well as the continuing wait for the Microsoft Windows 8 operating system. Most premium notebook customers are well-educated in market trends and the technology in general, and in general they want to get the latest and the greatest. Do note that the analysis did not cover the graduation month e.g. June, which we estimate to be one of strong pushers for awarding graduates, as well as Fathers Day events. Furthermore, the report served a point on smoke and mirrors. While there seems to be an illusion of Apple dominating the premium notebook sales, the fact of the matter is that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system share isn’t growing at the pace stock analysts would like to. For example, In August of 2011 Mac OS X had a 6.03% share. Almost a year later, the share grew to 6.72%. At the same time, Microsoft Windows OS share dropped from 92.90% to 92.23%. Tectonic movements? We don’t think so. It looks to us that the company has a core audience that continuously upgrades its platform as soon as the new one shows, but most of new customers come from purchasing tablets and mobile phones. Still, seeing Ultrabooks capturing 11% of the market is encouraging, as it helped to drive the ASP (Average Selling Price) up by $13 for the overall Windows PC platform when compared to 2011. When Ultrabook platform first appeared on the market, we saw the prices averaging $900 and more, but the prices are now coming down to a more reasonable level, dipping to an average of $885 in May 2012. Second half of the year will be a completely different story. Over the past seven weeks, we attended no less than five trade shows and conferences, in which it was clearly shown what level of innovation we can expect – Windows 8 will bring a series of touchscreen thin notebooks e.g. Ultrabooks/ Ultrathins, and only the end of the year report will confirm or deny real trends in the industry.

Published by: VR-Zone July 3rd, 2012

The legal battle for the "iPad" in China is finally over, and Apple is to pay Proview Technology $60 million. The legal battle for the "iPad" in China is finally over, and Apple is to pay Proview Technology $60 million. Apple claimed that it had purchased the rights the iPad brand in 2009 from Proview Technology, but Chinese authorities said that transferred never happened. The iPad is one of Apple's most important products, and China is one of the most lucrative markets. So Apple has to swallow this $60 million bullet and move forward. Two Apple stores were said to launch in China, one in Shenzhen and another in Chengdu, but were delayed possibly because of the Apple-Proview dispute. According to the Tech In Asia, the court proceedings ended July 25, but it was not until today that an official announcement was made. Apple reportedly offered Proview Technology $16 million, but that sum was well short of Proview Technology's asking price of $400 million. Investors, creditors, and bankers have been keeping a sharp eye on Proview Technology since the trademark dispute began in 2010, and why not? Proview just netted $60 million for the "iPad" name.

Asustek co-brands Nexus 7 to increase value of their own brand Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asustek-co-brands-nexus-7-toincrease-value-of-their-own-brand/16503.html July 3rd, 2012

Asustek and Google are partners in the development and distribution of the Google Nexus 7, and, according to analyst, Asustek is utilizing the co-branding opportunity to enhance their brand rather than to make money.

Chinese court demands Apple pays $60 million for "iPad" trademark Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/chinese-court-demands-applepays-60-million-for-ipad-trademark/16504.html

July 3rd, 2012

Asustek and Google are partners in the development and distribution of the Google Nexus 7, and, according to an analyst, Asustek is utilizing the co-branding opportunity to enhance their brand rather than to make money. The price tag of a Nexus 7 will be $199.99, and that’s the same price as the production cost. Now, why would an OEM produce a co-branded device for no profit, and hoping just to break even? An analyst, Thompson Wu of Credit Suisse, from Taiwan suggests that Asustek is not aiming to net any profit from the Nexus 7. Contrary to traditional OEM business methodology, they are seeking to build their brand in a system where OEMs “have limited opportunities to differentiate” from the brands which Asustek is making hardware for. “We believe Asustek realizes that in a market where OEMs have limited opportunity to differentiate without content and operating systems, it's demonstrating its edge via research and development and innovation, while building upon its brand value,” Wu says. Asustek has already cemented itself as a high quality OEM, but perhaps they are aiming for something more. Perhaps they want to totally dominate the Android tablet market, and the recent flood of Asus-branded Android tablets is testimonies to how “valuable” the Asus brand is.

Apple charges for required free service in Italy

Published by: VR-Zone

Today's Announcements: Super Mario Bros 2, Monster Hunt 4, Gears of War: Judgement, Left 4 Dead 2: Cold Stream Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/today-s-announcements-supermario-bros-2-monster-hunt-4-gears-of-war-judgement-left-4-dead-2cold-stream/16501.html July 3rd, 2012

In today’s announcement; the Mega Mushroom returns in the next Super Mario Bros title, a long overdue trailer for Monster Hunt 4, Gears of War: Judgment will possibly launch in early 2013, and the Cold Stream DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 is due out July 24. In today’s announcement; the Mega Mushroomreturns in the next Super Mario Bros title, a long overdue trailer for Monster Hunt 4, Gears of War: Judgment will possibly launch in early 2013, and the Cold Stream DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 is due out July 24.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-charges-for-required-freeservice-in-italy/16502.html July 3rd, 2012

Apple is constantly going after other companies for patent infringements, and, ironically, consumers are constantly going after Apple for consumer rights infringements. In a recent article we discussed that Chinese consumers were unsatisfied with Apple’s support in China, and now it’s the Italian’s turn to take a bite out of the Apple pie. Apple is constantly going after other companies for patent infringements, and, ironically, consumers are constantly going after Apple for consumer rights infringements. In a recent article we discussed that Chinese consumers were unsatisfied with Apple’s support in China, and now it’s the Italian’s turn to take a bite out of the Apple pie. It is the law in Italy for consumers to have the right to get two years of free assistance on electronics and durable goods, but it just so happens that Apple is only offering one year free and consumer has to pay to get support in the second year. Basically, Italians that are paying for an extra year of support from Apple need to get their money back. According to Reuters, various Apple divisions in Europe have already been imposed with fines of 900,000 euros, and if Apple continues to not comply with Italian authorities then another 300,000 euros will be imposed. Apple has 30 days to respond to the AGCM’s compliance request.

Super Mario Bros is Nintendo’s most revered franchise and the release of Super Mario Bros 2 later this summer will make many reminisce on the days of the NES and Super NES. As depicted in a recent screenshot (above) of the 3DS XL, the gameplay appears to remain true to the early days of Super Mario. Mario and/or Luigi begin a stage at point A and finish at point B, and along the way they collect power ups and coins to receive extra continuations.

July 3rd, 2012

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But wait, what do we have here? Is that a gigantic Mario smashing and leveling the whole stage? It appears that the Mega Mushroom will be among the lineup of power ups in Super Mario 2. Take that Koopas! Next, Capcom announced Monster Hunter 4 at the Tokyo Game Show 2011, but there weren’t any trailers until now. An official release window for Japan is spring 2013, and for North American fans, keep nagging Capcom if you want an NA release. Moving onto FPS, the previous rumored launch date for Gears of War: Judgement was around the end of this 2012, but according to Game Informer, Microsoft may be releasing it in early 2013 instead. Disappointing news for GoW fans, but cheer up, if you’re a fan of Left 4 Dead then just know that Valve has announced they will be releasing the Cold Stream DLC July 24. So hopefully some additional zombie-mutant-blasting can be a substitute for alien-blasting for another couple of months. Valve also promises some highly requested “surprises” will be a part of the DLC if you decide to purchase Cold Stream.

July 5th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Wikileaks to publish 2.4 million Syrian emails Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/wikileaks-to-publish-2.4-millionsyrian-emails/16561.html July 5th, 2012

Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks is to publish 2.4 million emails from Syrian officials and government accounts, marking the latest project in its efforts to show the world what is going on behind closed doors. Whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks is to publish 2.4 million emails from Syrian officials and government accounts, marking the latest project in its efforts to show the world what is going on behind closed doors. The emails reputedly reveal communication between the Syrian government and Western companies, suggesting potential controversy over the alleged collusion between the Syrian regime and its supposed enemies. Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks told journalists that the leak will cause embarrassment to both Syria and its opponents, with messages dating from August 2006 to March 2012, and some originating in Syria's Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, faces extradition to Sweden over charges of alleged rape and sexual assault, which he denies, claiming that he is being set up over his role as a whistle-blower. The case has overshadowed the work of WikiLeaks, but this latest release may take the limelight off Assange and back to the group's efforts. Image Credit: WikiLeaks

Twitter reunites dog with owner Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/twitter-reunites-dog-withowner/16560.html July 5th, 2012

The power of the internet to affect real lives was demonstrated recently when Twitter helped reunite a dog with his Irish owner. The power of the internet to affect real lives was demonstrated recently when Twitter helped reunite a dog with his Irish owner. The adventurous Jack Russell terrier called Patch took an hour train ride from Kilcock, County Kildare, to Dublin, where Irish Rail realised this did not look like a normal passenger. The company tweeted â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lost dog!â&#x20AC;? with a picture of the animal and after 500 retweets over the course of just 32 minutes, the owner, Deirdre Anglin, noticed that it was her pet.

The source of the leak has not been revealed, but Harrison claims that WikiLeaks is confident that they are genuine. The group has already begun posting the emails online, with a handful available to be viewed from today.

July 5th, 2012

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All of the spam detected was from compromised Yahoo accounts, so it probably says more about Yahoo than it does Android, but all of the messages also feature “Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android” at the bottom, as well as an Android-specific Yahoo.com email.

Patch disappeared on Tuesday night, possibly to ask other dogs what the best public transport to Dublin was, and Anglin posted pictures on Facebook to see if anyone saw him. Little did she know that it would be a different social network entirely that would lead to their reunion. “It was good she showed up so quickly, because the staff in the office were getting quite attached to him,” said Barry Kenny, spokesperson for Irish Rail. While lamposts might still be a hotspot for dogs to congregate, it looks like pet owners will be turning to Twitter instead when posting their “missing dog” posters.

Microsoft discovers Android spam botnet Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-discovers-android-spambotnet/16559.html July 5th, 2012

Microsoft has discovered an Android botnet responsible for sending large volumes of spam across the web, raising further concerns about the security of mobile operating systems. Microsoft has discovered an Android botnet responsible for sending large volumes of spam across the web, raising further concerns about the security of mobile operating systems. Terry Zink, security engineer for Microsoft, revealed that spam messages are being sent from the Yahoo! Mail app on Android, showing that at least one botnet exists on Google's popular mobile platform.

Zink found that most of the infections were in the following countries: Chile, Indonesia, Lebanon, Oman, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela. He said that users in developed countries tend to have fewer malware infections than those in developing countries like many of the above. Zink also suggested that the infections are the result of downloading illegitimate apps, including a possible rogue Yahoo! Mail app. Smartphones are, in many ways, more computer than phone, but users tend to not treat them like they would their PC or laptop, which most people have anti-virus software for. As the smartphone market continues to boom, users will need to adjust their security habits. Image Credit: Bodo Akdeniz

FBI to shut internet access to thousands of infected computers Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/fbi-to-shut-internet-access-tothousands-of-infected-computers/16558.html July 5th, 2012

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to shut down internet access to thousands of computers around the world which have been infected with the DNSChanger trojan. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to shut down internet access to thousands of computers around the world which have been infected with the DNSChanger trojan.

July 5th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

A whopping 350,000 computer users may lose their internet connection on Monday 9 July as the FBI takes extreme action to deal with the threat posed by this malware. 85,000 of the infected computers are in the United States, while 20,000 are in the UK.

July 5th, 2012

The trojan, which has been in the wild for five years, infects DNS servers and let Estonian cybercriminals redirect internet traffic to websites with adverts on them, from which they gained millions of dollars of profit.

Olympus announced today that they're developing a new AR glasses prototype, which they're calling "MEG4.0", that will incorporate all the know-how they've accumulated in making wearable computing devices thus far. Google made big waves when it announced Project Glass, and chances are they will be the ones to popularise AR glasses when the product finally ships, in the same way Apple popularised voice control. But Google certainly wasn't the first company to envision a future where everyone walks around looking like Vegeta from Dragonball. In fact, Olympus's been trying to make them for over a decade now. First with IBM in 1999, and more recently with NTT DoCoMo. At CEATEC 2010 in Japan, Olympus and NTT DoCoMo even showed off a working prototype, called AR Walker, that was connected to a HTC Touch Diamond Windows Mobile 6.5 handset. Representatives said that the prototype would have to be revised - to make it comfortable for prolonged usage and, well, support anything other than WinMo 6.5 - before it could be commercialised.

The FBI obtained a court order in March to allow the Internet Systems Consortium to deploy and maintain temporary clean DNS servers in order to give users time to repair their infected computers, but the substantial cost involved in keeping such systems in place meant it was only a matter of time before the plug would be pulled and infected computers become isolated from the internet. There is a simple fix for the trojan, however, and those concerned about potentially losing their internet connections have been advised to use the free DNS Check web tool from McAfee to scan for and remove the malware. Unfortunately it is unlikely that all those affected by the trojan will remove it in time, leaving many users without access to the web, emails, social networks, and other internet services.

Two years on, the AR Walker is nowhere closer to commercialisation. At last year's CEATEC it wasn't even on the showfloor. But who needs NTT DoCoMo when the world's your oyster, now that Google has effectively captured the whole world's imagination with Project Glass? Olympus announced today that they're developing a new AR glasses prototype, which they call "MEG4.0", that will incorporate all the know-how they've accumulated in making wearable computing devices thus far.

Olympus Japan announces that they're "back" in the AR Glasses game with MEG4.0 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/olympus-japan-announces-thatthey-re-back-in-the-ar-glasses-game-with-meg4.0/16556.html

July 5th, 2012

The MEG4.0, in its current state, is 196mm-long, lightweight at under 30g (including battery), and equipped with a highluminance QVGA display (320x240, 10cd/m2?2,000cd/ m2). According to past reports of Olympus-made AR glasses (not the MEG4.0), the experience is likely to be similar to looking at a 7-inch display from a meter away. A gyroscope sensor is also embedded into the MEG4.0, which will come in handy when connected to smartphone applications via Bluetooth 2.1. There's also mention of a positioning sensor, although there's no confirmation if this is GPS. Olympus also described the MEG4.0 as energy-efficient, lasting approximately eight hours under "normal usage scenarios", which they've defined as "having the display on for 15 seconds every three minutes". If you were to leave the display on all the time, a full charge is good for approximately two hours. Even without comparing it to Project Glass specs (er... specifications), I get the feeling that Olympus will need to further re-iterate the MEG4.0 (it doesn't even have a camera on it) before I could wear it as happily as this guy here:

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People waited over a decade for Diablo III, and that wait has amounted to a game that doesn’t have enough content for people to enjoy in the long run. Blizzard admits Diablo III does have “enough for a long-term sustainability end-game.” In a recent official forum post, Community Manager Bashiok wrote: “We recognize that the item hunt is just not enough for a long-term sustainable end-game. There are still tons of people playing every day and week, and playing a lot, but eventually they're going to run out of stuff to do (if they haven't already). Killing enemies and finding items is a lot of fun, and we think we have a lot of the systems surrounding that right, or at least on the right path with a few corrections and tweaks. But honestly Diablo III is not World of Warcraft. We aren't going to be able to pump out tons of new systems and content every couple months. There needs to be something else that keeps people engaged, and we know it's not there right now. We're working toward 1.0.4, which we're really trying to pack with as many fixes and changes we can to help you guys out (and we'll have a bunch of articles posted with all the details as we get closer), and we're of course working on 1.1 with PvP arenas. I think both those patches will do a lot to give people things to do, and get them excited about playing, but they're not going to be a real end-game solution, at least not what we would expect out of a proper endgame. We have some ideas for progression systems, but honestly it's a huge feature if we want to try to do it right, and not something we could envision being possible until well after 1.1 which it itself still a ways out.” Blizzard may not have spent a whole decade working on Diablo III, so we can’t expect them to deliver a product that will keep gamers entertain for another ten years. And speaking of hindsight, rarely does a major gaming studio step forward and admit they did not deliver “enough” content in their product.

Blizzard admits Diablo III does not have enough for "long-term sustainability" Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blizzard-admits-diablo-iii-does-nothave-enough-for-long-term-sustainability-/16557.html July 5th, 2012

Moving onto the solutions for maintaining player interest in Diablo III, Blizzard claims that they are working to include more modes and content in future patches. For Diablo III to simply “end” may not be in the best interest of players, therefore, a progression system will be a very welcoming solution. In essence, if Blizzard opts to go for the progression route, it means that they will have to dedicate a lot resources and development time into creating new and unique content —which then leads to the question of, “will I have to pay for these new contents?” If fans know anything about Blizzard, they should know that Blizzard takes a lot of time to develop a new game and/or content. Even Blizzard admits that the progression system that is being proposed is “still a ways out.” If players are willing to wait a decade to dive right back into the Diablo franchise, then there’s a high possibility that they will wait for Blizzard to add more to Diablo III. However, by admitting that they did not provide enough content to keep players interested, Blizzard may also be assuming that if they don’t act quickly to add more things for people to do then the

July 5th, 2012

value of the Diablo brand will shrink—which isn’t something Blizzard wants.

Buy and eat an iPhone for less than a dollar Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/buy-and-eat-an-iphone-for-lessthan-a-dollar/16555.html July 5th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

his product actually reflects how desirable an Apple product is in China. Okay, onto a more serious matter. How is this not some sort of copyright or trademark infringement? According to a staff member of the Shenyang Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the popular iPhone ice cream does not infringe Apple’s copyright or trademark because food and tech are in two different sectors. Hence, if Apple wants to own the logo or trademark in the food and tech sectors, it will have to register the logo and trademark in both sectors. The ice cream sells for 1 yuan (~$0.16) each. Excuse me sir, how many can I get for a dollar?

Would you eat an iPhone? Alright, it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to digest a Lithium battery, silicon chips, PCBs, metals, etc… But how about slurping away at an iPhone ice cream on a hot day? That sounds a lot more delectable than a real iPhone.

No Retina for iPad Mini Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/no-retina-for-ipad-mini/16554.html July 5th, 2012

Speculations that Apple will release an iPad Mini has been rampant, but aside from the “Mini” 7.85’’ portion of the rumors, we don’t know much else regarding what Apple may have in store for consumers. Speculations that Apple will release an iPad Mini has been rampant, but aside from the “Mini” 7.85’’ portion of the rumors, we don’t know much else regarding what Apple may have in store for consumers. Would you eat an iPhone? Alright, it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to digest a Lithium battery, silicon chips, PCBs, metals, etc… But how about slurping away at an iPhone ice cream on a hot day? That sounds a lot more delectable than a real iPhone. An ice cream maker in the Lioaning Province of China has created an iPhone ice cream that is very popular among students in the area, according to a report from Sina. Before being able to dig into the tasty treat, a person has to tear up a wrapper that has a picture of a product that looks exactly like the iPhone 4. Once the wrapper is off; people can chomp away at an ice cream that looks like Apple’s logo.

However, some interesting new rumors have led many to believe that the iPad Mini will come with the display technology found in the iPhone 3GS. The third gen iPad has a Retina display boasting a 2048 x 1536 resolution. However, the Retina display may not be available on the iPad Mini as the price point is well below that of the lowest priced version of the third gen iPad. For the smaller iPad Mini to be compatible with many current Apple iOS tablet apps, it has to have a screen resolution of 1024 x 768. By applying the display technology that’s in the iPhone 3GS, Apple can produce a 7.85’’ tablet that will have the same resolution as the two previous gen iPads for a much cheaper price. No iPad Mini with Retina display? I suppose Apple can still compete with other 7’’ tablets without the need of a Retina display.

CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/cm-storm-sentinel-advance-iireview/16552.html July 5th, 2012

The owner admits that there’s nothing especially unique about the taste of the ice cream, so perhaps the popularity of

Looking for a new mouse? Get ready for CM Storm’s latest addition to their premium line of gaming device. The Sentinel Advance II comes straight out of a Transformer 5

July 5th, 2012

movie, complete with a streamlined ergonomic shape, multicolour LED lights and an OLED display. Everything about this mouse spells high tech and next generation. Packaging The front of the outer packaging features black with red accents, with the 200 to 8200 DPI capability of the new Avago ADNS-9800 sensor emphasised as the main selling point.

Published by: VR-Zone

• 128KB Sentinel X Memory – For storage of profiles and macros directly in the mouse itself • Customizable Profile Light Effects – For changing colours when changing profiles • On The Fly DPI Fine Tuning – Changing DPI by pressing a button • Add Your Clan or Community Logo – Personalizing a 32x32 logo for display on the OLED screen • Advanced Driver Panel – For recording of macros, mapping functions to mouse buttons and customization • Weight Fine Tuning System – Adjust the weight and balance of the mouse using 5 x 4.5g weights • Storm Tactics Multiplier Key – Double available buttons to 17 by using combinations of buttons.

The back of the box lists the specifications of the mouse.

The contents of the box are pretty sparse - A pamphlet directing you to www.cmstorm.com to download applications and drivers, another pamphlet detailing warranty information, a set of replacement mouse feet and the actual mouse itself. While the lack of a CD is certainly environmentally friendly, the actual size of the software is a considerable 125MB, which could be a drawback for users with slower internet connections or restrictive data caps.

The feature flap is cleverly fastened by two Velcro dots. After lifting the flap, the actual mouse is revealed while the inner flap explains the specifications in greater detail:

• Superior Gaming Grade Sensor – For higher precision and elimination of Z-Axis issues 6

July 5th, 2012

NC State researcher develops "clickjacking rootkits" Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nc-state-researcher-developsclickjacking-rootkits-/16553.html July 5th, 2012

Android has seen increasing numbers of threats from malwares and viruses recently. As the popular open sourced platform becomes even more widespread, so will the threats. Researchers at NC State have found a hole in the Android GUI and services that allows malwares to disguise itself as a normal app. The team developed a “clickjacking rootkit” that allows malwares to hijack a phone’s regular icon and replaces it with its own user-information-theft software. Android has seen increasing numbers of threats from malwares and viruses recently. As the popular open sourced platform becomes even more widespread, so will the threats. Researchers at NC State have found a hole in the Android GUI and services that allows malwares to disguise itself as a normal app. The team developed a “clickjacking rootkit” that allows malwares to hijack a phone’s regular icon and replaces it with its own user-information-theft software. The clickjacking rootkit allows people to disguise their malwares in the form of legitimate Android software. What this means is that icons of a normal (non-harmful) software gets replaced with a malware, and when a user clicks on the seemingly “normal” icon he will launch an application that may seem to function normally, but underneath it are hijacking codes that steals user information. This vulnerability, as you will see in the video demonstration, is apparent in Android ICS 4.0.4. The rootkit hasn’t been tested on previous Androids, but the chances of this vulnerability existing on previous platforms are high. Android Jelly Bean 4.1 is still being investigated, and until then we cannot assume that any Android OS is secured. The rootkit exposes how various malwares can infect an Android phone and steal user information. Even harmful apps can pass as being “normal” and un-harmful can still be downloaded from Google Play. All this is possible because the vulnerability doesn’t require root access.

Apple loses 4 patent claims against HTC in the U.K. Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-loses-4-patent-claims-againsthtc-in-the-u.k./16551.html July 5th, 2012

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U.K’s court has determined that HTC does not infringe four of Apple’s patent, and thereby opening the door further for other smartphone manufacturers to compete in a $219 billion global market. Apple tried to knock out HTC in the U.K. by claiming that its patents regarding photo management, slide to unlock, changing of the alphabet through scrolling, and software allowing users to touch two spots at the same time were infringed. The court ruled, however, that HTC did not infringe three of the patents, and one was invalid. The disappointment continues as Apple is faced with trademark lawsuits in China, and failed attempts at banning HTC’s One X, among others, in the U.S. Earlier this year, and late last year, Apple won various patent suits against big brands such as Samsung across the globe, but that rush of victories have been slowed in recent months. “Competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours,” Apple spokesperson said in an email to the press. While Apple remains adamant about protecting its interest in the court room, competitors worldwide are seeking to compete with Apple through innovations in the marketplace. Andrea Sommer, spokeswoman for HTC, addressed the press by saying HTC was happy with the U.K’s court ruling, and that HTC (among others) was “disappointed that Apple continues to favor competition in the courtroom over competition in the marketplace.”

Samsung GALAXY Chat targets entry-level Android market Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-galaxy-chat-targets-entrylevel-android-market/16550.html July 5th, 2012

The Samsung GALAXY brand, seemingly, is attached to higher end devices, and in a bold move, Samsung has decided to market an entry-level Android phone under the GALAXY marker. Samsung is releasing the GALAXY chat this month to markets in Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Asia. This new smartphone, they claim, will be available “at a competitive price point.”

U.K’s court has determined that HTC does not infringe four of Apple’s patent, and thereby opening the door even further for other smartphone manufacturers to compete in a $219 billion global market. 7

July 5th, 2012

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Will this GALAXY device sell? Perhaps, but this candy-bar QWERTY phone is well below the high-end standard of other GALAXY devices.

Former Apple exec says Nokia should abandon current CEO and adopt Android Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/former-apple-exec-says-nokiashould-abandon-current-ceo-and-adopt-android/16549.html July 5th, 2012

Nokia, according to Jean-Louis Gassée, should fire current CEO, Stephen Elop, dismiss its current board, ditch Microsoft Windows Phone, and adopt Google Android. Nokia, according to Jean-Louis Gassée, should fire current CEO, Stephen Elop, dismiss its current board, ditch Microsoft Windows Phone, and adopt Google Android. Gassée, former executive for Apple in the late 80’s and 90’s, claims that Elop knows nothing about what makes smartphone, smartphone. “He has zero experience in terms of what makes a smartphone maker tick. And what is his experience in supply chain management? Zero,” he told Computing in an exclusive interview. Elop has been widely criticized for his decision to not offer Windows Phone 8 upgrades to Nokia's current line up of phones. This is a puzzling move considering major Android smartphone manufactures—such as Samsung— offer OS upgrades to their smartphones even after the device has been released.

Specs-wise, the GALAXY chat will have a 3.0’’ touchscreen (240 x 320), full QWERTY keypad, 850MHz single core processor, 4GB internal memory, and Android ICS to boot. These specs closely reflect that of the GALAXY phones from 2-3 years ago. You can’t blame Samsung for trying to sell more phones using the GALAXY tag, but a “GALAXY” branded phone with an 850MHz single core may cause people to think less favorably of a Samsung GALAXY phone—this is relative to current high-end GALAXY devices (i.e. S III, Note, etc…). Aside from the substandard specs, Samsung will release the Chat with some preloaded software that it hopes will provide for a complete mobile experience. ChatON will be Samsung’s exclusive chatting software that enables users to “spontaneously” group chat or message. For gaming, the Chat will come with “Game Hub”, a “pre-packed” software with the “most popular social games.” A multimedia software, AllShare Play, will enable people share and view contents from other devices. If I don't know any better, I can say that the Chat will come with a lot of Samsung bloatware.

Furthermore, Gassée accuses Elop of not carrying out business strategies that he should have. “He did a very good thing, which is to tell everyone that it is an eco-system ‘play', not a platform play. That was very insightful. But then he reveals the plans without implementing them. Everyone knew that Symbian phones were dead-enders and Nokia's partners – the carriers – ran away from Symbian in large numbers,” Gassée gave Elop a small compliment but tagged on a lengthy criticism. When Gassée said Elop “reveals the plans” he was referring to a Nokia blog leak that ultimately gave away the company’s strategy. Now, onto Nokia’s ultimate failure. Gassée says that Elop should have eloped with Android instead of Microsoft. By making Windows Phone their primary platform, Gassée affirms that Nokia did not side “with the winner.” The clear cut winners in the smartphone business, as of this moment, is Google’s Android and Apple's iOS, and since iOS is exclusive to Apple, that leaves Android the only alternative to siding with the “winner”. However, contrary Gassée’s belief about the winners in the smartphone arena, the International Data Research (IDC) 8

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firm predicts that Windows Phone will match iOS’s market share by 2016. Gassée has every reason to believe that Elop is not leading Nokia in the right direction, but we will have to wait and see if Nokia's decision to stick with its current CEO (and hope that their bank account doesn’t run dry until 2016) will pay off.

Google, Microsoft & now Apple vie for the 'Second Device Market' Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-microsoft--now-apple-viefor-the-second-device-market-/16542.html July 5th, 2012

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screen with twice the resolution and prices starting at $499.00. Google plans to release its new small tablet, the 'Nexus 7' this month in the U.S, Australia and the UK. The Nexus 7, no doubt gaining its moniker from its 7" screen, has a 1280 X 800 resolution display and the new Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' operating system. Unfortunately, the Nexus 7 doesn't take advantage of the one of the greatest features of the Android OS over Apple's iOS - memory expansion. Android system users have always enjoyed the ability to add memory to their devices by simply inserting a memory card into an expansion slot in their device. The Nexus 7, oddly, lacks such a memory expansion slot. While the Nexus 7 is fully featured, other than the lack of a memory expansion port, the price is competitive with other comparable devices at $199. Samsung's entry into this market, the 'Galaxy Note' is confusing. With its 5.3" 1280 x 800 pixel screen - is it a large smartphone or a small tablet? Potential customers don't seem to able to figure it out and predictably sales have been disappointing. Microsoft has also embarked on challenging the tablet PC market with 'Surface'. Surface is equipped with Windows 8, a 10.6-inch touch screen and supports a stylus that uses digital ink. It also supports a full-size keyboard that comes with touchpad which can enable one to use it as a laptop. The price of the Surface has not been announced, but it is expected to be competitively priced with currently available small tablets and slightly less ecxpensive than 'New iPad'. The biggest drawback is that there is no niche established for Windows 8 though. The release of the new small tablet by Apple is expected to solidify its position in the market and pose quite a challenge current small laptop makers.

Bloomberg announced on July 4th that Apple is releasing a smaller and cheaper version of its wildly popular iPad near the end of this year. This rumor, which has been swirling for months is also confirmed by the Wall Street Journal in an article announcing that production has begun on a compact version of the iPad. With Apple's almost cult-like customer base, this smaller iPad will no doubt rocket directly to 'King of the Hill' status in the second device market. Google and Microsoft are fiercely challenging with 'Nexus 7' and 'Surface.' The upcoming iPad, rumored to be released in October, is reported to be smaller and less expensive than the currently available model. Early reports reveal a device with a screen smaller than 8 inches, screen resolution of 1024 x 768 and falls in the price range of $200 to $250. The currently available model, the 'New iPad' or iPad 3, has a 9.7 inch

LG's latest smartphone move: Apple-like batteries Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lg-s-latest-smartphone-move-applelike-batteries/16496.html July 5th, 2012

July 5th, 2012

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Foxconn's CEO resigns for unknown reasons Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/foxconn-s-ceo-resigns-for-unknownreasons/16548.html July 5th, 2012

The latest move by LG ELectronics' in the smartphone market is now an Apple-like battery. Starting this fall, LG has decided to follow Apple's lead and integrate batteries into the design of its major smartphones. This battery integration with smartphone design results is a much sleeker phone, but the user can no longer replace the battery when it fails. LG is planning to put integrated batteries into its soon to be released 'Optimus View 2'. Insiders at LG Electronics confirmed that beginning with the Optimus View 2, almost all smartphones made by LG will have integrated batteries. Design and size are the major factors cited by both LG and Apple when asked why they decided to use integrated batteries. Integrated batteries allow manufacturers to put the batteries in between components which can reduce thickness. LG indeed took advantage of that when they manufactured the Optimus View, reducing its thickness by 1mm. Integrating the batteries into the design allows simpler and more elegant design. The fact that LG's Optimus View sold well in the South Korean market helped LG in its decision to go with integrated batteries, according to analysts. The Optimus View, which was released in March, has sold over 300,000 units despite the limelight put on LG's 'Galaxy Note.' While the Optimus View was a bit slower in reaching the 300,000 units sold mark, compared to Optimus LTE, sales results were considered to be quite good in the relatively obscure 5inch smartphone niche. A major strength of LG's integrated battery is that it is constructed using lithium polymer that is about 40% more efficient than batteries in current use.

Foxconn’s CEO, Terry Cheng, has decided to call it quits and is awaiting approval of his resignation from the board chairman. Foxconn’s CEO, Terry Cheng, has decided to call it quits and is awaiting approval of his resignation from the board chairman. Terry Cheng, an engineering specialist, joined Hon Hai in 2007 after serving ten years as Texas Instruments' president of Asian operation. Cheng took over for previous CEO Chen Wei-liang on January 1, 2012. It’s unclear why Cheng has decided to step down only after just a few months of captaining Foxconn. Terry Gou, board chairman, is reportedly trying to persuade Cheng to keep his post. Foxconn incurred losses of around HKD 218 million (~$28.1 million) in 2010, and was able to regain some lost ground in 2011, netting about HKD 73 million (~$9.4 million).

Zhi Zhen Internet Technology sues Apple for "Siri" trademark Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/zhi-zhen-internet-technology-suesapple-for-siri-trademark/16547.html July 5th, 2012

After the dust of the Proview-Apple iPad dispute has settled, the barrage of trademark infringement claims against Apple in China is beginning to build up steam again. A few days ago, a chemical company filed a complaint against Apple for the Snow Leopard trademark, and today Zhi Zhen Internet Technology has come forth with a complaint about the “Siri” trademark.

It is harder to exchange old integrated batteries with new ones but the latest LG batteries have overcome that shortcoming to a great extent by making the batteries more efficient.

July 5th, 2012

After the dust of the Proview-Apple iPad dispute has settled, the barrage of trademark infringement claims against Apple in China is beginning to build up steam. A few days ago, a chemical company filed a complaint against Apple for the Snow Leopard trademark, and today Zhi Zhen Internet Technology has come forth with a complaint about the “Siri” trademark. Zhi Zhen is claiming that their “Xiao i” robot is the rightful owner of the Siri trademark, because according to the official Zhi Zhen website, Xiao i is described as the “Chinese Siri”— a “chatting robot system” Apple’s website describes their Siri technology as being able to “understand what you say, knows what you mean and even talk back.” Apple’s robotic-query-answering Siri, Zhi Zhen believes, is similar to their chatting system in description (not so much in function), and therefore Zhi Zhen should be the owner of the Siri trademark. Zhi Zhen reportedly contacted Apple in May to settle the dispute without litigation, but nothing fell through, which then led the internet firm to file a lawsuit against Apple on June 21.

Final Fantasy VII returns to PC with achievements and online profiles Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/final-fantasy-vii-returns-to-pc-withachievements-and-online-profiles/16545.html July 5th, 2012

Cloud Strife and AVALANCHE is making a comeback to the PC, and this time Square Enix hopes that FF7 will grab an even larger fan base through achievements unlocking and sharing of profiles online.

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Cloud Strife and AVALANCHE is making a comeback to the PC, and this time Square Enix hopes that FF7 will grab an even larger fan base through achievements unlocking and sharing of profiles online. In one of our recent publishing, we revealed that Square Enix registered FinalFantasyVIIPC.com, and now we know why. It wouldn’t make much sense for Square Enix to register that domain to announce anything but Final Fantasy VII. As per improved graphics for the game, we speculate that there may be minor improvements, but nothing big because the DirectX requirement is still based on DX9—late 2002 APIs. The only features that are confirmed for the next PC release will be 36 achievements to unlock and online profile sharing. System requirements: • Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 (32/64-bit) • 2GHz Processor or faster • 1GB RAM • DirectX 9-compatible graphic card The ETA for FF7 is unknown, and the site is teasing fans with the generic phrase “coming soon.” There is a trailer, and while FF7 loyalists wait for the game, they can download some wallpaper from the site with resolution of up to 2048 x 1536!

New Mac OS X backdoor discovered Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-mac-os-x-backdoordiscovered/16544.html July 5th, 2012

Kaspersky Lab has discovered a new Mac OS X backdoor being used for an Advanced Persistent Threat campaign, creating further concern about the security of Apple's desktop operating system. Kaspersky Lab has discovered a new Mac OS X backdoor being used for an Advanced Persistent Threat campaign, creating further concern about the security of Apple's desktop operating system.

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Researchers at the Russian security firm discovered that Uyghur activists in China were being targeted by hackers, who sent customised emails with a zipped attachment containing malicious Mac code, disguised by a jpeg image. The code is a new and primarily undetected variant of the MaControl backdoor, which supports both i386 and PowerPC Macs, and once executed, it connects to a Command and Control server, which gives an operator access to files and the ability to run commands on the infected Mac.

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RIM CEO denies BlackBerry is in trouble Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-ceo-denies-blackberry-is-introuble/16541.html July 5th, 2012

Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research In Motion (RIM), has denied that the BlackBerry is facing the strong likelihood of failure, as many analysts predict. Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research In Motion (RIM), has denied that the BlackBerry is facing the strong likelihood of failure, as many analysts predict. Heins, who took over the top job in January of this year, is facing increasing pressure from investors and supporters of the BlackBerry platform after recent announcements that BlackBerry 10, the expected saving grace for the company, would be delayed until next year. Despite many questions about the company's future, Heins remains adamant that there is “nothing wrong.”

Kasperksy Lab found that the Command and Control server utilised in the infection of its research computer was located in China, suggesting the source of the attack comes from within the restrictive country, where activists frequently risk exposure from targeted malware.

“There's nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now,” he told a Canadian radio show, according to Reuters. “I'm not talking about the company as I, kind of, took it over six months ago. I'm talking about the company (in the) state it's in right now.”

“Macs are growing in global popularity, even amongst highprofile people. Many choose to use Mac OS X computers because they believe it’s safer,” said Costin Raiu, Director of Global Research & Analysis at Kaspersky Lab. “However, we believe that as the adoption increases for Mac OS X, so will both mass-infection attacks and targeted campaigns. Attackers will continue to refine and enhance their methods to mix exploits and social engineering techniques to try and infect victims. Just like PC malware, this combination is commonly the most effective and cybercriminals will continue to challenge Mac OS X users’ security, both technically and psychologically.” Macs were largely considered more secure than Windowsbased computers for years, often leading to many users not installing any anti-virus software. However, hackers are beginning to target Apple's software more often and many users are paying the price for security complacency.

The problem with this kind of denial is that it appears to be mostly within the company, as a slew of analysts recently suggested that, even with BlackBerry 10, RIM faces the distinct possibility of bankruptcy, with its shares and profits plummeting in recent months.

Recently Apple took down a comment from its website which claimed that Macs are not susceptible to the same volume of malware as Windows computers, showing that the company is no longer confident that this is the case.

In response to these predictions, Heins said that RIM is not “in a death spiral” and that it is not ignoring the world out there.

July 5th, 2012

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“We do not believe RIM is a company at the end,” he said. “RIM is a company at the beginning of a transition that we expect will once again change the way people communicate.” However, it looks like he will have a hard time convincing people that the end is not in sight for the BlackBerry.

Xbox co-creator reveals $99 Android gaming console Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/xbox-co-creator-reveals-99-androidgaming-console/16540.html July 5th, 2012

One of the co-creators of Microsoft's Xbox is reportedly working on a $99 Android-powered game console that provides games for free. One of the co-creators of Microsoft's Xbox is reportedly working on a $99 Android-powered game console that provides games for free. Ed Fries, one of the people behind the original Xbox, and designer Yves Béhar, the man behind the design for the One Laptop per Child project, are developing what could become a potential fourth major console for the next generation of console gaming.

The fact that the console will run on Android means it should theoretically be possible to play any existing Android games, though scaling them for a TV may be a problem. Presumably a separate Ouya Market will be employed for Ouya-compatible games, but undoubtedly someone will find a way to access the normal Android Market and its larger selection of titles. Those excited about the project will have to wait a while, however, as it is currently only in the design stage, with a few concept images of the device, which looks like a slightly rounded cube (and thus reminiscent of Nintendo's GameCube, albeit without the bright colours), available. Concept images of the interface show that it looks a little like Xbox Live.

The project is called Ouya (or Oooh! Yah!, as the phonetics is obviously designed to convey) and the significantly lower price-tag could give all the current players a run for their money, even beating out Microsoft's recent $99 Xbox, which requires a two-year subscription to Xbox Live to get it at that price. Even better for the cash-strapped among us, the games will reputedly be free, which will win over many of those who cannot afford the often extravagant prices of current console games. Of course, this point also raises questions about how developers will make profits and how high quality the games will be; chances are ads will be involved to make up the shortfall.

As mobile games become a bigger part of the industry, the possibility of bringing these back to the traditional console arena is an interesting one, but the chances of it completely toppling the reign of the existing console giants is likely slim.

ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T Hands-on Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-transformer-pad-infinitytf700t-hands-on/16509.html

July 5th, 2012

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July 5th, 2012

We first saw during CES 2012 an early engineering sample of the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T, which is essentially a 1920x1200 screen upgrade of the much acclaimed Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF200 . Our counterparts at Chinese VR-Zone have put it through its paces to find out why it is probably the best convertible Android tablet around. The ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T is the direct successor of the Eee Pad Transformer Prime. It is equipped with a 1920 x 1200 Full HD screen (yey 16:10) and a 1.6GHz quad core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor which also has a 12 core GPU (there is also a LTE SKU with Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 dual core). It also comes with 1GB of DDR3L RAM and 32 or 64GB flash storage capacity. For its chassis, ASUS retained the attractive spun aluminum shell with 3D coaxial hairline polish for the body. This time however, it uses plastic for its antenna housing in order to avoid interference with its WiFi and GPS functionality.

Obviously the main attraction of the Transformer series is the QWERTY keyboard dock companion which provides an additional battery, SD card reader and USB OTG port. The chiclet keyboard design itself is similar to its predecessors and offers common Android shortcuts and is comfortable for typists . Built for road warriors, the TF700T will last an impressive 9.5 hours of continuous use and 14 hours when docked. Lightweight and Fashionable The TF700T measures 263mm x 180.8mm x 8.5mm and weights around 598g.

The spun aluminum finish is a uniquely ASUS design

The display panel is LG's high definition Super IPS+ and has a wide 178 degree viewing angle augmented with a whopping 600 nits ultra bright backlight which allows viewing under glaring conditions or outdoors. In addition, the Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protects the screen from cracks and scratches. The TF700T supports 802.11 g/b/n wireless protocol, Bluetooth v3.0 and A2DP. Like most other recent ASUS tablets and Ultrabooks, the TF700T uses in-house SonicMaster technology for an above average audio experience. One can take very sharp photos quickly due to its rear 8MP camera with 5-element lens, large F/2.2 aperture, LED flashlight and back illuminated CMOS.

When docked, it looks like a small notebook computer

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Although the entire setup is still fairly slim even when docked; it is still a wee bit thicker than most Ultrabooks

The power and sleep button is located on the upper side of the TF700T

Published by: VR-Zone

The bottom is brush metal finished with rubber feet

Antec announces the availability of the High Current Pro Platinum 1000 Watt Power Supply Unit Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/antec-announces-the-availability-ofthe-high-current-pro-platinum-1000-watt-power-supply-unit/16539.html July 5th, 2012

The volume button is located on the left. However, without ridges or raised indications, locating it becomes a bit of a challenge

Antec today announced the availability of their new 1000W power supply. The High Current Pro Platinum unit boasts an 80 Plus Platinum certification, modular design, four 12V rails and a 7-year long warranty. Othen notable features include "stealth wires" (darkened wires and connectors that reduce visibility in the chassis when connected and routed) and a set of slim 8-pin connectors.

July 5th, 2012

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“Fatal1ty” Wendel to meet the specific needs of fellow gamers in performance, stability, and ease of integration to reduce system downtime. Built for Gamers - The OCZ Fatal1ty 1000W PSU sports a gaming-ready look with a sleek design, clean connectors, and a glowing red LED fan. With a high build quality using 100% Japanese capacitors and a powerful single +12V rail, this PSU is capable of delivering 1000W of continuous power at 50°C ideal for a demanding multi-GPU gaming rig. Efficient Performance - With 80-PLUS Gold certification and powered by a large 140mm thermally-controlled fan to reduce heat in your case, maintain ultimate stability and silence during the most intense gaming sessions by eliminating distracting noises from your PC. "We wanted to give users the best possible feature set for their investment in a 1000 watt power supply. We designed a highly versatile, practical cabling to maximize cable management options and pushed High Current Pro to Platinum-certified efficiency to create a PSU package unrivaled by competitors at this wattage class."

OCZ Fatal1ty 1000W PSU Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ocz-fatal1ty-1000w-psureview/16538.html July 5th, 2012

Premium Modular Cabling System - Featuring individuallysleeved modular cables, the Fatal1ty Series eliminates unnecessary wire clutter for a cleaner overall presentation and superior airflow in high end systems that are packed with components. Leading Warranty and Support - The Fatal1ty 1000W Series comes backed by a 5-Year warranty for the ultimate peace of mind." • Continuous 1000W output at 50°C • Built with 100% Japanese low ESR 105°C capacitors • Single +12V rail • Temperature and load controlled 140mm double ballbearing fan with Red LED • 80-Plus Gold certified for up to 90% efficiency (typical load) • Individually sleeved modular cables

Even though OCZ bought PC Power & Cooling several years ago, the firm never stopped developing and marketing power supplies under their own brand name. Today we are going to have a close look at one of the latest and most powerful units from OCZ, the Fatal1ty 1000W unit. As the name suggests, this is a product “approved” by Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, the famous professional gamer. OCZ goes as far as to market this unit as a “gaming” power supply. Although it will certainly not help you attain better framerates or become a professional gamer yourself, the Fatal1ty 1000W certainly has a very distinct set of features which have it standing out of the crowd. Even though OCZ bought PC Power & Cooling several years ago, the firm never stopped developing and marketing power supplies under their own brand name. Today we are going to have a close look at one of the latest and most powerful units from OCZ, the Fatal1ty 1000W unit. As the name suggests, this is a product “approved” by Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel, the famous professional gamer. OCZ goes as far as to market this unit as a “gaming” power supply. Although it will certainly not help you attain better framerates or become a professional gamer yourself, the Fatal1ty 1000W certainly has a very distinct set of features which have it standing out of the crowd. Manufacturer’s features and specifications "Pros don't just play games, pros win games! - Dedicated to delivering premium power solutions, OCZ’s latest PSU was co-developed with twelve-time world champion Johnathan

• Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) • ErP compliant for low power usage in standby • Heavy-duty protection circuitry • Dimensions: 150mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 180mm(L) • MTBF: 100,000 Hours • 5-Year Warranty

Apple granted patent for peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-granted-patent-for-peripheraltreatment-for-head-mounted-displays/16537.html July 5th, 2012

Google’s Project Glass, thus far, has amounted to essentially a camera mounted eye glass, and the possibility of making personal computing available anytime and anywhere seems out of reach. While Google is hacking away at trying to make their augmented reality glasses a reality, Apple has been tampering with the notion of computing through headmounted-displays. 16

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A patent granted to Apple today outlined some key features that reveal Apple may be on a collision course with Google in the future. The patent entitled “Peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays” discusses the techniques for projecting an image into someone’s eyes through the use of head-mounted-displays. The Abstract section states: “Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for projecting a source image in a head-mounted display apparatus for a user. A first display projects an image viewable by a first eye of the user. A first peripheral light element is positioned to emit light of one or more colors in close proximity to the periphery of the first display. A receives data representing a source image, processes the data representing the source image to generate a first image for the first display and to generate a first set of peripheral conditioning signals for the first peripheral light element, directs the first image to the first display, and directs the first set of peripheral conditioning signals to the first peripheral light element. As a result, an enhanced viewing experience is created for the user.”

Basically, an image will be projected onto someone’s eye via LCD screens, and to fill in the gaps of a user’s peripheral vision, the patent include “mechanisms” for coverage of a person’s entire field of vision. The distinction between Apple’s head-mounted device and Google’s is that Google’s Glass won’t cover all of a person’s field of vision.

Promising news for tech junkies, but will Apple make a head-mounted device that appeals to the masses—will it be attractive to wear in public? Or will it be a hideous contraption?

US Patent Office expands across major cities, spurs new wave of inventions? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/us-patent-office-expands-acrossmajor-cities-spurs-new-wave-of-inventions-/16534.html July 5th, 2012

July 5th, 2012

The US Patent Office announced on Monday that it will open four new satellite branch offices early 2013 in Detroit, Dallas, Denver and Silicon Valley. The US Patent Office announced Monday that it will open four new satellite branch offices early 2013 in Detroit, Dallas, Denver and Silicon Valley . Those wishing to register new patents will no longer have to trek to Washington, where there are currently over 640,000 patent applications awaiting first review. The new offices, each in a seperate time zone, will enable the Patent Office to hire more staff to deal with that backlog.

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In order to enable the complete platform qualification (processor, motherboard, chipset, memory modules etc., Samsung started sampling the key industry vendors with DDR4 memory modules. The very first DDR4 server modules come in the shape of "Registered Dual Inline Memory Module" with 16GB (128 Gbit) capacity. Performance is no slouch either - while the DDR3 Registered ECC memory featured clocks of 1333 and 1600 MHz, the official designation PC4-17000 (+16GB/s), shows that DDR4 is continuing where DDR3 stopped: DDR4-2133 (2.1 billion transfers per second). At the same time, the power consumption was reduced by as much as 40%, with the operating voltage being 1.2V, compared to 1.35V. Current (Amps) remained the same.

By locating offices at known centers of R&D, the Patent Office wants to also help spur the innovation economy nation-wide by speeding up the application process. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The single most important step we can take to support an economy built to last is to bring new inventions to market as quickly as possible,â&#x20AC;? said David Kappos, director of the Patent and Trademark Office. It is expected that each new office will form the basis of a hub including local inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and law firms. Mr Kappos explained that after comprehensive lobbying by various cities, Detroit was chosen as a location because of it's automotive innovation, Dallas for its energy technology development, the Silicon Valley for its ongoing development of computer science, and Denver for both its status as an aerospace center and because a high proportion of highly educated veterans live there, and the Obama administration has a policy to hire more veterans.

Samsung Announces 16GB DDR4 DIMM Modules for 2014 Platforms Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-announces-16gb-ddr4dimm-modules-for-2014-platforms/16533.html July 5th, 2012

It takes a long time to certify a platform, especially one intended for mission-critical tasks. While desktop and notebook platforms typically end up qualified within 2-3 quarters, it often takes up to 2 years to verify that all the parts of server platform work in order. We already wrote about DDR4 memory as the integral part of the future memory standards, especially with Intel Haswell and AMD's Post-Abu Dhabi future architectures. Furthermore, GDDR6 memory is also expected to debut in 2014, meaning we have about a year to year and a half to go with the current DDR3/GDDR5 combination.

While first memory modules are manufactured in 30nm process node, Samsung announced that the shipping memory modules will feature 20nm DDR4 DRAM. Once 20nm chips arrive, Samsung will be in position to offer 8GB, 16GB and 32GB DDR4 modules. If we do the math on Haswell-EP and -EX platforms, we're talking about 256GB of memory per CPU, or 1TB on a single quad-socket motherboard. Besides memory modules, expect DDR4 in SAS/SATA Express controllers, low-end and performance graphics cards, accelerator cards and so on.

4K Video Hits the Sweet Spot: A $945 4K Webcam? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/4k-video-hits-the-sweet-spota-945-4k-webcam-/16531.html July 5th, 2012

While RED Digital Camera and other manufacturers like JVC are keeping the prices of 4K cameras in the nonpalatable price range for the vast majority of consumers, Point Gray has released a $945 camera capable of recording video in 4K quality (full 4096x2160 resolution). 4K video, i.e. 3840x2160 or 4096x2160 resolution represent the next step, "the beyond HD" resolution in digital cinematography. With pioneering cameras such as RED One, Scarlet or Epic as well as JVC's GY-HMQ10 are priced in thousands of dollars, a small Canadian company is changing the pecking order. 18

July 5th, 2012

Point Grey Research Inc. is a Canadian company out of greater Vancouver area, with all the design, research and manufacturing located on one spot - no Made in China here - dedicated to bring the next generation of technology in surveillance. While majority of companies are stuck in a race to the bottom, Point Grey Research wants to reach the top, and Flea3 webcam represents the next stage of evolution in the crowded webcamera space.

Published by: VR-Zone

"PC, Mac, linux,PS3, XBOX360, Wii, iphone, ipad, itouch, androids, playbook, WD TV Live, Roku, boxee box, OpenElec, XBMC, Apple TV, Google TV, LG smart TV, Sony TV and players, Panasonic VIERA, Samsung TV and players and all rooters including DD- WRT." When it comes to amount of TV channels, you can access over 70 regionally locked channels and services, ranging from Netflix or Hulu websites to BBC's iPlayer, Speed or ESPN TV networks. Furthermore, if you're a law-abiding U.S. citizen and find yourself on the road, you'll lose all the access to services such as Amazon Web Player. With Unotelly DNS service - not anymore. The question is, what do you think?

Gates asserts that Surface tablet won't hurt OEMs Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gates-asserts-that-surface-tabletwon-t-hurt-oems/16536.html July 5th, 2012

Flea3 is one of world's first, if not the first webcam that uses the USB 3.0 standard, capable of delivering Full HD (1920x1080) resolution in up to 150 frames per second. If that level of fidelity is not high enough, you can capture up to 21 frames per second using the 4096x2160 (True 4K) pixel resolution. The camera uses Sony Exmor R (IMX121) 8.8 million CMOS sensor known from Cyber-Shot cameras, with electronics extended in a way that capturing 4K video is not a gimmick, but a real thing. If you're interested in shooting 4K video and are running on a very tight budget, this webcam just might be the thing you need. You can mount various lenses onto the CS mount as well. While not ideal, this just might be the closest thing we have to a sub-1000 dollar 4K camera.

Can Unotelly Really Remove the Content Borders? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/can-unotelly-really-remove-thecontent-borders-/16529.html July 5th, 2012

Regional restrictions are single most common cause of content piracy. Today, we live in a internetworked world and for as long as you try to keep those borders closed, you'll have a potential legal issue. Until now. While you can already watch for example, British television if you use apps such as ExPat Shield, Unotelly is the first global DNS system we can think of. The concept behind the service is to rely on multiple DNS (Domain Name Servers) across the globe and give access to US television to the rest of the world, or UK television etc.

In an eco-system where OEMs and Microsoft are each other’s benefactor, MS’s recent decision build its own tablet may have been perceived as a blind-sided blow to OEMs. Bill Gates, in a recent interview with Charlie Rose, defends this company’s decision by asserting “you can have a rich ecosystem of manufacturers” even if the line between PCs and tablets is removed. In an eco-system where OEMs and Microsoft are each other’s benefactor, MS’s recent decision build its own tablet may have been perceived as a blind-sided blow to OEMs. Bill Gates, in a recent interview with Charlie Rose, defends this company’s decision by asserting “you can have a rich ecosystem of manufacturers” even if the line between PCs and tablets is removed. "I actually believe you can have the best of both worlds. You can have a rich eco-system of manufacturers and you can have a few signature devices that show off, wow, what's the difference between a tablet and a PC?" There’s no doubt that there is a fine line between current PC’s and tablets, and Gates’ statement resonates the possibility that OEMs may one day become an extinct breed. Current PC’s are much more powerful in terms of flexibility and productivity, but tablets are slowly building momentum in both departments.

According to the information we received from the app maker Kostas Polichronos, Unotelly works on multiple devices and doesn't exactly have a limitation on what device it can work on. The number of supported devices is amazing, which is not uncommon - if you have Internet connection, you can use UnoDNS service: 19

July 5th, 2012

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Ultrabooks from various OEMs are under attack in light of the U.S. granting Apple the design patent for the “wedge or teardrop” profile in the MacBook Air. The Surface tablet will come preloaded with an Office suite, not to mention a cover that conveniently turns into a keyboard. Professionals who rely heavily on their laptop PCs to create documents and presentations may find the Surface tablet especially attractive since it will cover much of the bases regarding productivity, and as for flexibility, the Surface is slim and very mobile. Now, if the Surface possesses both flexibility and productivity then how is it distinguishable from a laptop PC? Perhaps the only base that the Surface tablet doesn’t cover is the power aspect. Take for example, if a professional needs a device that is powerful enough to encode an HD video quickly, then perhaps an RT Surface may not be an option. The same can’t be said for the Pro Surface tablet, which will most likely boast an Intel processor found in most ultrabooks. Therefore, the only “wow” factor that coincides with the Surface tablet is that it’s more of a PC killer rather than a product that will compete with current tablets. Gates may have contradicted himself by attaching a “rich eco-system of manufacturers” to the topic of the Surface tablet. There won’t be any competition if Microsoft is to charge OEMs for the Windows 8 OS, while negating the cost of an OS in their product. Price is one of the main criteria in competition, and without competition there is no “rich ecosystem of manufacturers.” Gates may be referring to the "rich eco-system" between Microsoft, Apple, and Google.

Ultrabook OEMs face possibility of U.S. importation ban Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ultrabook-oems-face-possibility-ofu.s.-importation-ban/16535.html July 5th, 2012

Taiwan’s PC brands and laptop makers will meet with local government officials to discuss the possible impact of Apple’s 14 year ownership of the design patent. The meeting is to include major brands such as Acer Inc., Asustek Computer Inc., Compal Electronics Inc., and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. According to Focus Taiwan, the meeting may spur discussions on how to counter Apple’s possible lawsuit against Taiwan’s manufacturers. The U.S. market makes up a huge portion of the Taiwan’s ultrabook exports; therefore, it is crucial that these OEMs are ready to face the possibility of having their products barred from entering the U.S. “We should share our information with Taiwanese vendors in case Apple takes action against them,” said Wang Meihua, director-general of the Ministry of Economics Affiars’ Intellectual Property Office. The patent situation is dire if OEMs don’t find a solution, such as developing a new design for ultrabooks instead of cloning Apple’s wedge design. Worse comes to worst, OEMs can file an opposition to the validity or applicability of Apple’s design patent.

HP webOS smartphone dead or alive? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hp-webos-smartphone-dead-oralive-/16532.html July 5th, 2012

Awhile back, HP was rumored to be working on an all touch interface webOS smartphone to compete with the EVO, but AT&T did not favor the phone because it did not have LTE— thus HP pulled the plug. Awhile back, HP was rumored to be working on an all touch interface webOS smartphone to compete with the EVO, but AT&T did not favor the phone because it did not have LTE— thus HP pulled the plug.

Ultrabooks from various OEMs are under attack in light of the U.S. granting Apple the design patent for the “wedge or teardrop” profile in the MacBook Air.

July 5th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 5th, 2012

Transparent House, a design firm that worked with HP on the rumored phone, uploaded a demo video of the phone to Vimeo nine months ago, and left the video live up until now. The video is no longer available on the Transparent House’s Vimeo channel, which then begs the question why are they deciding now to remove the video?

A 19-year-old Japanese college student has been arrested for distributing software that circumvented Nintendo’s copy protection, thereby, enabling Wii console owners to play pirated games via a USB drive. The teenager made the software available on his website, and according to Asahi Shimbun, he told the police “my website was making money, so I kept it running.” There were no distribution of any video games, physical goods, or service provided by his site, and the $2,500 which he earned was strictly through advertisement. According to the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, “the act of providing devices to circumvent technological restriction measures” is an offense punishable by law. Japanese authority believes that the young man is not the creator of the software which he is accused of distributing. Therefore, he may face charges on the account of distribution while authority hunts for the creator of the software.

About a year ago, rumors of an HP webOS smartphone, code named “Stingray”, surfaced that looked eerily similar to that of the Transparent House Vimeo upload. HP’s aspiration for the smartphone market through webOS ultimately failed, and the company decided to discontinue all webOS operations last year. It's clear that HP has no intention of reviving the forsaken webOS hardware development, therefore, the removal of the video from Vimeo may be due more to HP’s desire to not have to deal with the press’ inquiries about the possibility of a webOS resurrection. That said, we have reached out to HP and Transparent House regarding the removal of the video, but no one is available to comment on the matter. WebOS is practically dead, but we'll keep you all posted if we get confirmation of a possible HP webOS revival.

Japanese teenager arrested for distributing Wii software mod Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/japanese-teenager-arrested-fordistributing-wii-software-mod/16530.html

July 9th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Michael Fassbender to take main role in Assassin's Creed film Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/michael-fassbender-to-take-mainrole-in-assassin-s-creed-film/16599.html July 9th, 2012

Actor Michael Fassbender is to take on the main role in the upcoming Assassin's Creed film, which he will also coproduce. Actor Michael Fassbender is to take on the main role in the upcoming Assassin's Creed film, which he will also coproduce. The adaptation of the popular video game series will see Fassbender star as Desmond Miles, who explores the lives of his assassin ancestors through the Animus machine, allowing him to experience the time periods of the Crusades, the Renaissance, and, in the upcoming third game, the American Revolution. Ubisoft Motion Pictures is hoping to turn its largest game franchise, with 30 million games sold since the series' debut in 2007, into a blockbuster success, with several films planned over the coming years, most likely exploring the different epochs of history that the games traverse through. The fate of the future films will largely rest on the initial one, however, as many planned series have failed to take off due to poor sales, such as the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time film in 2010.

The films were originally intended to be a team effort between Ubisoft and Sony, but negotiations failed to produce a deal. Ubisoft has since decided to go it alone, setting up Ubisoft Motion Pictures in 2011, giving it a significant role in the film industry, where adaptations are on demand. Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, said that Fassbender was their first choice to play the main character. German-born and Irish-raised Fassbender has starred in many significant roles in recent years, including playing Magneto in X-Men: First Class and Lieutenant Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. He has also voice characters in video games, including Logan in Fable III. There is no word yet on co-cast or a possible release date, but we likely won't see the film for around three years. Meanwhile, Assassin's Creed III will be out on 30 October for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and 23 November for PC.

July 9th, 2012

3rd Gen. Ultrabooks Pack 3D HD Displays, New Sensors Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/3rd-gen.-ultrabooks-pack-3d-hddisplays-new-sensors/16598.html July 9th, 2012

Even as the market for super compact notebooks, or Ultrabooks, is a work in progress; sources in the supply chain have a fair idea of what's in store with thirdgeneration Ultrabooks, based around Intel's next CPU micro-architecture, codenamed "Haswell." The Ultrabook appears to be going the smartphone way on multiple fronts. Even as the market for super compact notebooks, or Ultrabooks, is a work in progress; sources in the supply chain have a fair idea of what's in store with thirdgeneration Ultrabooks, based around Intel's next CPU micro-architecture, codenamed "Haswell." The Ultrabook appears to be going the smartphone way, on multiple fronts.

Published by: VR-Zone

With Apple seeking to patent the "wedge" shape chassis design of its MacBook Air, Ultrabook ecosystem partners seem to be looking up to Intel for solutions that could save them future trouble with the Cupertino, California-based company. This could mean that Intel could come up with [patent] troll-proof designs that partners could build on. The chassis design could implement two standardizations: the first is a new durable hinge (that joint between the two halves of the notebook), and the second is chassis materials. Intel recently announced a breakthrough in design that allows chassis made of plastic to have durability comparable to those made with aluminum, which could result in reduced manufacturing costs (once the technology has proliferated enough, and good volumes are reached). Third generation Ultrabook could see this chassis become standard. Lastly, Intel could mandate the use of solid-state drives (SSDs) as storage devices, and quite some R&D could be carried out for coming up with a newer battery standard. In conclusion, notebook manufacturers will find Intel babysitting the Ultrabook specification looking deep into 2013, as well. The improved display, sensors, and chassis design sure are things to look forward to. With inputs from DigiTimes.

Activision and Terminal Reality announce The Walking Dead game Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/activision-and-terminal-realityannounce-the-walking-dead-game/16596.html July 9th, 2012

To begin with, it's no revelation that the third generation of Ultrabooks, super-compact notebooks whose basic specifications are governed by Intel, will be based on its next-generation CPU architecture, codenamed "Haswell." The new processors will be built on existing 22 nm silicon fabrication processes, but will pack architectural changes that will yield higher performance, and faster graphics. According to sources closely associated with companies that contract-manufacture Ultrabooks (ODMs), third generation Ultrabook will pack better displays, better display capabilities, improved chassis design, and a suite of new sensors that add new user-interface elements. There is talk of displays with stereo 3D and HD resolutions. 1920 x 1080 pixels seems like a plausible resolution standard candidate, as today's Ultrabooks already do 720p. Display panel makers achieved extremely high pixel densities with displays of certain high-end smartphones and tablets, and it's expected that these could make their way into Ultrabooks, without impacting costs significantly. Further, standardizing multi-touch displays is on the cards, even for Ultrabooks in the conventional "clam-shell" form-factor. Next up, there's talk of giving the Ultrabook a suite of sensors, that gel with the user interface of Windows 8. Facial recognition and gesture recognition, integrated with the operating system, seem high on the cards. Other sensors could include those which are common with today's portable computing devices, such as accelerometer and digital compass.

Activision Blizzard and developer Terminal Reality have announced a video game of the popular The Walking Dead zombie TV series. Activision Blizzard and developer Terminal Reality have announced a video game of the popular The Walking Dead zombie TV series. The game will be a first-person action title that allows players to take on the role of Daryl Dixon, accompanied by his brother Merle, as they try to get to the safety of Atlanta. It is being described as a “do-whatever-you-need-to-survive” game, suggesting plenty of suspense and grittiness to match the show. “The work AMC has done with the TV series has been amazing and we're ecstatic at the opportunity to be brought into the fold,” said Drew Haworth, Creative Director at Terminal Reality. “The studio is made up of fans of the show, and we think other fans will see that the situations and walkers featured in our game are every bit as gruesome and shocking as they are in the TV series — they look, move and react as expected with full authenticity — and they will surprise you. The player's fight-or-flight survival instinct is constantly engaged. 'Flight' is usually a good bet.”

July 9th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Players will frequently find themselves in situations where they need to assess threats and analyse everything as they try to avoid being spotted by the undead walkers, which will use a combination of sight, sound and smell to hunt them down, making it extra difficult for players hoping to survive the onslaught. There will be a choice of fighting or using stealth to escape, providing an interesting balance of brute force and tactical gameplay. To make things even more tense, players will have a limited supply of everything, requiring them to ration supplies. Food, medical equipment, ammunition and other goods will be scarce and scattered around the in-game world, and players will be required to use their wit and intellect in choosing the best supplies. The game will release in 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Nintendo to showcase 3DS XL and games at Comic-Con 2012 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nintendo-to-showcase-3ds-xl-andgames-at-comic-con-2012/16595.html July 9th, 2012

The game lineup includes: New Super Mario Bros. 2, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Mario Kart 7, Super Mario 3D Land, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mirror of Fate, Heroes of Ruin, Kingdom Hearts 3D, and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Some footage and trailers of these can be seen here. Other games that will be available to try out will include PokĂŠmon Conquest for the DS, and Kirby's Dream Collection: Special Edition and Just Dance 4 for the Wii. There is no word on the possibility of the Wii U being available for demos, but we expect Nintendo might have a few surprises up its sleeves. Comic-Con runs from 12-15 July. Those wishing to attend the Nintendo Gaming Lounge do not require a Comic-Con badge to gain entry.

Nintendo is to showcase the 3DS XL handheld console and a number of games for the 3DS and Wii at Comic-Con 2012 later this week. Nintendo is to showcase the 3DS XL handheld console and a number of games for the 3DS and Wii at Comic-Con 2012 later this week. The gaming company announced the 3DS XL, which features a screen that is 90 percent larger than standard versions, in late June, but this event will give the public a chance to try it out before its launch on 19 August. Nintendo also plans to show off a large number of upcoming games for the 3DS and 3DS XL at booth #5135 and at the Nintendo Gaming Lounge, which the company will be hosting at the San Diego Ballroom near the Comic-Con event.

ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU II TOP 2GB Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-gtx-670-directcu-ii-top-2gbreview/16580.html July 9th, 2012

Everyone already knew back in early May that the Nvidia Kepler GK104 based GTX 670 is a serious contender for the price-performance crown. We re-visit that conclusion again with ASUS's factory overclocked GTX 670 fitted with their DirectCU II heatpipe cooler and run a few tests with the latest 304.79 drivers. Quick recap on the GTX 670 As we can see from this block diagram of the GK104 die, the GTX 670 has one of eight SMX units disabled, which is a common way of putting crocked ASICs that do not meet full binning standards to good use instead of throwing them away. As a result, the GTX 670 has 12.5% less fillrate/ pixel pushing performance and lower TDP than the GTX 680, much like how the HD 7950 Tahiti Pro is to the HD 7970 Taihiti XT. Given that everything else remains the same (number of ROPs, memory bus bandwidth, fancy AA algorithms and other technologies), do the loss of shaders

July 9th, 2012

really matter for most use cases? We find out in the following pages..

Published by: VR-Zone

back to the more practical 2-slot design (rather than obtuse 3-slot), allowing for better motherboard compatibility and quad-GPU setups. Having said that, ASUS opted for their own custom PCB which is longer than the surprisingly short 7-inch board from Nvidia, presumably to accomodate the extra power circuitry.

No changes at the I/O panel from the reference GTX670/ GTX680 offerings (1 x HDMI, 1 x DP, 2 x DVI). The red slash marks box design of the ASUS GTX 670 DirectCU II TOP is similar to the GTX 680 we reviewed a while ago, which is not too surprising given their common heritage.

There is also a metal backplate at the back spanning across the whole card, adding to the impression that it is a premium product. A beefy four micro-capacitors can be found behind the GPU core, which can give it more instantaneous power as opposed to two on the regular board.

Most of the recent graphics cards with the DirectCU II coolers that we've seen recently from ASUS have reverted 4

July 9th, 2012

Two 6-pin PCIe power inputs add 150W of power on top of the 75W supplied by the slot (GTX 670 has a 170W TDP). There are red/green LEDs to indicate if the connectors are plugged in correctly.

Published by: VR-Zone

Nokia and RIM are sailing in turbulent weather, but HTC’s situation may not be as bad. The Taiwan-based handheld manufacturer is expected to ship 8 million units in the 3Q. Unfortunately, analysts also predict that HTC will only ship 7 million units in the 4Q. HTC’s problem is mainly due to stiff competitions from its Asian competitor from South Korea—Samsung. The two Android-favored smartphone makers both have flagship devices that are comparable in specs, but Samsung’s GALAXY SIII seems to be besting HTC’s One X by a slight margin. Nokia, RIM, and HTC are currently under immense pressure to catch up to Samsung and Apple, and hopefully Nokia, RIM, and HTC don’t bow out of the smartphone race— leaving consumers with fewer choices when selecting their next handset.

Nokia, RIM, and HTC steadily losing grounds to Samsung and Apple

NVIDIA and AMD will likely stick with TSMC's 28nm Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-and-amd-will-likely-stickwith-tsmc-s-28nm/16593.html July 9th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-rim-and-htc-steadily-losinggrounds-to-samsung-and-apple/16594.html July 9th, 2012

Samsung and Apple are dominating the smartphone market, and that trend won’t stop in the second half of 2012. Various reports have concluded that Nokia, RIM, and HTC won’t be able to compete with Samsung and Apple in the later part of this year. Samsung and Apple are dominating the smartphone market, and that trend won’t stop in the second half of 2012. Various reports have concluded that Nokia, RIM, and HTC won’t be able to compete with Samsung and Apple in the later part of this year. Nokia has been struggling to make its mark on the smartphone market ever since Android and iOS became the predominant smartphone OSs. Windows Phone, being Nokia’s primary smartphone platform, hasn’t helped Nokia regain its market share. Nokia is currently on shaky grounds as it is betting heavily on Windows Phone 8—which won’t be available to current Nokia devices. “It will also be more difficult for Nokia to push sales of Windows Phone 7.5-based models in the third quarter as consumers are waiting for the launch of Windows Phone 8 smartphones,” sources told DigiTimes. Onto RIM’s woes, the once-upon-a-time smartphone goliath will delay their latest platform until early 2013. BlackBerry 10 (BB10) is supposed to be RIM’s savior, and if RIM doesn’t deliver an OS that can compete with iOS and Android, then more people will be out of a job—or even worse, RIM goes bankrupt. The company is reportedly spending over $1 billion to produce and market BB10.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) may have lost its contract with Qualcomm to produce the Snapdragon S4, but it’s still holding onto NVIDIA and AMD. Sources familiar with TSMC’s business outlook are confident that NVIDIA and AMD will continue to rely on TSMC to manufacture their chips. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) may have lost its contract with Qualcomm to produce the Snapdragon S4, but it’s still holding onto NVIDIA and AMD. Sources familiar with TSMC’s business outlook are confident that NVIDIA and AMD will continue to rely on TSMC to manufacture their chips. Sources have indicated to DigiTimes that: “TSMC has the upper hand over Samsung in 28nm technology, yield rate and price and therefore changing foundry partnership involves high risks, the sources said. In addition, Nvidia is expected to consider Samsung's ARM-based processors in competition with its Tegra 3 processors.” TSMC worked with AMD on the 28nm Southern Islands graphics chips, and production is scheduled to begin this fall. AMD is also expected to adopt TSMC’s 28nm Bulk CMOS technology in 2013, which helps to further confirm that TSMC will hold onto other contracts despite losing Qualcomm. Update: According to X Bit Laboratories Samsung and TSMC will both manufacture the Snapdragon S4 for Qualcomm. We revealed earlier that UMC reportedly won a contract to produce the S4, which hints that Qualcomm may have switched foundry. There are no confirmations as to whether or not Qualcomm will continue its partnership with TSMC in the future.

July 9th, 2012

The new iPad to launch July 27 in China

Published by: VR-Zone July 9th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-new-ipad-to-launch-july-27-inchina/16592.html July 9th, 2012

Chinese consumers may not be happy with Apple’s customer support, but apparently they’re still consuming Apple products like it is oxygen. Apple’s revenue in Greater China was $7.9 billion (20% of global total) according to a financial report released on March 31. With the Proview-Apple iPad dispute out the way, Apple may now unleash the new iPad unto the Chinese market. How much more money will Apple rake in beginning July 27 when the new iPad is set to release in China? Who knows, if the trend continues like all other Apple products, the new iPad will definitely be a hot commodity. Chinese consumers may or may not be happy with Apple’s customer support, but apparently they’re still consuming Apple products like it is oxygen. Apple’s revenue in Greater China was $7.9 billion (20% of global total) according to a financial report released on March 31. With the ProviewApple iPad dispute out the way, Apple may now unleash the new iPad unto the Chinese market. How much more money will Apple rake in beginning July 27 when the new iPad is set to release in China? Who knows, if the trend continues like all other Apple products, the new iPad will definitely be a hot commodity. According to Want China Times, the first batch of iPads will only have Wi-Fi, but that doesn’t mean that the 3G version won’t appear soon after. Apple has been given network license from Chinese authorities some time in May, so the 3G version will undoubtedly be an integral part of the iPad world in China. Recent rumors suggest that Apple will be releasing a refreshed version of the new iPad later this fall alongside the iPad Mini, so Chinese consumers who are up to date on their Apple gadgets will most likely hold out until the latest iPad is released.

Without much fuss, ASUS slipped out a revision of its Radeon HD 7950 DirectCU II graphics card. The revision breaks away from the common board design between the HD 7950 and HD 7970 DirectCU II models, and uses newer, compact PCB and cooler. The revision could ready ASUS for future price cuts of the GPU. Without much fuss, ASUS slipped out a revision of its Radeon HD 7950 DirectCU II graphics card. The revision breaks away from the common board design between the HD 7950 and HD 7970 DirectCU II models, and uses newer, compact PCB and cooler. The revision could ready ASUS for future price cuts of the GPU.

The new board design will be applied to both the standard and TOP variants. Its most notable feature is the reduced length, which appears to be down by an inch, if not more. It's unclear if there are any casualties of this design change. The cooler appears to be just a compacted version of the original, that looks a little less rough on the edges. According to one source, the new cooler features denser aluminum fin stacks, and uses six heat pipes to transport heat, instead of five on the original design. A secondary heatsink runs the entire length of the obverse side of the PCB, drawing heat from memory, MOSFETs, and other hot ancillary components, and cools them under the air-flow of the main heatsink.

Although the iPad is clear for sales in China, Apple is still facing multiple trademark lawsuits which include their outdated “Snow Leopard” OS and the “Siri” communication technology. Apple may have just lost $60 million to Proview, but that’s a small price to pay considering China is generating 20% of Apple’s total revenue.

ASUS Shrinks Radeon HD 7950 DirectCU II Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-shrinks-radeon-hd-7950directcu-ii/16591.html

The display output configuration is also changed, with the revision featuring two dual-link DVI apart from oneeach of HDMI 1.4a and standard-size DisplayPort 1.2; in comparison to the original featuring two mini-DisplayPorts, and just one dual-link DVI. Apart from the design changes mentioned, both the base and TOP models of the new HD 7950 DirectCU II graphics cards retain the clock speeds of the originals. The base model ships with 800 MHz core, 5.00 GHz (effective) memory; while the TOP model ships with 900 MHz core and 5.00 GHz (effective) memory. 6

July 9th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

AMD Piledriver FX and Opteron refresh? After summertime.. Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-piledriver-fx-and-opteronrefresh-after-summertime../16588.html July 9th, 2012

The revised ASUS HD 7950 DirectCU II graphics cards will initially sell at the same prices as those of the originals, although it's expected that the revisions will give ASUS a better cushion against falling prices. Based on the 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon, the Radeon HD 7950 from AMD features 1,792 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs, a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 3 GB of memory, and support for the DirectX 11.1 API.

iPad Mini to be manufactured in Brazil and keeps 4:3 screen ratio Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ipad-mini-to-be-manufactured-inbrazil-and-keeps-4-3-screen-ratio/16589.html July 9th, 2012

Recent rumors are suggesting that the iPad Mini will be manufactured in Brazil, a twist on Apple's history of having their products manufactured in China. Recent rumors are suggesting that the iPad Mini will be manufactured in Brazil, a twist on Apple's history of having their products manufactured in China.

The eagerly awaited Vishera FX desktop and Abu Dhabi server refreshes of AMD processor lines seem scheduled for late summer or early fall (Q3 to Q4 2012) as of now. What's in store? Yes, Bulldozer core microarchitecture didn't exactly impress on the desktop, with the power-performance ratio being the biggest problem even with discounted pricing. On the server front, the dual die 8 core-pair 'Interlagos' implementation of Bulldozer fared somewhat better as there are more apps that can benefit from many-thread resources, especially integer bound Web environments where the shared FP units aren't that much of a hindrance. Since the Trinity APU already has the updated 32nm 'Piledriver' core included, the question was when will we really see it in the desktop and server general purpose CPUs. While there may be samples of Vishera floating around, this Bulldozer desktop follow-on is still nowhere near the official release. The 'Abu Dhabi' dual die follow-on to Interlagos, implementing the 'Piledriver' core, is howewer, pretty much confirmed for the September to October timeframe.

Hon Hai plays a big role in manufacturing quite a few iPhones, among other Apple devices, for worldwide consumption, so the news that the iPad might come via Brazil’s plants may surprise some. Apple has long employed Asian OEMs to produce their Apple products, but Hon Hai is reported to have outsourced much of their workload to the Brazilians. Thus, although the iPad Mini may be manufactured in Brazil, it will still be under the directions of Hon Hai and Apple. Sources that suggested the iPad Mini will be manufactured in Brazil also added confirmation to the torrents of rumors surrounding the 7.85’’ display of the iPad Mini. The iPad Mini is rumored to have the same height as the Google Nexus 7, but the width may be wider—perhaps to accommodate the extra .85’’. Other Apple tablets have retained the 4:3 aspect ratio, and it appears the iPad Mini will continue that tradition. This is in direct opposition to other major tablet vendors such as Amazon, Google, and Asus who are currently endorsing and implementing the 16:9 ratio. The rumored launch date for the iPad Mini is sometime in October, the same time frame for the launch of many other hand held devices, specifically tablets. This fall will be an exciting part of the year for many tech enthusiasts.

Any reason to wait? Well, there are two expected main benefits: one is the supposedly improved instructions perclock efficiency, which could be up to 15% based on the more optimistic figures, and the other one is the higher clock frequency, up to some 20% vs similar Bulldozer cores especially on the Opterons. Finally, yes, Haswellcompatible FMA3 fused multiply add format. And, oh yes, further improved power management. Note that there will be no new sockets (meaning AM3+ and G34/C32 still), everything has to fit within the current TDP, memory and I/ O bandwidth limits. No support for PCI Express 3.0 either... Now, how would it impact the competitive positioning? Not much as of now - 22nm Ivy Bridge-E / EP updates (more on that this week) to Core i7 and Xeon E5 lines will keep the performance chasm as it is today. It would, however, show that AMD is still in the game and continuing to develop its CPU/Heterogenous Computing stuff so that, by the time 7

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the Steamroller and Excavator core designs come, it can hopefully compete again vs Intel.

BitTorrent aims to revolutionize the internet again with Torque Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/bittorrent-aims-to-revolutionize-theinternet-again-with-torque/16587.html July 9th, 2012

BitTorrent has become an integral part of the internet since its inception ten years ago and the folks that helped deliver BitTorrent is aiming to revolutionize the internet even further—with something they call BitTorrent Torque. BitTorrent has become an integral part of the internet since its inception ten years ago and the folks that helped deliver BitTorrent is aiming to revolutionize the internet even further—with something they call BitTorrent Torque. BitTorrent Torque, according to the official BitTorrent site, will allow developers and users to integrate BitTorrent into web browsers. “Simply put, it allows anyone to utilize our powerful technology to create completely fresh and new experiences for users with just a couple lines of code.” One such integration, dubbed Paddle Over, involves drag and drop of files for transfer between computers, social sharing tools, social networks, and more. Another feature is OneClick, which allows torrent downloads to turn into normal in-browser downloads.

Published by: VR-Zone

Hewlett-Packard (HP) decided several days ago that it won’t back Microsoft’s Windows RT tablets at launch, and that announcement left many wondering which OEM giant will fill in the hole left by HP. Wonder no more, according to Bloomberg, Samsung will launch a Windows RT tablet later this October. Hewlett-Packard (HP) decided several days ago that it won’t back Microsoft’s Windows RT tablets at launch, and that announcement left many wondering which OEM giant will fill in the hole left by HP. Wonder no more, according to Bloomberg, Samsung will launch a Windows RT tablet later this October. Microsoft’s decision to launch its own hardware created quite a stir among partnering OEMs, and HP was not hesitant to express their discontent with the Microsoft Surface decision. We’ve discussed, recently, the various impacts that the Surface will have on the OEMs that partnered with Microsoft in the past, and one of the major impacts is the price point in which OEMs has to deal with if they produce a Windows RT tablet. The Surface will not incur an operating system cost, but OEMs that want to produce a Windows RT tablet will have to pay for the OS (unless Microsoft decides to offer Windows RT for free, which is unlikely). Therefore, OEMs won’t be able to compete with Microsoft in pricing without having to cut corners. Despite many OEMs’ opposition to the Surface, Samsung will launch its own ARM Windows RT tablet alongside the Surface. We can speculate that Samsung’s hardware cost will be lower than Microsoft’s, and therefore, that may help Samsung to lower the price of their Windows RT tablet. Apple’s iPad still dominates the tablet market as it is currently holding onto 58 percent of the market share. The ARM-based iPad, along with other ARM devices, outnumber Intel and AMD-based devices by a longshot.

The team claims that BitTorrent Torque is their attempt at providing internet developers and users with the opportunity to become even more involved with the BitTorrent technology.

Intel has been trying to crack into the ultra-mobile market for quite some time, and the relatively successful backing of the ultrabooks is a testament to Intel’s persistent. The Surface Pro will come with an Intel based processor, which makes the Surface Pro a borderline tablet-ultrabook device.

“Torque Labs is part of our ongoing commitment to maintain an open conversation between our developers and our developer community. We are confident that together we can create some really kick-ass applications.”

Get ready for CyanogenMod 10

BitTorrent Torque is currently in alpha, but the team hopes that the internet community will help drive their new technology “beyond desktop clients.” Interested? Check out the official BitTorrent Torque page.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/get-ready-forcyanogenmod-10/16585.html July 9th, 2012

Samsung to launch Windows RT tablet this October Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-to-launch-windows-rttablet-this-october/16586.html July 9th, 2012

An official stable version of CyanogenMod 9 was released last week, and according to developers at XDA, the release of Jelly Bean may cause CM9 to have a very short shelf life. An official stable version of CyanogenMod 9 was released last week, and according to developers at XDA, the release of Jelly Bean may cause CM9 to have a very short shelf life. Most ICS-capable devices are also capable of running Jelly Bean (JB), and that means the CM team will most likely 8

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switch to supporting CyanogenMod 10 exclusively. Despite not having early access to the JB source code, the CM team is apparently already prepping to start work on CM10. The CM team is awaiting the AOSP JB release, so expect the team to continue to deliver full support for CM9 until then. CM7 will continue to be maintained, but don’t expect too much updates (if any at all) in the future.

Published by: VR-Zone

So imagine a chair that rocks and back and forth (or side to side) when Iron Man is bombarded with enemy firepower. How about feeling the wind in your face when the Avatar is flying through the air? Sounds a lot like a ride at Universal Studio or any major theme park, right? Pair the motorized chairs and real world elemental effects with a 3D big screen and you have 4DX.

Take a ride with 4DX at the movie theater Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/take-a-ride-with-4dx-at-the-movietheater/16584.html July 9th, 2012

4DX is the next big thing in cinema, as if 3D movies aren’t good enough. This new method for delivering cinematic thrills at the movie is backed by CJ CGV—a large South Korean multiplex firm.

CJ CGV owns 700 screens in Asia, and this alone offers the multiplex firm a huge leverage in pushing for adoption of 4DX. There are currently 29 4DX theaters spread out across the globe, and CJ CGV is planning to expand the 4DX experience to 1,500 theaters by 2016. A 3D movie ticket costs almost twice as much as a regular 2D ticket, so we can safely assume that a 4DX experience will cost movie goers more than an arm and a leg. I’m sorry honey; we can’t have the overpriced popcorn today.

TSMC remains confident in their 28nm manufacturing Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/tsmc-remains-confident-intheir-28nm-manufacturing/16583.html July 9th, 2012

4DX is the next big thing in cinema, as if 3D movies aren’t good enough. This new method for delivering cinematic thrills at the movie is backed by CJ CGV—a large South Korean multiplex firm. 3D movies have been around for quite some time, and in most cases all that are required is 3D glasses. Moving onto 4DX, and no, the extra “D” does not literally mean an extra dimension. The extra dimension which 4DX is referring to are additional special effects that sync with the movie reel.

Reports earlier last week revealed that United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) had won a contract with Qualcomm to produce the Snapdragon S4 chips, and that contract came at the expense of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). Reports earlier last week revealed that United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) had won a contract with Qualcomm to produce the Snapdragon S4 chips, and that contract came at the expense of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). TSMC is touted as the world’s largest contract chip-maker, but it's losing its contracts to the likes of UMC and Samsung. Korea Times has reported Samsung will be producing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chips using the Korean techgiant’s 28nm manufacturing process. According to various reports, Qualcomm’s decision to switch partners may not be due to TSMC’s production quality, but rather due to quantity. Despite Qualcomm’s lack of 9

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Published by: VR-Zone

confidence in TSMC’s ability to keep up with demands, TSMC still believes that their 28nm manufacturing process is among the leaders.

shouldn’t they? The upcoming Google 7’’ slate will be competing with the likes of the Kindles and Nooks, which already have huge development communities.

“We do not comment on business with clients. We're confident in our leadership status in 28-nm and will fulfill customers' demands in the fourth quarter,” said a company spokesperson.

XDA developers have already begun working on various custom features for the unreleased Nexus 7, and why shouldn’t they? The upcoming Google 7’’ slate will be competing with the likes of the Kindles and Nooks, which already have huge development communities.

Galaxy Nexus available once again in Google Play

First things first, if you’re wondering if the Nexus 7 will be root-able, then yes it is. The Nexus 7 will come with an unlockable bootloader, and an instruction guide has already been set up. Check it out here.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/galaxy-nexus-available-once-againin-google-play/16582.html July 9th, 2012

The Galaxy Nexus is once again available in the Google Play store after a few weeks of going on hiatus due to an injunction from Apple’s lawsuit.

Next up is full tablet UI for the Nexus 7, as the tablet will come with a UI optimized for phones. Google unveiled their tablet at the I/O using a phone interface, and that disappointed many. So the folks at XDA have conjured up a quick hack pack that will allow users to unlock the Nexus 7 to full tablet interface. Now if you don’t want to put in the work to customize the Nexus ROM yourself, download some pre-packed ones. These ROMs and kernel will include: (some, if not all) insecure, init.d support, overclocking to 1.5 GHz, voltage tweaks, zip aligned, superflows apps removed, busybox, adblocking host file, aroma installer, and DSP manager.

RIM Will Burn Through $1 Billion To Launch BB10 The Galaxy Nexus is once again available in the Google Play store after a few weeks of going on hiatus due to an injunction from Apple’s lawsuit. Although Google Play marks the Galaxy Nexus as available again, Apple’s lawsuit against Samsung hasn’t officially ended. The Samsung-Apple dispute is ongoing, and the availability Galaxy Nexus is that it “ships in 1-2 weeks” and not immediately. Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court temporarily lifted the ban on the Galaxy Nexus sales, but Apple has not responded to the court’s decision. Samsung is not ready for clear sailings just yet, but if you want to buy the Galaxy Nexus then now is the time to do it before Apple files another lawsuit against Samsung.

Root, Kernel, ROMs, and much more for unreleased Nexus 7 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/root-kernel-roms-and-much-morefor-unreleased-nexus-7/16581.html July 9th, 2012

XDA developers have already begun working on various custom features for the unreleased Nexus 7, and why

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-will-burn-through-1-billion-tolaunch-bb10/16579.html July 9th, 2012

RIM is currently flushed with cash, and analysts believe that they will need that cash in order to get BlackBerry 10 launched. Research In Motion is flushed with cash, despite a poor quarter and an announcement that BlackBerry 10 is getting delayed. Current cash-on-hand for RIM is around $2.25 billion, or about $4.29 per share of the company. Analysts are predicting now that most of that cash will be burned through to launch BlackBerry 10, possibly destroying the book value of RIM stock. Analysts at Barclays are only projecting a “burn” of $677 million and targeting RIM stock at $6 per share; this implies that they are valuing the patents, handset business and BBM network at roughly $1.6 billion. However, J. Mintzmyer, an analyst from SeekingAlpha, has a different opinion on RIM’s cash situation. He has calculated the average expense per quarter for the company at $386 million for research and development and $690 million for sales. Using these figures, he expects RIM to lose roughly $1 billion in cash over the next three quarters as BlackBerry 10 gears up for launch. Assuming that BlackBerry 10 flops, RIM will have $1.25 billion in cash, or $2.38 per share, along with warehouses filled with Playbook tablets and new BlackBerry phones; even if this inventory has to be sold at 50% of retail, the company will make money. Mintzmyer calculates that if the business and inventory is worth $1 billion, the network 10

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is worth $1 billion, and the patents are worth a conservative $2 billion, the stock is still worth $10 per share. He says the only way the shares are worth only $6 would be if the patents were worth only $1 billion and RIM was out of cash. In essence, Mintzmyer is saying investors should buy stock in RIM, as even though the company will burn through roughly $1 billion in cash, the stock price is severely undervalued at the moment.

FBI submits incomplete evidence in Megaupload's Kim Dotcom extradition case Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/fbi-submits-incomplete-evidence-inmegaupload-s-kim-dotcom-extradition-case/16577.html July 9th, 2012

The FBI has sparked a debate amongst the lawyers in Kim Dotcom's extradition hearing by submitting just 40 pages of emails out of the 22 million stored on Megaupload's servers. The ongoing Megaupload saga continues, with arguments over what evidence Kim Dotcom will be allowed to see in order to prepare his defense. A New Zealand judge has ordered the FBI to copy 150TB of potential evidence that they seized from the Megaupload servers they seized, though it’s still unclear as to how much of the data Dotcom will be given access to. Now, it appears that the FBI has “cherrypicked” just 40 pages of evidence out of some 22 million emails stored on the cyberlocker site’s servers; they intend to hand over these 40 pages before an extradition hearing, sparking a heated disagreement between the prosecutors and Dotcom’s defense lawyers that could delay that hearing. The head of Dotcom’s legal team has said that the summary document is inadequate; the legal team is being forced to argue their case with “their hands tied behind their backs.” The Crown Prosecutor for New Zealand, however, has said that having all the information for a hearing that merely determines whether or not Dotcom can be tried in the US is unnecessary. If the case does indeed proceed to an American court, this issue will be argued again, delaying any trial even further. The Department of Justice has suffered some major criticism for their handling of the case against the eccentric Dotcom; the criticism stems from many areas, including the use of illegal search warrants in order to secure the evidence for the case as well as their refusal to return non-infringing material to the Megaupload users. The Department of Justice is still charging Dotcom with running what they call an “international organized criminal enterprise,” though at this rate an actual trial is still a long way off.

Published by: VR-Zone July 9th, 2012

UKFast, a hosting specialist in the UK, has revealed what it believes are the top 10 cyber security failings of 2012, showing a surprising amount of complacency among people when going online. UKFast, a hosting specialist in the UK, has revealed what it believes are the top 10 cyber security failings of 2012, showing a surprising amount of complacency among people when going online. “As a society we rely on technology more than ever nowadays. We communicate through social networks, pay bills and manage our bank accounts online, and carry a wealth of personal data around with us on our mobile phones,” said Stuart Coulson, director of data centres at UKFast. “We are so comfortable sharing information on the net that people don’t realise that their over-sharing could hand cybercriminals access to their bank accounts and leave them vulnerable to identity fraud.” The top 10 security issues are: 1. Images

Some users are actually posting images of their credit and debit cards online, making it incredibly easy for cybercriminals, as they only need the three-digit security number on the back, of which there are only 1,000 possible combinations. The idea of posting pictures of credit and debit cards may surprise many people, as it seems like an obvious oversight. However, often the reason why people share these images is because of what is displayed on the card. Our research revealed that dozens of people shared pictures of their cards to show off a photo that has been printed on the card, either of themselves or the “stock” photo, such as in one case of the Manchester United team. These photos also show the full card name and number, however. 2. Sharing Contact Numbers

UKFast reveals top 10 security failures Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ukfast-reveals-top-10-securityfailures/16575.html

July 9th, 2012

Many people share their new phone number on Facebook, and while this is bad enough, the “via Facebook for iPhone” note shows hackers that the number belongs to a brand spanking new iPhone. All a hacker has to do is text the phone with a malware-laced message. 3. Location Services

When users have location services enabled, their updates to Facebook, FourSquare, and other social media services will tell all and sundry where the user is. This might seem harmless enough, but when one message tells people that they are at home, and the next tells people that they are away on holidays for two weeks, the message would-be burglars see is: “Here is my home address. It will be empty for the next few weeks. Make yourself at home and try not to steal too much.”

Published by: VR-Zone

6. QR Codes

QR codes have grown big time with the boom in the smartphone market, but the lack of information surrounding them means that users could be putting their devices at risk. Flyers containing a QR code may provide access to a genuine app, a viral marketing campaign, or some malware waiting for the next victim. Often users are too quick to scan any barcode they encounter, without considering the possible threats. 7. Public Computers

4. Password Stealing Tricks

Many free password strength checks are not designed to test the strength of your password, but rather the strength of your security awareness, as they often simply log the passwords you enter and then employ them in all kinds of criminal activity. Some people not only hand over their Facebook passwords in this manner – some do the same with their bank account passwords. 5. Reusing Passwords

Clicking “Stay logged in” on a public computer is an obvious faux pas, but it is one many do largely from habit, leaving their accounts exposed to the next individual who uses the computer. While many people will simply log out of an account they encounter, not everyone is so honourable. Users need to be extra cautious when accessing public computers, which include test products in stores, such as a display iPad. 8. Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi is not secure, which means anyone can snoop on what users are doing. Certain high security things like online banking are best employed on a private Wi-Fi network. 9. Downloads

Many people still use just one password for all their online activity, which means that if one account is compromised, all of the user's accounts are vulnerable to attack. This is such a common issue that it has been largely to blame for huge attacks on email servers, with some people's Hotmail being hacked, only to give cybercriminals their password for their Gmail and Facebook accounts as well. Each different account should have its own separate and unique password. 12

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Downloads remain one of the most common sources of malware, as many users download files, software and apps that they know next to nothing about. Users should always be extremely cautious with downloads, ensuring they are genuine products from a genuine source, and that they actually instructed the download to begin.

Published by: VR-Zone

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Find and Call app has been removed from the App Store due to its unauthorised use of users' address book data, a violation of App Store guidelines,â&#x20AC;? said Trudy Muller, spokesperson for Apple. The app has also been removed from Google Play.

10. Shortlinks

The limited space on Twitter has led to a number of link shorteners like Bit.ly coming on the scene. These provide a valuable service, but they also help mask links, which means a user has a harder time finding out if that link to a supposedly cute kitten is not directing them to malware. Twitter's implementation of its own link shortener has helped this issue somewhat, but users still need to be careful when clicking shortened links.

First iOS App Store malware detected Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/first-ios-app-store-malwaredetected/16574.html July 9th, 2012

Android has suffered with malicious apps for some time now, largely thanks to the openness of its platform, but Apple's closed approach to iOS has helped it evade disguised malware until now, making this break in Apple's security particularly significant. The developer of the app claims the spam messages are the result of a bug, which is being fixed, but that explanation is unlikely to wash with many people. Even if the incident is genuinely an error, the bad press alone suggests that Apple and Google will be hesitant to reinstate the app.

The first malware on Apple's iOS App Store has been detected, marking the latest in a series of security problems for the Cupertino, California-based company. The first malware on Apple's iOS App Store has been detected, marking the latest in a series of security problems for the Cupertino, California-based company. Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab found a trojan disguised as a Russian-language app called Find and Call in both Apple's App Store and Google Play, formerly the Android Market. Once downloaded and installed, the malware grabs GPS coordinates and steals the user's address book, using the emails and phone numbers to send spam messages, recommending friends try out the Find and Call application. Since it appears to come from a genuine user, more people get sucked into the malware scheme.

Apple's reputation for producing devices and software with high security has taken several knocks recently. A backdoor in Mac OS X is being exploited to target activists, while Apple itself has removed its security guarantee as it finds the popularity of its products drawing the eyes of more hackers, spammers and cybercriminals.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 to launch in Sept with 5.5-inch Display & 13MP Camera Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-galaxy-note-2-to-launchin-sept-with-5.5-inch-display--13mp-camera/16568.html

July 9th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 9th, 2012

memo features. The new technologies including the sensor technology introduced to 'Galaxy S3' are said to be limited on Galaxy Note 2, however compatiblilty with other devices has been improved.

This fall, Samsung plans to follow up its wildly successful Galaxy Note and hopefully repeat the performance with its latest offering, the Galaxy Note 2. While most sources have pegged the release date as sometime in October, other sources have reported that Samsung will release the new model in September in an effort to beat the new iPad to the street.

Pantech, in second place behind Samsung in the South Korean smartphone market, is planning to release a 5.3 inch quad-core smartphone with a capacitive screen this October. As the demands for bigger screen smartphones increase smartphone makers are responding accordingly. Composing documents and playing games, the features that used to be exclusive to tablet PCs or laptops, are now arriving on 'big' smartphones.

Google denies Microsoft's Android spam botnet claim Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-denies-microsoft-s-androidspam-botnet-claim/16572.html July 9th, 2012

Google has denied claims by Microsoft about the existence of an Android spam botnet, but security firms are not so sure. This fall, Samsung plans to follow up its wildly successful Galaxy Note and hopefully repeat the performance with its latest offering, the Galaxy Note 2. While most sources have pegged the release date as sometime in October, other sources have reported that Samsung will release the new model in September in an effort to beat the new iPad to the street. The latest "phablet" is said to sport a slightly larger 5.5 inch screen, featuring a precursor to Samsung's flexible screen, the 'Unbreakable Plane'. The new smartphone will come equipped with a quadcore processor and is rumored come with 2 GB of memory and run the latest Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' OS. An insider disclosed that "the camera resolution of the new model is expected to be around 12-13 MP, a considerable improvement over the 8MP of its predecessor, the Galaxy Note."

Google has denied claims by Microsoft about the existence of an Android spam botnet, but security firms are not so sure. Terry Zink, security engineer for Microsoft, blogged earlier this week about a possible threat, citing Android-specific email addresses and a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Androidâ&#x20AC;? note at the bottom of the message. Google said its investigation of the issue shows that Android has not been compromised and that spammers operating from PCs are simply formatting their emails to make them look like they originate from Android smartphones, a tactic designed to help them evade spam filters. Google said there was no evidence of an Android botnet.

Galaxy Note 2 boasts improved memo and document editing features. After the introduction of the original Galaxy Note, Samsung offered various writing features including 'S Note' through 'Premium Sweet Upgrade' and the Galaxy Note 2 is anticipated to have professional writing features for several specialized fields. An insider has reported that the writing features supported by Galaxy Note 2 will be further specialized into general business, design, and sales, each of which needs special 14

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Published by: VR-Zone

a slow uptake in customer adoption of new 4G smartphones capable of taking advantage of the new network; most 4G rollout in the US has been centered on major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. Across the Pacific, however, China Mobile has been working hard deploying its 4G TD-LTE network; while no phones yet exist to take advantage of this network for sale in China, the vice GM, Li Zhengmao, recently said that the phones would be coming to the market soon. One such phone is set to be available by the end of the year, with at least ten available by the middle of 2013 and more than 100 by 2014, including a 4G-capable version of Apple’s iPhone.

Google is not the only one questioning Microsoft's claims. Kevin Mahaffey, head of security firm Lookout, said that his company had found security issues with the Yahoo! Mail app and had advised Yahoo of the problem, suggesting there might be a threat, but that it is related to a third-party app and not Android itself. However, Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos, said that there was some evidence that the spam came from smartphones. He said that Sophos could not see that the formatting had been faked, and some things, such as email addresses owned to mobile operators, could not be altered. Zink has since admitted that it is possible that the messages were sent from PCs, with key elements faked to give the illusion of coming from smartphones, but that he believes it more likely that malware on Android has become more prevalent, that this is motivating spammers to abuse the platform, and that therefore the spam is being sent from an Android botnet. Image Credit: Tom-b

China Mobile Announces 4G enabled iPhone in 2014 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/china-mobile-announces-4genabled-iphone-in-2014/16571.html July 9th, 2012

China Mobile has announced, among plans for the expansion of their 4G network, that Apple will be releasing an iPhone compatible with the new network by 2014. While 4G service has been around for a while in the US, it has seen a very limited roll-out due to the cost of placing new hardware across essentially an entire continent, along with

This gives us the first hard deadline for the iPhone’s release in China, though there is a possibility that this timeframe will slip. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or MIIT, has yet to approve of China Mobile’s plan. In fact, the MIIT has been slowing China Mobile’s 4G plans for some time, so there is a strong possibility that the iPhone could be delayed even longer. Even if the plan is approved of in its entirety, waiting two years for a China Mobile-compatible iPhone is probably the last thing their customers wanted to hear, but China Telecom and China Unicom can breathe a collective sigh of relief; no matter the new phone released by Apple, they won’t have to worry about fast 4G competition in China until 2014 at the soonest.

Amazon Planning to Create Smartphone Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amazon-planning-to-createsmartphone/16570.html July 9th, 2012

Reports have surfaced of Amazon's ambitious plans to incorporate a smartphone into their line-up of inexpensive hardware tied into their digital marketplace. It seems like Amazon isn’t done challenging Apple, as several sources have reported that Amazon is developing a smartphone to compete with Apple’s iPhone, along with other handheld devices running Google’s Android operating system. It’s safe to assume that the phone would run on an Amazon-branded version of the Android operating system, similar to the operating system that runs their Kindle Fire tablet. Reportedly, Foxconn is working with Amazon on the device; Amazon is looking to acquire patents covering wireless technology as well, in order to help protect itself from patent litigation, such as the massive battle raging between Apple and Samsung. Originally Amazon had considered buying patents from InterDigital Inc., though those plans fell through when the Pennsylvania-based company announced in June that they would be selling the patents to Intel for $375 million. Amazon is currently looking for new sellers from whom to purchase wireless technology patents. A smartphone would give Amazon a foothold in the growing, lucrative handset market in which traditional manufacturers 15

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Published by: VR-Zone

shipped 398.4 million units last quarter. Amazon took a stab at the tablet market as well with their release of the Kindle Fire, and a smartphone would help them bolster their strategy of focusing on profits from digital books, songs, and movies. While sales of the Kindle Fire haven’t been as quick as Amazon had hoped, it showed that the company could provide solid hardware comparable to its competitors for cheaper than they could. If Amazon can continue this trend, we might see a new line of cheap, sturdy smartphones tied into Amazon’s massive library of digital goods soon.

Even though summer is in the full swing, it's not that companies are taking their time off. According to our sources, AMD is gearing up to launch the dual-GPU card, illusive Radeon HD 7990 in the second half of July.

Acer founder recommends Microsoft stick to software

By default, AMD has the advantage in terms of 50% more video memory (GTX 690 has 4GB), significantly higher memory bandwidth and the new Turbo mode, technology similar to the Turbo mode used on NVIDIA Kepler-based cards with a few major differences.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/acer-founder-recommendsmicrosoft-stick-to-software/16569.html July 9th, 2012

Acer founder, Stan Shih, has publicly expressed that Microsoft should stick with its core business—software. He “recommends” that Microsoft should withdraw from the hardware market because it will have a negative impact on the OEMs that are partnering with Microsoft. Acer founder, Stan Shih, has publicly expressed that Microsoft should stick with its core business—software. He “recommends” that Microsoft should withdraw from the hardware market because it will have a negative impact on the OEMs that are partnering with Microsoft. “I think Microsoft's getting involved in the hardware business is designed to promote its Win8 OS. But I sincerely recommend they withdraw from the hardware market when they get what they want,” Shih said. Contrary to Shih’s belief that Microsoft’s entrance into the hardware market will hurt OEMs, Bill Gates believes that OEMs and Microsoft can share an eco-system. Gates wants the Surface to eliminate boundaries between PCs and tablets. The PC market has slowed down in recent years due to increasing consumer interests in tablets. Shih believes, however, that laptop PCs can remain competitive in the personal computing sector—specifically for students. “For students, laptops with keyboards will still be the best choice,” he said, pointing out that many current tablets lack a physical keyboard.

AMD Radeon HD 7990 Debuts as a Very Limited Edition in July? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7990-debuts-as-avery-limited-edition-in-july-/16567.html July 9th, 2012

Known under the codename "New Zealand", Radeon HD 7990 represents AMD's highest-end part from the Southern Islands architecture. Consisting out of two Tahiti XT GPUs and 6GB GDDR5 memory (special edition 7990s could reach 12GB), Radeon HD 7990 goes head to head against the GeForce GTX 690.

Our sources are telling us that the boards are starting to be sampled, all in preparation for the product launch in the second half of July. We will release more details as the launch day approaches, as well as the final retail price, which still isn’t decided as we write this story. While we know AMD's press deck, the company has a long tradition of changing the price at the last moment. At the same time, a lot of AMD partners are running the card in their labs but aren't aware of the actual product launch. We will see in just a few weeks time.

All Your Data Belongs To Zuckerberg - Facebook Invests in Asian Undersea Cable Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/all-your-data-belongs-tozuckerberg--facebook-invests-in-asian-undersea-cable/16562.html July 9th, 2012

Facebook has announced that it, along with a consortium of other investors and firms, is investing into the development of the Asia Pacific Gateway, a new undersea cable that aims to increase the speed, availability, and reliability of internet access in South and East Asia. News has reached us of a new investment made by Facebook into an Asian undersea cable project. Called the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG), the new cable is designed to improve internet speeds and availability for both consumers and businesses. The APG will run from Malaysia to South Korea and Japan, more than 10,000 kilometers, with branches leading to other countries along the route. A spokesman from Facebook said the investment would help support their efforts to boost membership in South Asia, which is already one of their fastest growing markets. “Our investment in this cable will help support our growth in South Asia, making it possible for us to provide a better user experience for a greater number of Facebook users in countries like India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Singapore,” the spokesman said, although he declined to reveal how much the social networking giant had invested

July 9th, 2012

in the cable plan, only confirming that a group of investors (including Facebook) had invested a total of $450 million. The construction and maintenance of the APG is being funded by a group that includes two of the largest Chinese ISPs, China Telecom and China Unicom. The fiber optic cable will allow faster upstream and downstream connections to North American servers. “This lowers our dependencies on Singapore as the main gateway for internet traffic,” said the consortium’s chief executive, Saiful Husni. “We can now channel high volumes of this traffic on our network with the lowest latency, directly to the US.” In essence, by removing servers in Singapore as a gateway, the latency drops as Internet signals have fewer servers and cables to go through before reaching North America.

Published by: VR-Zone

Is a thinner Sony Playstation 3 on the way? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/is-a-thinner-sony-playstation-3-onthe-way-/16564.html July 9th, 2012

Sony has filed paperwork with the FCC that seems to indicate that a new model of PS3 is on the way. It appears that there may be a new model of PS3 on the horizon. Sony has a habit of redesigning their flagship console every few years, taking advantage of cheaper costs and new efficiencies in manufacturing. If history is anything to go by, the new model will be smaller and cheaper than current models; Sony released a compact, cheap version of the PlayStation 2 at the end of its lifecycle and it appears that they might be doing the same thing here for the PlayStation 3. Japanese site Pocket News is reporting that Sony has filed paperwork with the FCC, which a perusal of their site confirms, for a new model of the PS3; the model numbers listed in the paperwork are in the CECH-4000 range, as opposed to the current models, numbered CECH-3000. The pictures included with the filing don’t give any indication of size or capabilities, but there have been rumors of a thinner console on the horizon. This filing may indicate that those rumors were true; at the very least, we expect to hear something official from Sony soon.

While Facebook’s growth in the US has shown signs of a sharp slowdown according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a study by Nielsen suggested that the social network was booming in Asia, enjoying a rapid growth rate. The study showed that Japanese-based visitors to Facebook had skyrocketed to 17.2 million in May, more than doubling from the number of visitors at the beginning of the year. The report also indicated that South Korea was also enjoying a similar boom, with room for even more growth in the coming months. Despite this rapid growth, Facebook still trails behind Mixi in Japan and Cyworld in South Korea, both domestic social networks that benefit from having local servers with faster, more reliable connections than Facebook’s US-based servers. Other markets that Facebook could capitalize on with a more reliable Asian connection are India and the Philippines, both areas with a heavy presence on Facebook but patchy connectivity. A faster, more reliable connection would benefit both users and Facebook, as usability of the site would increase, making users’ interactions easier and leading to more users for Facebook. Facebook is not the first major internet company in the US to invest in major internet infrastructure, however. In 2008, Google announced that it would be investing in a $300 million undersea cable between Asia and the US called Unity. It was completed in April of 2010, and provides a trans-Pacific link capable of transmitting up to 7.68 Tbit/s.

July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

PCI Local Bus Turns 20, PCIExpress 10, PCI-SIG Looks Ahead Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pci-local-bus-turns-20-pciexpress-10-pci-sig-looks-ahead/16624.html July 11th, 2012

The Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) Special Interest Group (SIG) celebrated 20 years of the PCI local bus, an I/ O technology in use by computers to this date. This is also the 10th year for PCI-Express interface, which drives most of today's high-bandwidth computer devices. The SIG gave us a glymse of what lies ahead. The Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) Special Interest Group (SIG) celebrated 20 years of the PCI local bus, an I/O technology in use by computers to this date. This is also the 10th year in market for PCI-Express interface, which drives most of today's high-bandwidth computer devices. The SIG gave us a glymse of what lies ahead.

3.0, the PCI-Express Gen 4.0, is already underway. PCIExpress 4.0 will be designed to further double bandwidth over its predecessor. A single PCI-Express 4.0 lane will be able to push 16 GT/s. The SIG also touched on the concept of PCIe-attached storage, pointing out how PCIe add-on card storage devices such as SSDs and HBAs benefit from processor-integrated PCI-Express 3.0 root complexes. Addressing the issue of portability and proliferation to newer, smaller form-factors, the SIG talked about PCIe OCuLink, a new cable-based standard (such as Thunderbolt, USB), that lets two devices communicate with each other without a host-device hierarchy, with minimal protocol overhead. The standard appears to be based on PCIExpress 3.0 x1, and offers 8 Gb/s bandwidth (singlelane). The connector is designed to support up to four PCIe lanes, resulting in a staggering 32 Gb/s bandwidth. The SIG touched briefly on upcoming standards such as next-generation form-factor that's part of the Mini CEM specification, and the SFF-8639, a connector standard that will become relevant with PCIe-attached storage devices.

Researchers make breakthrough with phonecharging t-shirt Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/researchers-make-breakthroughwith-phone-charging-t-shirt/16625.html July 11th, 2012

Researchers have created a t-shirt that can store electricity and be used to charge mobile phones and other portable devices. Researchers have created a t-shirt that can store electricity and be used to charge mobile phones and other portable devices.

(Image Credit: Jonathan Zander) The PCI-SIG notes that while the greater part of the past 20 years posed challenges related to bandwidth, the future adds newer ones, including compacting the PCIExpress interface to newer, smaller form-factors, with newer electrical configurations. This leaves bandwidth (performance) and form-factors as the two factors the SIG has to keep in mind, when drafting future standards.

A duo at the University of South Carolina, Professor Xiaodong Li and researcher Lihong Bao, managed to convert a cheap t-shirt bought at a discount store into a wearable power source. The t-shirt was soaked in flouride, dried and then baked in an oxygen-free room at a high temperature, which changed the fabric from cellulose to activated carbon, without damaging the flexibility of the material.

Addressing the issue of performance the SIG noted that development of a succeeding standard to PCI-Express Gen 1

July 11th, 2012

The result is that the fabric could be used as a capacitor, which can store an electrical charge. The outcome was further enhanced by coating the fibres with manganese oxide, resulting in what Li called a “stable, high-performing supercapacitor.” The professor said that when these are stacked together they could be used to charge phones and tablet computers, making clothing that little bit more useful than it currently is. Of course, the potential downside is the unknown risks of wearing “charged” clothing. Electric shock is one possibility that will need to be addressed, made even more problematic when considering what might happen if the fabric gets wet. If these concerns were addressed, however, we might be plugging into our t-shirts and jeans instead of the wall sockets. Image Credit: University of South Carolina

Ouya console raises $3 million and counting Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ouya-console-raises-3-million-andcounting/16623.html July 11th, 2012

The Ouya $99 Android-powered gaming console has taken a huge step towards reality with the raising of nearly $3 million on Kickstarter in just over 24 hours. The Ouya $99 Android-powered gaming console has taken a huge step towards reality with the raising of nearly $3 million on Kickstarter in just over 24 hours. The console, which will run on Android 4.0, will make gaming incredibly affordable, not only because of its low initial price, but because the games will all be free (though we expect some kind of advertising or locked features to entice developers to make games for this platform).

Published by: VR-Zone

It will also be open to rooting, which won't void the warranty, and the team behind it say “hackers welcome,” inviting hardware hackers to create their own peripherals. Supporters of the project have come out in force, pledging anywhere from $10 to $10,000, with rewards for pledges ranging from reserved usernames and a copy of the console to developer goodies and dinner with the creators. A whopping $2,925,677 has been pledged at the time of writing, and growing rapidly. With the next-generation of consoles just around the corner and such significant support for Ouya, we could see some major new competition in the market that the big three, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony, may find difficult to match.

SteelSeries Ships Siberia V2 Frost Blue Edition Gaming Headset Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/steelseries-ships-siberia-v2-frostblue-edition-gaming-headset/16622.html July 11th, 2012

Mark another one to the plethora of Siberia V2 variations. SteelSeries announced the retail availability of its Siberia V2 Frost Blue Edition USB gaming headset. The new variant is characterized by a mostly-white body, with soft blue lighting on its earcups. Mark another one to the plethora of Siberia V2 variations. SteelSeries announced the retail availability of its Siberia V2 Frost Blue Edition USB gaming headset. The new variant is characterized by a mostly-white body, with frost blue lighting on its earcups.

The console will feature a Tegra3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal flash storage, Bluetooth, Wi-fi, HDMI, USB 2.0, and a wireless controller and touchpad. 2

July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 11th, 2012

Rovio, the developer behind the popular Angry Birds series, has released a trailer for its next game, Amazing Alex, which promises to bring more physics-based puzzles to mobile gamers.

The Siberia V2 Frost Blue Edition is a medium-large size gaming headset with a native audio processing logic, which connects to the system over USB 2.0. The same connection is used to power the illumination, made up of 16 LEDs (8 on each earcup), which produce a "frost blue" glow. The brightness and illumination mode of these LEDs can be configured by the SteelSeries Engine software, which is also used to configure the USB DAC driving the headset.

Rovio, the developer behind the popular Angry Birds series, has released a trailer for its next game, Amazing Alex, which promises to bring more physics-based puzzles to mobile gamers. The game focuses on Alex, a kid who sets up various contraptions with his toys, giving players over 100 levels of physics puzzles that will make use of toy cars, footballs, balloons, and any piece of furniture in the vicinity.

Another unique feature of the game is a level creator, which means gamers can expand the possible game experiences with 35 interactive objects, a number which is sure to grow over time. Player-created levels can also be shared online and Rovio is promising plenty of free updates. If the game is as well-crafted as Rovio's bird-flinging pigcrushing antics the gaming world could be in for another puzzle phenomenon. The Siberia V2 uses a pair of 50 mm drivers with 18 Hz to 28 kHz frequency response, and 40 立 impedance. The microphone, which is retractable into the left earcup, features 50 Hz to 16 kHz frequency response, -38 dB sensitivity, and a uni-directional pickup pattern, backed by active noise-cancellation. The USB cable extends to a total of 3 m.

Amazing Alex launches tomorrow, 12 July for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

Scientists discover graphene heals itself Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/scientists-discover-graphene-healsitself/16619.html July 11th, 2012

Scientists have discovered that the material graphene has the power to heal itself, opening up new possibilities for a number of future applications.

The Siberia V2 Frost Blue Edition USB headset by SteelSeries, is priced at US $119.99 (around S$150).

Angry Birds developer shows trailer for next game

Scientists have discovered that the material graphene has the power to heal itself, opening up new possibilities for a number of future applications. The material is made up of carbon sheets that are just a single atom in thickness, making them incredibly thin and very easy to damage. Yet their fragility also introduces a major strength, the ability to self-repair.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/angry-birds-developer-shows-trailerfor-next-game/16621.html

July 11th, 2012

The discovery was made by scientists at the University of Manchester and SuperStem Laboratory of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in Daresbury, both in the UK. The co-discoverer of the material, Nobel Prize winner Konstantin Novoselov, was part of the research team.

Published by: VR-Zone

replacements for Galaxy S3 smart phones because of premature screen burn-in. The AMOLED screen, used in the popular Galaxy S3, is often susceptible to 'burn-in' or a permanent discoloration of particular areas of the screen. Burn-in is generally caused by a combination of inconsistency in the material used to make the screen and the same image being shown shown on the screen for long periods of time, such as a 'splash screen' or menu screen. For the past week or so, many Korean bloggers and community members have been hotly debating Samsung's recent denials of problems with the new AMOLED screens. The problem showed up almost immediately after Samsung introduced the AMOLED screen with the Galaxy S2. Screen burn-in was a frequent problem with the S2 and Samsung had to offer warranty repair of the screen or exchange of the defective unit with a new one. They apparently learnt their lesson with the Galaxy S3 and have solved the problem - not by rectifying the underlying problem but sneakily changing the product manual to avoid in-warranty repairs.

Research on the flimsy sheets frequently produced holes, but the scientists were shocked to find that nearby atoms would snap into place to repair the breach. It did not matter if these were carbon, metal or hydrocarbon atoms – they all did the job at mending the material. However, pure carbon atom would push metal atoms out of the way to create an even more perfect repair job. “We know how to connect small strips of graphene, to drill it, to tailor it, to sculpt it, and it now seems we might be able to grow it back in a reasonably controlled way,” said Dr. Quentin Ramasse, co-author of the study, published in Nano Letters. It is not yet clear what this could be practically used for, but the possibilities are endless, as self-repairing material could be in used in almost any field. Image Credit: Quentin Ramasse

Samsung denies responsibility for Galaxy S3 screen burn-in

Samsung warns its users in the S3 product manual 'Do not operate your device with a paused screen for a long time." Further the manual states flatly "We are not responsible for any problem arising from the said cause." This effectively shifts the responsibility of screen burn-in to the consumer, disregarding any manufacturing or technology problem with the new screens, allowing Samsung to avoid any warranty replacements of the screens. The bigger problem lies in the fact that most customers do not pay much attention to the product manual before purchasing a new device and won't realize that Samsung is using this tactic to avoid replacement of defective units.

Toshiba Releases AL13SE Series 10K RPM Enterprise HDDs Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/toshiba-releases-al13se-series-10krpm-enterprise-hdds/16618.html July 11th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-denies-responsibility-forgalaxy-s3-screen-burn-in/16616.html July 11th, 2012

Toshiba launched the AL13SE series of enterprise hard drives, built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SAS 6 Gb/s interface. The drives come in capacities as high as 900 GB, and with spindle speeds of 10,500 RPM.

Disputes are arising over the recent discovery that Samsung is unwilling to take responsibility for warranty replacements for Galaxy S3 smart phones because of premature screen burn-in.

Disputes are arising over the recent discovery that Samsung is unwilling to take responsibiliity for warranty 4

July 11th, 2012

The AL13SE series consists of four models based on capacity, the 300 GB AL13SE300, 450 GB AL13SE450, 600 GB AL13SE600, and 900 GB AL13SE900. All four models offer read/write seek times of 3.7 ms and 4.1 ms, respectively. Although with a typical spindle speed of 10,500 RPM, the drives feature Supported Enhanced Power Condition State (SEPCS) technology, which lowers spindle speed in tune with the amount of drive activity, to conserve power. All four models pack 64 MB caches. Measuring 69.85 mm x 100.45 mm x 15.00 mm, (W x D x H), the drives weigh about 240 g, and feature typical power draw of 4.7W. The company did not release performance numbers of its own, but recommended the use of 512 byte sector size. Joel Hagberg, vice president of marketing at Toshiba’s Storage Products Business Unit, said "The AL13SE Series provides enterprise customers with capacities up to 900GB that support a broad range of enterprise applications,” adding “The increased performance and reliability of the AL13SE reflect our collaboration with our key partners to deliver small form-factor hard disk drives that address market requirements for mission-critical storage.”

Sony Launches S-Series XQD Memory Cards Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sony-launches-s-series-xqd-memorycards/16617.html July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Sony's new S-Series XQD cards will be available in 32 GB and 64 GB capacities, priced at US $260 and $460, respectively. A media with 168 MB/s of bandwidth allows professional photographers to capture approximately 108 frames in continuous shooting, in the RAW format. This would allow photographers covering fast-moving subjects (such as athletics, motorsport, wildlife in action, etc.,) the ability to pick the best shot from a wider range of shots. Higher bandwidth also benefits workflow, where on-site image processing time can be chopped. Data transfer is one of the most time-consuming parts of a photographer's workflow. To let users take advantage of the S-Series XQD cards beyond their compatible imaging equipment, Sony also launched two new devices a PC/Mac-compatible XQD card reader (model MRW-E80) that uses USB 3.0 interface (USB 2.0 backwards compatible); and an ExpressCard 34compatible card reader (model QDA-EX1). Commenting on the launch, Viviano Cantu, Director of Consumer Media for Sony Electronics, said "Professional photographers need to shorten their workflow - the time between shooting, processing and editing," adding "With transfer times up to 30% faster than even the fastest CF cards, the S Series gives new meaning to high-performance digital image capture, more than conventional CF can offer, for pro shooters and advanced photo enthusiasts."

Man vs Machine Biomechanical legs gets an upgrade Sony launched what it touts to be the fastest memory card ever made. The S-Series memory cards from Sony conform to the XQD specification, and guarantee read/write speeds of 168 MB/s, a tiny bit faster than the fastest CompactFlash card in the market. Sony launched what it touts to be the fastest memory card ever made. The S-Series memory cards from Sony conform to the XQD specification, and guarantee read/write speeds of 168 MB/s, a tiny bit faster than the fastest CompactFlash card in the market.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/man-vs-machine--biomechanicallegs-gets-an-upgrade/16614.html July 11th, 2012

The human gait has been tuned over millions of years of evolution to be as efficient as our anatomy allows. But technology is catching up, according to scientists in the United States. A pair of biomechanical legs that accurately recreates human locomotion has been developed by scientists at the University of Arizona. M. Anthony Lewis and Theresa Klein, researchers from the university’s Robotics and Neural Systems Laboratory, 5

July 11th, 2012

have published their findings in the Journal of Neural Engineering revealing the development of a highly advanced pair of mechanical legs that are able to mimic human walking in a “biologically accurate, energy-efficient manner.” The legs are intended for researching how humans learn to walk, but potential future applications include giving the ability to walk back to patients with spinal-cord injuries. The scientists, of the university’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, claim their biomechanical legs are the most advanced ever, and the first to accurately reproduce human gait characteristics. The new legs can adjust for varying surfaces with the help of a small computer taking readings from load sensors in the feet, allowing the legs to mimic the up and down movement of human legs. The legs consist of a copy of the human hip, knee and ankle controlled by nine “muscles”, which are in fact Kevlar straps that move up and down as required. The movements are determined by an electronic version of the central pattern generator (CPG), a neural network in the base of the spine which is semi-autonomous from the brain. The CPG gathers information from the body and responds to the environment accordingly. This is why humans can walk without thinking about it. When the elements of the legs were combined with the electronic CPG, the legs were able to move in much the same way as a human. This was verified by comparing to data gathered in human studies, paying particular attention the movement at the hip and knee. While other bipedal robots, perhaps the most famous of which is Honda’s ASIMO, are able to walk, run and even climb stairs, the energy required to do so is so great that battery life is a major limitation to their widespread use. This design is claimed to be the first which does so without using vast expanses of energy. The implications of this could include legs that could walk all day without recharging. This would obviously be a huge leap forward in the rehabilitation of spinal cord injury victims. This development is an example of what Lewis calls “soft robots, which can be used around human beings”, continuing that “conventional robots derive their heritage from industrial robots and they are very stiff – they wouldn’t be safe around grandma. So this is a step in that direction.” Where to from here? According to Lewis the next phase includes the addition of tactile sensors and vision capabilities “so that if you stumble, the system will correct itself and not fall over.” He went on to state that they have received interest in the legs from two major corporations and that they “are currently looking at transferring this technology to one of them.”

Kingston Intros DataTraveler Locker+ G2 Secure Flash Drive Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/kingston-intros-datatraveler-lockerg2-secure-flash-drive/16612.html

Published by: VR-Zone July 11th, 2012

Kingston Digital launched its newest line of secure USB flash drives, under the DataTraveler Locker+ G2 series. The drives use USB 2.0 HiSpeed interface, and provide some very mainstream transfer speeds, but provides native data encryption, and a cross-platform user authentication system. Kingston Digital launched its newest line of secure USB flash drives, under the DataTraveler Locker+ G2 series. The drives use USB 2.0 HiSpeed interface, and offer some very mainstream transfer speeds, but provide native data encryption, and a cross-platform user authentication system.

The Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2 is available in four capacities, 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB; and offers transferrates as high as 10 MB/s reads with 5 MB/s writes, a tradeoff for the drive's native (hardware) data-encryption feature. The drive uses an auto-run user-authentication system that's password-based, and runs on both Windows and Mac OS X. The system sets a changeable master password on first use, which can then be used to grant access to all the contents of the drive, or select contents, using account-based authentication. Up to 20 accounts, each having access to select portions of the drive's contents, can be created. The drive locks down and formats itself after 10 invalid login attempts. Measuring 58.00 mm x 18.6 mm x 9.75 mm, the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2 has an operating temperature range of 0-60°C. It is built in the conventional capped form-factor, with a ruggedised metal body covering most parts of the drive. Commenting on the launch, Andrew Ewing, Flash memory business manager, Kingston, said "Data security for consumers is simple and affordable with the new DataTraveler Locker+ G2. The data encryption makes this the perfect USB drive to keep your information safe and out of strangers’ hands in case it ever gets lost." Backed by a 5-year warranty, the 4, 8, 16, and 32 gigabyte variants of the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G2 are priced at $18, $21, $37, and $82 (USD), respectively. Kingston also started a co-branding programme that allows businesses ordering in sizable quantities to have their company logos printed on the drives.

Microsoft to release Windows 8 in October Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-to-release-windows-8-inoctober/16613.html

July 11th, 2012 July 11th, 2012

Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will release in October, with enterprise customers and hardware partners getting access as early as August. Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will release in October, with enterprise customers and hardware partners getting access as early as August. The highly-anticipated next version of Windows will be available to manufacturers in the first week of August and early August for enterprise customers with Software Assurance benefits. General availability will be by the end of October, which means Windows 8 and Windows RT computers will be available to buy starting in October. Upgrades to Windows 8 will also be available then.

Published by: VR-Zone July 11th, 2012

Samsung won its latest legal battle with Apple by being, in the words of the judge, “not as cool,” a rare occasion where not being hip might actually be a good thing. Samsung won its latest legal battle with Apple by being, in the words of the judge, “not as cool,” a rare occasion where not being hip might actually be a good thing. Judge Colin Birss ruled that Samsung was not guilty of infringing Apple's patent for the design of the iPad because Samsung's Galaxy Tab designs produced a different effect. “They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” Birss said. “They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different.”

The Windows 8 commerce platform will be turned on at the beginning of August so developers can begin earning money for their apps. This news suggests Microsoft is well on track for a major Christmas blitz of Windows 8 products, which should include desktop PCs, laptops, and tablets. A whopping 231 markets across the world will sell Windows 8, with 109 different languages available. Microsoft also announced that Windows 7 has passed the 630 million licences milestone, making it the best-selling operating system of all time. The company will be hoping to beat that figure with Windows 8, which has the added advantage of functionality for the booming tablet market.

Samsung wins case against Apple by being "not as cool"

The judge said that the tablets may seem similar when viewed from the front, but there were significant differences, particularly with the “unusual details on the back.” The two firms have been at each other's throats for several years now after Apple originally accused Samsung of “blatantly copying” its designs. A series of tit-for-tat lawsuits in nearly a dozen different countries has resulted in temporary product bans, numerous appeals, and a general mockery being made of the patent system. Samsung issued a statement saying: “Should Apple continue to make excessive legal claims in other countries based on such generic designs, innovation in the industry could be harmed and consumer choice unduly limited.”

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-wins-case-against-appleby-being-not-as-cool-/16611.html

July 11th, 2012

RIM to sell corporate jet, thinks BlackBerry future not so bleak Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-to-sell-corporate-jet-thinksblackberry-future-not-so-bleak/16610.html July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

RIM's CEO, Thorsten Heins, denied that the company is in trouble, but many analysts believe that even with BlackBerry 10 the firm faces the real possibility of bankruptcy.

Western Digital Announces WD Red HDDs for SOHO NAS Systems Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/western-digital-announces-wd-redhdds-for-soho-nas-systems/16609.html July 11th, 2012

Research In Motion (RIM) is to sell one of its corporate jets in order to raise much-needed funds, while the company has also suggested that the delay of BlackBerry 10 might not be such a bad thing after all. Research In Motion (RIM) is to sell one of its corporate jets in order to raise much-needed funds, while the company has also suggested that the delay of BlackBerry 10 might not be such a bad thing after all. The Canadian smartphone maker may get between $6 million and $7 million for one of its two corporate jets, which holds nine people. The firm will keep its 14-passanger jet, but it looks like upper management might be flying in less style in the future as RIM tries to save $1 billion in operating costs this year alone.

With heavy cuts being made and analysts fearing the worst for the company's success, RIM's new marketing chief, Frank Boulben, was remarkably upbeat about the recently announced delay of BlackBerry 10, which many saw as the potential saviour of the company.

Western Digital's family of consumer hard drives has a new member after Blue (balanced), Green (low power), and Black (high performance); the WD Red. The new line of consumer SATA hard drives are designed to fill the vaccum between WD's cost-effective consumer hard drives, and expensive enterprise hard drives. Western Digital is specifically targeting SOHO (small/home office) NAS (network-attached storage) systems, with up to five drive bays. Such NAS devices are usually in the desktop formfactor, while those with more bays are usually in the rackmount form-factors, and target larger businesses.

“The short delay is not detrimental if the quality is there when we launch early next year,” Boulben told Reuters. “We will have much more attention and focus and ability to leverage our carriers.”

The WD Red is designed to offer durability comparable to enterprise segment SATA hard drives. For starters, they are designed for 24x7 operation, with energy efficiency. Think of them as a refined, durable version of WD Green. Since performance of NAS devices, particularly SOHO NAS, are limited by local network bandwidth (usually 1 GbE), the design focus of WD Red appears to be reliability, more than performance.

Of course, Boulben's job is to make the company look good, so it is not entirely surprising that he is putting a positive spin on things. The “short” delay is from late 2012 to early 2013, missing out on the lucrative Christmas period, and the company may not be able to wait that long if things continue to decline.

July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

that could accelerate its fabs acquiring 450 mm wafer manufacturing capabilities. Wafers with 450 mm diameter reduce manufacturing costs, and work to increase yields. Intel initially committed an investment of approximately $1 billion to ASML's research and development programs that are developing new technologies for 450 mm wafer manufacturing (bigger wafers), and extreme ultraviolet or EUV silicon lithography (smoother transition to finer silicon fabrication processes). The investment could accelerate the two R&D programs by as much as 2 years. The WD Red hard drives are built in the 3.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The lineup initially includes three models, the 1 TB WD10EFRX, 2 TB WD20EFRX, and 3 TB WD30EFRX. All three models feature 64 MB caches. Western Digital did not mention a specific spindle speed, and marked it as "IntelliPower." One would find a similar rating for WD Green, which have sub-5900 RPM spindle speeds that vary between 5400-5900 RPM, depending on the disk activity.

A USP of the WD Red is NASware, a combination of technologies that make the drives fit for NAS. These include improved durability for 24x7 operation, error-recovery controls that make the drives better suited for RAID, improved technical support from WD, and tested support for NAS devices. Western Digital will be working with a variety of NAS device manufacturers to ensure compatibility with their upcoming products. Available through select distribution channels, the 1 TB, 2 TB, and 3 TB variants of WD Red hard drives will be priced at US $109, US $139, and US $189, respectively.

Intel Buys 15% Stake in ASML to Speed up Fab Machines Development Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-buys-15-stake-in-asml-tospeed-up-fab-machines-development/16608.html July 11th, 2012

Intel just committed to spending $4.1 billion, to grab a 15% stake in ASML Holding NV, a company that specializes in equipment for semiconductor foundries. The company particularly values this purchase as it is in the process of reequipping its fabs to let them dole out bigger semiconductor wafers, improving yields and cutting manufacturing costs. In its latest press release, Intel announced acquisition of a 15 percent stake in ASML Holdings NV, a move

Intel also announced purchase 10 percent shares of ASML issued before the transation, for roughly $2.1 billion. The company committed to purchasing another 5 percent (at $1.05 billion). Together, the share purchase and R&D investments total up to $4.1 billion. Phase 1 450-mm Lithography R&D €553 million Investment in (~$680 ASML million) over 5 years

Phase 2 EUV Lithography

Total

Incremental €829 million €276 million (~$1.0 (~$340 billion) over 5 million) over years 5 years Equity €1.7 billion (~ Incremental €2.5 billion (~ Investment in $2.1 billion), €838 million $3.1 billion) ASML 10 percent (~$1.0 15 percent of prebillion), of posttransaction 5 percent transaction shares of postshares transaction shares Total €2.2 billion €1.1 billion (~ €3.3 billion (~ (~$2.7 $1.4 billion) $4.1 billion) billion) Status Pending Pending regulatory regulatory approval and ASML shareholder approvals The two companies will close the transactions after due regulatory approvals, and shareholder vote. Intel's senior vice president and COO, Brian Krzanich, said "Productivity improvements driven by enhanced wafer manufacturing technologies, especially larger silicon wafers and enhanced lithography technologies with EUV are direct enablers of Moore's Law, which delivers significant economic benefits to consumers," adding "The transition from one wafer size to the next has historically delivered a 30 to 40 percent reduction in die cost and we expect the shift from today's standard 300-mm wafers to larger 450-mm wafers to offer similar benefits. The faster we do this, the sooner we can gain the benefit of productivity improvements, which creates tremendous value for customers and shareholders." What does this mean to consumers? Intel is making an all-out effort to ensure it doesn't hit a fab process roadblock to keep its tick-tock CPU development cycle going. Technologies like 450 mm wafers are important to maintain acceptable yields, as complexities of chips rise exponentially, every few generations. The advancements in EUV lithography technology, on the other hand, will enable chips with finer transistors and circuits.

July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

This 21.5" Android 4.0 "tablet", from Japanese OEM Kouziro, doubles as a 1080p monitor Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/this-21.5-android-4.0-tablet--fromjapanese-oem-kouziro-doubles-as-a-1080p-monitor/16607.html July 11th, 2012

Your typical 10" tablet too small for your tastes? Try the SmartDisplay FT103, a 21.5" Android 4.0 tablet from Japanese computer maker Kouziro that can also be used as a 1080p full-HD display (via micro-HDMI). It does, however, have some serious shortcomings - find out what after the jump. First of all, although all of the verbiage detailing Kouziro's SmartDisplay FT103 describes it as a "tablet", there is really nothing portable about this device. With dimensions of 512.8(W) x24.8(D) x353(H)mm and a weight of roughly 5 kilograms, for all intents and purposes this is practically an Android all-in-one "PC".

The touchscreen, as with most around this size, uses optical imaging technology (cameras at the edges of the screen detect shadows that form when you press on the touchpanel) that supports up to two points of contact at once. In their press release, Kouziro did not address if the touch capabilities would be useable while in monitor mode. The fine print at the company's webstore, however, clearly says that touch is not supported when used as a display. This is rather unfortunate, given that the FT103 comes with two USB2.0 ports - hook the device up to your Windows PC via HDMI and USB, and all you really need are some compatible drivers for the functionality to work. Rounding up the Android 4.0 device's features are 802.11g/ n WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, ethernet port, headphone jack and stereo speakers.

To that end, the makers deemed it fit not to include an accelerometer or even a battery. The FT103's AC adapter needs to be plugged in at all times for it to operate. Powered by a Texas Instrument dual-core OMAP 4428 processor (1GHz maximum clock speed) with 1GB of LPDDR2 memory and 8GB of on-board storage (expandable via SDHC, up to 32GB), the SmartDisplay FT103 isn't exactly the fastest Android around either, which is a shame given Kouziro's asking price of 34,800 yen (US$438). And that's without a 3G antenna, too - not that you need one, since the FT103 is not designed to be carried around.

The Kouziro SmartDisplay FT103 is available in Japan starting today, direct from Frontier, the PC maker's webstore.

Thermaltake Outs BigTyp Revo Top-Flow CPU Cooler Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/thermaltake-outs-bigtyp-revo-topflow-cpu-cooler/16606.html July 11th, 2012

Still, the device packs enough horsepower to handle most of the apps you'll find available on the Google Play market. Its key selling point is a 21.5", 1920x1080 full-HD TFT LCD touchscreen, and the fact that it can be used as an external monitor. Brightness is rated at 250 cd/m2, contrast ratio 1000:1, and response time at 5ms.

Thermaltake is looking to cash in on the PC enthusiast community's newfound love for high-end top-flow (down10

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draft) CPU coolers. The company rolled out the BigTyp Revo, a large C-type CPU cooler, along the lines of Noctua NH-C14. Thermaltake is looking to cash in on the PC enthusiast community's newfound love for high-end top-flow (downdraft) CPU coolers. The company rolled out the BigTyp Revo, a large C-type CPU cooler, along the lines of Noctua NH-C14.

Published by: VR-Zone July 11th, 2012

Astronomers in Australia have confirmed a remarkable discovery: the first known “middleweight” black hole. Researchers from Australia, France, Britain and the United States worked together to refine estimates of the size of the black hole, whose existence was first published in Nature in 2009. Prior to this find, the only black holes that were confirmed to exist were so called “stellar mass” back holes, up to 30 solar masses, or 30 times the mass of the Sun, and supermassive black holes with masses in the region of a million to a billion solar masses.

Measuring 148 x 141 x 105 mm, excluding the 120 x 120 x 25 mm fan, the BigTyp Revo is a medium-large sized CPU cooler. Its design consists of a CPU base, where five 6 mmthick copper heat pipes make direct contact with the CPU, conveying heat to a large aluminum fin stack that is arranged along the plane of the motherboard. The heatsink is then ventilated by a military green coloured 120 mm fan, which supports PWM control, and spins at speeds of 800-1,800 RPM. Other components, such as CPU VRM, and memory can be cooled under the air-flow of this fan.

The black hole, named HLX-1, or “hyper-luminous X-ray source 1”, is located about 300 million light years away in a galaxy called ESO 243-49 and falls in between the two previously known categories in terms of mass, at around 20000 solar masses. The research team was led by Dr Sean Farrell from the School of Physics at the University of Sydney. Explaining the discovery, Dr Farrell said “black holes are areas where the matter is so densely squeezed into a small space, that it makes gravity pull strongly enough to stop light from escaping” and “black holes change state from a high luminosity to a low luminosity X-ray state, and back again. As they change state they release jets of superfast moving plasma which can be measured by the radio waves emitted.” Using the Australian Telescope Compact Array and NASA’s Swift satellite, the team analysed radio emissions during two state transitions of HLX-1 in September and December of 2010, and August 2011. They found that it exhibited the same radio activity shown by black holes when they change state.

The Thermaltake BigTyp Revo fan can push up to 85.16 CFM of air, with a noise level as low as 20 dBA. The fan draws power from a 4-pin PWM fan header. Its rated life time is 30,000 hours. The BigTyp Revo is designed to handle thermal loads of up to 160W, meaning most kinds of CPUs, with moderate on-air overclocking. Most current CPU socket types are supported, including Intel sockets LGA2011, LGA1155/1156, LGA1366, LGA775; AMD sockets AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2, and FM2/FM1.

In the words of Dr Emil Lenc, “we know that when black holes suck in gas they create X-rays, but there’s a sort of reflux, with the region around the black hole shooting out jets of high energy particle that hit gas around the black holes and generate radio waves. So what we tend to see is the Xray emission and then, a day or two or even a few days later, the source flares up in radio waves.” As HLX-1 changes state, it undergoes this “transient jet ejection”. By examining the radio emissions released by HLX-1, the team were able to calculate its size. Dr Farrell said “we’ve been able to refine our estimate of how big HLX-1 is to be around 9 x 103 times the size of our sun and 9 x 104 times the size of our sun.” “It’s further proof that HLX-1 is indeed sized as an intermediate mass black hole.”

Thermaltake did not reveal pricing of the BigTyp Revo, although we expect it to be around US $50, if not more.

Astronomers Confirm First "Middleweight" Black Hole Discovered

AMD Does a Negative Preannounce of its Second Quarter Results Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-does-a-negative-preannounceof-its-second-quarter-results/16604.html July 11th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/astronomers-confirm-firstmiddleweight-black-hole-discovered/16602.html

July 11th, 2012

When the news ain't good, the best thing you can do is to divide the bad news into multiple segments, and that's exactly what AMD did with its pre-announce of weakerthan-expected quarterly results. Next week will bring us the second quarter earnings from players such as Intel, AMD, Microsoft and others. Just a week after Microsoft announced its "non-cash accounting charge", which will drag down the profit of the company, AMD went through what is called "a negative preannounce". The company announced that the revenue for the second quarter (April 1st to June 30th) decreased by around 11% from the first quarter results. When we take the first quarter results into account ($1.59B), it looks like AMD will hover around $1.41 billion mark, without any indication of profit or loss. Previously, the company stated that they expect to see a 3% increase, which means the revenue dropped by as much as 14%. What happened for such a dramatic drop?

The company quoted the following: "The lower preliminary revenue results are primarily due to business conditions that materialized late in the second quarter, specifically softer-than-expected channel sales in China and Europe as well as a weaker consumer buying environment impacting the company's Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) business." Given that AMD is very sensitive to the consumer markets, the problematic economy in China and Europe took a big toll on the company. Good news is that AMD decreased its internal spending to just 605 million dollars, meaning there is around 800 million dollar revenue that could or won't cover for losses. One thing is certain, though. AMD needs to start investing in new business opportunities, otherwise the company risks to continue being under the pressure as chip manufacturer, instead of being a solutions provider.

War of the Tablets - Microsoft Surface production troubles and iPad origins Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/war-of-the-tablets--microsoftsurface-production-troubles-and-ipad-origins/16601.html July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

When Microsoft surprised the whole world by unveiling its Surface tablet in an event in Los Angeles, the company put an accent on its innovative aluminum-magnesium chassis. Now, it seems that the chassis Microsoft insisted on is bringing more trouble than the company anticipated. According to a report at DigiTimes, there are troublesome rumors spreading from the sources very close to the manufacturing well where all those Intel and NVIDIA powered Surfaces are supposed to come from. As we all know, while it is all candy dandy when western companies announce their products, but given that they're producing their wares in Far East, it is only logical where the (bad) news will come from. During the said press conference, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky talked a great deal how the company produced the thinnest chassis in the world, using MegVapor technology, baking magnesium at ultra-high temperatures.

Unlike its competitors, such as Apple's methodology for the iPad's aluminum case, it might be that Microsoft "overdone it" in terms of mass production. According to sources in the know, MegVapor technology suffers from lower yields and producing five million cases will not be as easy as the company originally planned. Microsoft pulled a lot of extra weight in terms of creating its first computer e.g. tablet PC, but the lack of experience is obviously costing the company a great deal. First sacrifice was to quit on the idea of launching the Windows RT and Windows 8 Pro versions together (Intel version will only follow in 3-4 months after the release of NVIDIA-powered version). To us, this looks like typical Microsoft behavior, underestimating the engineering and manufacturing effort that takes place in creation of every product. For example, even though many engineers think of iPad as an Apple product, one of Silicon Valley's dirty secrets is a little known matter of who created the first iPad. Unlike the official stories which get repeated over and over, the first iPad was created almost five years before Apple launched the product, in a project which was backed by a large semiconductor player that wanted to have a signature product for their newly-acquired ARM division from Intel. Thus, the company went in and spend couple of million dollars, let's say six - to have a small team of people create the complete hardware product, coupled with a Linux version of operating system that ran on ARM core. Fortunately for Apple, and very unfortunately for the said company - management wasn't 12

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marvelous as the name of the company would imply and they've canned the project. Those people left the project, got employed by Apple. Fast forward a couple of years, and there we have the late Steve Jobs with a tablet in his hand. Thus, one might think that Microsoft learned on mistakes of the past, but the company is acting more like Marvell, and less like Apple… who got almost the finished product in their hands (and still took 4 additional years to develop). Somehow, we believe that Microsoft will have to join Boeing, its neighbor in the State of Washington and put a tight control over its supply chain. Boeing suffered a three year delay and a manufacturing catastrophe with outsourcing and offshoring key components of Boeing 787 Dreamliner and who knows, Microsoft just may be forced to do the same with its new supply chain. Because no matter what columnists of reputable publications write, to manage a hardware supply chain... it's a whole new ballgame called physics.

Corsair Accelerator 30GB Caching SSD Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/corsair-accelerator-30gb-cachingssd-review/16603.html July 11th, 2012

One of this year’s most popular system upgrades is the installation of a caching SSD, mainly due to their low cost and trouble-free installation. There are many approaches which manufacturers take when designing a caching SSD; others opt for maximum performance, others strive for balance and others aim for the best possible value. Today we will have a look at a device which falls into the last of the three design categories, the Corsair Accelerator 30GB Caching SSD. The 30GB version of the Accelerator drive can be found selling for as low as 60 USD but can the small drive really provide a noteworthy performance boost? We will find out in this review. One of this year’s most popular system upgrades is the installation of a caching SSD, mainly due to their low cost and trouble-free installation. There are many approaches which manufacturers take when designing a caching SSD; others opt for maximum performance, others strive for balance and others aim for the best possible value. Today we will have a look at a device which falls into the last of the three design categories, the Corsair Accelerator 30GB Caching SSD. The 30GB version of the Accelerator drive can be found selling for as low as 60 USD but can the small drive really provide a noteworthy performance boost? We will find out in this review.

Published by: VR-Zone

Coming soon: Larger storage densities thanks to Ferroelectric Nanomaterial breakthrough Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/coming-soon-larger-storagedensities-thanks-to-ferroelectric-nanomaterial-breakthrough/16590.html July 11th, 2012

Electron holography has allowed Brookhaven scientists to observe nanomaterials at the atomic level. This discovery may pave the way for a new generation of storage devices. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have captured images of the electric fields created by exotic ferroelectric nanomaterials with picometre precision. This trillionth of a metre resolution is crucial for understanding these materials. To achieve this they made use of a technique called electron holography on two particular ferroelectrics, insulating barium titanate and semiconducting germanium telluride. These materials were engineered at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Brookhaven physicist Yimei Zhu said of this, “this kind of detail is just amazing – for the first time ever we can actually see the positions of atoms and link them to local ferroelectricity in nanoparticles. This kind of fundamental insight is not only a technical milestone, but it also opens up new kinds of engineering possibilities.” Ferroelectrics are related to the better known ferromagnetics, which are found in everything from toy magnets to computer hard drives. Ferromagnetic materials have magnetic dipole moments, meaning they always orient towards north or south. On a large scale, these dipole moments align and we observe magnetisation as attraction and repulsion. With an external magnetic field, the dipole can be switched, allowing the material to be altered. This is the basis of modern storage media, as the flipping of individual dipoles is analogous to the ones and zeroes in a computer’s binary language. This enables the material to be “written” onto, and, as these materials retain their memory even when turned off, they are fundamental in our modern, computer based world. Ferroelectrics also have a dipole moment, but with a positive or negative electric charge, rather than a magnetic charge. The polarisation of these ferroelectrics can be altered with the application of an external electric field in the same way that the magnetisation of ferromagnetics can be flipped with a magnetic field. This characteristic of the ferromagnetic materials is due to a subatomic asymmetry, which was imaged by the Brookhaven scientists. One major possibility is a new generation of compact, high capacity storage devices. While on the surface ferroelectric devices may seem very similar to the analogous ferromagnetic devices, they have much greater potential for data manipulation. Like ferromagnetics they are nonvolatile, but, according to Zhu, “ferroelectric materials can retain information on a much smaller scale and with 13

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higher density than ferromagnetics. We’re looking at moving from micrometres down to nanometres. And that’s really exciting, because we now know that on the nano scale each particle can become its own bit of information.” In the words of Brookhaven’s Myung-Geun Han, “ferroelectrics could ramp up memory density and store an unparalleled multiple terabytes of information on just one square inch of electronics.” The next challenge is scaling up individual ferroelectric nanoparticles into useful devices. The key to this is in understanding how tightly they can be packed without compromising their individual polarisations. This is vital because ferroelectrics require some space between them to operate effectively. The work done by the Brookhaven team with electron holography will instrumental in determining how this can be achieved.

Huawei moves into supercomputing (too)

Published by: VR-Zone

with Huawei, the Western SI vendors better beware. After all, they themselves killed off their only advantage - their own CPUs like Alpha or MIPS or HP-PA - to be left essentially as large scale Intel or AMD system integrators. At that point, price and little tweaks, plus support, become the only differentiators, and the Chinese can do it just as well, if not better. After all, for over a decade, even IBM's main PC server server design solution, integration and manufacturing facility for Asia Pacific was right in Shenzhen. The staff must have learned a lot during all those years, before many of them moved to the local big vendors, including Huawei...

2013 Haswell Mobile CPU Lineup - Power Sippers to Guzzlers Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/2013-haswell-mobile-cpu-lineup-power-sippers-to-guzzlers/16597.html July 11th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/huawei-moves-into-supercomputingtoo-/16600.html July 11th, 2012

The Shenzhen giant company which, as its proponents will repeat, started without any government help - although, of course, it is well linked with it today - is, in line with their 'next IBM' strategy we unveiled here some months ago, widening its reach. Geographically, they pretty much covered the Earth, and their componentry are bound to go beyond this planet too, in Chinese space missions. Target market wise, the telecoms (both consumer and enterprise related) markets are covered as well, with CPUs and systems markets now under the assault. The newest arena Huawei is entering is at the very top: supercomputers. Why bother, when it rarely makes money? Well, Huawei management, according to our sources, thinks high performance computing can make money, and not just in China. There is enough differentiation to make the designs blades and other nodes more HPC optimised, both CPU and memory performance wise, and then use Huawei network and interconnect expertise to improve on the inter-system connection efficiency, where even the Infiniband leaves a lot to be wanted.

One may think that the Ivy Bridge 17W Ultrabook bins power consumption is a great feat, but it may pale to next year 22nm Haswell's 15 watts TDP - including the PCH chipset in the same CPU package! What happens then if you want a bit more performance at a bit more TDP? The answer is... ... well, nothing! Haswell (Shark Bay platform) will, according to the well informed sources, bring in a much sharper TDP range distinction, even in the mobile markets. So, above the coveted - and a big focus for Intel anyway UltraBook domain, there will be a huge chasm above. Haswell Ultrabook ULV parts, codenamed Lynx Point LP, all being dual core but offering a choice of one to three graphics units, are expected to be all budgeted at 15W TDP for the whole dual die package, including the CPU and the PCH, the old 'South Bridge'. Now, that's something of an advantage over the 17W plus a few watts for a chipset in the current Ivy Bridge. You save both on power and on the board space, yet gain quite a bit of performance, especially in graphics, doing away the need for a power sucking discreet GPU.

Huawei, according to our high level sources, already got a substantial system portion of some of the upcoming ultra large systems in China, including what would likely be the world's first 100 Petaflop supercomputer in a year's time, at least five times as fast as the just unveiled fastest US system two weeks ago. This includes the node board design and rack infrastructure, among others. Of course, more of the same will follow, both above and below that performance threshold - some of it likely with Chinese - even Huawei's own - CPUs. Since supercomputers are a costly and tough to earn money market with even tougher customer support for most generic vendors like HP or Dell, it'll be interesting how Huawei will handle the challenges of high performance computing marketing, sales, integration and support. If the past is anything to go by, looking how Cisco fared trying to compete

What happens if you either want to go up in performance, or want to save some bucks (for heaven's sake UltraBooks 14

July 11th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

should not cost more than MBAs) and go for standard format notebook? Well, you'll have to change the socket and and the TDP. The chipset will not then be in the CPU package anymore, but you'll have a flexibility to choose between two and four CPU cores. The power envelope? In the first case, 37W TDP, and in the second case, 47W TDP. Wow, quite a difference when it comes to cooling and battery life... Of course, we haven't covered yet the top end, with four cores, GT3 graphics and that 'something extra' L4 cache on a separate die in the CPU package, linked over a wide backside bus. Here we talk about 57W TDP, of course for a very powerful desktop replacement device. The impact? After the migration to Haswell, the massive TDP distinction between different parts will impact even the formats, with ever thinner and lighter UltraBooks on one side, and constant-weight heavy mainstream stuff on the other. Of course, the uber enthusiast 18-inch or so monster gamer notebooks will also be there for the 57W parts, driving - hopefully - 4K-quality 16:10 screens at acceptable framerates with those GPUs by then. After all, if today's Apple Mac 15-inch can deliver 2880x1800, why can't a future 18-inch Haswell notebook bring in 3840x2400 display? It surely won't take more juice than the CPU driving it...

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Apple demands retailers to cease selling Samsung Galaxy Nexus Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-demands-retailers-to-ceaseselling-samsung-galaxy-nexus/16657.html July 14th, 2012

Apple recently sent out various emails demanding retailers to cease the act of “importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States,” the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Apparently, Apple assumes that it’s justifiable to go after retailers that affiliate themselves with Samsung. Apple recently sent out various emails demanding retailers to cease the act of “importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States,” the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Apparently, Apple assumes that it’s justifiable to go after retailers that affiliate themselves with Samsung. The following email was sent to one such retailer: Re: Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al. United States District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. C-12-00630 (LHK) We represent Apple Inc. in the above-referenced action. We enclose a copy of the June 29 preliminary injunction order entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in this case together with a copy of Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 (the “604 patent”). With the posting of the requisite bond, the order is now in effect. The order provides as follows: For the foregoing reasons, Apple’s motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED. Accordingly, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC; its officers, directors, partners, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, subsidiaries, and those acting in concert with any of them, are enjoined from making, using, offering to sell, or selling within the United States, or importing into the United States Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and any products that is no more

than colorably different the specified product and infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 (emphasis added). As the italicized language provides, the order applies not only to the named Samsung entities, but also to anyone “acting in concert” with them. Apple thus believes that the order extends to you because you may be selling, offering to sell, or importing Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. Please comply with the order by ceasing immediately to engage in any of the specified acts (e.g., importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States) in connection with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and any product that is no more than colorably different from it and infringes the ‘604 patent. At a minimum, Apple believes compliance with the Courter’s order requires immediately removing for sale the Galaxy Nexus from all physical and online venues under your direction or control. It appears that Apple is hell bent on closing down all avenues of Galaxy Nexus distribution in the United States. Samsung may have the pocket to support the legal battles against Apple, but the small time retailers may not. Retailers that have strong ties with Apple such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy may consider compliance, but there are still others that may not follow through with Apple’s request.

First Unreal Engine 4 Game is PC Exclusive, Tim Burtonesque "Fortnite" Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/first-unreal-engine-4-game-is-pcexclusive-tim-burtonesque-fortnite-/16655.html July 14th, 2012

With the Comic-Con in full swing in downtown San Diego, the time has come for Epic Games to unveil the first title based on the fourth generation of its ultra-successful Unreal Engine. To us, the announced title looks like something produced by Tim Burton. Fortnite only goes to show just how flexible UE4 is. E3 came and went, but besides the long awaited public announcement of Unreal Engine 4 - we did not see much from Epic Games. In the week marked by Comic-Con Conference 2012 which is taking place in San Diego, CA, Epic Games hosted a panel with Tanya Jessen and Cliff Bleszinski discussing the first UE4 game. Titled Fortnite, it looks like it came straight from Tim Burton's animated movies. 1

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

shadow buffers to capture the first ray bouncing off in the scene. Knowing Epic, this game will be quite an amazing gameplay experience. As far as engine goes, we might want to add - it's looking to be an epic one (pun intended).

Intel's Next-Gen Atom Processors to Only Arrive End of 2013 First and foremost, the title is PC-exclusive, since no console is capable of handling the graphics demands of the brand new UE4 engine. This title is no kiddy game, though. According to Tanya (producer), Fortnite is a "co-op sandbox survival game".

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-s-next-gen-atom-processors-toonly-arrive-end-of-2013/16629.html July 14th, 2012

Behind the scenes, Intel is trying to raise uncertainty around its competitors in the mobile field which have as crushing share as Intel has on the PC market. However, with continuous delays of their next-gen hardware, one must ask is "Intel's manufacturing advantage" really all that?

Coming in 2013, this game utilizes DirectX 11 engine to its full extent, so don't expect to see the game running on DirectX 9 or DX10 capable hardware. This is as next-gen as it can get, so better get those DirectX 11 APUs and GPUs ready for an adult bonanza in a world which can only be described as a combination of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and "Corpse Bride". When it comes to the features of Unreal Engine 4, it features a completely new digital pipeline which enables artists to go from demos such as Samaritan to cartoony style animation, all using one workflow. Naturally, all the workflow in the world won't help you if the engine itself would not be a work of art. One good example just how advanced UE4 is a quote from Tim Sweeney, co-founder of Epic Games and lead developer of Unreal Engine 4: "Global Illumination refers to the calculation of light bouncing around a scene. GI is responsible for many of the subtle shading effects and ambience we see in real-world environments, as well as glossy and metallic reflections. Introducing real-time Global Illumination into Unreal Engine 4 is the biggest breakthrough in lighting since Unreal Engine 1 introduced real-time Direct Illumination in 1995."

Over the course of last couple of weeks, the author of these lines traveled 38,000 miles back and forth between three continents and the amount of information received sometimes leaves a person analyzing for week or so - where the shift in the industry actually is. Quite a good example is the comparison between four recently held conferences - NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference, AMD Fusion Developer Summit, Freescale Technology Forum and Qualcomm UPLINQ. However, there was one common thread between all four mentioned conferences - where is Intel, what are they doing with their mobile lineup, have you seen their reference phones etc. Given that we have a tendency for demanding meat rather than listening to lovely FUD stories, we started digging to see where is Intel hiding its Valleyview SoC processors which threaten to "unleash the power of Intel's manufacturing" and all other typical marketing stereotypical statements. When we spoke with sources within Intel last year, we were told that their true mobile attack will come in 2012. When Mobile World Congress ended in February, we were told that the full out attack will start on the next MWC (February 25-28th, 2013). According to the latest roadmaps, that target is becoming more and more distant, with Valleyview SoC and the corresponding BayTrail platform won't see the light of day before the end of 2013, with the proper rollout of respective products (mobile phones, tablets, microservers) during 2014.

In order to enable Global Illumination (you can see GI at work in the second screenshot), the company developed new technique called SVOGI, which stands for Sparse Voxel Octree Global Illumination. UE4 is able to maintain the realtime octree data structure encoding all visible direct light emitters in the scene in multiple resolutions. This way the authors created a scalable effect which can go from highend graphics processors to a more mainstream environment. Best part of SVOGI is that Epic did not went to request a feature-set in new graphics processors, rather utilized 2

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On paper, the whole platform looks promising. We have Bay Trail-T and Valleyview-T for mobile phones (until then, you're stuck with Oak Trail-based Atom Z6xx processors) which will support LPDDR3 memory from Day 1. Valleyview-T will be available in quad-core format as well, which means that by Q4 2013 both Qualcomm and TI need to have their processors candy-dandy, given the lead from HiSilicon, NVIDIA and Samsung. The only problem is that taking a look at competitor's roadmaps, they seem to be more than ready for continuously-delayed "Intel chips that will change the world". Ultimately, Intel plans to utilize its 22nm fabs to the full extent, with the future migration to 14nm, but the mobile platform is looking to lag one process node behind the traditional desktop/notebook/server processors. The official line is that the company still prepares 22nm mobile node, but that node slipped deep into the 2013 and as we all know, you can buy 22nm processors from Intelâ&#x20AC;Ś today. All in all, the company has a lot of work on its plate and while you can never discard Intel's size and the will to put billions of dollars (if needed be) to get their products right. But for now, Valleyview's main competitor will be custom 64bit ARM architectures such as Project Denver from NVIDIA and Qualcomm, as well as 64-bit ARM processing cores from HiSilicon, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Marvell and countless others. Furthermore, AMD will have their first generation of hybrid x86 + ARM + GPU processors. Love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Socket 2011 to become the dominant Intel high end physical format even on Xeon EX - but different pin-outs, of course

Published by: VR-Zone

In fact, based on our sources, the physical Socket 2011 format and pin number will be the most widely adopted one across all high end product ranges, from single socket high end enthusiast PCs like those using the Core i7 3960X today and its Ivy Bridge follow-ons later, to all the dual processor Xeon E5 workstations and servers now and in 2013, and all the quad processor and beyond Xeon E7 platforms, from the upcoming Ivy Bridge EX to its socket-compatible follow ons Haswell EX and, sometime in 2015 or 2016, 14 nm Broadwell EX. And, you may have seen from my old friend Charlie Demerjian at SemiAccurate that the (likely early 2014) Haswell EP dual socket Xeon E5 v3 will also keep the physical Socket 2011 format, just a very different pinout. Obviously, even with the same socket and pin number, the pinouts would differ - in the EX series, there will be more QPI links, at least three, and the memory interface will be to the external dual-channel buffers rather than directly to the DIMMs. Since the Haswell EX and beyond are confirmed to support DDR4 memory, don't be surprised to see some sort of unofficial DDR4 support even in their predecessor, the Ivy Bridge EX, less than a year from now - at least for 'validation' purposes. Of course, that would require clocking the memory controller much higher, up from 1600 to 2666MHz JEDEC standard speed level, but then, Intel has just enabled that memory controller speed in the Ivy Bridge EX anyway for the lockstep mode functionality. Therefore, if keeping the same speed, but using the future external DDR4 memory buffer, you possibly could 'test' DDR4-2666 memory enablement on that CPU too. The key take is that, seemingly, Intel accepted the Socket 2011 format as sufficiently versatile to manage the physical format and cooling issues for the near future at one go - with high TDP parts coming on all high end fronts, having the unified socket platform for thermal validation will help a lot with heatsink, board space and other issues that come along. So, the users and peripheral vendors alike have a reason to cheer up, as their highly valued cooling solutions and enclosures should stay relevant quite a bit longer...

AMD cuts prices on the high end GPUs - in preparation for the dual GPU HD 7990? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-cuts-prices-on-the-high-endgpus--in-preparation-for-the-dual-gpu-hd-7990-/16654.html July 14th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/socket-2011-to-become-thedominant-intel-high-end-physical-format-even-on-xeon-ex--butdifferent-pin-outs-of-course/16633.html July 14th, 2012

The sped-up HD 7970 GHz edition came out last month to knock down the GTX 680 from the gaming performance throne. Now, and before another top level announcement, the rest of the high end line up received price adjustments to further attack Nvidia gamers' holdout. With all the confusion of different little sockets on the desktop end of the story, from LGA1156 to 1155 to, next year, 1150, will Intel do the same to its high end? The answer is no, at least till 2014. Even the 4-socket and above Xeon E7 families will follow suit.

Three weeks ago, the 1050 MHz - in perpetually switched on Turbo mode - HD 7970 GHz edition officially broke through the 4 TFLOPs FP per GPU - or any other kind of processor - barrier, and also, with sped up GPU, memory and drivers - dethroned the Nvidia GTX 680 from the gaming 3

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performance leadership. While now we await the dual GPU HD 7990 offering to 'handle' the Nvidia GTX 690, AMD is targeting the rest of the high end gamers by reducing the MSRP prices on the rest of the high end line up as of Monday July 16th.

Published by: VR-Zone

have the OS pre-installed), can be purchased in the store as "Full Retail" or "OEM" packages, or bought in bulk via Microsoft's various volume licensing programmes. Those already with licenses of older versions of Windows can typically buy "Upgrade" licenses. While "Full Retail" is the package intended for sale to consumers who want full copies of the various variants of Windows, these consumers typically end up buying the significantly cheaper "OEM" version, which is intended for purchase and installation by system integrators. The OEM version is supposed to be sold with hardware, but as far as most retailers are concerned, it's not cast in stone. The only differences between the two are superficial (better product presentation and slightly better aftersales support for the "Full Retail" package), and cease to matter once the operating system is up and running. Microsoft wants to change this.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 will come down to $429 USD, and the AMD Radeon HD 7950 will be available for $349 USD. Both will be bundled with the Three-forFree promotion, getting three free DirectXÂŽ 11 games for free (a $100 value) with the purchase of any AMD Radeonâ&#x201E;˘ HD 7900 Series product. One key benefit here is, of course, getting 3 GB of graphics memory that the competition doesn't have, for play at maximum resolutions or details. Also, the more mainstream AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition will now be available for $299 USD, inclusive of a free copy of DiRT Showdown (a $50 value). With this move, the standard GTX 670/680 cards will feel increased pressure, as well as the impending GTX 660 next month, but the real icing on the cake would be the early launch of Sea Islands at the year end, before Nvidia can bring in the big die GK110 into consumer cards.

Microsoft Scrapping Retail Boxes of Windows 8 in Favour of System Builder Package?

According to Thurrott and Foley, there will be three ways in which consumers can get their hands on a Windows 8 license: buy devices that have it pre-installed; upgrade their existing Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 installations using Upgrade copies; or buy what will come to be known as "System Builder" copy. The System Builder copy, as Thurrott and Foley describe, is similar to today's OEM copies, except that its EULA (end user license agreement) could allow people to purchase it standalone (or with components to build new PCs with), and install it without needing to be "system integrators." The move could simplify the forms in which the operating system will be made available to the public, on the web, and through retail stores. How the move impacts pricing is a totally different issue, something we'll learn more about as we inch closer to the October 2012 (tentative) launch of the operating system.

Apacer Outs SAFD 25A Series Enterprise SSDs Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apacer-outs-safd-25a-seriesenterprise-ssds/16652.html July 14th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-scrapping-retail-boxes-ofwindows-8-in-favour-of-system-builder-package-/16653.html July 14th, 2012

Apacer launched its newest line of enterprise/industrial SSDs, the SAFD 25A series. Built in the 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the SSDs come in variants with SLC and MLC NAND flash memory. Full retail copies of Windows could become a thing of the past with Windows 8. According to Windows Weekly cohosts, Redmond plans to make the new operating system available in fewer kinds of packages.

Full retail copies of Windows could become a thing of the past with Windows 8. According to Windows Weekly cohosts Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley, Redmond plans to make the new operating system available in fewer kinds of packages. A license to use Windows is either sold by computer manufacturers (on desktops and notebooks that 4

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

The Kontron KTT30/mITX makes use of an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core (4 + 1 power-saving core) SoC. Its four CPU cores are built in the ARM Cortex-A9 micro-architecture, and are clocked at 900 MHz. It features NVIDIA GeForce ULP GPU. The GPU is capable enough to handle 3D acceleration, 1080p video playback, and an LVDS link with 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution. The GPU also provides h.264, MPEG4 hardware encoding/decoding acceleration. The Tegra 3 SoC is backed by up to 2 GB of DDR3L system memory (RAM).

The SAFD25A SSDs from Apacer are designed for enterprise environments with demanding data-transaction loads, or large amounts of "hot-data" (data that's frequently accessed, such as a database). The company did not reveal what is the make of its controller, but specified some performance numbers on its end: up to 475 MB/s reads, up to 360 MB/s writes, up to 50,000 IOPS random access performance. While the SAFD25A packs single-level cell (SLC) NAND flash memory, Apacer also has a cost-effective multilevel cell (MLC) NAND flash memory-based variant, the SAFD25A-M. There is just one capacity option for the two - 512 GB.

Kontron Designs Tegra 3 Mini-ITX Motherboard Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/kontron-designs-tegra-3-mini-itxmotherboard/16651.html July 14th, 2012

The KTT30/mITX is filled to the brim with connectivity. For expansion, the board has a total of three mPCIe slots, of which one doubles up as mSATA, and another one as reserved for 3G HSDPA MODEM. The board has a SIM card slot on-board. Apart from the three, the board has two SD card slots, and a bootable eMMC module. There are a plethora of peripheral interfaces, some more familiar to the PC crowd, others with embedded/COM designers. PC users will find a total of three USB 2.0 ports (two standard type A, one micro-USB), a gigabit Ethernet interface, stereo analog and multi-channel digital (SPDIF) audio outputs, and HDMI 1.4a display output supporting digital resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 pixels. Embedded connectivity includes two RS232 (8-wire serial/ COM), LVDS display output supporting up to 2048 x 1536 pixels @ 18 bpp, three MIPI connectors (1x DSI, 1x CSI, 1x either DSI or CSI), eighteen GPIO connectors, a 2-pin DC power input, and 4-pin PWM fan output. The KTT30/mITX has a target power draw of less than 7 Watts, it should be able to run off a fairly light and compact AC adapter. It should be able to drive most Linux derivatives for the ARM machine architecture, including Android and Chrome OS. Find finer details in the datasheet.

Microsoft unveils Halo 4 Xbox 360 bundle Computer-on-module (COM) and industrial PC (IPC) major Kontron designed the first NVIDIA Tegra 3 motherboard in the mini-ITX (slim) form-factor. The board measures 17 x 17 cm, and should fit in most ITX/ATX cases. Computer-on-module (COM) and industrial PC (IPC) major Kontron designed the first NVIDIA Tegra 3 motherboard in the mini-ITX (slim) form-factor. The board measures 17 x 17 cm, and should fit in most ITX/ATX cases. The board is armed with most current and legacy connectivity, and a powerful SoC.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-unveils-halo-4-xbox-360bundle/16649.html July 14th, 2012

Microsoft has unveiled a limited edition Halo 4 themed Xbox 360 bundle, with a copy of the standard edition of the game and a 320GB console. Microsoft has unveiled a limited edition Halo 4 themed Xbox 360 bundle, with a copy of the standard edition of the game and a 320GB console. The bundle was briefly available for pre-order on Microsoft's online store with a price tag of $399.99, but was pulled soon after media outlets reported on it, suggesting it may have been put up earlier than planned. The bundle features a very cool Halo-skinned console and two matching controllers. The console features LEDs and even makes different sounds when turned on and when the disc drive opens. It also comes with the standard Xbox 360 headset and, of course, the game itself.

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

is drawn from Molex connectors, and a 40 mm fan ventilates the whole enclosure.

Those who are not enamoured by the aesthetics might still fork out for this bundle for the exclusive Halo 4 content it offers, including a unique armour skin, unique weapon skin, unique emblem, matching avatar armour and unique avatar prop. It is not clear how many units will be available, but the â&#x20AC;&#x153;limited editionâ&#x20AC;? tag suggests there's a set number on offer, which will likely be whipped up over the Christmas holidays.

Looks simple enough? The three drive bays of the Icy Dock MB994IPO-3SB come with detachable caddies, the drives (HDDs, SSDs, optical drives) have to be installed manually, and the process isn't exactly tool-free:

Halo 4 launches on 6 November.

Icy Dock Intros Unique Dual 2.5" + Slimline Bay Internal Enclosure Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/icy-dock-intros-unique-dual-2.5-slimline-bay-internal-enclosure/16647.html July 14th, 2012

The Icy Dock MB994IPO-3SB is made almost entirely of metal. The front bezel, the body cover, and the hot-swap bay lids are made of SECC steel with matte black powdercoating. Each bay has its own activity LED. The enclosure could be a life-saver for those with slim form-factor (SFF) cases that ship with just one 5.25-inch drive bay, and have limited number of other bays.

Icy Dock unveiled its newest enclosure, the MB994IPO-3SB. It is designed to reorganize a 5.25-inch drive bay into two 2.5-inch hot-swap bays with SAS/SATA backplanes, and a slimline optical disc drive bay. Somebody likes bentos. Icy Dock unveiled its newest enclosure, the MB994IPO-3SB. It is designed to reorganize a 5.25-inch drive bay into two 2.5-inch hot-swap bays with SAS/SATA backplanes, and a slimline optical disc drive bay. Somebody likes bentos. The Icy Dock MB994IPO-3SB is slated for market release on 31st July. Its price is still under the wraps.

Assassin's Creed III delayed for PC, next games will go further back in time The design concept behind Icy Dock MB994IPO-3SB is painstakingly simple: use one to convert a 5.25-inch drive bay in your system into three bays: two 2.5-inch hot-swap SAS/SATA, and a slimline (notebook) optical drive. The three bays are wired out directly from behind, where power

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/assassin-s-creed-iii-delayed-for-pcnext-games-will-go-further-back-in-time/16648.html

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 14th, 2012

Assassin's Creed III has been delayed for the PC, while future instalments of the popular game series will go further back in time rather than continue their gradual shift towards the present day. Assassin's Creed III has been delayed for the PC, while future instalments of the popular game series will go further back in time rather than continue their gradual shift towards the present day. Alex Hutchinson, Creative Director at Ubisoft, delivered the bad news that the third title will not launch on 30 October on the PC, but the console version appears to be unaffected. Hutchinson did promise that the game will be out in time for Christmas, however, and that the delay won't be long, so we can probably expect it out by the end of November. As for future games, Hutchinson told a Comic-Con panel: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I don't think we'll necessarily always go forward, or we're dooming ourselves to run out of history.â&#x20AC;?

Updates: According to GameSpy, the game is still on for October 30th release.

The first game dealt with the Crusades in the 12th Century, the second covered the Renaissance in the 15th Century, and the upcoming third game deals with the American Revolution in the 18th Century. If this trend continued then players would only have a small period of time left to play in, with modern history making for a less convincing playground for the Templar versus Assasins storyline. Hutchinson's comments suggest the studio is already looking at other time periods for future titles. There is a lot of potential over the course of history and once the games break the existing sequence the possibility of jumping back and forward to other iconic periods opens up.

Ubisoft PR just contacted us to let us know that the PC version of Assassin's Creed 3 is still "coming out on October 30, day and date with the console versions." Joystiq, who we sourced in our initial post, has updated their story as well. So apparently Alex Hutchinson, who is the creative lead on Assassin's Creed 3, simply misspoke at the ComicCon panel yesterday. I'm still pretty skeptical about AC3 making that release date on the grounds that history is not on Ubisoft's side. Nearly every PC version of a multi-platform Ubisoft game has met with some sort delay, most recently Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Rayman: Origins. It's hard for me to believe that Assassin's Creed 3 is going to break from that unfortunate tradition.

Billionaire Richard Branson to be first tourist in 2013 space voyage Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/billionaire-richard-branson-to-befirst-tourist-in-2013-space-voyage/16646.html

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 14th, 2012

Digg sells for just $500,000 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/digg-sells-forjust-500-000/16645.html July 14th, 2012

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson is to be first among hundreds of people to travel 60 miles into space in the 2013 maiden voyage of the Virgin Galactic programme. Billionaire Sir Richard Branson is to be first among hundreds of people to travel 60 miles into space in the 2013 maiden voyage of the Virgin Galactic programme. 529 people have already booked their holidays for late 2013, but they won't want to be “in the Sun” for this once in a lifetime trip, worth $200,000 per ticket. Only 528 people have been in space since the first mission of Yuri Gagarin in 1961, making this a ground-breaking achievement if successful. The SpaceShipTwo, or SS2, spacecraft will be launched by the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft into space. Six people can be flown at a time, making for plenty of flights, with 80 successful test launches to date.

Digg, once one of the internet's biggest social content voting sites, has been sold for a measly $500,000, highlighting the intense competition in the field. Digg, once one of the internet's biggest social content voting sites, has been sold for a measly $500,000, highlighting the intense competition in the field. Betaworks nabbed the website for the bargain sum, promising to turn it into a cloud-based platform, adding to its existing offerings, which include Bitly, SocialFlow and Bloglovin'. “Over the last few months, we've considered many options of where Digg could go, and frankly many of them could not live up to the reason Digg was invented in the first place -to discover the best stuff on the web,” said Matt Williams, CEO of Digg. “We wanted to find a way to take Digg back to its startup roots.”

Branson and his children, Holly and Sam, will be the first to boldly go where only a handful of people have gone before. Celebrities and the rich are all lining up for the gravitydefying experience, with those confirmed on the list including Sarah Brightman, Bryan Singer, and Stephen Hawking. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are rumoured to be among the number, and Branson hopes to sell 700 tickets in total by the time of the first flight, a figure that should easily be achieved. The budding astronauts will required a week of training before their flight. In addition to the incredible sights from space, they will also be able to experience the weightlessness of zero gravity.

Digg's fate was pretty much sealed after most of its staff left to join Social Code in May, leaving the company with a skeletal crew on which to operate. The low sale value reflects what little Digg now has to offer, both in terms of skilled engineers and a once popular, now quiet social content network. Digg was established by Kevin Rose in 2004, long before most of today's popular social media sites even existed, allowing users to "digg" stories and content they liked and "bury" stuff they didn't. Its glory days are long gone, however, largely replaced by rival firms like Reddit, not to 8

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mention the tweeting of Twitter, +1'ing of Google+, and liking of Facebook.

NVIDIA Forums Hacked, User Data Compromised Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-forums-hacked-user-datacompromised/16644.html July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

for online forum users to have similar (and sometimes, identical) user names and passwords for multiple websites. If you have an NVIDIA forums account, and you think your VR-Zone forums login details are similar or identical, we recommend that you change your password on our forums, immediately.

ASUS Maximus V Extreme is a Time Machine - Pause and Un-Pause Benchmark Runs! Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-maximus-v-extreme-is-a-timemachine--pause-and-un-pause-benchmark-runs-/16643.html July 14th, 2012

Late Thursday, NVIDIA deactivated its user forums (forums.nvidia.com) on the company website, citing security reasons. According to the company, a security breach was discovered. Critical user data may have been compromised. Late Thursday, NVIDIA deactivated its user forums (forums.nvidia.com) on the company website, citing security reasons. According to the company, a security breach was discovered (the forums website was hacked). Critical user data may have been compromised (stolen). Even as investigations into the breach are underway, the company ascertained that the hackers gained access to user data such as user names, hashed passwords along with random salt value, e-mail addresses of the users, and contents of the "About Me" field. The forum passwords, according to NVIDIA, are not stored in plain text, but in a hashed form. Passwords in this form, along with random salt values, could have been accessed. Along with user names and passwords, the hackers also gained access to the registration e-mail addresses of the users. These addresses are typically used by forum software to send administrative messages (about registration status, private messages, friendship requests, infractions, and bans), and for password recovery.

Imagine having the ability to pause a prolonged WR benchmark attempt halfway and walk off for a smoke/snack, carrying on where you left off later. The latest beta BIOS update for the Maximus V Extreme does just that, which is a godsend for hungry or breathless extreme overclockers around the world. Imagine having the ability to pause a prolonged WR benchmark attempt halfway and walk off for a smoke/ snack, carrying on where you left off later. The latest beta BIOS update for the Maximus V Extreme (our own review coming soon) does just that, which is a godsend to hungry or breathless extreme overclockers around the world. Procedure (OCKey must be installed): CTL + F1 = Pause CTL + F1 = Unpause If reboot during a pause phase, shutdown and use OCKey to unpause and turn on again to make sure it boots properly without being paused. This latest development on the Maximus V Extreme comes after a host of other innovations on the recently released motherboard which includes Subzero Sense (integrated thermometer with subzero support) and VGA Power Control (i2c access to control voltage and OCP/LLC settings). We will update this section again after we ask ASUS engineers about how this time machine works.

Samsung doesn't want you to use their smartphones... sort of Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-doesn-t-want-you-to-usetheir-smartphones...-sort-of/16641.html July 14th, 2012

NVIDIA will likely enforce a password (and possibly registration e-mail address) change once the forums are back online. The company also strongly recommended that people with similar login details on other forum websites, change their passwords and relevant info. To avoid having to remember multiple login details, it is common practice 9

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

The Galaxy S3 has been under heavy scrutiny recently. Some people have claimed that Samsung was deliberately trying to avoid its warranty obligations regarding screen burn-in problems by sneaking in new disclaimers. We bring to you some other common scenarios where Samsung doesn't want you to use their phones.

a cell phone near or inside a heater, a microwave or any cooking equipment, or a high pressure container' and 'Do not let children or pets lick or bite a cell phone or its battery'. The latest reported blow-up of Galaxy S3 was because a customer heated the phone near a microwave.

The manual is a link between a company and its customers. It is where all the product use and warranty information is found. Although lots of paper manuals are disappearing, companies are beginning provide electronic versions. They also usually have legal teams to go through and include warnings in an effort to prevent anything that could harm customers or the companies.

An insider source explained that "warnings in manuals are to suggest or advise rules and insights that users should observe in ordinary environments rather than companies trying to evade any responsibilities," and also added that "unless one purposely and unreasonably messes up a product, any user will receive proper warranty services."

Puremate announces 3D protective screen film for Galaxy S3 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/puremate-announces-3d-protectivescreen-film-for-galaxy-s3/16638.html July 14th, 2012

The following phrase or one like it is always included in a mobile phone product manual: 'Be cautious using cell phone while walking or moving.' However, it is rather contradictory to warn against using cell phone while moving because cell phone is basically a mobile phone (phone that's been designed for mobility!) The reason why this warning has been appearing in manuals is that more and more customers who have been injured in accidents while using a mobile phone have begun suing the mobile phone manufacturers. Similar to the infamous Mcdonalds hot coffee warning, the reason behind ruling when customers win these lawsuits is usually the lack of clarity or information in manuals. Companies have been forced to include even the most obvious warnings in their product manuals to avoid costly judgments against them.

Puremate, a protective case maker based in South Korea has released a 3D fit screen protective film for Galaxy S3 recently. The unique feature of the new Puremate screen protector is that it fits the curvature of the screen perfectly, covering the entire screen. It provides the screen complete protection from any damage. The Puremate 3D fit screen protector is the first to be developed in the world using only South Korean technologies. Puremate, a protective case maker based in South Korea has released a 3D fit screen protective film for Galaxy S3 recently. The unique feature of the new Puremate screen protector is that it fits the curvature of the screen perfectly, covering the entire screen. It provides the screen complete protection from any damage. The Puremate 3D fit screen protector is the first to be developed in the world using only South Korean technologies.

The warning about recently popular burn-in problem is included in the manual because of that reason as well. The AMOLED display is what Samsung has been employing since Galaxy S. Ordinary users do not typically experience screen burn-in because they occur when a user leaves a paused screen turned on for a long time or lets a screen display the same images repeatedly. For any burn-in to occur because of the reasons mentioned above, a user would have to turn on the screen for a long time on purpose. But even before any screen burn-in happens, a phone would likely be out of power. In the past year, however, customers requesting product exchanges due to broken displays drastically increased. After noticing this increase Samsung began to include the warning about improper usage causing screen burn-in. Similar warnings in the product manual include 'Do not put 10

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While screen protectors have previously been available, until now protective films only covered a partial area of Galaxy S3 screen due to its contour. Galaxy S3 users who wanted a screen protector that covered the entire screen had to resort to a flexible urethane film and attaching it with an adhesive spray. Although a urethane film offers flexibility and complete coverage, it is susceptible to a yellowing effect when it is exposed to sun for a long time. Urethane films can also cause a failure in the device if the liquid adhesive seeps into the device while applying the film. With no adhesive liquids required by the new Puremate screen protector, this is no longer a danger. The optical properties of the new screen protector are excellent, allowing at least 93% light transmittance, not compromising the vivid visuals of the Galaxy S3 HD Super AMOLED screen. The film is currently patent pending.

Mind Reader: Stephen Hawking Tries Out The iBrain Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mind-reader-stephen-hawking-triesout-the-ibrain/16642.html July 14th, 2012

Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest scientific minds of our time, has long relied on technology to communicate. Now he is trialling a device that may one day convert his thoughts directly into speech. Stephen Hawking suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also know as motor neuron disease. This disease involves the progressive weakening and atrophy of muscles. It leads to an inability to move independently and difficulty with speaking, swallowing and breathing. The 70 year old has been confined to a wheelchair for decades and a computer speaks for him. In spite of this, he has made a number of important advances in modern cosmology and found time to author a number of popular science books. Since losing his speech in the 1980s, Hawking “speaks” by using a series of cheek twitches to select words on a screen. However, this is a slow process, and as he loses control of his cheek, the need to find another way is becoming more and more important.

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makes use of an algorithm to extract useful information from the data gathered. According to NeuroVigil’s website, “the iBrain is a miniature electronics box attached to a light and flexible elastic head harness and electrodes that can effortlessly be applied to the head during sleep.” It has a rechargeable battery and USB port for data transfer. In a preliminary test of the iBrain’s capabilities, the device was fitted to Hawking’s head and he was asked to “imagine that he was scrunching his right hand into a ball.” While his body has long lost the ability to do this, his motor cortex can still generate electrical waves in his brain. The device was able to identify which movement he was imagining by monitoring this electrical activity. The dream is that this technology will enable Hawking and others to communicate by using their thoughts and imagination to instruct a computer to generate words on their behalf. Low presented this work on July 8 at the Francis Crick Memorial Conference in Cambridge, UK. The topic of the conference was “Consciousness in humans and nonhuman animals.” NeuroVigil has gained publicity through its association with Hawking, but Low stresses that the technology has been developed for everybody. He states that the “mind-mapping” performed by the iBrain is not limited to this particular communication application, but has so many potential uses that Low funded the startup on his own, refusing offers of venture capital. “I knew that if they funded us they would want to concentrate only on one specific use for the device,” he said. “I didn’t pay myself for three years. I wanted to build a better telescope – one that could be pointed all around the universe.” With his motorised wheelchair and distinctive computer voice, Stephen Hawking is one of the most iconic figures in modern science. He is the author of A Brief History of Time, which has sold over 10 million copies since its initial publication in 1988.

Steam deep discount sales hurt developer Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/steam-deep-discount-sales-hurtdeveloper/16637.html July 14th, 2012

In a recent interview with Games Industry, head of EA’s Origin, David DeMartini says that Steam sales are hurting developer by “cheapening” the image and branding of the products. In a recent interview with Games Industry, head of EA’s Origin, David DeMartini says that Steam sales are hurting developer and partners by “cheapening” the image and branding of the products.

Enter Philip Low: founder, chairman and CEO of healthcare company NeuroVigil. Low’s device, called the iBrain, records brain activity from a single point on the scalp. The device

When asked whether or not Origin will offer the same type of “deep discount” sales like Steam, DeMartini said no. He believes that developers have poured incredible amount of time and resources into their product should be rewarded with fair pricings, and therefore the games should not be sold like it’s a “going-out-of-business sales.” 11

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“We won't be doing that. Obviously they think it's the right thing to do after a certain amount of time. I just think it cheapens your intellectual property. I know both sides of it, I understand it. If you want to sell a whole bunch of units, that is certainly a way to do that, to sell a whole bunch of stuff at a low price. The gamemakers work incredibly hard to make this intellectual property, and we're not trying to be Target. We're trying to be Nordstrom. When I say that, I mean good value - we're trying to give you a fair price point, and occasionally there will be things that are on sale you could look for a discount, just don't look for 75 percent off going-out-of-business sales.” DeMartini also claims that Steam maybe benefitting from the humungous sales, but the partnering publishers are hurting because they are making next to nothing on the games they produced. “Also what Steam does might be teaching the customer that "I might not want it in the first month, but if I look at it in four or five months, I'll get one of those weekend sales and I'll buy it at that time at 75 percent off." It's an approach, and I'm not going to say it's not working for Valve. It certainly works for Valve; I don't know if it works as well for the publishing partners who take on the majority of that haircut.” Origin, according to DeMartini, is attempting to build a cloud gaming platform that doesn’t rely on heavy discounts to attract customers. Rather, Origin will build “long-term” relationships with its customers through other methods —such as, publishing independent, “crowd-funded”, and charging no fees for 90 days. Steam is currently having a summer blowout sale.

Hackers allegedly steal 450,000 Yahoo account details Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hackers-allegedly-steal-450-000yahoo-account-details/16636.html July 14th, 2012

As many as 450,000 account details have allegedly been stolen from a Yahoo server by a new hacker group. The group, which goes by the name D33DS Company (“Leetspeak” for “deeds,” which uses numbers in place of letters), claims to have hacked into a subdomain of Yahoo's website to gain access to unencrypted account information.

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The hackers claim that this act was done to demonstrate Yahoo's lack of security, not as a threat. It does raise questions about Yahoo's approach to user data, as account details should always be encrypted, regardless of where they are stored or how secure one believes the servers to be. D33DS Company appears to be a new group on the scene, though it is not clear if it has any affiliation with other hacking groups like Anonymous and Lulzsec. It offers paid hacking services, promising full privacy for those who request this. It is also considering a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) offer if there is enough interest. Hacking has become a growing concern for internet users, governments and companies, with many high-profile cases, such as numerous attacks on Sony's servers, including its PlayStation Network, highlighting that more needs to be done to ensure account security.

Chinese online stores open for iPhone 5 pre-orders Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/chinese-online-stores-open-foriphone-5-pre-orders/16635.html July 14th, 2012

Online retailers in China are accepting pre-orders for the unreleased and un-announced iPhone 5, Apple's muchanticipated next smartphone. Taobao, the country's largest e-commerce website, lists numerous offers for the iPhone 5, with many sellers showing concept pictures and expected specifications, while also asking for a deposit of as much as 1,000 yuan, which is around $160. At least one seller wants the full payment up front, totalling a whopping 6,999 yuan, which is about $1,100. Reuters reports that sellers plan to buy the new model in Hong Kong or the US and then bring it back to China for resale, exploiting the delayed release date that mainland China usually suffers from.

The data is believed to belong to Yahoo's VoIP service, Yahoo Voices, which runs on the company's instant messenger.

July 14th, 2012

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With no delivery estimates and so few details about the device to go on, one would think that no one would pre-order the non-existant product. However, reports suggest that the pre-orders are selling like hotcakes, with some users buying two of the hallowed phones. China is a major market for technology that Apple has been attempting to expand further into. It has five stores in the country and plans to open more, while consumers there often turn to the black market to get their hands on Apple products. The new iPad release in China on 20 July.

EA and BioWare announce Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ea-and-bioware-announce-ultimaforever-quest-for-the-avatar/16634.html July 14th, 2012

Electronic Arts (EA) and BioWare have announced the latest title in the popular Ultima role-playing game series, Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar. Electronic Arts (EA) and BioWare have announced the latest title in the popular Ultima role-playing game series, Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar. It has been over a decade since the last Ultima game, and the original Quest of the Avatar, the fourth game in the series, was released all the way back in 1985, when pixelated artwork was all the rage. This latest game will see action role-playing matched with BioWare storytelling, reintroducing players to the world of Britannia. Since BioWare launched Star Wars: The Old Republic and since Ultima Online is well-known in the annals of gaming history, you would be forgiven for thinking this game is another MMO, but it is a standard single-player game, though there will also be a multiplayer experience.

“As huge fans of the Ultima franchise, the team at BioWare Mythic is not only excited to be able to bring this reimagining of the original rich world to the fans of the classic RPGs, but also to introduce a new generation of gamers who have never had a chance to discover why this is one of our industry’s most beloved worlds,” said Eugene Evans, Studio GM at BioWare Mythic. Details about gameplay are under wraps for now, but EA promises to show off more at Comic-Con this weekend (check out booth #5405). Gamers can also sign up now for a chance to take part in the beta.

Windowed Corsair Carbide 300R Launched Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windowed-corsair-carbide-300rlaunched/16632.html July 14th, 2012

For those in need of taking a peek into their gaming PC build every so often, or showing it off to others at a LAN party, Corsair launched a new variant of its Carbide series 300R value gaming PC chassis, with a windowed side panel. For those in need of taking a peek into their gaming PC build every so often, or showing it off to others at a LAN party, Corsair launched a new variant of its Carbide series 300R value gaming PC chassis, with a windowed side panel.

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

[Disclaimer: The following views are solely the author's and do not necessarily represent those of the VR-Zone team]

The side panel of the new Carbide 300R is decked up with a large, square, clear acrylic window, with two 140/120 mm fan vents. This is a window with a view, letting you see everything from the PSU to CPU cooler, nearly every drive bay, and the entire length of installed expansion cards (such as graphics cards).

The windowed side panel really is the only thing that sets the new Carbide 300R Windowed apart from the original. Made mostly of SECC-steel, the 300R measures 19.1” x 8.3” x 17.7”, supporting ATX and micro-ATX motherboards. It features three 5.25-inch drive-bays, and four 3.5-inch/2.5-inch drive caddies (without SATA backplanes). Its cooling system consists of a total of six 140 mm/120 mm fan mounts, including a front 120 mm intake, a 120 mm rear exhaust fan. The interiors are all-black, with the motherboard tray featuring cutouts for cable and CPU cooler management. The front utility panel includes two USB 3.0 ports (standard header), and front-panel HD audio jacks. Carrying the SKU CC-9011017-WW, the Carbide Series 300R Windowed case from Corsair is priced at US $99.99. In comparison, the original 300R goes for US $89.99.

Blast from the Past - USB polling induced performance slowdowns Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blast-from-the-past--usb-pollinginduced-performance-slowdowns/16620.html July 14th, 2012

You all remember how USB, even when used by the keyboards and mice, tend to ever so slightly slow down the system, due to the often unnecessary CPU polling? Well, once even these key input devices standardize on USB3 and Thunderbolt, that sorry story should be over...

The ancient (some 25 years old by now) PS/2 keyboard and mouse interface, developed by IBM for the samenamed PC series in the mid eighties, is pretty much adequate for those two input devices, unless you're talking about extreme gamer-style super-responsive mice that send their movements like 1,000 times a second or so. The little Intel 8042 keyboard controller chip handled all the work, not bothering the CPU much there. However, these connectors are, despite the still wide device availability, increasingly rare on the modern mainboards nowadays. Why?

Well, conspiracy theorists say that when Intel first pushed their Universal Serial Bus, one major issue for them then was that the CPUs weren't fully loaded by then-typical OS and apps, so there had to be ways found to coerce buyers to part with their money for ever faster CPUs any possible way. One way was to load the CPUs with the I/O processing burdens, such as 'software sound' instead of Sound Blaster, 'software modems', and, yes, USB. The trick with USB was that it constantly had to be polled by the CPU, even if the peripheral connected did absolutely nothing, like the case of a keyboard without any key pressed. Polling introduces interrupts, task switching and such overhead, which of course bogs down the CPU, introducing the 'need for more speed'. Sometimes, even PC benchmarks were, and still are, slightly but still negatively affected by using the USB keyboard and mouse instead of the PS/2 one. Not to mention the battery drain on mobile devices... Fast forward to today and USB 3.0. It is the first USB update to finally remove the need for polling. After all, the bloatware of today knows well how to load any CPU, even multi core ones, so too-probing I/O interfaces become a liability. Now, if you have a super-speed mouse that needs polling to get its response speed, it can have it - but a keyboard with a few letters typed per second, doesn't need it that much, obviously. Here's the problem though - there are no USB 3 keyboards. Simply, they don't need USB3 extra speed, so why add the cost? Then comes the Thunderbolt, essentially an extended PCIe v2 lane combined with a DisplayPort link onto a single connection. Now, this goes, via the controller, directly to the chipset or CPU PCIe lanes, with minimal complexity - therefore less CPU load as well. So, both USB3 and Thunderbolt peripherals should, where possible, reduce or eliminate the unnecessary CPU I/O monitoring load left from the ancient USB times.

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Again, you're not likely to see these two interfaces on keyboards and mice. So, to complete the picture, the old PS/2 should, in my mind, make the comeback - and yes, both connectors, just like in the good old days without the artificially induced slowdowns.

The business end of these price cuts focus on SSD 520 series, the performance-segment consumer SSD family from Intel. Most popular capacity variants, such as 60 GB, 180 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB, are slated for price-cuts: • SSD 520 60 GB: OEM price down from $99 to $89; Reseller pack down from $109 to $99 (9% cut)

Intel Mulls SSD Price Cuts Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-mulls-ssd-pricecuts/16631.html July 14th, 2012

• SSD 520 120 GB: OEM price down from $179 to $129; Reseller pack down from $189 to $139 (26.4% cut) • SSD 520 180 GB: OEM price down from $269 to $189; Reseller pack down from $279 to $199 (28.6% cut) • SSD 520 240 GB: OEM price down from $339 to $249; Reseller pack down from $349 to $259 (25.8% cut) • SSD 520 480 GB: OEM price down from $799 to $494; Reseller pack down from $809 to $594 (37.7% cut)

Intel is chalking out a wide range of price cuts for its consumer SSD families, which will likely take effect in August. The updated pricing will see prices go down by as much as 37 percent. Prices of several models in the SSD 320, SSD 330, and SSD 520 series, are on the chopping block. Reliable sources told VR-Zone that Intel is chalking out a wide range of price cuts for its consumer SSD families, which will likely take effect in August. The updated pricing will see prices go down by as much as 37 percent. Prices of several models in the SSD 320, SSD 330, and SSD 520 families, are on the chopping block.

To begin with, prices of most lower-capacity models of the SSD 320 series remain untouched. It's the 300 GB and 600 GB models that Intel is after. Given its mainsteam performance, buyers need a bigger incentive to buy higher capacity SSD 320 drives. Each of the two are available in four packages, spanning two form-factors: 2.5-inch 9.5 mmthick, and 2.5-inch 7 mm-thick. The OEM price (in multiunit quantity) of the SSD 320 300 GB is slated to go down from US $499 to $444, a 11% cut. The retail package (offshelf) of the drive is expected to go down from $519 to $464. The SSD 320 600 GB, on the other hand, will see its OEM price drop from $1,039 to $859; and retail price from $1,059 down to $879.

Prices of Intel's newest mainstream SSD line, the SSD 330 series, are also boud for cuts. In fact the most interesting pack of cuts target this series: • SSD 330 60 GB: Reseller pack price down from $94 to $69 (26.5% cut) • SSD 330 120 GB: Reseller pack price down from $149 to $104 (30.2% cut) • SSD 330 180 GB: Reseller pack price down from $234 to $154 (34.1% cut) In all, Intel is making an effort to capture large swathes of the market with these prices, to compete with other players in the consumer SSD market. Many of these prices are already in effect with competitors' SSDs, respective to the capacities, in markets such as the US. All prices mentioned above are in USD, excluding taxes, and the OEM prices are price-perunit in multi-unit quantities.

Genius Outs Lychas HS-G550 Foldable Gaming Headset Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/genius-outs-lychas-hs-g550foldable-gaming-headset/16630.html July 14th, 2012

Peripherals major Genius launched the Lychas HS-G550 gaming headset. The headset's ear cups are foldable, making it easy for LAN party-animals to take it places. The HS-G550 also packs a feature rarely found on headsets in its pricerange. 15

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Peripherals major Genius launched the Lychas HS-G550 gaming headset. The headset's ear cups are foldable, making it easy for LAN party-animals to take it places. The HSG550 also packs volume control for each individual ear cup, a feature rarely found on headsets in its price-range, which allows you to fine tune the volumes to each of your ears, and make it easier for you to hear teammates without voice-chat.

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Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado took to Twitter to proclaim the good news. “Just announced: Pluto has some company – We’ve discovered a 5th moon using the Hubble Space Telescope!” the tweet read. Stern continued with “we fully expect to discover still more moons”, hinting at an exciting time ahead for astronomers. “Every time we look harder, we find another.” The moon was spotted by Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, while pouring over images captured by Hubble.

Each ear cup tilts and swivels along three joints with the head-band, which allows you to fold the headset. Just one of the two ear cups has the common cable, reducing cable clutter. The microphone is suspended on a hinged arm, like with most headsets. The ear cups have an elipticalshaped around-the-ear cushion. Although it doesn't looks otherwise, the head-band is cushioned.

The headset packs a pair of 50 mm neodymium drivers, with 102 ±3 dB sensitivity, 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, and 32 Ω impedance. The microphone, on the other hand, has an omni-directional pickup pattern, with 56 ±3 dB sensitivity, 100 Hz to 10 kHz frequency response, and 2.2 kΩ impedance. Both the headset and mic are analogue, and connect to the source using standard 3.5 mm jacks. The cord is roughly 2.5 m long, with no pesky volume control modules (they're on the ear cups). Available now in the US and Canada, the Lychas HS-G550 gaming headset from Genius is priced at US $49.99.

Dwarfs in Good Company as Fifth Pluto Moon Discovered Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/dwarfs-in-good-company-as-fifthpluto-moon-discovered/16628.html July 14th, 2012

The news of a fifth moon discovered orbiting Pluto is exciting for astronomers, as there may be more to the dwarf's system than we previously thought. The dwarf planet Pluto has another companion, it has recently been discovered, with the announcement of a fifth moon being sighted by the Hubble Space Telescope.

The new addition to Pluto’s family has not yet been officially named and is being referred to simply as P5 for the time being. The plan at this stage is to wait and see how many more moons Pluto has before working on names. “If we’re naming them as a group, we’ll just handle it a little differently,” says Stern. Size-wise, P5 is a tiny dot in space, measuring somewhere between 10 and 25 kilometres in diameter. It joins Charon, Nix, Hydra and the recently discovered P4 in Pluto’s current list of companions. While the team are confident of finding more moons in the future, they concede it is no easy task. “We’re looking right next to Pluto, so there’s this bright searchlight that we have to deal with.” This discovery is of interest to Stern as he is the principal investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission. This will fly by Pluto in 2015, and, as exciting as the discovery of a moon is, it does also represent a potential hazard for the spacecraft heading in that direction at 48,000km/hr. Of this Stern said “the inventory of the Pluto system we’re taking now with Hubble will help the New Horizons team design a safer trajectory for the spacecraft.” There also seems to be hints of some puzzle in the relationship between Pluto and her moons. Charon, the largest, orbits Pluto in 6.5 days. P5 has an orbit about three times as long as Charon’s. Nix’s “Pluto-year” is four times as long as Charon’s, P4’s five times and Hydra’s six. In the words of Showalter, “the moons form a series of neatly nested orbits, a bit like Russian dolls.” “The way these things are spaced in a uniform way – there’s a story in that, but we don’t know what it is yet.” Before it’s demotion to dwarf planet in 2006, Pluto had been known as the ninth planet in our solar system since its discovery in 1930. It was thought to be alone until Charon

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was discovered in 1977. Nix and Hydra were discovered in 2006 and P4 followed in 2011.

ARM and Google Android own the skies with Qatar's Boeing 787

Published by: VR-Zone

of Thales IFEC "The Avant system is the future of IFE for us, you can now get on board an aircraft and not just watch the movie in front of you, but perhaps view the moving map, play a game, or order meals or drinks simultaneously while watching what's on the main screen."

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/arm-and-google-android-own-theskies-with-qatar-s-boeing-787/16626.html July 14th, 2012

During the Farnborough International Airshow 2012, Qatar Airways demonstrated its latest airplane, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, for a technology site like VR-Zone we encountered something more interesting - the airplane entertainment system is powered by... Google Android. If you're an airplane enthusiast, you should not miss out visiting Britain for the Farnborough International Airshow which takes place every second July. Today, Qatar Airways was kind enough to provide us with the information needed about their latest aircraft, the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner. The company configured the aircraft with 22 business class seats and additional 232 in Economy class, both utilizing the same IFEC (In-Flight Entertainment and Connectivity) system - Thales Avant TPMU (Touch Passenger Media Units). Under this cryptic name, there are two versions 17.3" LCD for Business and 10.1" LCD for the Economy Class.

Unlike the previous-gen systems which all used boxes beneath seats, i8000 Avant TPMU is a completely integrated unit consisting out of STMicro airline grade dual-core processors based on the ARM architecture, 1GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD. That's right, a single 787 airplane entertainment system will feature 508 ARM Cores, 254GB of memory and 63.5TB of SSD space. This however, is not all, as the central server comes with a 32-core processor (Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron, your guess is as good as ours), 128GB of memory and 4TB storageâ&#x20AC;Ś all SSD, of course. For operating system, Thales selected Google Android running a customized application suite. Furthermore, the airplane comes with Wi-Fi and GSM connectivity, thus you will be able to connect your phones and tablets to Wi-Fi or 3G GSM network and enjoy connecting to your family while flying 38,000 feet in the air. In words of Alan Pellegrini, CEO

Qatar Airways is not the only customer, though - British Airways signed on as well, and will be equipping its future 787s and with the same system as well. When it comes to Airbus A380, both Qatar and British Airways signed Thales to develop the next generation system, which will debut next year. Codenamed i9000, it will bring next-generation hardware, continuing being powered by the Google Android operating system. Now, would you object having a 17.3" Full HD tablet with 256GB of onboard storage? Or a 10.1" one? If you're wondering about the cost, bear in mind that in the airline industry, the only real measurement is the weight, because this system, with all the crazy terabytes of solid state memory - weighs 80% less than the previous system. According to our rough calculations, the savings in carrying less weight will reduce the fuel consumption by 0.8% per flight. If the plane consumes 33,000 gallons of (Jet-A) kerosene per long-range flight at 2 flights per day, the plane will save of 528 gallons of kerosene per day. At current prices, we are talking about $4,065 in savings. In a year, we're talking about saving $1.48 million. Given that Qatar refurbishes cabins every 5-6 years (and replaces them with even lighter solutions), this system will save at least 7 million dollars. Given its cost (give or take $1.5-2.2M per plane), we would not be surprised if Qatar and other airlines end up putting this system in as much planes as possible.

Western Digital Announces WD2Go App, Dropbox Integration Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/western-digital-announces-wd2goapp-dropbox-integration/16605.html July 14th, 2012

In the past eight months, integration with cloud storage services is entering mainstream. First Sony Ericsson (now Sony Mobile) packed 50GB (a $99 value) with its Android phones, then Samsung, and now Western Digital is joining

July 14th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

the frame... by not offering any free storage on Dropbox. Confused? There's no secret that vendors are pushing the cloud storage idea left and right. Going with Windows Phone platform gets you 25GB "lifetime" storage on Microsoft's own Live service, large amount of smartphone makers made their announcements which ranged from 5 to 50GB of free storage and now we have Western Digital offering - none. The company launched second generation of their "WD 2Go" app with an appropriate press release touting tighter integration with their personal cloud products such as My Book Live, My Book Live Duo (2 HDDs) or their latest entry, My Net N900 - a Wi-Fi router with embedded storage. According to the company, "personal cloud products provide shared storage on the home network, letting customers..." to do this and that. Furthermore, you can move files between mobile devices, Dropbox account and the WD personal cloud. In case you exceed the available storage on your Dropbox account or overflow the memory on the smartphone, you can use email to send a link for downloading the large file.

All in all, a neat package - but it would be much sweeter if Western Digital added a bit of a free storage to the cloud - given that their competitors already do so with select products from the GoFlex line of external storage. The app is available for Android and iOS, so if you're interested, head to the respective stores.

July 17th, 2012

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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Samsung accuses LG of OLED technology theft Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-accuses-lg-of-oledtechnology-theft/16689.html July 17th, 2012

“It's for sure somebody who is fluent in Persian, but we don't know the origin of those guys,” Seculert Chief Technology Officer Aviv Raff told the press. So far the threat has managed to infect infrastructures and computers of companies, engineering students, financial services firms, government embassies in the Middle East— the majority of the infections are in Iran. The goal of the campaign is still under investigation, but experts have reported that gigabytes of data have been uploaded. Furthermore, the ongoing Mahdi threat suggests that the campaign is a part of something bigger. “Somebody is trying to build a dossier of a larger scale on something. We don’t know what they are going to do at the end,” said Aviv.

Samsung is under attack from Apple on all fronts globally, but in South Korea Samsung is attacking competing firm LG. LG and 11 other people have been accused of stealing Samsung’s OLED technology between 2010 and 2011. Samsung is under attack from Apple on all fronts globally, but in South Korea Samsung is attacking competing firm LG. LG and 11 other people have been accused of stealing Samsung’s OLED technology between 2010 and 2011. Three of the accused currently work at Samsung. LG is denying that neither it nor its employees are involved in the technology theft. Samsung is also tagging on the accusation that LG has been poaching Samsung’s employees. LG and Samsung are both prominent display makers, and their products are shipped worldwide. OLED technology allows manufacturers to produce thinner, lighter, and even flexible displays. The two South Korean tech giants are currently vying to become the world’s largest suppliers of OLED displays.

Mahdi Trojan threatens Middle East computer infrastructures

iPhone 5 to have thinner screen Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-5-to-have-thinnerscreen/16687.html July 17th, 2012

Apple's much-anticipated iPhone 5 will feature a thinner touchscreen, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal. The paper cited insider knowledge of the upcoming smartphone, which it said will employ “in-cell” technology that allows for a thinner panel, which should make the overall device much thinner as well. The technology works by integrating touch sensors into the LCD itself, eliminating the need for a separate touch-screen layer, which has been the norm for most devices to date. This will not only make the screen thinner – it will also improve the image quality.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mahdi-trojan-threatens-middle-eastcomputer-infrastructures/16688.html July 17th, 2012

Seculert and Kaspersky have uncovered a cyber espionage campaign targeting Middle Eastern countries, especially Iran. Dubbed as the Mahdi Trojan, the threat allows remote attackers to steal information, monitor emails, hijack instant messaging clients, record audio, log keystrokes, and take screen shots of infected computers. Security experts are suggesting that the attacker(s) are fluent in Persian because the communications tools used in the campaign are written in Persian.

Sharp and LG Display are reputed to be producing the ultrathin panels, which means that Wintek and TPK Holding, which make panels for the iPhone 4S, have failed to secure the lucrative contracts for the new device. 1

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The iPhone 5 is expected to release in Autumn of this year. Some online stores in China have already started taking preorders. Concept Image Credit: HandyFlash

US Navy inks $7.7 million deal for robot technology Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/us-navy-inks-7.7-million-deal-forrobot-technology/16686.html July 17th, 2012

The US Navy has partnered with iRobot to deliver robotic technologies to sea warfare in a deal worth $7.7 million. The US Navy has partnered with iRobot to deliver robotic technologies to sea warfare in a deal worth $7.7 million. The money will secure the Navy Sea Systems Command upgrades to the iRobot Aware 2 software and advanced sensor suites for 248 fielded Man Transportable Robotic System MK 1 MOD 1 robots, which are modelled after the iRobot 510 PackBot. The sesors include the iRobot Wide-Angle Robot Vehicle Vision System camera, thermal camera and User Assist Package, giving more situational awareness via increased fields of view and imaging in low light conditions. The User Assist Package also improves the operator control unit, adds GPS mapping and several critical semi-autonomous features, such as self-righting, retro-traverse and heading hold, which can result in a faster, more successful use of robots.

“iRobot is pleased the Navy is continuing to invest in its current fleet of robots. These upgrades will provide our troops with some of the most advanced, life-saving robotic technologies available today,” said Tim Trainer, interim general manager of the Defense & Security unit at iRobot. “iRobot’s UAP improves mission effectiveness while reducing workload and further minimizing operator exposure to dangerous environments.” Robots are used throughout the world by military and civil defence forces, for a variety of missions, including search, reconnaissance and bomb disposal. iRobot has delivered over 4,500 robots as part of military contracts to date. The robots and upgrades are expected to be delivered by November.

Samsung Proves Apple is Not the Only Patent Troll Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-proves-apple-is-not-theonly-patent-troll/16684.html July 17th, 2012

Samsung has purchased the development operations of British chip maker CSR, a move which grants the Korean giant 21 US-registered patents, as well as a perpetual license to use CSR’s handset technology. In exchange, CSR has agreed to cease developing handset connectivity and location technology, and to transfer 310 human brains to Samsung. Resistance is futile... Samsung is already one of the dominant players in the technology market, and with the acquisition of CSR, it has grown even stronger. The more technology that 2

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Samsung controls the rights to, the more power it will have in the market. This is especially evident with this move because Samsung effectively eliminated some of its competition. Through the acquisition, CSR agreed that it will no longer develop mobile connectivity and location technology; i.e., it will no longer compete with Samsung’s development of this technology. Instead of Samsung competing with another company to develop better technology for the consumer, it just purchased the company, and eliminated the competition. Again, less competition means less innovation and higher prices.

Published by: VR-Zone

Electronic Arts (EA) is offering exclusive beta access to Battlefield 4 for anyone who pre-orders the Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition. Electronic Arts (EA) is offering exclusive beta access to Battlefield 4 for anyone who pre-orders the Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition. The pre-order bonus confirms the previously unannounced next title in the Battlefield series and should give players an exciting first look at what developer DICE has in store. “Though Battlefield and Medal of Honor Warfighter each offer players a completely unique experience, they are united by their underlying technology base – Frostbite. These are two of the hottest shooters, coming together to deliver a onetwo punch of action, intensity and shooter entertainment,” said Frank Gibeau, President of EA Labels.

The patents that Samsung acquired are very important to wireless communication, as well. Much of the technology that CSR developed were in the areas of Bluetooth and WiFi – in some ways the core of wireless technology. Now that Samsung has a perpetual license to use the technology of CSR, it no longer has to pay royalties. Of course, they did pay $310 million dollar for the acquisition, but now Samsung will be able to charge its own royalty fees to other companies that use this important technology. This will certainly not ease the already contentious nature of technology licensing. At the end of the day, the consolidation of power amongst the technology giants means that there is less competition. This undoubtedly leads to less innovation and higher prices. It also means that there will be an increase in contentious litigation regarding the licensing fees that Samsung will now be able to charge. The major technology players have made clear that litigation is preferred over settlement. Unfortunately for the consumer, settlement is much better than litigation.

EA offers Battlefield 4 beta access with Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition pre-orders Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ea-offers-battlefield-4-beta-accesswith-medal-of-honor-warfighter-limited-edition-pre-orders/16685.html July 17th, 2012

The beta will begin in Autumn 2013, more than a year away. This all but confirms that we won't see the game until Christmas 2013 at the earliest. Battlefield 3 still has some life in it, with several more DLC packs on the way, including End Game in March 2013. Pre-orders of the Limited Edition of Warfighter also unlocks the Navy SEAL Sniper and McMillan Tac-300 sniper rifle for roughly 40 hours of multiplayer action. Medal of Honor Warfighter launches on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on 23 October in the US and 26 October in Europe.

SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] Gaming Mouse Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/steelseries-sensei-raw-gamingmouse-review/16573.html July 17th, 2012

July 17th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

All serious gamers will agree that a good mouse is all about ergonomics, weight balance and tracking accuracy. It should not be a liability during those critical reflex shoot-to-win moments or tire you out when using it. Read on to find out we think the SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] gaming mouse could well be one of the best ambidextrous mouse ever. Steelseries is a Danish maker of gaming-grade computer peripherals founded in 2001, initially selling headsets and mousepads before moving on to keyboards, mice and other accessories. They also have a long history of being at the forefront of the professional Esports scene, with worldclass teams like Evil Geniuses, SK-Gaming and Fnatic under their sponsorship umbrella.

Sensei is not the only ambidextrous model that SteelSeries sells, with physically smaller offerings like Kinzu and Kana at more affordable price ranges with less buttons and a cheaper infrared sensor.

Today we have the opportunity to review the company's latest offering - Sensei RAW, a no-frills ambidextrous laser mouse targeted at the upper echelons of dicerning gamers. This newcomer is identical to the original Sensei minus gratuitous features like the 32-bit ARM processor, LCD menu screen and onboard memory. There is also a choice of a glossy or rubberized surface.

Father of Intel 486, Pentium Pro and Net Neutrality Joins VMWare as the New CEO Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/father-of-intel-486-pentium-proand-net-neutrality-joins-vmware-as-the-new-ceo/16656.html July 17th, 2012

Specifications wise the Sensei Raw is no slouch, featuring a 5670DCPI-12000fps laser sensor augmented by industry leading Omron gaming-grade switches for the buttons.

If you are an industry insider, chances are you heard of Patrick P. Gelsinger. If you're a consumer, chances are you're reading this story through one of technologies which Pat brought to market. Yet with the market opening, Pat will be announced as the new CEO of VMware. We just received information that Patrick P. Gelsinger, an industry veteran credited with dozens of information is one step ahead of reaching his goal of becoming a CEO of a technology company. This chip engineer joined Intel in 1979 and quickly progressed to the role of Director and later become the first CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of Intel. Pat Gelsinger is considered as the key contributor in development of the i286 (16-bit) and i386 (32-bit) microprocessor architectures. 4

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He was group leader on developing the Pentium Pro and a person which brought Internet and Wireless-related technologies into Intel's product stack. The development of Pentium Pro, as well as Intel's pushed focus on Internet technologies represents the founding stone of VMware, a company which Pat will start leading following the official announcement.

Published by: VR-Zone

With Pat being the CEO of VMware, the company is gaining a person not afraid to take a bet on technology and insists on developing that technology until it wins the market. Will it be enough to take VMware from 11,200 employees and $3.77 Billion going into the futureâ&#x20AC;Ś we'll see.

Silicon Power Outs Velox V70 SSD Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/silicon-power-outs-velox-v70ssd/16682.html July 17th, 2012

Silicon Power announced its newest line of performancesegment client SSDs, the Velox V70. The drives come in capacities as high as 480 GB, and are driven by SandForce SF-2281 controllers. Like him or not, he was pushing the technologies inside Intel which would often maddened the competitors, who had no other choice but to follow. However, Pat's coming of age inside Intel, and being groomed to become a CEO took a dent downwards with the damaging contract Intel signed with Rambus on bringing RDRAM to market. Mr. Gelsinger pushed RDRAM to Pentium III and upcoming Pentium 4 platform, leading to so-called Caminogate, product recall and a loss of billion dollars. The fall of Intel's stock in 2000 is something we believe it should be taught in schools, when a company valued almost half a trillion dollars (peak was $436.69 Billion) tumbled down by $174.88 billion in just two days. To this date, Intel's market cap did not pass the value the company lost in just those two days in August and October. Still, even with the Rambus story not developing in is groups' favor, the star darkened when AMD's K7 architecture flat out leveled Pentium III and subsequently less-efficient Pentium 4 "NetBurst" architectures. Pat had a good chance of becoming the CEO of Intel with the success of wireless push and the wireless radio strategy, but insistence of Big Iron Pentium 4, cancellation of Tejas and the rise of Israeli-developed Core (Yonah, Conroe) architecture sent Mr. Gelsinger to push for development of Intel's first Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), codenamed Larrabee. Mr. Gelsinger then begun a war against NVIDIA at the time when Larrabee extensively used NVIDIA and AMD intellectual property. With the bill reaching billions of dollars (our sources estimate that including the settlement with NVIDIA, but excluding settlement with AMD, Intel lost around 4-4.5 billion dollars on Larrabee, i.e. LRB). That was also coup de grace for Pat, who was pushed out from Intel and ended up being the Chief Operating Officer e.g. COO at EMC, a company located on the same street as Intel in Santa Clara, California (Intel is 2200 Mission Blvd, EMC is headquartered at 2831 Mission Blvd, just below the college campus). However, he is credited with the development of a framework with the FCC which later became "Net Neutrality".

Silicon Power announced its newest line of performancesegment client SSDs, the Velox V70. The drives come in capacities as high as 480 GB, and are driven by SandForce SF-2281 controllers.

The Velox V70 is a client SSD built in the 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gbps interface. The drive features a brushed aluminum body that's anodized to a golden color. The drive uses 25 nm synchronous toggleNAND flash memory along with the SF-2281 controller. It is available in 60 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB capacities. All models in the series are rated with the same performance numbers - sequential speeds of up to 557 MB/s reads, up to 507 MB/s writes, and up to 86,000 IOPS 4K random write performance. The drives can tolerate shock of up to 1,500G. The Velox V70 features nearly all SandForce-exclusives, such as DuraWrite (wear-leveling). Features such as TRIM (garbage collection), NCQ, ECC, AES-128 native encryption, come standard. The drives are backed by 3-year warranties, and although Silicon Power did not release pricing, we expect it to be competitive.

July 17th, 2012

Valve Ports Steam and Left 4 Dead 2 to Ubuntu Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/valve-ports-steam-and-left-4dead-2-to-ubuntu/16681.html July 17th, 2012

Months after beginning work on it, Valve formally announced that its Steam client and Source game engine have been ported to Ubuntu, and that the two will be introduced to the Linux crowd with Left 4 Dead 2. Finally, a big game studio and distibution giant took the leap of faith by porting its key IP to desktop Linux. Valve, in its latest official blog post titled "Steam'd Penguins," announced a fully-functional Steam client for Ubuntu. Valve's measured steps in Linux territory will be initially confined to Ubuntu, a popular desktop Linux distribution. Sticking to one distribution could help Valve minimize costs incurred in optimizing things for every popular distro. The client could work just fine on Ubuntu derivatives such as Linux Mint, and the community is free to get it to somehow work on other major (more enterprise-oriented) distros such as Red Hat / Fedora and SuSE, if a few requirements are met. Valve doesn't indend to make a half-hearted effort, and want it to be as genuine as the Mac OS X port, which drew the Apple crowd to its fold. The company ported its key game development IP, the Source engine, to Linux. Source has already been rewired to work with the OpenGL graphics API on Mac OS X, and we'd imagine the Linux porting to have been a bit easier on the developers. The very first game to feature on Steam for Ubuntu is the hit multi-player title, "Left 4 Dead 2" (L4D2). The developers are still in the process of optimizing the game to get the most performance (frame-rates) out of the Linux platform. The game could be launched with SteamPlay capability, letting gamers who already own the Windows or Mac OS X versions of the game to simply download and play the game on Ubuntu, at no extra cost. Other Valve game franchises, such as Half Life, Counter Strike, Team Fortress, and Portal, will join L4D2 in Tuxland, a little later. Valve credits the Ubuntu port to Gabe Newell's interest in porting the company's IP to Linux. The company already has software for Linux, but those are merely servers for hosting multi-player games. Good one, Gabe!

Sapphire Debuts Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Toxic 6GB Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-debuts-radeon-hd-7970ghz-edition-toxic-6gb/16680.html July 17th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Sapphire launched its flagship graphics card, the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Toxic 6GB. The card has been in development for over six months, and we've been tracking it all the way back since CES. It combines a 28 nm "Tahiti" chip on steroids, with 6,144 MB of memory. Yeah, that much! Sapphire's "Spruce Goose" finally takes flight, as the company launched it as its newest flagship graphics card, the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Toxic 6GB. The card has been in development for over six months, and we've been tracking it all the way back since CES. It combines a 28 nm "Tahiti" chip on steroids, with 6,144 MB of memory. Yeah, that much!

The Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Toxic 6GB was earlier based on the conventional HD 7970 chip, with AMD's outof-the-blue introduction of the HD 7970 GHz Edition, the company was forced to make some last minute changes. The card ships with out of the box clock speeds of 1,050 MHz core, 1,100 MHz boost frequency, and 1,500 MHz (6.00 GHz GDDR5 effective). These could have made for impressive clock speeds, if the HD 7970 GHz Edition hadn't come to be. Yet, one should appreciate how Sapphire managed to get 6 GB of memory clocked at 6.00 GHz (taking into account stability and power draw). The 6 GB of memory is spread across twenty four 2 Gbit GDDR5 memory chips.

To power the beast, Sapphire is using an 8-phase VRM design, which uses "Black Diamond" chokes (lower core energy loss, doesn't whine on load), and International Rectifier DirectFETs (quality meets avoinics standards). To improve signalling efficiency, Sapphire is using a 12-layer PCB. The card draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

July 17th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 17th, 2012

NASA's newest Mars rover faces a tricky landing, and scientists face an agonising wait...

Nokia Slashes Lumia 900 Price in Half To cool the beast, Sapphire deployed an in-house design cooling solution, which makes use of Vapour-Chamber technology. The primary cooler design consists of a vapourchamber plate and a heatsink surrounding it, that make contact with the GPU and memory chips on the obverse side of the PCB; from which the aluminum fin stack draws heat. Heat is conducted directly from the vapour-chamber plate, and by four nickel-plated copper heat pipes (two 8 mmthick, two 6 mm-thick). The aluminum fin stack is ventilated by two 90 mm high-airflow fans. An anodized aluminum back-plate cools memory chips on the reverse side of the PCB.

The Sapphire HD 7970 GHz Edition Toxic 6GB packs a suite of features for overclockers, including the TriXX software, with which clock speeds, fan speeds and voltages can be tweaked, diagnostic LEDs on-board that indicate temperatures, and dual-BIOS, with a failsafe BIOS, which protects against sloppy BIOS updates. Display outputs include two-each of dual-link DVI and miniDisplayPort 1.2, and an HDMI 1.4a connector. The card can pair with three more Radeon HD 7900 series GPUs, in CrossFireX configuration. Based on the 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition packs 2,048 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 384-bit wide memory interface. It supports the DirectX 11.1 API. The card will be available from later today, in select markets, and in limited quantities. The company did not give out pricing.

Mission Impossible: Mars Rover Curiosity Headed for Blind Landing

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-slashes-lumia-900-price-inhalf/16678.html July 17th, 2012

Nokia has but cut the price of their Lumia 900 smartphone in half in the US with a two-year contract in a bid to increase anemic sales of their flagship smartphone. Just three short months after releasing their flagship smartphone, Nokia has cut the price of the Lumia 900 smartphone in half. The cut from $99 to $49.99 (with a twoyear contract) is seen by many as an attempt by Nokia to win market share back from Samsung and Apple. The company’s ambitions for the Lumia 900, sold through AT&T, were severely dented by a major software bug that caused many of the phones in the US to lose their data connection. Much of the consumer desire for the Lumia 900 was also damaged by news from Nokia that the device would be unable to run the newest version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. A Nokia spokesperson denied that the price cut was an act of desperation, saying that the price cut was “not unusual” at this point in a smartphone’s life, calling it part of the company’s “normal strategy” for handsets. There has been no word as to whether or not the price cuts would be extended outside of the US, however. Until the beginning of this year, Nokia had been the worldwide leader in handset sales; Samsung has since overtaken Nokia as the world leader in handset sales. According to Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, Samsung sold a whopping 25% of all phones in the first quarter of 2012, with Nokia in second place at 22.5%, dropping by 24% in the previous year. In attempting to staunch the corporate bleeding, Nokia announced last month that it would be cutting another 10,000 jobs, bringing the total number of jobs lost at the company to 40,000. Another measure they will be taking is to phase out the Symbian operating systems on their phones in favor of Microsoft’s software.

Data Suggests British ISP Block of Pirate Bay Ineffective Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/data-suggests-british-isp-block-ofpirate-bay-ineffective/16677.html

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mission-impossible-mars-rovercuriosity-headed-for-blind-landing/16679.html

July 17th, 2012 July 17th, 2012

Data from a major British ISP suggests that the courtimposed ISP ban on The Pirate Bay has been somewhat ineffective. After only a week of being blocked by British ISPs after a court order, a major internet provider in the UK has said that peer-to-peer traffic has returned to just below normal pre-block traffic levels. This comes as no surprise to many critics of the ban who pointed out that tech-savvy users, the ones who most frequently use peer-to-peer networks, would quickly find ways to circumvent the ban. British music industry executives have defended the move, however. The CEO of the music industry trade body in Britain announced that they would, in fact, pursue similar action in the future, saying they would “take further steps to deal with illegal sites that line their pockets by ripping off everyone who makes the music we enjoy.” The particular ISP, which released its traffic information on condition of anonymity, said that peer-to-peer traffic had peaked during the court proceedings, in large part due to the increased media coverage. Immediately after the ban became enforced, the ISP said P2P activity dropped by more than 11% when compared to average traffic levels. A spokesperson said that they “saw a fall at the time of the block made more dramatic by the increasing amount of such traffic in the weeks leading up to it, but volumes are already pretty much back to where they were before.” However, they stressed that the figures dealt only with the volume of traffic, not the number of users, meaning that it is possible that hardcore file-sharers have simply become more prolific while casual users have been discouraged from using peerto-peer services. Additionally, the data is unable to tell what is being downloaded or from where it is being downloaded from, meaning that users might be using sites other than The Pirate Bay. The leader of the Pirate Party UK, Loz Kaye, said a renewal in sharing copyrighted files was inevitable. “We’ve always said that blocking is an ineffective method,” he said. “It’s not in any way productive. Anyone who knows anything about how the internet works can get around it.” In fact, the Pirate Party UK has set up proxy servers to allow users to access The Pirate Bay even if it has been blocked by their provider.

Teens murder a man then posts video on Facebook Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/teens-murder-a-man-then-postsvideo-on-facebook/16676.html July 17th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

approached Mora demanding money and then assaulting him. Three Chicago teenagers have been charged in connection to the attack and murder of 62-year-old Delfino Mora. Mora was collecting recyclable goods for money when Nicholas Ayala (17), Anthony Malcolm (18), and Malik Jones (16) approached him demanding money and then assaulting him. Mora was found unconscious in an alleyway, and was brought to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition. He died several hours later, and an autopsy revealed that head trauma was the cause of death. The main suspect in the murder, Malik Jones, was charged as an adult with first-degree murder earlier today in court. What was so twisted about Mora’s tragic death was that the teenagers took turn recording the beating on their cell phone. One of the defendants then uploaded the video onto Facebook. The video made its way around the Internet and eventually a friend of Mora’s contacted Mora’s son. Mora came from Mexico and worked in construction until an accident took away full functionality of his right arm 15 years ago. His family said that he occasionally roam the streets to collect recyclable goods to help support his 12 children and wife. Angelica Mora (17), his youngest child, said that she was looking forward to having her father at her high school graduation. The Mora family intends to bury Mora’s remains in Mexico sometime this week.

Marissa Mayer becomes CEO, Yahoo! Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/marissa-mayer-becomes-ceoyahoo-/16675.html July 17th, 2012

Marissa Mayer is Yahoo’s new CEO, and if you must know, she’s an ex-Google employee. Many expected interim-CEO Ross Levinsohn to end up with the job, but he doesn’t have Google on his resume. Marissa Mayer is Yahoo’s new CEO, and if you must know, she’s an ex-Google employee. Many expected interim-CEO Ross Levinsohn to end up with the job, but he doesn’t have Google on his resume. Yahoo has been struggling to keep up with competing search engines such as Google and Bing, and it’s not a shocker that an ex-Google exec will be taking over the helm. Mayer has an impressive 13-year Google career, and that is perhaps the reason why Yahoo decided to pick Mayer over Levinsohn.

Three Chicago teenagers have been charged in connection to the attack and murder of 62-year-old Delfino Mora. Mora was collecting recyclable goods for money, when Nicholas Ayala (17), Anthony Malcolm (18), and Malik Jones (16)

According to Business Insider, Mayer was Google’s first woman engineer. During her times at Google she led development and managed thousands of employees and contractors.

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She managed Google’s search product for years, and led development of iGoogle, Google News, and Gmail. To say that many of those products were a success is an understatement. Google controls the majority of the world’s Internet search traffic, and Gmail has 425 million users as of June 2012. She may not be the main catalyst for Google's success, but her involvement with the most widely used search engine speaks volume for her resume. Here’s what Yahoo co-founder David Flo had to say about Mayer: “Marissa is a well-known, visionary leader in user experience and product design and one of Silicon Valley’s most exciting strategists in technology development. I look forward to working with her to enhance Yahoo's product offerings for our over 700 million unique monthly visitors.” A woman of just 37 years old will now lead Yahoo into what they hope will be a new era of “renewed focus on product innovation.” Press Release: SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 16, 2012 Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced that it has appointed Marissa Mayer as President, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors effective July 17, 2012. The appointment of Ms. Mayer, a leading consumer internet executive, signals a renewed focus on product innovation to drive user experience and advertising revenue for one of the world’s largest consumer internet brands, whose leading properties include Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Mobile, Yahoo! Mail, and Yahoo! Search. Mayer said, “I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo!, one of the internet’s premier destinations for more than 700 million users. I look forward to working with the Company’s dedicated employees to bring innovative products, content, and personalized experiences to users and advertisers all around the world.” Most recently, Mayer was responsible for Local, Maps, and Location Services for Google, the company’s suite of local and geographical products including Google Maps, Google Earth, Zagat, Street View, and local search, for desktop and mobile. Mayer joined Google in 1999 as its 20th employee and led efforts for many of Google’s most recognizable products, including the development of its flagship search product and iconic homepage for over 10 years. Mayer managed some of Google's most successful innovations, launching more than 100 features and products including image, book and product search, toolbar, iGoogle, Google News, and Gmail – creating much of the “look and feel” of the Google user experience. Yahoo! Co-Founder David Filo said, “Marissa is a well-known, visionary leader in user experience and product design and one of Silicon Valley’s most exciting strategists in technology development. I look forward to working with her to enhance Yahoo's product offerings for our over 700 million unique monthly visitors.”

Published by: VR-Zone

“The Board of Directors unanimously agreed that Marissa’s unparalleled track record in technology, design, and product execution makes her the right leader for Yahoo! at this time of enormous opportunity,” said Fred Amoroso, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

What to expect from Samsung at IFA, Germany Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/what-to-expect-from-samsung-atifa-germany/16674.html July 17th, 2012

Samsung is calling upon developers and partners far and wide to meet up with the South Korean tech-giant in Berlin this August at the IFA. Aside from the demos and flashy presentations, what else can entice people to register for the event? Samsung is calling upon developers and partners far and wide to meet up with the South Korean tech-giant in Berlin this August at the IFA. Aside from the demos and flashy presentations, what else can entice people to register for the event? Samsung’s next big consumer electronics launch includes the Galaxy Note II and the Windows RT tablet. The Galaxy Note II is the successor to the popular smartphone-tablet hybrid Note, and rumors have led many to believe that the Note II will launch some time this fall—hence, the IFA will be a perfect event to show off the highly anticipated device. While many OEMs are not too thrilled about Microsoft launching the Surface, Samsung is taking the OEMSurface disagreement in strides. Samsung will launch their Windows RT tablet alongside Microsoft’s Surface (or within the same time frame). Many of us have at least glanced at the Surface tablet during Microsoft’s mysterious “announcement” phase, so we know what type of product to expect. Again, the IFA will be a perfect event for Samsung to show how their Windows RT tablet may trump the Surface. Registration for the event runs from July 12 to July 29, and prior announcements will be on August 1. D-day will take place in Berlin on August 30 from 2 PM to 6 PM local time.

Microsoft unveils Office 2013 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-unveilsoffice-2013/16673.html July 17th, 2012

Microsoft has unveiled the latest version of its popular productivity software, Office 2013, promising a slew of new features, a redesigned interface, and complete integration

July 17th, 2012

with Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Skype, and a number of other services. Microsoft has unveiled the latest version of its popular productivity software, Office 2013, promising a slew of new features, a redesigned interface, and complete integration with Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Skype, and a number of other services.

Published by: VR-Zone

Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, gave a demonstration of some of the new features users can expect with Office 2013.

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, made the announcement at a press conference in San Francisco, calling the new software suite the “most ambitious release of Microsoft Office that we've ever done.” The main focus of Office 2013, which has gone under the codename Office 15, is the new Windows 8 experience, with a completely revamped interface that makes it look, feel and act like Metro. Everything can be controlled by touch, menus are hidden, but easily accessible when needed, and the cloud and social experience are built into the heart of the applications.

Collaboration is also a key feature across all of the programs, with multiple users able to access the same documents from the cloud and make use of new annotation tools to make notes and changes with the use of a finger or stylus. Skype integration means that people can set up a Skype call from within the software and anyone in the conversation can load up, for example, a PowerPoint presentation for collaborative work.

Powerpoint will have touch controls, which allows users to zoom in and out, change slides, and so on with the use of their fingers. Annotations are also a big thing, letting users write notes on slides even in the middle of a presentation – particularly useful if there is an error that needs correcting or some additional information is needed. The stylus can also be turned into a laser pointer tool for more easily directing people's attentions to certain parts of a slide.

Perhaps the coolest feature, however, is that the presenter will have a different view than those watching the presentation, showing various extra buttons, how many slides are available, cheat sheets of notes, and even a clock and timer so the talk does not go over time.

July 17th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Outlook has a new layout, with touchscreen support again, but it also comes with several new features. A quick actions tab allows users to flag, move, or delete emails with a single tap, while in line replies make for tidier email discussions. The “peaks” feature lets users see a preview of the calendar, people and other tabs without having to click into them, kind of like previews of programs pinned to the Windows 7 taskbar.

It also comes with app support, with two apps demonstrated, including Bing Maps, which will scan emails for addresses and show them on the map, and Suggested Appointments, which allows for easy saving to the calendar. One Note becomes a bigger part of the Office suite, adding to its already popular note-taking abilities with things like a radial menu, a circular context-aware menu that takes away most of the clutter. Fonts can be changed in size or colour using this, all with the use of finger or stylus, while annotation is also easier than ever.

Word gets a new view called reading mode, which displays documents like ebooks. They look much more impressive and have more functionality, including the ability to play videos embedded in the document.

The text will also resize for any device and users can use the live layout feature to insert, resize, and move images, etc. using their fingers, with guidelines set in place and the text automatically wrapping around.

Excell becomes more user-friendly in Office 2013, with some of its more complex features opened up to more casual users. There will be “smart filling” of tables, where Excell automatically fills the rest of a column or row with the applicable details based on the first or second input of data, while “quick analysis” will allow creation of tables and charts with one or two clicks, even previewing what it will look like.

July 17th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

The cloud is a big thing for Microsoft right now and plays just as big a role in Office 2013, with users able to save and access all their documents on the cloud. Settings and saved dictionary additions will also carry over, and all of this can be utilised form any device. It also has a â&#x20AC;&#x153;last locationâ&#x20AC;? feature that highlights the last place the user worked on a document, which is particularly handy for edits in large files.

A preview is available immediately from Office.com. There is no word yet on a release date, but it will likely coincide with the launch of Windows 8 or follow not long after.

Social is also pivotal, with Office 2013 adding people cards to Sharepoint, along with a new user interface that is more intuitive and easier to use. It can also aggregate a multitude of social feeds, and documents can be shared to Facebook, uploaded to a blog, or otherwise become part of a wider social experience.

Lower Intel SSD Prices Take Effect, 240 GB SSD 330 Model Introduced Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lower-intel-ssd-prices-takeeffect-240-gb-ssd-330-model-introduced/16672.html July 17th, 2012

The reduced suggested retailer pricing for Intel's SSD 320, SSD 330, and SSD 520 series that we reported last week, has taken effect, according to an Intel press-release. The company also announced a 240 GB variant of the SSD 330.

July 17th, 2012

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The reduced suggested retailer pricing for Intel's SSD 320, SSD 330, and SSD 520 series, which we reported last week, has taken effect, according to an Intel press-release. The company also announced a 240 GB variant of the SSD 330.

Intel reduced the MSRPs of the retail packages of several SSD 320, SSD 330, and SSD 520 models, by 20-37 percent. The price-cuts make the drives competitive against the rest of the market, which typically responds quicker to the market in the area of pricing. You can find details of the new prices in our older article. Before these price cuts, Intel appears to have ensured that the higher-capacity variants of SSD 330 series don't compete with SSD 520 series models, as the former has better priceper-GB and price-performance ratio, while the latter has superior performance. SSD 330 series was hence capped out at 180 GB. The new pricing appears to have created room for a new SSD 330 variant. The new variant comes with 240 GB capacity, and could be priced around US $199-210, between the SSD 520 180 GB and SSD 520 240 GB. The numbers associated with the SSD 330 240 GB don't differ from the other members in the family. Sequential speeds remain up to 500 MB/s reads, up to 450 MB/s writes, up to 42,000 IOPS 4K random reads, and up to 52,000 IOPS 4K random writes. The drive is built in the 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gbps interface. The drive will be available in notebook upgrade, desktop upgrade, and OEM packages.

GeForce GTX 660 Ti Inching Towards Mid-August Launch

According to a SweClockers report, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti will be launched in mid-August, in a date between the 13th and 19th. Seeing as how NVIDIA launched all its higher-end SKUs in the GeForce Kepler family either on a Tuesday or a Thursday, August 14th and 16th are likely candidates for the launch. The report also points out a few new details of the GPU. To begin with, NVIDIA might leave the CUDA core count of the GTX 660 Ti to be 1,344 (same as GTX 670), while cutting down the memory bus width to 192-bit, holding 1.5 GB of memory, instead. Clock speeds could also be tinkered with. NVIDIA will likely price the GeForce GTX 660 Ti at US $299. This could just about make it qualify as a price-performance sweet-spot SKU. Products in this market-segment are sold the most to PC gamers.

GTA V to be 'biggest open world game to date' Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gta-v-to-be-biggest-open-worldgame-to-date-/16670.html July 17th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/geforce-gtx-660-ti-inching-towardsmid-august-launch/16671.html July 17th, 2012

In a recent Q&A, Rockstar claims that the next installment of Grand Theft Auto will be the “biggest open world game to date.” How will the Los Santos airspace be like in GTA V? Rockstar built the GTA franchise on fun sensless bloodshed and frustrating missions, so hopefully the airspace will incorporate the same elements as the ground.

NVIDIA's newest performance-segment GPU, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, is inching towards a mid-August 2012 launch, according to sources. The new GPU will allow NVIDIA to capture a key sub-$300 price-point, in a cash-rich region the punters commonly refer to as "price-performance sweetspot." NVIDIA's newest performance-segment GPU, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, is inching towards a mid-August 2012 launch, according to sources. The new GPU will allow NVIDIA to capture a key sub-$300 price-point, in a cash-rich region the punters commonly refer to as "price-performance sweetspot."

In a recent Q&A, Rockstar claims that the next installment of Grand Theft Auto will be the “biggest open world game to 13

July 17th, 2012

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date.” How will the Los Santos airspace be like in GTA V? Rockstar built the GTA franchise on fun sensless bloodshed and frustrating missions, so hopefully the airspace will incorporate the same elements as the ground. GTA IV boasted a very impressive open world arena, but GTA V will supposedly be even better. Cruising the streets with a stolen car in high definition is just dandy, but what about flying? The Rockstar crew claims that it was not possible for them to integrate an interactive high definition airspace that matched the ground because it took too much work. “The city was simply too small for effective and enjoyable flying. It was the first time we made a high definition open world, and it was a massive amount of work to make something on that scale – we simply could not make an environment big enough for planes to work properly. Fear not, they are returning in what is our biggest open world game to date.” Can we expect a flight simulation-esque add-on in GTA V? Probably not, but what I’m expecting is massive amount of bullets and bloodshed from gang wars in the air. I wonder if you can hi-jack an airplane in mid air and toss the pilot out the side of the plane.

Desktop AMD "Trinity" APU Launch Delayed to October Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/desktop-amd-trinity-apu-launchdelayed-to-october/16669.html July 17th, 2012

The design change will delay things for desktop variants of AMD's A-series "Trinity" APUs till October 2012. This development even affects the launch of the A10-5800K, a "flagship" quad-core APU in the series, geared for overclocking. An October launch would see the new Aseries APUs launch simultaneously, or hot on the heels of, AMD's next-generation FX-series processors, codenamed "Vishera," built on the same "Piledriver" micro-architecture that Trinity's x86 cores are derived from. In the mean time, AMD will gradually phase out existing socket AM3 processors in the Athlon II and Phenom II series, and replace them with socket FM1 Athlon II, and socket AM3+ Phenom II processors in the various pricepoints they hold. AMD's Taiwan office declined to comment on the DigiTimes report.

Point of View and TGT Roll Out GT 640 Ultra Charged Graphics Card Delays are back to haunt desktop variants of AMD's next-generation A-series APUs. According to sources, a last-minute design change forced AMD and motherboard vendors to go back to the drawing boards. Troubles can't seem to end for AMD's next-generation Aseries APUs for desktops, even as the notebook variants are up and running on several designs by top vendors. Sources among motherboard makers told industry observer DigiTimes that a last-minute design change forced AMD and motherboard vendors to go back to the drawing boards. That's every company with working socket FM2 motherboard designs we spotted at this year's Computex event.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/point-of-view-and-tgt-roll-outgt-640-ultra-charged-graphics-card/16668.html July 17th, 2012

Point of View and its buddies at TGT Tuning launched a new GeForce GT 640 graphics card with their "Ultra Charged" clock-profile, which is basically 12.5 percent overclocked speeds over NVIDIA reference. The clock speeds and TGT branding come at a price. Point of View and its buddies at TGT Tuning launched a new GeForce GT 640 graphics card with their "Ultra Charged" clock-profile, which is basically 12.5 percent overclocked speeds over NVIDIA reference. The clock speeds and TGT branding come at a price.

July 17th, 2012

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The VX2703mh-LED from ViewSonic uses LED backlight illumination for the panel. Illumination is one of the most power-hungry components of a flat-panel display, and this is the area in which the company is looking to score some selling points. Its in-built Eco Mode feature causes a drop in power consumption by up to 40 percent. It has a typical power-draw of 28W, which goes down to 17W with the Eco Mode mode enabled.

The Point of View TGT Tuning GT 640 Ultra Charged comes with factory-overclocked speeds of 1,006 MHz (core) and 2,020 MHz (memory), against NVIDIA reference speeds of 902 MHz (core) and 1,782 MHz (memory). The card features a full-height PCB, with a single-slot air cooler. The GPU is wired to 2 GB of DDR3 memory, across a 128-bit wide memory interface. Based on the 28 nm GK107 silicon, the GeForce GT 640 is an entry- mid-range GPU based on the "Kepler" architecture. It packs 384 CUDA cores, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The card relies on the PCI-Express 3.0 x16 interface (backwards compatible with PCIe 2.0/1.1) for power. Display outputs include one each of dual-link DVI-D, D-Sub (VGA), and HDMI 1.4a.

The 27-incher provides a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, with a response time of 3 ms (gray to gray), 170º horizontal, 160º vertical viewing angles, 1,200:1 static and 10M:1 dynamic contrast ratios, and 300 cd/m² maximum brightness. The panel surface is matte black, with anti-glare hard-coating (3H). Display inputs include HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub (VGA).

Point of View / TGT Tuning are asking 115€ (S$178) for the GT 640 Ultra Charged.

ViewSonic Launches 27-inch VX2703mh-LED Monitor Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/viewsonic-launches-27-inchvx2703mh-led-monitor/16667.html July 17th, 2012

Display major ViewSonic released its newest 27-inch desktop monitor targeting small-medium businesses, the VX2703mh-LED. Driven by a conventional TN-film panel, the monitor provides 1080p resolution with a fast response time. Display major ViewSonic released its newest 27-inch desktop monitor targeting small-medium businesses, the VX2703mh-LED. Driven by a conventional TN-film panel, the monitor provides 1080p resolution with a fast response time.

The stand of the VX2703mh-LED tilts of 3º forward, and 16º backwards. Measuring 644 x 436 x 174 mm (with stand), the monitor weighs about 5.4 kg. It uses an internal power supply (AC input). For extras, the monitor features built-in stereo speakers with SRS Premium sound DSP, which draws signal from 3.5 mm jack, and HDMI. The VX2703mh-LED from ViewSonic is priced at US $299.99.

Man stabs neighbour over World of Warcraft dispute Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/man-stabs-neighbour-over-world-ofwarcraft-dispute/16666.html July 17th, 2012

A man allegedly stabbed his neighbour in the chest over a dispute about the popular World of Warcraft online roleplaying game. A man allegedly stabbed his neighbour in the chest over a dispute about the popular World of Warcraft online roleplaying game.

July 17th, 2012

21-year-old Justin Williams faces possible jail time over the bizarre game-related incident, which left 20-year-old Jordan Osborne in hospital. Osborne claims that he heard an argument in his neighbour's apartment, where Williams was fighting with fellow gaming friends over his headset. Osborne said he went over and told Williams to stop freaking out over World of Warcraft, adding “it's just a game,” to which Williams allegedly responded: “It's not just a game, it's my life.” At this point Osborne said Williams grabbed his throat, punched him in the face, and then stabbed him in the chest. It is not clear if Williams was holding a knife for the duration of the verbal confrontation or went off to get it. Details like this will likely be raised in court.

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Apple admits mistake, returns to EPEAT green registry Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-admits-mistake-returns-toepeat-green-registry/16665.html July 17th, 2012

Apple has admitted that it was a mistake to remove its products from the EPEAT green rating system and announced that all eligible Apple products are back on the registry. Apple has admitted that it was a mistake to remove its products from the EPEAT green rating system and announced that all eligible Apple products are back on the registry. “We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system,” said Bob Mansfield, SVP of Hardware Engineering at Apple. “I recognize that this was a mistake.”

“Like they say, it takes over your life, man,” Osborne said, showing the scar from the stab wound to local media. The incident shows the potential for obsession and addiction to get out of hand, though it is likely that there was an underlying psychological problem in this case. The vast majority of gamers enjoy their hobby relatively peacefully, and any disputes that do occur usually do not end in such a violent manner.

He tried to defend Apple's green reputation and commitment to protecting the environment, saying it is “as strong as ever” and citing several examples of where Apple is an industry leader in removing toxins like brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), using recyclable materials in place of plastics where possible, and reporting in detail on greenhouse gas emissions for all of its products. Mansfield also lauded Apple's energy-efficiency, claiming all of its products exceed the ENERGY STAR 5.2 government standard. He took a pot shot at EPEAT by criticising the IEEE 1680.1 standard on which it is based, claiming it could be improved by including environmental protection advancements from the ENERGY STAR standard.

World of Warcraft, developed by Blizzard, has over 10 million subscribers, making it the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) to date. Its latest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is expected to release later this year. Image Credit: QMI/Caters News

Robert Frisbee, CEO of EPEAT, welcomed Apple's change of heart, thanking the share-holders for their support and 16

July 17th, 2012

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welcoming Apple's “strong and creative thoughts on ongoing standards development.” Apple said its relationship with EPEAT “has become stronger as a result of this experience,” though it boggles the mind how exactly pulling out of something and then returning to it after widespread complaints leads to a better partnership. The company faced widespread criticism after it pulled out of EPEAT earlier this month, with Greenpeace challenging Apple's environmental record and the City of San Francisco refusing to buy any Mac products unless Apple returned to the EPEAT programme. We expect the threat of lower sales and the loss of a number of government contracts, many of which require EPEAT certification, played a large role in Apple's embarrassing uturn.

Symantec anti-virus update causes PCs to crash Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/symantec-anti-virus-update-causespcs-to-crash/16664.html July 17th, 2012

Symantec made a major blunder with an update to its antivirus software, which caused a number of PCs to crash, forcing customers to seek professional servicing to get their computers working again. Symantec made a major blunder with an update to its antivirus software, which caused a number of PCs to crash, forcing customers to seek professional servicing to get their computers working again. The problem, which results in consistent crashes and the “blue screen of death,” affects some PCs running Windows XP with Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 or Norton antivirus software for business users. Symantec said the bug was the result of a compatibility issue and could be fixed by manually removing the software from affected computers. However, customers report that they were left for hours with little to no help from Symantec, forcing them to try to fix their broken computers on their own, with one user calling the security firm's support “a joke.”

So far the number of users impacted by this mess-up is relatively small, with 300 enterprise customers and 60 consumer customers reporting problems, though the figure is likely higher than that. Some companies shut down their anti-virus software to prevent the bug from occurring, leaving their computers exposed, and raising questions over whether or not Symantec's software is more of a hindrance than a help. Symantec is reputedly preparing to compensate users hit by this bug, which resulted in lost work hours and significant headache, though it is not clear exactly what this will involve. Something tells us that a free year of anti-virus protection is not going to cut it with the disgruntled customers.

Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/noctua-nh-d14-cpu-coolerreview/16661.html July 17th, 2012

Undoubtedly, overclockers and hardcore hardware enthusiasts are the most demanding target group, especially when it comes to cooling, since they rarely settle for anything but the best. One of the most reputable CPU coolers among enthusiasts is the Noctua NH-D14. Noctua’s behemoth has been available for some time now and always is amongst the top 5 coolers an overclocker or enthusiast would recommend. We will see how it compares against the vast competition in this review. Undoubtedly, overclockers and hardcore hardware enthusiasts are the most demanding target group, especially when it comes to cooling, since they rarely settle for anything but the best. One of the most reputable CPU coolers among enthusiasts is the Noctua NH-D14. Noctua’s behemoth has been available for some time now and always is amongst the top 5 coolers an overclocker or enthusiast would recommend. We will see how it compares against the vast competition in this review.

July 17th, 2012

Socket compatibility

Height (without fan) Width (without fan) Depth (without fan) Height (with fan) Width (with fan) Depth (with fan) Weight (without fan) Weight (with fan) Material

Fan compatibility Scope of Delivery

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Intel LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA775 AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1 (backplate required) 160 mm 140 mm 130 mm 160 mm 140 mm 158 mm 900 g 1070/1240* g Copper (base and heatpipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating 140x140x25 & 120x120x25mm · 1x NF-P14 premium fan · 1x NF-P12 premium fan · 2x Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptor (U.L.N.A.) · Y-Split Cable · 4x VibrationCompensators (for using NFP12 as case fan) · 4x Fan screws (for using NF-P12 as case fan) · NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound · SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kits

Warranty Fan specifications Model Bearing Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) Rotational Speed with U.L.N.A. (+/- 10%) Airflow Airflow with U.L.N.A. Acoustical Noise Acoustical Noise with U.L.N.A. Input Power Voltage Range MTBF

· Noctua Metal Case-Badge 6 Years

1200 / 1300 RPM 900 / 900 RPM 110,3 / 92,3 m³/h 83,7 / 63,4 m³/h 19,6 / 19,8 dB(A) 13,2 / 12,6 dB(A) 1,2 / 1,08 W 12 V > 150.000 h

Research in Motion: One Step Closer to the Grave Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/research-in-motion-one-step-closerto-the-grave/16660.html

July 17th, 2012

Research in Motion cannot seem to catch a break. A San Francisco jury determined that RIM infringed one of Mformation Technologies’ patents, and awarded damages in the amount of $147.2 million. This was calculated based upon a figure of $8 per device connected to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Even if this is overturned on appeal, it creates one more obstacle for RIM, and the entire smartphone market, to overcome. Research in Motion cannot seem to catch a break. A San Francisco jury determined that RIM infringed one of Mformation Technologies’ patents, and awarded damages in the amount of $147.2 million. This was calculated based upon a figure of $8 per device connected to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Even if this is overturned on appeal, it creates one more obstacle for RIM, and the entire smartphone market, to overcome. This verdict comes just days after Nokia added additional infringement claims against RIM in Germany, and a few weeks after RIM posted its first operating loss in 8 years. RIM has also announced that it will cut 5,000 jobs in the coming months. The one time leading innovator in the smartphone market seems to be one step closer to its inevitable demise. Unfortunately for consumers, this verdict is terrible news. If the verdict is somehow affirmed by the appellate court, it will give companies that do not produce smartphones immense power over those that do. For example, if Mformation claimed that a smartphone manufacturer had infringed upon a patent, the company could do one of two things. First, it could demand that the manufacturer pay huge royalties for the use of its technology. Alternatively, if the manufacturer did not want to cooperate, then Mformation could point to the verdict against RIM to coerce the manufacturer into payment. Either way, Mformation would be able to collect massive royalty payments, and drive up the price of smartphones. It is not just Mformation that would be able to do this, either. If this verdict is upheld, it will send a message to every other company that holds a patent needed for the manufacture of smartphones that they too can charge huge royalty fees. If Mformation received $147.2 million for the infringement of one patent, then why wouldn’t every other company increase its royalty fees? Moreover, it will act as an incentive to pursue any claim that might be infringement. The manufacturer will then be forced to just pay the increased royalty, rather than taking the risk that a jury may return an unreasonable verdict, such as this one. For RIM, this is a verdict that must be overturned. If it is not, then the company faces the very possibility that it will cease to exist in its current form. More importantly, however, this is a verdict that must be overturned for the entire smartphone market. If upheld, this will allow companies that do not even produce smartphones to dominate the market, and stifle innovation. In addition, it will allow those companies to charge massive royalties for the use of their

July 17th, 2012

technology, and it will make smartphones unaffordable for the average consumer.

Watch Out Samsung Retailers! We Are Apple, Hear Us Roar Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/watch-out-samsung-retailers-weare-apple-hear-us-roar/16659.html July 17th, 2012

Not only has Apple obtained a preliminary injunction on the sale of the Galaxy 10.1, but it has sent cease and desist letters to retailers that are selling tablets that they have already purchased. It is one thing to enforce the injunction against Samsung itself, but it is another to unfairly enforce an injunction to hurt the market and the customer.

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mean that they are acting in concert with Samsung, and fall within the limits set forth in the injunction. Unfortunately, this is a lose-lose situation for the consumer. First, if Apple’s interpretation of the injunction is correct, it will be allowed to force a product off of shelves that the retailer has already purchased. The retailer then has a stockpile of expensive products that it cannot sell. Moreover, once the case goes to trial and is finally resolved, the Galaxy 10.1 could be obsolete and the retailers will have lost out on that revenue. Plus, they would be stuck with the outdated tablets. The retailer must make up the revenue somehow, and would likely lead to higher prices somewhere down the line. Second, if Apple is incorrect about the interpretation, it is still going to take time for the court to make a ruling. In the meantime, Apple is able to bully retailers into submission. Again, this forces the retailer to lose valuable sales while the legal battle continues, and it gives the consumer one less choice when purchasing a tablet. All of this back-and-forth does nothing but cause more friction between the two companies, and forces the idea of a settlement further away. The best case scenario for the consumer is to have the two companies work out a way to put their differences behind them and settle this dispute out-of-court. This would allow the companies to focus solely on creating new and innovative products for the consumer to enjoy, rather than inhibiting competition through legal maneuvering. Unfortunately, these two companies have again lost sight of who matters the most – the customer.

Apple has put on a full-court press against the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet in the United States. Not only has Apple obtained a preliminary injunction on the sale of the Galaxy 10.1, but it has sent cease and desist letters to retailers that are selling tablets that they have already purchased. While Apple certainly has a strong argument that the injunction extends to retailers that currently have the Galaxy 10.1, there is widespread sentiment that it is going way too far. It is one thing to enforce the injunction against Samsung itself, but it is another to unfairly enforce an injunction to hurt the market and the customer. The preliminary injunction that Apple obtained against the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 states that Samsung and “its officers, directors, partners, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, subsidiaries, and those acting in concert with any of them,” are forbidden from selling the Galaxy 10.1 in the United States. The important consideration here is whether Apple is allowed to prohibit third-parties that are not involved in the lawsuit from selling a product that they already have in stock. Normally, the conduct of those that are not directly involved in litigation do not have to abide by an injunction. Since the retailers are separate entities from Samsung, an injunction would have no effect on their business. Apple, however, argues that the last clause (“those acting in concert with any of them”) allows it to enforce the injunction against individual retailers because the retailers work to promote and sell the product on behalf of Samsung. Thus, this would 19

July 18th, 2012

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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Apple Ordered By UK Court to Apologize to Samsung Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-ordered-by-uk-court-toapologize-to-samsung/16723.html July 18th, 2012

The announcements and notices published by Apple must mention the court case and should be designed specifically to “correct the damaging impression” that Samsung’s products were simply poor imitations design-wise of Apple’s devices. “They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design,” said the judge at the time. “They are not as cool. The overall impression produced is different.” The judge refused Samsung’s request, however, that Apple be forbidden from restating its claim that its design rights had indeed been infringed by the South Korean company, saying that the mobile giant was “entitled” to their opinion that the judgment was wrong.

A UK judge has ruled that Apple must run announcements in newspapers, magazines and on its website that Samsung did not, in fact, copy its device design with their Galaxy Tab line of tablets.

iPhone 5 has not entered final production phase Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-5-has-not-entered-finalproduction-phase/16722.html July 18th, 2012

As the speculated fall launch date of the iPhone 5 draws near, the whirlwinds of rumors and speculations are becoming more and more specific. A recent rumor has suggested that Apple’s sixth-gen iPhone development is currently in the third stage “engineering verification test." A judge in the UK has ordered Apple to publish announcements on its website that Samsung did not copy the design of its iPad. One of those notices is required to remain on Apple’s website for a minimum of six months and others must be run in various newspapers and magazines. The ruling comes after the Cupertino-based company failed in its attempt to block sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab tablets. Apple and Samsung have yet to comment. The new order was not included in Judge Colin Birss’s judgment against Apple, but the possibility of this order was reportedly discussed after the verdict has handed down. 1

July 18th, 2012

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With Apple and Samsung both securing major patents, Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry smartphones, seemed to be falling behind in the ongoing smartphone wars. However, this week the USPTO granted RIM a rather broad and general patent on the keyboard for their new BlackBerry 10 keyboard and its logic-based text prediction. The patented system, rather than simply looking for typos, actively tries to predict what you’re trying to type by examining the context of the words or common expressions. With this patent, RIM has ensured that they don’t have to worry about another company poaching one of the key features of their new platform. While the official text of the patent is rather dry, the basic abstract can be read below.

As the speculated fall launch date of the iPhone 5 draws near, the whirlwinds of rumors and speculations are becoming more and more specific. A recent rumor has suggested that Apple’s sixth-gen iPhone development is currently in the third stage “engineering verification test.” The significance of this rumor is that it contradicts rumors that Apple has already begun production of the iPhone 5. Apple’s products go through various stages before the consumer versions are made available. Since iPhone 5 is still in the third stage of EVT, there is a high possibility that it will take another month or two before it enters the “design verification test” stage. If Apple is indeed currently in the final production stage then consumers can expect the iPhone 5 to drop early this fall (mid September to early October), but if the later rumor is true then people may have to wait a little longer—maybe well into November.

RIM Granted Patent For BlackBerry 10 Keyboard and Text Prediction Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-granted-patent-forblackberry-10-keyboard-and-text-prediction/16720.html July 18th, 2012

A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special <NEXT> key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device.

Micron Technology makes 45nm PCM available in high volume Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/micron-technology-makes-45nmpcm-available-in-high-volume/16721.html July 18th, 2012

Micron Technology has announced that it will begin distributing its 45nm Phase Change Memory (PCM) in high volume. The availability of Micron’s 45nm PCM in high volume, Micron claims, is an industry’s first. Micron Technology has announced that it will begin distributing its 45nm Phase Change Memory (PCM) in high volume. The availability of Micron’s 45nm PCM in high volume, Micron claims, is an industry’s first. The Boise, Idaho based company is aiming to bolster the feature phone market with their 45nm PCM, with future goals of further integrations into the smartphone and media tablet markets. Micron claims that their PCM will boost the performance of respective devices through enhanced boot time,

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simplification of software development, and overwrite capability. In addition to increased performance, Micron also claims that its PCM reduces energy consumption, and provides “extremely high reliability.” As per industry standards, the PCM is fully compliant with JEDEC standards. Samsung and ST Microelectronics have looked into the same type of technology awhile back, but Micron Technology is the first to make the PCM available in high volume. Press Release:

Micron Announces Availability of Phase Change Memory for Mobile Devices BOISE, Idaho, July 17, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU), one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced an industry first with high-volume availability of its 45-nanometer (nm) Phase Change Memory (PCM) for mobile devices, featuring 1-gigabit (Gb) PCM plus 512-megabit (Mb) LPDDR2 in a multichip package. As the first company in the world currently offering PCM solutions in volume production, Micron is providing chipset vendors, enablers, and handset manufacturers with a proven product that meets the expanding needs of today's wireless market and paves the way for enhanced features and capabilities. PCM provides enhanced boot time, simplifies software development and boosts performance with overwrite capability. It also provides very low power consumption and extremely high reliability. In addition, the designoptimizing shared interface between LPDDR2 and PCM is fully compliant with JEDEC industry standards. Micron's 45nm PCM solution is currently targeted for utilization in feature phones, with a future roadmap aimed at addressing smartphones and media tablets. "Our commitment to innovation and continued development of advanced products to address the voracious demands of the wireless industry is clear and strong," said Tom Eby, Vice President of the Wireless Solutions Group at Micron. "We are determined to evolve and innovate by continuing to offer the best-tailored solutions for both today's and tomorrow's market requirements." Micron's PCM product line has established a foothold in the wireless industry, as evidenced by longstanding key relationships with global customers and enablers, ongoing engagement with major device manufactures, and strong cooperation with Intel Mobile Communications, which includes recent PCM qualification. "Intel's Mobile and Communications Group is at the forefront of new cellular product and technology enablement, and we see great value in Micron's PCM technology," said Stefan Butz, Vice President, Marketing and Product Planning for Intel's Mobile and Communications Group. "With a commitment to innovation and standardization, as well as a long history of cooperation with Intel, Micron is a trusted supplier." From entry-level phones to high-end smartphones and tablets, Micron supplies virtually every volatile and nonvolatile memory product utilized in wireless devices

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today, including NOR, NAND, PCM, LPDRAM and e·MMC™ embedded memory, meeting the need for increased performance, expanding storage requirements, mature technology replacement, and package capability. About Micron Micron Technology, Inc. is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets a full range of DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory, as well as other innovative memory technologies, packaging solutions and semiconductor systems for use in leadingedge computing, consumer, networking, embedded and mobile products. Micron's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the MU symbol. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc., visit www.micron.com. The Micron Technology, Inc. logo is available at http:// www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=6950 ©2012 Micron Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Information is subject to change without notice. Micron and the Micron orbit logo are trademarks of Micron Technology, Inc. e·MMC is a registered trademark of MultiMediaCard Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Jacob Rice

Zeno Group

jacob.rice@zenogroup.com

650-315-3042

Judge Steps Down From Megaupload Case Over Controversial Comment Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/judge-steps-down-frommegaupload-case-over-controversial-comment/16718.html July 18th, 2012

Judge Harvey has stepped down from the Megaupload extradition hearings after a comment in which he called the US "the enemy" had brought his impartiality into question. Judge David Harvey, the judge who was overseeing the extradition case of eccentric Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom and other employees of the file locker site, has stepped down from the case after a comment he made brought his impartiality in the case into question. The comment was made at the NetHui internet conference on July 12th in Auckland, where he had been part of a discussion about the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TransPacific Partnership is a controversial intellectual rights 3

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agreement in the works, much like ACTA in Europe, involving the US and a dozen other countries. Judge Harvey mentioned that, under current laws, citizens of New Zealand could legally hack the DVD region codes designed to restrict DVDs to specific countries in order to watch those movies; this would no longer be true if TPP were to become law. “Under TPP and the American [DMCA] you will not be able to do that, that will be prohibited,” he said. “If you do, you will be a criminal, that’s what will happen. There are all sorts of ways this whole thing is being ramped up and if I could use Russell’s tweet from earlier on: we have met the enemy and he is US.”

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with the 30 best performers being invited to take part in a more complex series of tests in a lab environment. “I don't want to give too much away but it involves securing the control mechanisms of something that's vital to national interest and security,” said Neil Cassidy, operations director of defence technology research group Qinetiq.

For those who didn’t catch it, Judge Harvey was making a play on words for the quote “we have met the enemy and he is us,” itself a parody of a message sent by Commodore Perry in 1813 after the Battle of Lake Erie, saying “we have met the enemy and he is ours.” The quote didn’t garner much attention or controversy until three days later when the New Zealand Herald quoted Professor Bill Hodge, a law professor at Auckland University, as saying that the comment could possibly “be seen as probably an extra-judicial comment that isn’t helpful.” The story was then picked up by several other media sources, including some US-based tech blogs. Judge Harvey has ruled several times in Dotcom’s favor, including having his internet access restored and ordering the US to hand over evidence gathered against him. His most recent involvement with the case came a week ago when he delayed the extradition hearing from August until March in order to allow more time to resolve various legal arguments revolving around the case. Judge Jan-Marie Doogue, the chief district court judge of New Zealand, gave a statement explaining Judge Harvey’s decision to remove himself from the case, saying that “[he recognized] that remarks made in the context of a paper he delivered on copyright law at a recent conference could reflect on his impartiality and that the appropriate response is for him to step down from the case.”

UK hosting online treasure hunt to hire cyber security experts

The ISC Squared security certification firm hopes that the competition will get software developers thinking about security from the beginning of development, given that it costs 100 times more to retroactively add security to existing applications. A growing number of attacks against key infrastructure, such as power grids and water supplies, have caused many governments throughout the world to invest heavily in cyber security. A report released by McAfee earlier today highlighted a number of vulnerabilities in the US electricity grid, while previously many top oil executives warned of attacks against oil rigs.

ASRock UEFI BIOS Gets WebUpdate Feature Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asrock-uefi-bios-gets-web-updatefeature/16716.html July 18th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/uk-hosting-online-treasure-hunt-tohire-cyber-security-experts/16717.html July 18th, 2012

ASRock's latest innovation is a web-based BIOS update feature within the UEFI Setup program. Say goodbye to USB flash drives and command-line based BIOS flashing. The UK government is launching an online treasure hunt and lab-based challenges to help find talented computer users who can work on defending the country's infrastructure from cyber attacks. The UK government is launching an online treasure hunt and lab-based challenges to help find talented computer users who can work on defending the country's infrastructure from cyber attacks.

AMI UEFI and its setup program SDK has thrown open a wave of innovation from motherboard vendors, trying to cram in every feature they can think of, into the system BIOS setup program. Some of the wackier ones are web-browsers and media-players, but perhaps a more sensible new one is a web-based BIOS update utility within the setup program, courtesy ASRock.

The initial challenge will require people to find answers to a series of questions as part of an online treasure hunt event, 4

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ASRock's newest UEFI BIOS setup program can update itself by downloading the latest BIOS ROM image from the web, if you can point it to a working Internet connection. Basic network/IP configuration, including PPPoE authentication can be made within the setup program. Once configured, the utility, called Internet Flash, looks up the latest version of the BIOS for your motherboard on the web, downloads it, and updates itself.

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ASRock's new Internet Flash feature will come standard with upcoming products. Some currently-launched motherboards could get the feature with a BIOS update. Only this one time, you'd have to update the "old" way (using a USB flash drive).

Motorola to avoid US sales ban Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/motorola-to-avoid-us-salesban/16715.html July 18th, 2012

Motorola Mobility is to avoid a US ban on the sale of its smartphones by altering them or signing a licensing deal so that they no longer infringe one of Microsoft's patents. Motorola Mobility is to avoid a US ban on the sale of its smartphones by altering them or signing a licensing deal so that they no longer infringe one of Microsoft's patents. The new BIOS update method from ASRock beats every other solution in terms of ease of use. You no longer need to find the right BIOS ROM image from the Internet and copy it onto a USB flash drive, or need an OS installation (to use Windows-based utilities that perform web-update of system BIOS), or even use ancient command-line based update methods, in which one wrong command-line argument can brick your motherboard.

The Google-owned mobile firm suffered a setback in May when the International Trade Commission ruled that it infringed one of nine patents Microsoft launched claims regarding. The patent covers technology for scheduling meetings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While we can't share specific details, we have employed a range of proactive measures to ensure there is no continuing infringement under the ITC's interpretation of this single Microsoft patent,â&#x20AC;? said Becki Leonard, spokesperson for Motorola Mobility, according to Reuters.

July 18th, 2012

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their capability and demanding a ransom. Espionage and sabotage are two other big fears.

The easiest and most cost-effective solution is for Motorola to axe the meeting technology, which is a minor aspect of what it offers. Another possibility, and one that Microsoft is encouraging, is for Motorola to license the technology for what will likely be a hefty fee. We expect the company will opt for the former. Affected devices include the Atrix, Backflip, Bravo, Charm, Cliq, Cliq 2, Cliq XT, Defy, Devour, Droid 2, Droid 2 Global, Droid Pro, Droid X, Droid X2, Flipout, Flipside, Spice and Xoom. The sales ban is to go into effect from today.

McAfee warns of threat to energy grid security Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mcafee-warns-of-threat-to-energygrid-security/16714.html July 18th, 2012

Security firm McAfee has released details of a report into the security of energy grids, highlighting significant vulnerabilities in older systems to attack. Security firm McAfee has released details of a report into the security of energy grids, highlighting significant vulnerabilities in older systems to attack. McAfee had a stark warning for those who are complacement about securing key infrastructure like the electrical power grid, which powers pretty much everything we use. It said that a single targeted attack could compromise lights and home appliances, heart monitors in hospitals, and air defence systems, among other things.

McAfee discovered that roughly 70 percent of the existing energy grid in the US is over 30 years old. These have been connected to the internet with no encryption or security in mind. A decade ago this may not have been such a big issue, but with cyber attacks on the increase, this is a growing concern. The automation of systems, which has made lives easier for many workers, comes at the price of more openness to attack. The increasing use of generic software to operate these facilities means that any vulnerabilities found in that software immediately expose the infrastructure, whereas proprietary software was more commonly used in the past. “Security needs to be built into grid components at the planning and design phase,” said Tom Moore, VP of Embedded Security at McAfee. “Because the grid relies heavily on embedded systems it makes them ripe targets for intruders thus it is imperative to integrate security solutions natively in these devices. McAfee is working with its partners in industry and government to make great strides on the technical front to mitigate the threats to these critical systems we all rely on.” Image Credit: Geograph.org.uk

ADATA Outs XPG Gaming v2.0 Series DDR3-2400 8 GB DualChannel Kit Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/adata-outs-xpg-gaming-v2.0-seriesddr3-2400-8-gb-dual-channel-kit/16713.html July 18th, 2012

The report found that extortion was the biggest cyber threat facing the energy sector, with criminals demonstrating

July 18th, 2012

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ADATA Introduced a new high-performance 8 GB dualchannel DDR3-2400 MHz memory kit, under its XPG Gaming v2.0 series. The kit is optimized for Intel "Ivy Bridge" Core processors, and comes at an attractive price. ADATA Introduced a new high-performance 8 GB (2x 4 GB) dual-channel DDR3-2400 MHz memory kit, under its XPG Gaming v2.0 series. The kit is optimized for Intel "Ivy Bridge" Core processors, and comes at an attractive price.

The drive powers itself with a rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery, which can keep it running for up to 5 hours, before needing a charge (can be charged by its included AC adapter, or by USB).

The new XPG Gaming v2.0 series modules ship with an Intel XMP 1.3 profile, which runs them at PC3-19200 (DDR3-2400 MHz) speed, with 10-12-12-31T DRAM timings, and at DRAM voltage of 1.65V. The module feature active heatsinks that dissipate heat using aluminum fins. The modules use 8-layer printed circuit boards (PCBs), with 2 oz copper layers to improve signalling efficiency, and help spread heat. The XPG Gaming v2.0 series 8 GB memory kit from ADATA started selling in US and Canada, at a price of US $89.99.

Patriot Releases Gauntlet NODE Wireless HDD/SSD Enclosure Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/patriot-releases-gauntlet-nodewireless-hddssd-enclosure/16710.html July 18th, 2012

It features a 802.11 b/g/n WLAN adapter, supporting wireless network bandwidths up to 150 Mbps. The adapter supports most common security standards, including WPA. Patriot has apps for iOS and Android on their respective content stores (App Store and Google Play), which lets you connect to the drive easily. When streaming data, the Gauntlet NODE acts as a WLAN server, with a web-access configuration page. “The Gauntlet Node is set to provide the most flexible wireless storage solutions available”, says Mike Kroll, Patriot Memory’s Director of Peripherals Product Management. “With a DIY form factor that supports standard 2.5” HDDs and SSDs and includes built in features like WiFi and USB 3.0 connectivity, the Gauntlet Node is an amazingly powerful way to expand the storage of popular mobile devices like smart phones, tablets, and ultrabook class laptops,” he added. The Gauntlet NODE wireless drive enclosure from Patriot Memory costs US $99.99. It is currently available in the US, and availability in other markets will be announced soon.

Pico FPGA Hardware Beats GPGPU in Password Cracking Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pico-fpga-hardware-beats-gpgpu-inpassword-cracking/16705.html July 18th, 2012

Patriot Memory made an addition to its Gauntlet family of storage devices, with the Gauntlet NODE portable wireless HDD/SSD enclosure. Carry terabytes of data around without bothering about cables. Patriot Memory unveiled the Gauntlet NODE, its newest storage product. We've been familiar with the drive since this year's Computex event. The product is now generally available in the US. The Gauntlet NODE is a DIY portable HDD wireless enclosure, which can enclose a 2.5-inch hard drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) with SATA 3 Gb/s interface (up to 1 TB volume size supported). Contents of the drive can then be streamed wirelessly, or can be accessed as a USB Mass Storage device, thanks to its USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface.

There's no secret that graphics cards such as NVIDIA GeForce, Tesla as well as AMD Radeon are being used by security agencies worldwide. Their goal is to crack the passwords of suspects as much as 10-20x faster than the most expensive Intel processor is able to do. Today, another company is claiming its stake in lucrative security business. When it comes to password cracking business, agencies all around the world rely on ElcomSoft software. Yet, the company proved itself to be brave enough to experiment with the new architectures, instead of relying on proven 'big iron' hardware. Back in 2008, I wrote the first article on how ElcomSoft is enabling GT200 (GeForce GTX 280) cards to crack passwords 10-20x faster than the Core 2 Duo processor. The article was greeted with a negative reaction from a very senior Intel executive, who threatened 7

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to "destroy NVIDIA" and offer faster computing than the best of their own products. That faster part was called Larrabee, and even in its ressurected form as 22nm Knight's Corner, there are serious doubts can Intel still claim x86 compatibility for Xeon Phi or is that product... another Itanium? With the GPGPU or GPU Computing slowly breaking into mainstream, ElcomSoft is at it again. The company "discovered FPGA" architecture and accelerated two of its password breaking suites using the high-performing Pico FPGA hardware. The two suites in question are the same applications which were the first to harness the power of the GPU: Phone Password Breaker (EPPB) and Wireless Security Auditor (EWSA). According to ElcomSoft CEO, Vladimir Katalov; "Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) will fit the bill just perfectly. A single 4U chassis with a cluster of FPGA’s installed can offer a computational equivalent of over 2,000 dual-core processors. The power consumption of FPGA-based units is dramatically less than that of consumer video cards. For example, units such as Pico E-101 draw measly 2.5 W. FPGA-based solutions don’t even approach the level of power consumption and heat generation of gaming video cards, running much cooler and comprising a much more stable system." Now, truth to be told, we're not sure how much talk about dual-core processors holds ground, but in order to reach the computational power of let's say AMD Radeon 7970, you would need to buy no less than 40 Xeon E5-2687W processors. However, if you compare EX-501, a 150W PCIe board with six Pico M-501 modules and 3GB DDR3 memory, you would need to purchase around 400 8core E5-2687W processors to match its performance. This represents another shift in magnitude and serves as a strong reminder that the current x86 architecture is simply too inefficient when it comes to specific computing demands.

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Judge orders Apple & Samsung to reveal more documents Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/judge-orders-apple--samsung-toreveal-more-documents/16712.html July 18th, 2012

As the Apple vs. Samsung patent battles continue, and a recent order from Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, CA requires that Samsung and Apple reveal more business sensitive documents. As the Apple vs. Samsung patent battles continue, and a recent order from Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, CA requires that Samsung and Apple reveal more business sensitive documents. In the ruling, Koh gave the companies one week to refile their sealing request. Filing documents under seal has become a standard procedure for companies to keep intellectualsensitive documents out of public eyes during the litigation process. In Koh’s order to Samsung and Apple, she concluded that both companies were hiding information that was not “truly sealable,” and, therefore, the respective parties must provide more documentations for the case to proceed. As per the same court order, Koh stated, “only documents of exceptionally sensitive information…will be allowed to be redacted or kept from the public.” Samsung has already suffered a several defeats when Koh granted pretrial injunctions against Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone.

Armed man scares off Internet cafe robbers Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/armed-man-scares-off-internet-caferobbers/16711.html July 18th, 2012

If your job is to select the best system for Phone or Wireless cracking, choosing four hundred 130W processors (which require complete infrastructure consuming thousands and thousands of watts extra) over a single board with six Xillinx Virtex-6 processors is something only a fiscally irresponsible person would do. In fact, we might question sanity (or corruption) of the said individual or organization. In phone password cracking, it seems that the new king is taking place… however, having said that, we find it odd that ElcomSoft does not compare the latest hardware they have in store. The CPU and GPGPU figures given in this article come from my own testing, while ElcomSoft is showing its results on yesterday hardware.

People go to Internet cafes to surf the internet, chat, YouTube, play video games, and more often than not it’s a safe place to carry about any tasks requiring an Internet connection. However, two armed gunmen recently attempted to a rob busy Palms Internet Café—not realizing that they were not the only one in the building with a firearm. People go to Internet cafes to surf the internet, chat, YouTube, play video games, and more often than not it’s a safe place to carry about any tasks requiring an Internet connection. However, two armed gunmen recently attempted to rob a busy Palms Internet Café—not realizing that they were not the only one in the building with a firearm.

July 18th, 2012

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The café’s surveillance cameras recorded the two thieves scrambling for their lives as a patron unleashed his own gun. Despite being armed, the thieves decided to hightail without returning fire.

10 yuan per day thereafter. After 90 days, Apple assumes no responsibility for the repaired product.

The two masked men stumbled and tripped over themselves as they made their way out the door. Luckily, it appears (from the YouTube video) that no one was seriously injured from the robbery attempt—maybe a scrape or two on the robbers during the getaway.

Local law consultants think that Apple’s changes in policies is still not enough to prove that Chinese are being treated fairly. Furthermore, many still believe that there are still portions of the policies that violate Chinese consumer laws.

Supposedly, this was not the first robbery attempt that the Palms Internet Café had. About a year ago, three armed men entered the café and robbed patrons of some cash, and unlike the recent event, there were no armed patrons to shoo away the uninvited guests.

Team Intros Xtreem UHS-I Compliant Micro SD Cards

Chinese consumers still unhappy with Apple's new customer service policies Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/chinese-consumers-still-unhappywith-apple-s-new-customer-service-policies/16709.html July 18th, 2012

In the new policy, Apple simply disposed of the time limit, leaving storage fees intact.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/team-intros-xtreem-uhs-icompliant-micro-sd-cards/16707.html July 18th, 2012

Team Group extended its Xtreem brand to its newest line of high-performance UHS-I compliant micro-SDHC/microSDXC cards. The Xtreem brand has been associated with some of Team's memory modules for overclockers. Team Group extended its Xtreem brand to its newest line of high-performance UHS-I compliant micro-SDHC/microSDXC cards. The Xtreem brand has been associated with some of Team's memory modules for overclockers.

Apple’s second largest market is China, and according to various reports, Chinese consumers aren’t too happy with Apple’s customer support in China. The China Consumer Association (CCA) recently declared that Apple was not providing enough customer support for Chinese consumers, and the CCA’s position may not change. According to Mic Gadget, Apple has amended certain portions of their service and repair policies to alleviate Chinese consumer dissatisfactions. In the previous repair policies, customers allowed Apple to repair products using new or refurbished parts. However, that portion of the policies has been removed, and in the new policies Apple has added:

Team's Xtreem UHS-I series consists of three variants, 16 GB and 32 GB SDHC, and 64 GB SDXC. All three come with the same performance numbers from the manufacturer, up to 40 MB/s sequential reads, up to 10 MB/s sequential writes, 1 MB/s guaranteed, up to 500 IOPS random reads, and up to 150 IOPS random writes.

“Customers own repaired spare parts, while Apple owns old spare parts, and customers can forward their specific requirements to Apple’s repair center in advance…” Local IT experts suggest that the terms has not changed, and that regardless of the ownership of parts, Apple should repair their products using new parts—not refurbished parts. Apple also made a change to its policy regarding the “time limit” that consumers had before fees or ownership relinquishment occur. Previously, Apple allowed customers 30 days to pick up their repaired products before charging

Supporting the SD 3.01 interface, with 3.3V core voltage, the Team Xtreem UHS-I micro-SDHC/XC memory cards are designed for high-performance smartphones and tablets. When idling, the card cuts down power draw to help 9

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conserve battery. The company did not reveal pricing, but mentioned that the cards will be backed by lifetime warranties.

Microsoft Office 2013 tackles the cloud and hardware optimization Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-office-2013-tackles-thecloud-and-hardware-optimization/16706.html July 18th, 2012

Microsoft is taking its next Office platform into the clouds, and it’s making sure that the suite is optimized for nearly all hardware and devices.

Microsoft will also provide Office on the go through a temporary solution, dubbed “Office on Demand”, for its customers. Google Doc users may find this feature especially appealing since it allows people to collaborate on documents through group editing and commenting.

Microsoft is taking its next Office platform into the clouds, and it’s making sure that the suite is optimized for nearly all hardware and devices.

“Office on Demand streams and launches a temporary copy of your personalized Office application without installing it permanently…”

An official Microsoft Office blog post states:

“Collaboration and sharing - you can now co-author in all four Web Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote). We've also integrated commenting and sharing into the Web Apps hosted on SkyDrive and Office 365.”

“It doesn't matter if you have your hands on a PC, a Mac, a touch-enabled Windows tablet, or a mobile phone; Office takes full advantage of your hardware to give you the best possible experience and access to your work wherever you go.”

Microsoft is promising cloud features that may blow competitions out of the water. However, the price tag of MS Office may still deter some (evident from past Office products), but by optimizing Office for many devices and hardware, Microsoft may win over consumers that utilize different devices for their tasks.

Sharkoon Intros X-Tatic S7 Gaming Headset Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sharkoon-intros-x-tatic-s7-gamingheadset/16704.html July 18th, 2012

In addition to optimizing its Office product for different hardware and devices, Microsoft will also allow users to install up to 5 copies on PCs or Macs. Building upon its Office 2010 Click-2-Run (C2R) technology, Microsoft claims that they have made “vast improvements” on their virtualization technology, which will “dramatically simplify Office deployment for organizations.”

Sharkoon released the X-Tatic S7 USB gaming headset, which is a revision of the X-Tatic SR, featuring 7.1channel surround using the Dolby Pro Logic IIx and Dolby Headphone DSPs. Sharkoon released the X-Tatic S7 USB gaming headset, which is a revision of the X-Tatic SR, featuring 7.1 virtual surround using the Dolby Pro Logic IIx and Dolby Headphone DSPs. The X-Tatic S7 is otherwise identical to the X-Tatic SR.

July 18th, 2012

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Taiwanese teen dies from two days of playing a Blizzard game Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/taiwanese-teen-dies-from-two-daysof-playing-a-blizzard-game/16703.html July 18th, 2012

The X-Tatic S7 from Sharkoon works both as a digital headset, making use of its DAC module, and as a stereo analog headset, plugging into the source using a standard 3.5 mm connector. The headset can hence work with a wide range of devices, including PCs, game consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), portable audio, and static/HiFi systems.

Activision Blizzard has another death attached to its brand. According to The Australian, an 18-year old, surname ‘Chuang’, died from playing nearly two days of an unidentified Activision Blizzard game. Activision Blizzard has another death attached to its brand. According to The Australian, an 18-year old, surname ‘Chuang’, died from playing nearly two days of an unidentified Activision Blizzard game. Chuang booked a private room in a café in Tainan, Taiwan around noon on July 13, and two days later on the morning of July 15, an attendant found Chuang resting on a table in the room. The attendant woke him up, Chuang got up, but only took a few steps before collapsing. He was rushed to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead due to cardiovascular problems during long hours of being sedentary.

The X-Tatic S7 is essentially a stereo headset, with a pair of 40 mm drivers enclosed in the ear cups. The DAC module (SCU) takes both digital (SPDIF) and analog (3.5 mm) signals, and applies the Dolby Pro Logic IIx and Dolby Headphone DSP layers, which simulate 7.1 surround. The headphones feature 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency response, 120 dB ±3 dB sound pressure level, 30 mW output, and 30 ? impedance. The microphone is suspended on a flexible coil-based arm. It has an omni-directional pickup pattern. It features -58 dB ± 3 dB sensitivity, 100 Hz to 2 kHz frequency response, and 2.2 ? impedance.

Chuang’s death due to long hours of gaming marks the second time in Taiwan that a person has died from extended gameplay.

Apple awarded patents for OpenCL and dock with moveable connector Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-awarded-patents-for-opencland-dock-with-moveable-connector/16702.html July 18th, 2012

The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has awarded Apple 25 more patents, two of which include Apple’s OpenCL, and a moveable connector in iDevices docking systems. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has awarded Apple 25 more patents, two of which include Apple’s OpenCL, and a moveable connector in iDevices docking systems. Sharkoon is asking 119.99€ (S$185.75) for the X-Tatic S7.

July 18th, 2012

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Without going into too many details in regard to Apple’s OpenCL, the OpenCL patent covers the Apple’s hardware and software leverage of CPUs and GPUs parallel processing. Supposedly, “traditional” GPUs and CPUs are configured with different programming environment, and therefore it's difficult for an application to fully utilize the available processing powers of both GPUs and CPUs. “A computer implemented method comprising: determining, in response to an API (Application Programming Interface) request from an application running in a host processing unit, a total number of threads to concurrently execute one or more executable codes compiled from a single source for one or more target processing units, the API request including a global thread number having a multi-dimensional value; verifying if a thread group size has been specified by a particular one of the executable codes, the particular executable code to be executed in a particular one of the one or more target processing units, the thread group size to partition the total number of threads; in response to verifying the thread group size has not been specified by a particular one of the executable codes, determining the thread group size for the particular target processing unit based on current resource usage status of the particular target processing unit; and loading the particular executable code of the one or more executable codes to be executed in a thread group of the thread group size concurrently in the particular target processing unit.” According to Patently Apple, OpenCL allows: “…an application to perform a task using any available processing resources, such as CPUs and one or more GPUs, capable of performing the task.”

The moveable connector patent for iDevices docking is straightforward. The connector portion of an iDevice dock has a swivel-like mechanism that allows the connector to move back and forth.

Apple Most Popular Phone for Prospective Buyers? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-most-popular-phone-forprospective-buyers-/16701.html July 18th, 2012

A new survey has shown that most people planning on purchasing a new smartphone are likely to purchase an Apple iPhone... as long as they already own an iPhone. How many people do you think plan on buying an Apple iPhone? Turns out, it’s almost everyone. At least, as long as they already own one. According to a new survey of 400 consumers by Gene Munster, an analyst for Piper Jaffray, found that 65% of phone owners say that they expect their next phone to be an iPhone. Compare that number to the 19% who plan on buying an Android phone, 6.5% who won’t be purchasing a smartphone, 6% who aren’t sure, and 2.5% who plan on purchasing a Blackberry, and you’ll see that among those surveyed, Apple’s device far outstrips any of its competitors. It is worth mentioning, however, that 52% of the survey group already owned an iPhone, which more than likely skews the results towards Apple’s devices. Munster acknowledges this, but still says that he thinks the iPhone

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can boost Apple’s share in the smartphone market from roughly 20% to roughly 30% by 2015. 51% of those who planned on buying an iPhone are waiting on the iPhone 5, which to Munster means that roughly 85 million iPhones are already as good as sold, based on his prediction of 170 million iPhones in 2013 and the results of this survey. Also, 94% of iPhone users in the survey group plan on buying an iPhone for the next phone as well, which is a very good thing for Apple, considering that the iPhone now accounts for more than 50% of Apple’s revenue. While very interesting, the weighting of the study towards iPhone owners leaves me highly skeptical towards any conclusions drawn from the data. In fact, after removing the iPhone users from the data, a surprising shift happens. I feel that I should mention at this point that this is backof-the-napkin math and should in no way be taken as conclusive. With 65% of those surveyed planning on purchasing an iPhone, and 52% of the survey group owning an iPhone (with 94% of those planning on purchasing another), that means that only around 14% of those surveyed plan on purchasing an iPhone without ever having owned one. After removing iPhone users, 38% plan on purchasing an Android phone, 28% plan on purchasing an iPhone, 13% will not purchase a smartphone, 12% are undecided, and 5% plan on purchasing a Blackberry. This new set of data seems to indicate exactly the opposite of the analyst’s conclusions. More studies need to be conducted to confirm or refute Munster’s findings, but I personally feel that, outside of Apple’s walled garden, Android phones still reign supreme.

Apple Granted Patent on Displaying Lists and Documents Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-granted-patent-on-displayinglists-and-documents/16699.html July 18th, 2012

Apple has, after waiting five years, been granted a patent on how lists and documents are displayed in a mobile operating system. After more than five years, Apple has finally been granted a key patent relating to the way lists and documents are displayed within a mobile operating system. Yesterday, patent number 8,223,134 was granted to the Cupertinobased company for “Portable electronic device, method, and graphical user interface for displaying electronic lists and documents.” According to the patent’s description, the technology relies on a touch-screen display and includes the function for displaying lists and documents as well as how they look on a mobile device. Given the current patent wars raging among mobile companies, it is entirely possible that this patent will find its way into the fierce legal disputes between Apple and Samsung, though other operating systems display both

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documents and lists, putting them potentially within Apple’s crosshairs as well. With that said, it’s still not clear exactly how broad or narrow the scope of this patent is and whether or not Apple will choose to include it in future litigation. The mobile giant files for and receives a huge number of patents every year, but many of them are never utilized. With the sheer number of ways this patent can be implemented, however, it seems to be a very important patent and would seem to be geared towards use in litigation. Apple writes in the patent that “[in] some embodiments, the functions may include telephoning, video conferencing, emailing, instant messaging, blogging, digital photographing, digital videoing, web browsing, digital music playing, and/ or digital video playing. Instructions for performing these functions may be included in a computer program product configured for execution by one or more processors.” The patent granting comes just one day before its major opponent, Samsung, announced its plans to acquire 21 patents in a $310 million deal inked with semiconductor company CSR. Those patents relate to handset connectivity and mobile location technologies.

Man Thrown Out Of McDonald's Because Of Wearable Computer Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/man-thrown-out-of-mcdonald-sbecause-of-wearable-computer/16697.html July 18th, 2012

A man was assaulted and thrown out of a McDonald's in Paris because of a Google-Glass-like device attached to his skull. With Google’s new Glass making huge waves among developers and consumers, it might be a good time to consider some possible downsides to the technology that might not be immediately apparent as you fork over $1,500 for a prototype. For instance, employees of McDonald’s in France might try and strip it off of your head while you try and enjoy the food you just purchased. Professor Steve Mann of the University of Toronto wrote an extensive blog post that reveals an unexpected collision of privacy, culture, and the future of personal technology; while visiting Paris, Mann alleges that employees of the McDonald’s he went to assaulted him and tried to physically and aggressively remove a wearable computer eyepiece called the EyeTap, similar to the Google Glass, though developed by Mann and worn by him in various iterations for over 13 years. Like Google’s augmented reality device, the EyeTap displays information in Mann’s field of view as well as operating as a camera. Unlike Google’s device, however, the device is “permanently attached” to Mann and cannot be removed from his skull “without special tools.” Mann says that while he and his family were sitting by a window and eating, a McDonald’s employee pulled at the device, damaged it, and brusquely pushed him out of the 13

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restaurant after tearing up a doctor’s note explaining his medical need to wear it. While Mann doesn’t explain in his post exactly what medical condition requires him to wear the device, he also doesn’t explain exactly why the McDonald’s staff had such a hostile reaction to the EyeTap. He implies in the post that the employees may have objected to him using what they saw as a recording device, pointing to a story of another American who claimed to have been manhandled by Parisian McDonald’s employees after taking a picture of the menu and forced to erase the picture. Mann has yet to respond to questions about his experience. A spokesperson for McDonald’s said that the company takes “the claims and feedback of our customers very seriously. We are in the process of gathering information about this situation and we ask for patience until all of the facts are known.” If the employees’ goal was to prevent surveillance in their restaurant, then they failed. Mann’s eyepiece took several photos which show his alleged assailants faces and ID badges, though the versions posted on his blog have been obscured, labeling them instead as Perpetrators 1, 2 and 3. Mann says that normally the device does not record his vision, though if “the computer is damaged, e.g. by falling and hitting the ground (or by a physical assault), buffered pictures for processing remain in its memory, and are not overwritten with new ones by the then non-functioning computer vision.” Therefore, “Perpetrator 1’s actions” caused images to be captured that would not otherwise have been, meaning that he caused himself and others within the restaurant to be photographed by damaging the Eye Glass. If this account holds true, McDonald’s owes Mann a huge apology. The internet community has already pulled out their proverbial torches and pitchforks over the story; by early Monday evening, users had posted the personal phone numbers and email addresses of McDonald’s CEO David Thompson and other major executives within the company, though these were later deleted. A boycott of the company has also been called for. Setting aside the actions of perhaps a group of allegedly violent luddites, the story still raises some very tough questions about ubiquitous surveillance, wearable technology and even cybernetic enhancement. After all, Mann’s device allows any user to record their experience with almost no indication to those being recorded that they are on camera, much like Google’s Glass. Despite his allegations that the device only took images of the employees because it was damaged, Mann’s work on the device in the past has emphasized its potential for live broadcasting of what it sees over the internet and “sousvelliance,” or the ability for individuals to record authority figures rather than being recorded. In one essay, he even used the term “cyborglog” to describe recording all of a person’s experiences with a wearable computer, and that devices like this would be to the individual what a “black box” flight recorded is to airplanes. This also isn’t the first time Mann has had a run-in with authorities over his personal technology. According to Wired, he was removed from a Wal-Mart and has had conflicts with the New York City police and the Secret Service. He even missed the premiere of a film about him at the SXSW Festival in 2002 because airport security refused to allow him to board a plane with his gadgets.

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With the Google Glass and possible competeing products form Apple and Olympus, a persistent and pervasive surveillance state could become inevitable as governments and corporations track and subpoena data gathered by the devices for various purposes. On the other hand, authorities will be under surveillance just as much as the general populace, meaning that technology like this might be a huge force for the protection of individual freedoms and liberties. However, unless you enjoy being thrown out of restaurants and banned from government buildings, don’t bolt your fancy new device to your head.

Scary giant snakes in Resident Evil 6 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/scary-giant-snakes-in-residentevil-6/16698.html July 18th, 2012

Zombies aren’t limited to just average sized humanoids (sometimes bigger than the average jock), and Resident Evil 6 will have small zombies, medium zombies, big zombies, and giant zombies. Okay, totally redundant, but too many zombies of the same looks and sizes get boring. Fans had a sneak peak and hands on of the next installment of Resident Evil last week at Comic-Con in San Diego, CA. They were able to play three missions for each of the three main characters—Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, and Jake Muller. What’s scarier than a zombie? Good question. If you have a fear of slithery cold-blooded things then Resident Evil 6 will give you a good dose of giant zombie snakes (okay, it might not be a zombie, because snakes look like zombies even if they’re not). Whatever Resident Evil 6 have in store for us, we all know for sure that there will be zombies. Play the game in a dimly lit room with an energy drink if you want your senses to tingle just a bit more during those sudden “in your face zombies” moments (disclaimer: may or may not work—no studies to back up claims).

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Trailer? Of course:

When Apple Loses, The Consumer Wins Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/when-apple-loses-the-consumerwins/16694.html July 18th, 2012

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It was not too long ago that Mozilla released Firefox 13, and not surprisingly Firefox 14 is now available. Despite the quick transition from version 13 to 14, Mozilla claims to have fixed a lot of issues that were present in version 13. It was not too long ago that Mozilla released Firefox 13, and not surprisingly Firefox 14 is now available. Despite the quick transition from version 13 to 14, Mozilla claims to have fixed a lot of issues that were present in version 13. Some of the bugs that were present in version 13 were not intrusive to everyday uses, but they were annoying enough that Mozilla had to provide a quick update to their Firefox browser.

Motorola won a small victory today in Germany where a court ruled that the Motorola Xoom tablet does not infringe on the design of the iPad. This decision is a notable rebuke of Apple’s attempt to quash any competition through legal maneuvering. Apple has notoriously brought suit against both Motorola and Samsung, claiming that their products infringe upon Apple’s patented designs. In recent weeks Apple has been able to ban two Samsung tablets in Germany, and it has obtained an injunction on the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 in the United States. Moreover, Apple has gone as far as targeting specific retailers that are selling their remaining Galaxy 10.1 tablets. It seems that the courts may finally be starting to push back. Unfortunately for the American consumer, this has no direct impact on pending litigation in the United States. This decision does, however, indicate that there may be a growing worldwide sentiment that Apple is going too far. Will this change the course that Apple takes in enforcing its patents around the world? Probably not. But, this could certainly cause some consumers to think twice about Apple’s business practices, and punish the company where it hurts the most – the bottom line.

Security fixes in Firefox 14 range from critical to moderate, and none of which are significant enough for average users to abandon the browser. However, web developers may be happy with some of the fixes help debugging and development a little easier. Check out the full security fixes summary here. Mozilla claims that version 14 has an improved site identity manager, which “prevents spoofing of and SSL connection with favicons.” Also, version 14 addressed the JavaScriptCSS conflict present in version 13. Again, this fix probably applies more towards developers. Version 14 is not completely stable, and there are “unresolved” issues that Mozilla may address in the next patch. One key issues in version 14 is that the browser will crash if it’s launched while using a locked profile. Check out the full report on Firefox 14.

Another unlikely winner in this decision may be Research in Motion. Just last week, Nokia filed three additional infringement claims against RIM in Germany. If today’s decision is any indication, other courts in Germany may be growing tired of the bickering between technology giants. This is especially evidenced by the fact that both Apple and Motorola’s claims were dismissed. In effect, they both won and they both lost. A similar decision would be a welcome result for RIM. In the end, the real winner here is the consumer. Hopefully, these companies will finally realize that it should be the consumers who decide which product is better – not judges. Image Credits: Amazon

Firefox 14 now available, but still buggy Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/firefox-14-now-available-but-stillbuggy/16695.html July 18th, 2012

July 20th, 2012

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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

CyanogenMod 9 for your mothers: RC2 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/cyanogenmod-9-for-your-mothersrc2/16747.html July 20th, 2012

Despite recent reports that the CyanogenMod team may stop development of CM9 in favor of the latest Jelly Bean-based CM10, the team has just released CM9 RC2 with support for additional devices. Despite recent reports that the CyanogenMod team may stop development of CM9 in favor of the latest Jelly Bean-based CM10, the team has just released CM9 RC2 with support for additional devices. The RC2 release adds further stability to CM9, and according to the team, it's something that even “your mom” will be able to use. The team added CM9 support for the following devices: • Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (all variants)

Diablo III may have been the biggest PC-game launch ever, but it didn't get the best reception ever. Server side and in-game errors plagued the game from day 1, and after two months, many fans are still unhappy with the game’s lack of content. Diablo III may have been the biggest PC-game launch ever, but it didn't get the best reception ever. Server side and in-game errors plagued the game from day 1, and after two months, many fans are still unhappy with the game’s lack of content. A few weeks ago, a Blizzard admitted that Diablo III doesn’t have enough end-game sustainability, and yesterday Blizzard CEO, Mike Morhaime, also admitted that the game is lacking. In a rather long message to fans on the official forum, Morhaime pointed out Diablo III’s early missteps, and how Blizzard rectified it. However, he also pointed out that the game is lacking in content—which, to many is the ultimate failure of Diablo III. “…we want people to continue playing and enjoying Blizzard games for a very long time.” Morhaime is hoping that patch 1.1 will help convince players to stay loyal to the game through an added PvP mode. “I know many of you are also looking forward to patch 1.1, our PvP update, which will provide new experiences and give you a whole new way to apply the skills you've picked up while battling demons. This patch will also build on the social and auction house changes I mentioned above, and the team will continue to fix bugs and further tune game balance as well.”

• Samsung Galaxy Note AT&T

He also promises that Blizzard is working on a gameplay system that will “provide players who have max-level, highpowered characters new goals to strive for as an alternative to the ‘item hunt’.”

• Samsung Galaxy S III (i9300, international GSM model)

There are no time frames for when Blizzard will implement the new gameplay system or patch 1.1.

• Samsung Galaxy S II AT&T (Skyrocket) • Samsung Galaxy S II T-Mobile (Hercules)

Important: The S3 release is only for the international version with the Exynos chip, NOT the U.S. Snapdragon version.

Blizzard CEO addresses unhappy Diablo III players

Read the Morhaime’s full message here.

Zalman Set to Launch CNPS14X by Late-July Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/zalman-set-to-launch-cnps14x-bylate-july/16745.html July 20th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blizzard-ceo-addresses-unhappydiablo-iii-players/16746.html July 20th, 2012

Although shown to the world at this year's Computex event, and reviewed by a select few sources, Zalman's new 1

July 20th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

CNPS14X dual-stack CPU cooler will be generally available only towards the end of July.

of the fans are possible. The central fan spins at speeds of 950-1,350 ±10% RPM, with noise levels of 17-21 dBA.

According to sources among a leading distributor in Japan, Zalman CNPS14X CPU cooler will be generally available towards the end of July, 2012. In Japan, it will hit retail stores by the 25th, priced at 5,480 JPY after taxes (S $87.6).

The Zalman CNPS14X supports nearly every CPU socket type available in the market today, including Intel LGA2011, LGA1155/1156, LGA1366, LGA775; AMD FM1, and AM3+/ AM3/AM2+/AM2.

NZXT Hale82 750W PSU Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nzxt-hale82-750w-psureview/16744.html July 20th, 2012

Pictured above, the Computer Noise Prevention System (CNPS) 14X is Zalman's newest high-end CPU air cooler. Measuring 140 x 126 x 159.3 mm (W x D x H), and weighing 875 g, it classifies under the "large" category of CPU coolers.

NZXT is a renowned manufacturer of high quality computer cases, with one of the biggest selections available today. However, the company has been trying to diversify toward related products and recently released several new power supply units with interesting specifications. Thus, today we are not having a look at any of their cases but at the Hale82 750W power supply instead, a promising modular unit featuring an 80Plus Bronze certification. NZXT is a renowned manufacturer of high quality computer cases, with one of the biggest selections available today. However, the company has been trying to diversify toward related products and recently released several new power supply units with interesting specifications. Thus, today we are not having a look at any of their cases but at the Hale82 750W power supply instead, a promising modular unit featuring an 80Plus Bronze certification.

At the heart of its design is a pair of aluminum fin stacks, to which heat is conveyed by six 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes, which pass through a polished copper CPU base. The heat pipes make indirect contact with the CPU over a slab of copper.

• 80+ Bronze Certification - The HALE82 series from NZXT operates with high efficiency: at 20%, 50%, and 100% loads, efficiencies are 82%, 85%, and 82% respectively. • 100% Japanese Capacitors - High quality components promote longer lifespan and better reliability. • 120mm Two-Ball Bearing Fan - For smooth, silent rotation and optimal air intake. • Strong Single +12V Rail - A single +12V rail provides stability and ease of use with the ability to deliver clean currents under a heavy load. • Modular Design - Includes a selection of flat cables that allow the user to pick and choose which cables they want to use, maximizing cable management and airflow inside chassis. • Large Tower Support - Extended 8pin connector for bottom mounted cases or large cases. • Dual 8pin connector - For high end motherbaords dedicated to overclocking.

A custom-design 140 mm fan is nestled between the two aluminum fin stacks, which pulls air from one stack, and pushes it through the other. The fan can be augmented by two 140 mm fans strapped on to either sides of the heatsink. According to Zalman, a total of 7 arrangements

• Keeping it Safe - The HALE80 series offers over voltage, current, power, temperature, under voltage, and short circuit protection.

July 20th, 2012

ECS First Motherboard Vendor to Support AMP Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ecs-first-motherboard-vendor-tosupport-amp/16743.html July 20th, 2012

ECS announced that it's the first motherboard vendor to support the AMP (AMD Memory Profile) standard. Think of AMP as the company's equivalent to Intel XMP. It's certainly not the first time AMD toyed with custom SPD standards. ECS announced that it's the first motherboard vendor to support the AMP (AMD Memory Profile) standard. Think of AMP as the company's equivalent to Intel XMP. It's certainly not the first time AMD toyed with custom SPD standards.

ECS' current (by means of a BIOS update) and upcoming motherboards will feature support for AMP, a SPD customprofile standard along the lines of Intel XMP (eXtreme Memory Profile). The standard allows memory vendors to ship their modules with tiny bits of firmware that tell the system BIOS what specifications the module is capable of, which exceed JEDEC-governed specifications. These include high DRAM clock speeds, the right DRAM timings to support it, and just the right DRAM voltages to support the two. Memory with high advertised DRAM speeds don't run at them out of the box, and require manual overclocking, which can be avoided by features such as XMP and the new AMP.

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Settings related to AMP are found in similar BIOS configuration pages as Intel XMP, the M.I.B. III (system overclocking) section. AMP-certified modules will typically ship with multiple SPD profiles, some JEDEC-certified, and one or more AMP certified; again much like Intel XMP certified modules.

An interesting trivia here is that AMP isn't AMD's first attempt at custom SPD profiles. The company has had a standard known as AMD Black Edition Memory, which works in a similar way to AMP, except that you need to enable the advertised speed profile using AMD's Overdrive software. An example of such memory modules is pictured above. Interestingly, Patriot Memory is an OEM for AMD Radeon-branded memory, which is resold by tertiary partners such as VisionTek.

AMD AMP could gain relevance in the coming months, when the company's second-generation desktop APUs, codenamed "Trinity" launch, with a contingent of socket compatible FM2 motherboards. Also planned for later this year is AMD's new core-logic for socket AM3+ "Vishera" second-generation FX processors. Opportinities aplenty for the likes of ECS.

Namco embraces Kickstarter-style model for pre-orders of Ni No Kuni Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/namco-embraces-kickstarter-stylemodel-for-pre-orders-of-ni-no-kuni/16742.html July 20th, 2012

Namco Bandai is taking a leaf out out of Kickstarter's book with a unique approach to pre-orders for the Wizard's Edition of its upcoming Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Namco Bandai is taking a leaf out out of Kickstarter's book with a unique approach to pre-orders for the Wizard's 3

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Edition of its upcoming Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. North American customers can take part in the aptlytitled Ninostarter, a crowd sourcing initiative that rewards a higher number of pre-orders by unlocking additional items to be included in the Wizard's Edition. The PlayStation 3 exclusive does not launch until 22 January 2013, but gamers only have until 31 August of this year, 41 days away, to make their pre-orders, and to encourage their friends and family, and perhaps total strangers, to preorder too if they don't want to miss out on the higher tiers of goodies.

Published by: VR-Zone July 20th, 2012

Finnish mobile firm Nokia has been downgraded by a credit ratings agency as analysts fail to see how its deal with Microsoft for Windows Phone devices is paying off. Finnish mobile firm Nokia has been downgraded by a credit ratings agency as analysts fail to see how its deal with Microsoft for Windows Phone devices is paying off. Credit agency Fitch Ratings lowered Nokia's rating from BB + to BB- after the company posted a net loss of a whopping $1.72 billion, almost four times the loss it made in the same quarter of last year. The agency also said Nokia's long-term outlook is “negative” and that it is “not convinced that the company will be able to stabilise revenues and reach an operating profit breakeven point.”

The current version of the Wizard's Edition includes the game itself, a 300-page hardback Wizard's Companion spellbook and bestiary, a plushie of Drippy, the helpful guide of the story, and the exclusive Golden Mite and Golden Drongo in-game familiars. At the time of writing the Ninostarter project has 2507 fans and progress towards the first pre-order goal is at 35 percent. It does not say what will be unlocked then, but we suppose that's half the fun of it. Let's just hope that it will be worthwhile after begging all and sundry to grab a copy. Kickstarter has been a popular way for game studios to secure funding, but Namco's approach is a relatively new method for enticing pre-orders of the limited edition. If it catches on it could be copied by other big name gaming companies.

Shares for Nokia have fallen around 80 percent since the seemingly ill-fated deal with Microsoft in February 2011. There was some good news as investors helped shares rally 12 percent on Thursday after Nokia revealed it still had a large cash pile at its disposal. This was short lived, however, as stocks fell again by five percent today among renewed fears about the company's future. Nokia plans to release a new set of Lumia smartphones in September, but previous Lumia models have failed to take the world by storm, and many analysts see Windows Phone 8 as the only saving grace available to Nokia. Even then, it is expected that it will take time for such devices to catch on.

The Wizard's Edition is available for pre-order for $99.99.

Nokia gets downgraded as Microsoft deal fails to deliver Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-gets-downgraded-asmicrosoft-deal-fails-to-deliver/16741.html

Google enhances maps of Europe, Africa and Asia Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-enhances-maps-of-europeafrica-and-asia/16740.html

July 20th, 2012

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July 20th, 2012

HD 7970 Lightning graphics card. The company hopes to put its new FC-7970 LTG up for sale by the end of July.

Google has updated maps of a number of countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, making them more detailed and accurate.

Are you one of those who spent a big chunk of dough on MSI's flagship Radeon HD 7970 Lightning graphics card before launches of NVIDIA's GTX 680 and AMD's own HD 7970 GHz Edition, and are now uncomfortable with how close the two get to beating your card in performance? EK Water Blocks (EKWB) has just the thing for you. The Slovenian PC water-cooling expert unveiled the FC-7970 LTG.

Google has updated maps of a number of countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, making them more detailed and accurate. The maps for Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lesotho, Macau, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore and Vatican City have all been revamped. The updates add new coverage of previously unmapped terrain, such as the National Heritage Areas of Ireland, provide more detailed coastlines and bodies of water, and have more accurate names for major points of interest.

The FC-7970 LTG from EKWB is a full-coverage water block tailored for the MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning. The block covers most warm components on the obverse side of the PCB, including the Radeon HD 7970 GPU on steroids, the 12 GDDR5 memory chips, and the seventeen sets of International Rectifier DirectFETs. The reverse side of the PCB is left for the back-plate the card shipped with, there are no hot components on that side. The primary material of the block is copper, with stainless steel and acetal tops. The coolant-flow channel covers the VRM and memory areas, in addition to the GPU area. The block uses EKWB's FCLink system that makes plumming for standalone and multi-GPU setups easy.

Ferry routes are also more clearly labelled than before, and Google Maps will estimate a ferry time based on its timetables if users try planning a route for their journey. Local roads are more easily distinguished from highways, and multi-lingual names are now available for many of these roads. Google Maps for Android is also getting an update, with the maps for the 11 countries previously listed, in addition to Egypt, Poland and Ukraine, now available offline.

EKWB hopes to get the FC-7970 LTG available on the company website for purchase by 27th July. Detailed specifications and pricing will be available then.

LG Intros New PC Monitors with IPS Panel, MHL Connectivity Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lg-intros-new-pc-monitors-with-ipspanel-mhl-connectivity/16738.html July 20th, 2012

EKWB Readies Full-Coverage Water-Block for MSI R7970 Lightning Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ekwb-readies-full-coverage-waterblock-for-msi-r7970-lightning/16739.html July 20th, 2012

Slovenian PC water-cooling major EK Water Blocks (EKWB) announced a full-coverage water-block for MSI's Radeon

LG Display introduced the IPS7 series of premium desktop PC monitors. The series was given a worldwide launch. The monitors embed IPS LED-backlit LCD panels, with MHL (mobile high-definition link) feature, letting you plug it to smartphones, tablets, and cameras. LG Display introduced the IPS7 series of premium desktop PC monitors. The series was given a worldwide launch. The monitors embed IPS LED-backlit LCD panels, with MHL (mobile high-definition link) feature, letting you plug it to smartphones, tablets, and cameras. 5

July 20th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 20th, 2012

The IPS7 series make use of LG's Cinema Screen design, a USP of which is extremely thin bezels around the panel. In this case, as low as 1.2 mm-thin. LG is one of the most popular in-plane switching (IPS) LCD panel makers, and is quick to deploy its IP in these monitors, which results in horizontal and vertical viewing angles of 178Â°. The panel is LED-illuminated, and that helps reduce its thickness (exterior) to 14.1 mm.

It is no secret that Apple is one of key places where former AMD executives and engineers leave for. Over the course of past several years, we've seen quite a fair share of big names landing at the fruity company. The amount of people that left AMD for Apple is small in overall headcount but as Intel's ill-fated $4.5 billion project proved, you need key talents in order to design the incredibly complex silicon-copper-hafnium structures which make for processors of today. Furthermore, over the course of past couple of years, we've seen Apple becoming more aggressive in design of its proprietary silicon and in order to control its supply chain. Right now, Apple is in a bit of squeeze with 3rd party chips being in short supply (such as Qualcomm's baseband chips) and the company wants to change that. In order to change the reliance on 3rd parties, you need the very best engineers money can buy and if we take a look at a number of key AMD personnel that left the company (or were pushed out), there is no doubt that Apple is cooking something big in its labs.

The IPS7 series from LG is being launched with two models, the 23-inch IPS237L, and the 27-inch IPS277L. Both models feature 1920 x 1080 pixels native resolution, 5 ms response time, mega contrast-ratio, and 250 cd/ mÂ˛ brightness. Its feature-set includes hardware colourcalibration, an aggressive power-saving mode, and 6-axis control. Apart from MHL, the display supports standard HDMI using an adapter cable. Commenting on the launch, J.J. Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the IT Business Unit of the LG Home Entertainment Company, said "by combining CINEMA SCREEN Design and MHL functionality with the industry's leading IPS technology, the IPS7 series is able to offer stunning design and performance," adding "with the rapid growth in the number of mobile smart devices such as smartphones and tablets, the availability of content has greatly expanded. LG's IPS7 expands the user experience, enabling viewers to take full advantage of this content-rich environment." Since this is a worldwide launch, LG did not reveal pricing, as it varies greatly between markets.

Former ATI, AMD Engineers Gather at Apple: Desktop and Mobile Chips Incoming? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/former-ati-amd-engineers-gather-atapple-desktop-and-mobile-chips-incoming-/16708.html

Both Raja Koduri (CTO, AMD) and Bob Drebin (CTO, AMD) left AMD/ATI quite some time ago, and are now serving senior executive roles (Raja is now CTO at Apple, while Bob serves as Senior Director). The most recent addition is not the one without a mark - John Bruno carries quite a long history of roles first at ATI, then at AMD. John was the driving force behind ATI's entrance into the chip business, and his last project at AMD was the 2012 Comal platform, with the key part being the Trinity APU. Sadly for John, AMD's senior management obviously saw no use of a man whose projects generated vast amounts of revenue for AMD. It is no secret that a lot of industry insiders heavily criticize the (in)competency of the current Chief Financial Officer, who according to the sources "could not see a golden geese even if he tripped on it". This is a direct quote from a person that generated several billion dollars in revenue to AMD, and was swiftly dropped after Rory Read took office. Forgetting what's going on with AMD, we view the hiring of John Bruno as a key sign that the crew that left AMD in 2009 now has quite a lot of say inside the walls of Cupertino 6

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HQ - and hiring the very best people is something they will do. With John Bruno, Apple perhaps gained one last piece of the puzzle needed to drive the development of its large-scale processors for powerful processors. Now for the obligatory part to Apple-focused blogs that read news like these - hiring John Bruno does not mean Apple will come with desktop chips in 2013, because it takes anywhere between 3-5 years to bring a completely new platform to market. Thus, Apple will be using IntelAMD-NVIDIA-Qualcomm parts in foreseeable future, but the core team that brought miracles with a very tight budget is now in place. And Apple has enough R&D budget to create everything Raja, Bob, John wanted to create, but were not allowed to. We wonder, will Carrell Killebrew, the ideological father of Eyefinity and numerous GPU architectures (both at ATI and AMD) be the next in line to be 'acquired' by Apple?

Intel reveals more than 20 Windows 8 tablets on the way Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-reveals-more-than-20windows-8-tablets-on-the-way/16736.html July 20th, 2012

Intel has confirmed that more than 20 Windows 8 tablets are on the way, which makes for a promising mobile device launch for Microsoft's next version of its popular operating system. Intel has confirmed that more than 20 Windows 8 tablets are on the way, which makes for a promising mobile device launch for Microsoft's next version of its popular operating system. The chip giant's CEO, Paul Otellini, said that the company is “tracking more than 20 Windows 8 tablet designs based on our low-power and low-cost Clover Trail Atom SOC, in addition to a number of Core-based tablets.”

Intel will be competing with ARM, the firm powering the Windows RT tablets, which will likely take up a larger share of the market, thanks to their lower price tags. However, Microsoft is not leaving Intel out of the picture, embracing the Core i5 processor for the “Pro” version of its own-

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branded Surface tablet, which should come in at around the same price as an Ultrabook. Otellini also said that there are over 140 Ivy Bridge-based Ultrabooks on the horizon, ensuring Intel's dominance in a variety of mobile fields. He expects to see $699 Intelpowered Ultrabooks in Autumn. Windows 8 will release on 26 October.

Microsoft enhances Xbox Live security Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-enhances-xbox-livesecurity/16735.html July 20th, 2012

Microsoft has improved the security of its Xbox Live service, including legal action to remove usernames and passwords uploaded to the internet, unique security codes sent to phones and secondary emails, and under-the-bonnet improvements to the software. Microsoft has improved the security of its Xbox Live service, including legal action to remove usernames and passwords uploaded to the internet, unique security codes sent to phones and secondary emails, and under-the-bonnet improvements to the software. Perhaps the biggest change is one that is behind the scenes, a number of enhancements that went live with the Spring update to the service. Microsoft said that these will help it add further security improvements in the near future. For obvious reasons it did not specify what these changes were. One change that users will notice is the sending of security codes to mobile phones and secondary email addresses whenever someone makes a purchase or account change that does not come come from the member's trusted device. This will act as a significant protection from fraudulent activity, requiring hackers to jump through an extra, much harder hoop.

Microsoft is also embracing a number of legal options to protect accounts. It has taken legal action against websites that host ill-gotten gamertags, usernames and passwords, 7

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many of which are obtained via malware or phishing schemes. The company is hoping to discourage identity theft, stealing accounts, and credit card fraud by threatening account bans, console bans, and criminal prosecution. “The internet has transformed the way we purchase goods and services and added layers of convenience to our lives. Yet, disappointingly, online fraud increasingly victimises millions of unsuspecting consumers each year,” said Alex Garden, GM of Xbox Live. “That is why our resolve at Microsoft to battle fraud and our commitment to account security is stronger than ever. I hope you'll take a few moments to protect your account today.”

Botnet responsible for 18 percent of world's spam taken down Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/botnet-responsible-for-18-percentof-world-s-spam-taken-down/16734.html July 20th, 2012

Security firm FireEye, spam tracker SpamHaus, and local ISPs have shut down a botnet that they claim was responsible for 18 percent of the world's spam. Security firm FireEye, spam tracker SpamHaus, and local ISPs have shut down a botnet that they claim was responsible for 18 percent of the world's spam. The botnet, called Grum, had control servers located in Panama, Russia and Ukraine, with controllers of the network redirecting to secondary servers as the net closed in on them. Hunting down the servers in Ukraine was particularly challenging, given its prior reputation as a “safe haven” for such operations, but FireEye pressured ISPs to suspend the servers there, which will serve as a stark warning to spammers who think that relocation is an option.

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As many as 20,000 computers are part of the botnet, but without the command and control servers they are ineffective. Spam, the bane of the internet, may become a thing of the past as more botnets are shut down across the world. Bredolab, a botnet responsible for a whopping three billion spam emails every day, was shut down by Dutch police in 2010, and its mastermind, Georgiy Avanesov, was jailed earlier this year. “Grum's takedown resulted from the efforts of many individuals,” said Atif Mushtaq, security researcher at FireEye. “This collaboration is sending a strong message to all the spammers: Stop sending us spam. We don't need your cheap Viagra or fake Rolex.”

London 2012 Olympics embraces social media Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/london-2012-olympics-embracessocial-media/16733.html July 20th, 2012

The London 2012 Summer Olympics is embracing social media, including live athlete questions and answers, blogs of the events, and feeds from a wide variety of websites, including Facebook and Twitter. The London 2012 Summer Olympics is embracing social media, including live athlete questions and answers, blogs of the events, and feeds from a wide variety of websites, including Facebook and Twitter. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set up the Olympic Athlete's Hub, which aggregates a variety of social streams. The Inside the Olympic Village page provides a live Q&A with athletes, keeping fans in touch with their favourite competitors. Instagram is collaborating with the IOC for “Faces of Olympians,” which will show a collection of athlete photos throughout the Games. With over 30,000 followers in just 60 days, this medium will be a huge outlet for Olympic fever. The Olympic Challenge social game will launch soon, allowing fans to make predictions for the outcome of each event. A leaderboard will show who is making the most accurate forecasts, and integration with Facebook and Open Graph means predictions can be shared and friends can compete with each other for the winning outcome.

July 20th, 2012

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pioneers ASUS and Gigabyte, the three companies have been battling at the top since the early days for the mindshare and wallets of system integrators and DIY builders. Today we look at the MSI Z77A-GD65, a mainstream ATX board that is positioned below their premium GD80 offering. Although Intel Z77 Panther Point based offerings have been released for almost one quarter already, most of us enthusiasts have got the impression the manufacturers have only finally sorted out their pesky BIOS firmware bugs, especially when it comes to overclocking.

More Olympics coverage will be found on Tumblr blogs, a special Olympic Ticket badge can be obtained on Foursquare, free tickets are up for grabs on Facebook, and athletes are engaging fans on Google+. “The Athletes’ Hub has already compiled Twitter and Facebook feeds of over 2,000 verified Olympians. The additions we are announcing today further demonstrate the IOC’s continued efforts to socialize the Olympic Games and create a better, more engaging experience for fans and Olympic athletes around the world,” said Mark Adams, Director of Communications for the International Olympic Committee.

The packaging of the Z77A-GD65 is typical of MSI's recent box designs, with the manufacturer keen to stress the durability credentials of its "Military Class III" components.

“Social media has been a great way to connect with fans and share not just my stories but the stories of other amazing people and athletes,” said Oscar Pistorius, South African sprint runner. “I regularly use it to share my experiences and provide inspiration for those who are overcoming obstacles or just need an extra push to remember that hard work pays off. I am truly blessed and thrilled to be participating in the 2012 London Olympics and look forward to sharing my Olympic experiences with the social media community and inspiring young athletes to do amazing things.”

MSI Z77A-GD65 Review: Military Class for Ivy Bridge Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/msi-z77a-gd65-review-military-classfor-ivy-bridge/16662.html July 20th, 2012

Over the next few weeks we will be featuring a slate of motherboards for mainstream DIY system builders to high end enthusiasts. First up is MSI's Z77A-GD65, a solid value offering that should satisfy the needs of most Ivy Bridge users who wants to overclock. Taiwan based MSI (also known as Micro-Star International), is one of the world's largest makers of computer motherboards and video cards. Together with fellow early

Accessories wise we get the standard SATA cables and I/O shield, as well as a single SLi ribbon connector and wires for connecting to the voltage probe points on the motherboard. 9

July 20th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 20th, 2012

Ferrari makes expensive super cars, and its brand/logos on anything can, seemingly, make an object worth much more than it is. Logic3 and Ferrari have teamed up to create inear and over-ear headphones that may burn a hole people’s pocket—as opposed to burning rubber. Car enthusiasts, rejoice, or not, totally up to you. If you can’t afford an actual Ferrari, then perhaps you can pick up a Ferrari-inspired headphone for a couple hundred bucks. The Cavallino collection range from $366 to $209, and the Scuderia collection range from $327 to $156. What makes it even more authentic? You can snatch up one of these headphones from the official Ferrari store. Here we have the block diagram of the Z77 platform, key improvements over the previous 6-series generation being PCIe 3.0 and native USB 3.0 support.

Now if you’re feeling like a big spender, you can take your passion for Ferrari even further. For $956 you can have your very own Ferrari Cavallino Rampante GT1, and for $628 you can own a Scuderia Ferrari FS1. There are other options in between the two aforementioned. Oh, I forgot to mention that they’re all audio docking stations with a slick remote.

Russia labels nonprofits as "foreign agents" Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/russia-labels-nonprofits-as-foreignagents-/16731.html July 20th, 2012

Russian legislators have recently passed a controversial Internet bill that the United Nations feel will impede the ongoing open conversations between the government and its people.

Logic3 and Ferrari team up to make slick headphones Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/logic3-and-ferrari-team-up-to-makeslick-headphones/16732.html

Russian legislators have recently passed a controversial Internet bill that the United Nations feel will impede the ongoing open conversations between the government and its people. According to The New York Times, the new bill will allow the Russian government to block websites that are considered “dangerous to children,” and nonprofits will be identified 10

July 20th, 2012

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as “foreign agents” if they receive financing from outside of Russia and if the government considers the organization to be engaged in “political activities.”

other publishers, it will allow Amazon to create a monopoly. The e-book monopoly, Sen. Schumer claims, will allow Amazon to set the price of almost all future e-book products.

Navi Pillay, UN’s high commissioner for human rights, says that the legislations are “stif[ling] all criticism of government authorities and limit the ability of individuals to address the issues of transparency, corruption and abuse of power.”

Apple filed a 31-page formal response to the DOJ back in May, stating that it did not “conspire” with publishers to promote sales of e-books on the iPad.

She also urged the Russian government to “avoid taking further steps backward to a more restrictive era.” The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by saying: “We consider Ms. Pillay’s statement as unbefitting to her status as high commissioner and attempts to publicly accuse the leaders of the Russian state of failing to carry out some kinds of ‘promises’ — as outside the framework of diplomatic ethics.” United Russia deputy, Aleksandr Petrov, added—in a less hostile tone: “We have one goal: to try, with the help of a number of laws, to create a certain stability, to provide for the integrity of the Russian Federation. Yes, there should be political activity, but it should not be allowed to rock the boat which is called Russia.” President Vladimir V. Putin has seen increasing opposition from various individuals, groups, and organizations, as he begins his six-year term, and the recent initiatives and legislations are perhaps to help bring about stability during his presidency—nothing should “rock the boat which is called Russia.”

Senator advises DOJ to drop e-book antitrust lawsuit against Apple Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/senator-advises-doj-to-drop-e-bookantitrust-lawsuit-against-apple/16728.html July 20th, 2012

“The government starts from the false premise that an e-books ‘market’ was characterized by ‘robust price competition’ prior to Apple’s entry. This ignores a simple and incontrovertible fact: before 2010, there was no real competition, there was only Amazon.” Basically, Apple accused the DOJ of supporting Amazon’s monopolistic quest rather than competition. Sen. Schumer finalized his opinionated piece by saying that innovations in the publishing industry will become stagnant if an e-book monopoly is created. This returns to the notion that publishing is becoming more and more digitized, and if Amazon controls all aspects of e-books then it will also control the innovations.

Nexus 7 dead pixels and lifting screens Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nexus-7-dead-pixels-and-liftingscreens/16730.html July 20th, 2012

Google and Asus should have put a bit more work into quality control before they shipped some of the Nexus 7 units. Apparently, a few users on XDA have already reported dead pixels, displays that are lifting from the shell, and even some light bleeding.

The publishing industry is quickly transitioning to the clouds and digital copies, and Amazon capitalized on this transition when it released the Kindle in 2007—thereafter, capturing 90% of the e-book market. A few months ago the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple (along with other publishers), but New York Senator Charles Schumer is advising the DOJ to drop the case against Apple and other publishers. The publishing industry is quickly transitioning to the clouds and digital copies, and Amazon capitalized on this transition when it released the Kindle in 2007—thereafter, capturing 90% of the e-book market. A few months ago the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple (along with other publishers), but New York Senator Charles Schumer is advising the DOJ to drop the case against Apple and other publishers.

According to Sen. Schumer, Amazon has the majority of the e-book market share, and if the DOJ takes out Apple and 11

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Adventurous tech junkie may want to concoct home remedies for the lifting screens, and bleeding light, but dead pixels are in a league of its own. It’s quite easy to fix the screen lifting issue, and the only tool that’s required is something thin and a screwdriver. The process essentially amounts to tightening some loose screws hidden under the back plate. Full instructions can be found here.

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An average Microsoft branded keyboard and mouse may cost consumers a few bucks more than other brand peripherals, and a recent leaked image of a Microsoft wedge-like touch mouse suggests that Microsoft will continue to charge users a premium for an official Microsoft hardware. The Verge reports that the mouse will run for a cool $60.99, and quite frankly it’s too hard to tell whether or not the oddly shaped mouse is worth the money. The surface of the mouse hints that there may be multi-touch functionality.

In the end, since almost all recently purchased Nexus 7s are still under warranty, the safest route to fixing any cosmetic and hardware imperfections is to send it back to the respective retailers.

Oddly shaped Microsoft wedge mouse Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/oddly-shaped-microsoft-wedgemouse/16729.html July 20th, 2012

Microsoft’s software may run all different operating systems and devices, but that doesn’t mean that its open ended business practice has prevented it from supplying PC users with it’s own Microsoft branded peripheral. The Windows 8 release date is just around the corner, and it seems like Microsoft will launch a wedge-like mouse that may be optimized for the latest Windows release. Microsoft’s software may run all different operating systems and devices, but that doesn’t mean that its open ended business practice has prevented it from supplying PC users with it’s own Microsoft branded peripheral. The Windows 8 release date is just around the corner, and it seems like Microsoft will launch a wedge-like mouse that may be optimized for the latest Windows release.

QuakeCon Details Announced Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/quakecon-detailsannounced/16724.html

July 20th, 2012 July 20th, 2012

Details for QuakeCon, the largest North American LAN party and the largest free LAN party in the world, have been revealed for this year's event. One of the biggest conferences gamers look forward to every year is QuakeCon, the annual conference put on by id Software. A bring-your-own-computer LAN party held in Dallas, Texas, QuakeCon is the largest North American LAN party and the largest free LAN party in the world. It was first held in 1996 among members of the #quake channel of the EFnet IRC network and has since grown to its current size. More than just a multiplayer frag fest, QuakeCon is id Software’s premiere venue for showcasing new games, along with hardware and peripherals developed by companies with ties to id Software. This year’s event will open with a keynote address from John Carmack, co-founder of id Software. Various panels will take place throughout the event, including topics like “The Game of Making Games”, “Designing Multiplayer Games That Last”, and “Idle Thumbs Podcast Live: Arena”. Members of the panels will include many big industry names, such as Marty Stratton of id Software and CEO of Insomniac Games Ted Price.

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fashion or on a new PC – starting on October 26th. Earlier this month at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Tami Reller told attendees Windows 8 would be available in October. But now everyone has a specific date to mark on their calendars. It’s on mine!” Microsoft’s upcoming Windows platform will run on Intel, AMD, and ARM chips. The Windows RT Surface tablet will have an ARM chip, but the Pro Surface tablet will be Intel based. The next installment of Microsoft’s Office suite is still in beta and is not likely to launch alongside Windows 8.

Assassin's Creed: Forsaken available on Dec 4 for $9.99 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/assassin-s-creed-forsaken-availableon-dec-4-for-9.99/16726.html July 20th, 2012

Assassin’s Creed: Forsaken, written by Oliver Bowden, will be available on December 4 for $9.99. The book will depict another portion of Conner’s life—one in which readers will discover his “roots.”

Along with the games played for competition and fun, many new and upcoming games will have playable demos, including Dishonored and DOOM 3 BFG Edition. QuakeCon will be taking place at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, beginning on Thursday, August 2nd and ending on Sunday, August 5th. For more information, visit the QuakeCon website here.

Microsoft sets October 26 to launch Windows 8 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-sets-october-26-to-launchwindows-8/16727.html July 20th, 2012

Whether or not you want to jump the gun and upgrade to Windows 8 once it’s released, you may want to know that Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will launch October 26. Whether or not you want to jump the gun and upgrade to Windows 8 once it’s released, you may want to know that Microsoft has announced that Windows 8 will launch October 26. A blog post today on Windows Team Blog states: “…October 26th, 2012! That’s right! Just a few minutes ago, Steven Sinofsky announced at Microsoft’s annual sales meeting that customers will be able to get Windows 8 – whether in upgrade

Assassin’s Creed: Forsaken, written by Oliver Bowden, will be available on December 4 for $9.99. The book will depict 13

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another portion of Conner’s life—one in which readers will discover his “roots.” A spokesperson wrote that the book is: “Set during the American Revolution, Connor has sworn to secure liberty for his people and his nation and unleashes his powerful skills on the chaotic, blood-soaked battlefields of the hostile American wilderness. Assassin’s Creed: Forsaken is the story behind who Connor really is and how he has become a deadly killer.”

Assassin’s Creed: III, the game that coincides with the Bowden’s book, is set to drop October 31, and pre-orders of the “Join Or Die Edition” is now available. The Join Or Die Edition includes various bonus contents such a medallion of the Assassins, and a George Washington’s notebook that exposes “all the truths and secrets about the Assassins and the Templars during the American Revolution.” What George Washington’s notebook doesn’t include is Conner’s full background, so, in truth, the Join Or Die Edition won’t tell fans “all the truths and secrets.” So if fans want to uncover Conner’s roots, they have to purchase the book—for an additional $9.99. Next up, Assassin’s Creed: Conner’s Vengeance the motion picture on DVD and Blu-ray for $29.99 (parody statement, not meant to be taken seriously).

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A release date for the iPhone 5 is still unknown, and yet a Chinese accessories supplier already has an inventory of iPhone 5 cases. TVC-Mall has the iPhone 5 cases in eight different colors—black, white, transparent, grey, red, rose, blue, and purple. There’s absolutely no reason to believe that TVC-Mall’s product fits the sixth-gen iPhone, but heck, the listing is definitely adding to the iPhone 5 rumor mill.

Although unconfirmed, the iPhone 5 will supposedly be longer in dimension, thinner, and have a smaller dock connector. The case displayed on the TVC-Mall site shows a connector docking hole that is indeed smaller. Sometimes a manufacturer receives schematics from leaks before an official product launch announcement is made, so the TVC-Mall iPhone 5 cases may be legit. However, the site itself has a disclaimer that states: “As iPhone 5 has not been unveiled, we can’t guarantee this product can be used in iPhone 5. If you have any questions, please contact our friendly customer service representatives.” I suppose TVC-Mall isn’t confident enough in the leaks to declare that they are delivering a legitimate iPhone 5 case.

iPhone 5 cases availabe from an online supplier Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-5-cases-availabe-from-anonline-supplier/16725.html July 20th, 2012

A release date for the iPhone 5 is still unknown, and yet a Chinese accessories supplier already has an iPhone 5 cases inventory. TVC-Mall has the iPhone 5 cases in eight different colors—black, white, transparent, grey, red, rose, blue, and purple.

July 23rd, 2012

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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

ground between cheap and slow HDD and fast but expensive conventional SSDs.

Mushkin Announces Catalyst Cache SSD Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mushkin-announces-catalyst-cachessd/16787.html July 23rd, 2012

Mushkin may not be the first to the market with cache-SSDs, but its latest Catalyst series seeks to address the problem of low capacity in this class of SSDs, by being available in higher than usual capacities, to hold more "hot data."

Mushkin's approach to the concept circles around "high" capacity. Its Catalyst series of cache SSDs start at 50 GB, available at capacities as relatively high as 100 GB. Nvelo DataPlex is the governing software, the drive comes with a license to use it. The drives appear to be based on SandForce SF-2281 controller.

Cache SSDs traditionally come in capacities of around 16-32 GB, with the most capacious ones available till now, the Crucial Adrenaline, being available in sizes up to 50 GB. Pure capacity isn't a major factor beyond a point, if you understand how cache-SSDs work. A cache-SSD is that which temporarily holds frequently-accessed data on your hard drive. The frequency of access, and eligibility to reside on the cache-SSD is monitored and governed by the cachesoftware (such as Nvelo Dataplex or Intel Smart Response Technology). Data that is accessed frequently enough to be eligibe to be stored on the cache SSD is called "hot-data." The bigger the cache SSD, the more hot data can be stored (or more data can be deemed eligible for SSD storage). The OS access hot-data from the SSD, and hence most common usage on your PC becomes fast. As data on the cache SSD loses access frequency below a threshold, it is kicked out of the drive, to accommodate more hot-data. A full copy of all data on the cache SSD is available at all times, on the hard drive. SSD caching thus serves as a potent middle-

The Catalyst cache SSDs from Mushkin offer sequential speeds as high as 550 MB/s reads, with 525 MB/s writes (495 MB/s on the 50 GB model), with 90,000 IOPS 4K random write performance (85,000 IOPS on the 50 GB model). The drives are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Commenting on the launch, Mushkin's Brian Flood (director of product development) said "The Catalyst Cache SSD really is the best of both worlds. Users will experience amazing speed while maintaining large amounts of data on their computer. The best part, it's an upgrade that wont break the bank." Unfortunately the bank-saving prices Flood is talking about, are still under the wraps.

Ouya $99 Android console to be size of Rubik's Cube Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ouya-99-android-console-to-be-sizeof-rubik-s-cube/16786.html July 23rd, 2012

July 23rd, 2012

The Ouya $99 Android-based console will be as small as a Rubik's Cube, according to the renowned designer Yves Béhar.

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tied to the PC enthusiast community, high-performance solid-state drives. A picture and data-sheet of its Reflex series of client SSDs were leaked to the media.

The Ouya $99 Android-based console will be as small as a Rubik's Cube, according to the renowned designer Yves Béhar. “Our console is quite small, around the size of a Rubik's cube, and so it will easily fit anywhere in a room, or be easy to throw in a backpack,” Béhar said, adding that his team is deliberately avoiding making the console look like existing ones on the market. We noted previously that the box-shaped console resembles the Nintendo GameCube, albeit somewhat less colourful, but the size will make this device considerably different, given that a Rubik's Cube can fit into the palm of your hand.

MSI is using the trusty LSI-SandForce SF-2281 controller to drive its Reflex series, along with conventional synchronous NAND flash memory. The drive will be available in three models, 60 GB RX-60, 120 GB RX-120, and 240 GB RX-240. The three come with different performance numbers from each other. The RX-60 offers up to 525 MB/s sequential reads, up to 495 MB/s sequential writes, and up to 85,000 IOPS 4K random writes; the RX-120 comes with slightly higher numbers of up to 550 MB/s sequential reads, up to 515 MB/s sequential writes, and up to 90,000 IOPS 4K random writes; with the series being topped by RX-240, and its 560 MB/s sequential reads, up to 525 MB/s sequential writes, and up to 90,000 IOPS 4K random write performance.

The gaming system will feature a Tegra 3 quad-core ARM processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of flash storage. Games will be free-to-play, and the console will come with a controller similar in size and design to that of the Xbox and PlayStation consoles. The Ouya console garnered huge support on Kickstarter, where the $950,000 goal was easily surpassed. At the time of writing, the project has 42,346 supporters and over $5.4 million pledged. With 16 days to go, this is a console that is well on its way to reality.

MSI Enters SSD Business with Reflex Series Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/msi-enters-ssd-business-with-reflexseries/16785.html July 23rd, 2012

Being SF-2281 driven, the Reflex series has a conventional feature-set that includes TRIM, NCQ, and AES-128 native encryption. Expect pricing that's typical for similarly configured drives. Availability information is awaited.

Silent Hill: Downpour developer faces closure Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/silent-hill-downpour-developerfaces-closure/16784.html July 23rd, 2012

The developer behind the game Silent Hill: Downpour is facing the increasing likelihood of closing shop, which marks a premature demise for its new gaming project. The developer behind the game Silent Hill: Downpour is facing the increasing likelihood of closing shop, which marks a premature demise for its new gaming project.

After some more than decent motherboards and graphics cards, MSI is readying its newest product line that is closely tied to the PC enthusiast community, high-performance solid-state drives. Pictures of its Reflex series of client SSDs were leaked to the media. After some more than decent motherboards and graphics cards, MSI is readying its newest product line that is closely

Czech gaming firm Vatra Games is nearing the end of its days, according to Eurogamer sources. “The new management team at Kuju have been conducting a strategic review of all aspects of the business,” said Kuju Entertainment, which owns Vatra Games. “As part of this process, the on-going business activities of the Vatra studio 2

July 23rd, 2012

are currently under review. However, at this stage, no decisions have yet been made.”

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Microsoft requires developers to charge at least $1.49 for a Windows 8 app, which is 50 percent more than Apple's $0.99 requirement. This could be the reason why the company is being so generous with its free trial period, as the higher minimum cost could lead to a lot more complaints and refund requests when an app does not live up to the hype.

Downpour launched in the US and Europe in March of this year to mixed reviews, getting a roughly 66 percent rating on Metacritic. The game won support in some quarters for its unique approach to some aspects of gameplay, including its interesting weather system. Vatra has been working on a God of War-style game, but that title is believed to have been cancelled, or at least faces cancellation with the talk of closing down Vatra, which only opened its doors in 2009. The company has over 50 staff and it is not clear what will happen to them, though its parent company will likely move some of them to another division.

The length of the trial may not hit home until compared to, for example, the 15-minute refund window for Android app purchases. 15 minutes is not a lot of time to see if an app is any good or not, and a purchase is still required before this small grace period kicks in.

The closure marks another sad tale in recent gaming news, where a number of studios and even game stores are struggling to keep in business.

Microsoft's offering may cause rivals to adopt similar trials if it really catches on, but what is good for consumers may not be so attractive to developers, who may suffer from lower “impulse” sales.

Windows 8 apps to come with "try before you buy" feature Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windows-8-apps-to-come-with-trybefore-you-buy-feature/16780.html July 23rd, 2012

Windows 8 launches on 26 October.

Apple to use smaller dock connector in iPhone 5 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-to-use-smaller-dockconnector-in-iphone-5/16779.html July 23rd, 2012

Microsoft is introducing a “try before you buy” feature for apps in its Windows 8 store, giving users a week to see if they really want to pay for the app. Microsoft is introducing a “try before you buy” feature for apps in its Windows 8 store, giving users a week to see if they really want to pay for the app. The 7-day free trial is an interesting approach to apps on the upcoming Windows 8 platform, providing a significant period of time to give an app a test run.

Apple is to employ a smaller dock connector in the next version of its popular iPhone, according to sources close to the company. Apple is to employ a smaller dock connector in the next version of its popular iPhone, according to sources close to the company.

July 23rd, 2012

Reuters cited two people with knowledge that Apple is ditching its existing proprietary 30-pin port for a smaller 19pin port, which will also be proprietary. The move could anger many people with current Apple gadgets, as it means that none of the accessories, including chargers and speakers, will work with the new device, forcing users to buy a slew of new products in addition to the phone itself. The 21mm wide 30-pin dock has been the subject of speculation for some time now, particularly given reports of Apple's attempts to make the iPhone 5 smaller and thinner. The MicroUSB ports used by rivals take up a lot less space, so it seems inevitable that Apple will adopt a smaller form factor for its proprietary ports.

Published by: VR-Zone July 23rd, 2012

Gigabyte's latest mid range Z77 entrant has the new IR3550 DrMOS from International Rectifier and two onboard Thunderbolt ports provided by a Intel Cactus Ridge 4C controller, all in a very competitive price of US$249. What else do we get in the package? Back during the initial Ivy Bridge platform launch some months ago, Gigabyte rolled out their initial wave of Z77X and Sniper3 motherboards, with very aggressive pricing coupled with comprehensive feature sets earning them considerable market share among DIY system builders and enthusiasts. Gigabyte then followed up at Computex with a new UP range of boards featuring their upgraded "Ultra Durable 5" set of technologies and (belated) native Thunderbolt support. Today we look at the Z77X-UP5 TH, which is a middle of the road offering positioned just below the 32-phase UP7 monstrousity that we saw during Computex.

A smaller port allows Apple to alter the design of the new iPhone in both practical and aesthetic ways. It could look slimmer, but it could also allow more room for a larger battery, which may be required if the hardware gets a significant boost. The decision will benefit accessory makers, but it could result in losing some of Apple's existing fans. The company could have employed MicroUSB like almost everyone else, which would save money and the environment, in terms of people throwing away useless chargers, etc., but it would also leave Apple with less control over the device and what users can and cannot do with it. A partial solution may be available in the form of an adaptor, which will allow users to connect their old accessories. An adaptor will still cost money, however, but with such a high price tag on Apple products already, that may not have a huge impact on sales.

The box of the motherboard is adorned with logos and marketing messages, designed to inform prospective buyers of what they will be getting. One of the exciting new features on Ultra Durable 5 boards is the use of Glass Fabric PCB, purportedly offering some measure of humidity protection which should please subzero users facing condensation issues.

Image Credit: PhonesOnline.ie

First Look: Gigabyte Z77XUP5 TH - A Real Bargain @ US$249, comes with dual Thunderbolt Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/first-look-gigabyte-z77x-up5-th--areal-bargain--us-249-comes-with-dual-thunderbolt/16769.html

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 23rd, 2012

LG posted some of the first pictures of its upcoming V720 27-inch all-in-one (AIO) on the web. The AIO packs LG's popular Cinema Screen IPS LED 3D-capable display, with the latest PC hardware, including "Ivy Bridge" CPU and "Kepler" GPU. LG posted some of the first pictures of its upcoming V720 27-inch all-in-one (AIO) on the web. The AIO packs LG's popular Cinema Screen IPS LED 3D-capable display, with the latest PC hardware, including "Ivy Bridge" CPU and "Kepler" GPU. Usual set of documentation and accessories. Only 1 SLi bridge was included as Nvidia does not allow the use of x4 slots (Ivy Bridge can do x8+x8 or x8+x4+x4 multi-GPU) for SLi without an additional lane multiplexer.

A PCIe x1 expansion card containing a dual antenna Atheros 802.11 abgn + BT Module is provided for modern wireless connectivity.

LG V720 27-inch All-in-One Pictured

Pictured above (if you look closely enough), the display of the LG V720 is separated from the logic portion, which is located on the base. This arrangement allows the screen to have slim bezels. The display is internally wired to the logic portion, although it can take external input by HDMI. The display features 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, and supports stereoscopic 3D, with a native 2D-to-3D converter.

The LG V720 is available in two variants, the V720D.AE50K, and the V720-U.AE30K. The V720-U.AE30K is driven by Intel Core i3-2370M "Sandy Bridge" dualcore processor clocked at 2.40 GHz, with 4 GB of dualchannel DDR3-1333 MHz memory, 750 GB HDD, slot-in DVD Super-Multi drive, and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M GPU with 1 GB dedicated memory

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lg-v720-27-inch-all-in-onepictured/16778.html

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

The Muse 5G 2.5-inch variant is designed for 9.5 mmthick (or less) hard drives or solid-state drives in the 2.5inch form-factor, with internal SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The enclosure is bus-powered, and relies on a single USB cable for both power and host connectivity. The enclosure connects to the host over USB 3.0 SuperSpeed 5 GT/s interface. Its design suits pockets and bags better.

The V720-D.AE50K, on the other hand [pay attention!], is driven by Intel Core i5-3210M "Ivy Bridge" quad-core processor clocked at 2.50 GHz, with 8 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory, 750 GB HDD with 16 GB cacheSSD, DVD Super-Multi drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 M graphics with 1 GB dedicated memory. Features common between the two variants include USB 3.0, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi networking, 4-in-1 card reader, and a TV tuner. Pricing and availability information is not available.

The Muse 5G 3.5-inch, on the other hand, is designed for HDDs and SSDs in the 3.5-inch form-factor, smaller formfactors will work, too, but could require adapters. Unlike the Muse 5G 2.5-inch, this variant requires external DC power input, and includes a power adapter to do the job. Like its sibling, it supports SATA 6 Gb/s interface for the drives it encloses, and connects to the host machine with USB 3.0 SuperSpeed 5 GT/s interface.

Thermaltake Intros Muse 5G Series USB 3.0 Enclosures Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/thermaltake-intros-muse-5g-seriesusb-3.0-enclosures/16777.html July 23rd, 2012

Over the weekend, Thermaltake launched its Muse 5G line of HDD/SSD enclosures. Available in 2.5-inch and 3.5inch variants, the new enclosures feature slick brushedaluminum finish, and USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface.

Installing/removing the enclosed drive isn't a tool-free process on the 2.5-inch variant, as it requires unscrewing lids. Thermaltake does, however, include a screwdriver. With the 3.5-inch vatiant, a switch holds the lid in place, making it tool-free.

July 23rd, 2012

Measuring 126 x 79 x 18.5 mm, the 2.5-inch Muse 5G weighs about 97 g (dry weight). The 3.5-inch variant, on the other hand, measures 203 x 118 x 55 mm, weighing 350 g. Brushed aluminum makes up the top and bottom panels, while ABS plastic makes up the frame, for both variants. Thermaltake did not give out pricing information, but indicated that this is a global launch.

Intel Core i7-3970X Arrives in Q4: Report Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-core-i7-3970x-arrives-in-q4report/16775.html July 23rd, 2012

Intel will launch its first socket LGA2011 client processor in months, in Q4-2012. The Core i7-3970X Extreme will take charge as the company's next flagship client processor, and it's yet another "speed-bump." The Core i7-3970X Extreme, according to report, could ship with clock speeds of 3.50 GHz, with maximum Turbo Boost clock speed of 4.00 GHz. Being an Extreme Edition SKU, it will ship with unlocked base-clock multipliers, making overclocking it a breeze.

Published by: VR-Zone July 23rd, 2012

...but it's still a ways off yet, so don't expect to see it at your local dealer this year. In a major milestone in the history of battery development, UK researchers are closer to developing a lithium-air battery, which could deliver up to five times the energy per unit mass that the existing lithium-ion technology allows. What does that mean in real terms? Well, how about talking all week on your mobile phone without a recharge? Or driving 800 kilometres in your electric car? The research was led by Professor Peter G Bruce of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and published in Science Express. The work describes a chemical reaction that allows the battery to be recharged without electrode degradation. Of the discovery, Professor Bruce says “we have demonstrated that sustainable cycling is possible. That is the real step here. We haven’t solved all the practical problems and it’s not a solution, but it does demonstrate this critical reaction can be sustained and cycled.” The push for a lithium-air battery is motivated by the fact that air is used as the cathode and lithium metal as the anode. Oxygen is cheap and light. This leads to batteries being conceived that don’t require the heavy casing to contain the electrodes we see today. In a normal lithium-ion battery, lithium ions are transferred from the cathode to the anode through an electrolyte. When the battery is used, the process is reversed and the ion flow produces an electric current. In the lithium-air model, oxygen enters the cathode and combines with lithium ions to generate lithium peroxide, which accumulates as the battery is discharged. In testing the researchers were able to produce this reaction repeatedly without decomposition using a thin film of gold as an electrode.

Based on the same 32 nm "Sandy Bridge-E" silicon as its predecessor, the Core i7-3970X Extreme will pack 6 cores, with HyperThreading enabling 12 logical CPUs for the operating system to deal with. The chip will be configured to have 15 MB last-level cache. It packs a quad-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller, supporting up to 64 GB of DDR3-1600 MHz memory (higher memory speeds possible with overclocking). What's also likely is that the new i7-3970X Extreme could displace the i7-3960X from its price, leading to its gradual phase-out from the market.

New Lithium-Air Batteries Could Energize Electric Cars

“Hopefully it’s not only gold that does it,” says Steve Visco, president and CEO of Polypus, a California based company that is working on not only lithium-air, but also lithiumsulfur and lithium-seawater batteries. As gold is expensive, he says it “would not be practical unless you are sending it into space where cost doesn’t matter.” “It certainly wouldn’t work for electric vehicles.” The hope shared by Visco and Bruce is that they are on the way. Bruce says his experiment is but one of many that must be a success before this battery can actually be built. “It’s still a long way off. What we’ve done demonstrates the importance of basic scientific studies in this area. If you rush out and try to make a battery with the knowledge that currently existed you would be unlikely to succeed.”

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-lithium-air-batteries-couldenergize-electric-cars/16774.html

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

BIOSTAR Outs Hi-Fi Z77X Motherboard Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/biostar-outs-hi-fi-z77xmotherboard/16772.html July 23rd, 2012

BIOSTAR released its first Hi-Fi series motherboard, the socket LGA1155 Hi-Fi Z77X. Shown first to crowds at Computex, the Hi-Fi series is characterized by an onboard audio design that focuses on amplification and getting rid of EMI. BIOSTAR released its first Hi-Fi series motherboard, the socket LGA1155 Hi-Fi Z77X. Shown first to crowds at Computex, the Hi-Fi series is characterized by an onboard audio design called "Puro Hi-Fi" that focuses on amplification and getting rid of EMI.

BIOSTAR's new Hi-Fi audio solution consists of a common high-SNR 8-channel HD audio CODEC, the Realtek ALC898, with EMI dampening and amplifier circuitry. BIOSTAR's approach to EMI dampening bears a stark resemblence to that of ASUS. The entire audio portion of the motherboard has its own ground-layer that's physically isolated from the rest of the motherboard (by an insulation trace). This ensures other high-power components such as the CPU VRM don't interfere with the analog audio outputs, producing faint buzzing noises in the output channels, at high volumes. The audio CODEC is topped off with a metallic EMI shield.

The second major component of BIOSTAR's Hi-Fi audio is its amplifier. The company does not mention any known amplifier chip in its data-sheets, leading us to believe that the company is using a passive amp design, in which it is using "Hi-Fi grade" resistors and capacitors (electrolytic). The company mentions that the amp can drive high-end headphones with "100 dB loads and offer wide band-width, low noise, and high slew rate." The CODEC itself has 110 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the front audio channels.

The revamped audio design is the only defining feature of the new motherboard, which is otherwise similar, feature-wise, to the T-Series TZ77XE4. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 13-phase VRM. The CPU is wired to four DDR3-DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400+ memory, and three PCI-Express 3.0 slots (x16/NC/NC; x8/ x8/NC; x8/x4/x4, depending on the way they're populated). Three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, wired to the Z77 PCH, are the expansion slots in its all-PCIe layout.

The Z77 PCH gives out six SATA ports, from which two are 6 Gb/s and four 3 Gb/s, all of which are internal ports on the Hi-Fi Z77X. Other connectivity features include four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two via header, all of which are driven by the PCH), gigabit Ethernet, and display outputs that include one each of D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. BIOSTAR exclusives include THX TruStudio Pro support, Lucid Virtu MVP (graphics virtualization) and SmartSpeedLAN (network prioritization). BIOSTAR did not release pricing information.

Self Cleaning Cars on the Way! Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/self-cleaning-cars-on-theway-/16771.html July 23rd, 2012

Eindhoven University of Technology researchers have developed a new coating with a surface that can repair itself after sustaining damage. Potential real-life applications for this new material include never having to wash your car again, or never having to wipe fingerprints off your phoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s touchscreen. The researchers published their findings in Advanced Materials on July 17. The research was led by Catarina Esteves of the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology. Existing functional coatings contain at their surface nanosized functional groups that provide a specific service, whether that be waterproofing or providing anti-bacterial properties. The weakness of these coatings though is that they are easily and irreversibly damaged by light contact. Obviously with this weakness they are effectively useless for real-world use. 8

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Esteves and her team have pioneered a new method, which includes developing surfaces with special “stalks” carrying the functional chemical groups at their ends, and distributing these throughout the coating. If the outer surface layer is destroyed through scratching, the “stalks” in the lower layer re-orient to the new surface, restoring functionality. At this stage the technology only works in the case of superficial scratching; if the surface is completely penetrated it will still be rendered useless. In addition to the applications mentioned above, these new coatings could find uses as varied as self repairing contact lenses to jet aircraft that don’t need to be repainted. The cleaner surfaces would also reduce in lower air resistance in flight, reducing fuel costs. Now Esteves and her team have plans to refine the technology further and hope to see it in production before the decade is over. For now, though, you’ll have to keep washing your car the old fashioned way.

ASUS Outs First Windows 8Ready Sockets AM3+, FM1 Motherboards Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-outs-first-windows-8-readysockets-am3--fm1-motherboards/16770.html July 23rd, 2012

ASUS released revisions of most of its M5A99 (AMD 990FX, 990X), M5A97 (AMD 970), F1A75/A55 (AMD A75, A55) series motherboards, TUF Sabertooth 990FX, and its flagship AMD platform motherboard, the ROG Crosshair V Formula. The revision of the latter is named Crosshair V Formula-Z. Features common to all these revisions include support for Fast Boot, ASUS Boot Settings, which lets you fine-tune system startup processes, and DirectKey, a button that loads up the BIOS setup program, similar to the Back2BIOS button found on Intel Desktop Boards Extreme series. Apart from Windows 8-specific feature updates, ASUS took the opportunity to update the feature sets of several of its motherboards in the above mentioned revisions. Features such as Smart Digi+ Key, which are found on P8Z77-V series, are ported over. The ASUS-exclusive feature-set also includes 802.11 b/g/n netowork interfaces with Remote WiFi Go!, a feature based on Wi-Fi Go!, that provides media streaming and remote desktop capabilities to smartphones and tablets.

ASUS released the industry's first AMD platform motherboards that are ready for Windows 8. Readiness for the new operating system is a little more than sticking the label if the motherboard meets some criteria, with the introduction of a few new ACPI and low-level features that need some redesigning. Hence, the company launched revisions of its current sockets AM3+ and FM1 motherboards designated by "R 2.0" in the model names. Often, Windows [insert new version] certification labels don't mean squat to PC enthusiasts. With Windows Vista labels, it meant that the integrated graphics could handle DirectX 9-accelerated Aero UI; Windows 7, not so much over that. Windows 8 readiness adds quite a few little hardware requirements, to support new OS features such as Fast Boot (start PC in under 2 seconds, different from S3 resume). While a few motherboard vendors announced Windows 8 readiness for their motherboards, ASUS claims to be the first with motherboards in the AMD platform that will feature the Windows 8 readiness logo. Hardware redesigns meant that ASUS launches revisions of existing products. These revisions are designated by "R 2.0" suffixed to the model names.

ASUS' ROG Crosshair V Formula-Z gets all the new features of its R 2.0 mates, plus Extreme Engine Digi+ II (a VRM design found on Maximus V series). The audio is also updated, SupremeFX III audio with "Red Line shielding." The portion of the motherboard that holds the HD audio CODEC and its anciliary AMP components is isolated from the ground-layer of the rest of the motherboard, minimizing EMI from other power-hungry components, which typically produce a faint buzzing noise in the output channels of onboard audio. Apart from ground-layer isolation, a bulk of the audio portion, including the CODEC, is covered by a metallic EMI shield. The Crosshair V Formula-Z also features GameFirst II, a network prioritization tool with an intuitive new user interface (EZ Mode). Lastly, there's the F1A75/A55 R 2.0 series motherboards for first-generation A-series "Llano" APUs. The revised motherboards feature LucidLogix Virtu MVP (loadbalancing GPU virtualization between onboard and discrete 9

July 23rd, 2012

graphics adapters), DIP 2 with Digi+ VRM, Network iControl (prioritization, diagnostics), and AI Suite II. Apart from the features mentioned above, the models are largely similar to the motherboards they are revisions of.

Published by: VR-Zone

sharp edges are in, and the rounded ones are out. Is this a significant change over Windows 7? Not really (at least I don’t think so).

Windows 8 RTM build 8518 screenshots Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windows-8-rtm-build-8518screenshots/16768.html July 23rd, 2012

October 26, that’s the official launch date of Windows 8, and what is a major software release be if there aren’t new screenshots—official and unofficial—here and there. October 26, that’s the official launch date of Windows 8, and what is a major software release be if there aren’t new screenshots—official and unofficial—here and there. Win Unleaked recently dropped some new screenshots of the latest RTM build (8518), and for the people that like squares, Windows 8 will not disappoint in that department.

The next screenshots reveal that Internet Explorer 10 will integrate seamlessly with the desired Windows theme. IE 10 will match the looks and feel of a desired theme.

(Windows 7 Borders and Appearance option screen)

Windows 8, like all previous releases of Windows, will come with new themes, and backgrounds. Win Unleaked reports that the three new themes are “Windows, Earth, and Flowers.”

(Windows 8 Borders and Appearance option screen) A quick comparison of Windows 7 and 8 Borders and Appearance customization screens demonstrates that the 10

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

While we do not disclose the cost of Title Updates, we did offer to work with Trapdoor to make sure that wasn’t a blocking issue. We remain huge fans of Fez.” Polytron has openly stated that if Fez had been released on Steam instead of XBLA “the game would have been fixed… at no cost to [them].

Beats buys back 25% of its shares from HTC Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/beats-buys-back-25-of-its-sharesfrom-htc/16766.html July 23rd, 2012

Lastly, the boot screen has changed to match Windows 8’s Metro persona. The boot screen has a slightly skewed window with a small loading circle below it. Win Unleaked’s administrator “vNext” claims that the most recent build of Windows 8 is “incredibly stable and fast, it’s far better than Windows 7 in all ways.”

Fez won't receive patch on XBLA Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/fez-won-t-receive-patch-onxbla/16767.html July 23rd, 2012

Beats audio gears is the latest craze these days, but apparently some internal issues between HTC and Beats have caused the partnership to disintegrate, somewhat. In the company’s note to investors, HTC announced that it has agreed to let Beats buy back 25% of its total shares from HTC. Beats audio gears is the latest craze these days, but apparently some internal issues between HTC and Beats have caused the partnership to disintegrate, somewhat. In the company’s note to investors, HTC announced that it has agreed to let Beats buy back 25% of its total shares from HTC. “HTC and Beats today announced a realignment of their business agreement that provides Beats with more flexibility for global expansion while maintaining HTC's major stake and commercial exclusivity in mobile.

Fez, one of the more popular indie on the Xbox, will not be getting the re-release of the dreaded patch that deletes players’ saved games. According to Polytron, Fez’s developer, Microsoft will charge too much for the patch to be released, and therefore, the developer has decided to not release the patch for the Xbox. Fez, one of the more popular indie on the Xbox, will not be getting the re-release of the dreaded patch that deletes players’ saved games. According to Polytron, Fez’s developer, Microsoft will charge too much for the patch to be released, and therefore, the developer has decided to not release the patch for the Xbox.

Under the terms of the agreement, the founding members of Beats will buy back 25% of its total shares for a total of approximately 75% ownership, with HTC remaining the largest outside shareholder with approximately 25%. Over the last year, HTC and Beats have made great progress in sound innovation, product integration and brand awareness with successes like the HTC One. HTC and Beats will continue to work closely, including a joint global marketing campaign later this year.” HTC is anticipating a $4.8 million loss from the Beats buy back, which tags onto the 57.8% fall in net profit in Q2.

Polytron claims that the patch fixes various issues with the game including, but not limited to, frame rate problems, loading issues, game-killing bugs.

Beats recently purchased MOG—music streaming service— for $14 million, and although Beats will probably benefit from the acquisition, it is unclear what HTC will get out of it.

Microsoft has denied that the fee was the reason behind Polytron’s decision to not re-release the patch. In a statement released recently, Microsoft claims that it supports Polytron’s decision to re-release the patch, and that it will remain a “huge fan of Fez,” even though Polytron and Microsoft couldn't hammer out a solution.

HTC’s One X flagship has garnered quite a few customers through its high-end hardware, but the Beats audio integration may be one of the main selling points.

“Polytron and their investor, Trapdoor, made the decision not to work on an additional title update for FEZ. Microsoft Studios chose to support this decision based on the belief that Polytron/Trapdoor were in the best position to determine what the acceptable quality level is for their game.

Mobile Ivy Bridge HD 4000 and Trinity A10 - Can they handle CS:GO on the go? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mobile-ivy-bridge-hd-4000-andtrinity-a10--can-they-handle-cs-go-on-the-go-/16719.html

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 23rd, 2012

We thought of three different use cases representing the different kind of gamers: • Professional Esports Gamer - 1024x768 (4:3), all graphical details low. • Casual - 1366x768 (16:9), all graphical details low

One month before the official launch of Valve's CounterStrike: Global Offensive (August 21st), we put two reference laptops from Intel (Ivy Bridge Ultrabook) and AMD (Trinity A10) to the test to see if we can comfortably play this season's hottest multiplayer shooter on the go. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is the latest 2012 incarnation of the ubiquitous online Counter-Strike series, featuring the same objective based gameplay and updated with better graphics and new weapons. The game, jointly developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment, has been in closed beta since the end of last year and had initially promised to enable cross-platform play, which was later canned due to update frequency issues on the console platforms.

• Casual (Graphics) - 1366x768 (16:9), all graphical details high (no AA/AF)

Disclaimer: The machines used in this tests are *NOT* directly comparable - one being a mid-range Ivy Bridge UltraBook and the other a heavy 14-inch reference Trinity A10 system.

Based on the much acclaimed Source Engine, CS:GO's graphical system still uses the aging DirectX 9 feature set, which is not necessary a bad thing as beautiful textures/ artwork and immersive gameplay is more important than gratuitious use of fancy shaders seen on today's shoddy console ports. Already announced and picked up by several prominent E-Sports tournaments and teams, the game looks set to have a bright future, both for public casual and competitive play Benchmark Sequence and Methology:

Intel Reference Ivy Bridge UltraBook

We recorded a five minute demo sequence from an actual multiplayer session on the de_train map and then used Fraps to record FPS readings when we played them back on the test subjects. Since the game engine sends and receives 64 reports per second to the game server, the client machine should ideally maintain its FPS above that value so that no real-time movement and bullet information is lost on the screen. We are also looking for as little frame time variation as possible between scenes so that screen jitter is avoided.

July 23rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 23rd, 2012

Archos’ next budget Android slate may come with a full 1920 x 1080 HD screen, and well, that’s pretty darn good for a “budget” tablet. The France-based consumer electronics firm has been competing with the likes of Asus and Apple in the growing tablet market, and Archos’ "LUDO G10" may help the firm gain some spotlight among the fierce competitors. In a recent benchmark, a device labeled “Archos Ludog10” (LUDO G10) was listed as a 1920 x 1080 device, and as far as budget tablets go, it doesn’t make much sense to pair a full HD screen with outdated/underpowered hardware. Although it’s unconfirmed, Archos is rumored to adopt Texas Instruments' latest OMAP 4470 dual core chips clocked at 1.8GHz, and the PowerVR SGX554 GPU in the near future. Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chip may be the big shot in the high-end Android tablet market, but a budget slate featuring a 1.8GHz dual core is no joke—especially, if it’s paired with a full HD screen and a high performance multi-pipe SGX554 GPU. In the same benchmark, the LUDO G10 boasts Android 4.0.4 ICS, but Jelly Bean may actually be the device’s OS of choice once it becomes consumer-ready. The LUDO G10 may be Archos’ next best budget slate, or it can be the firm’s transition into the high-end sector. Here’s to hoping that Archos will deliver an amazing OMAP 4470 full HD slate for under $400.

Wasteland 2 early phase screenshot Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/wasteland-2-early-phasescreenshot/16764.html July 23rd, 2012

"LUDO G10" is Archos' next 1080p budget tablet? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/-ludo-g10-is-archos-next-1080pbudget-tablet-/16765.html

InXile entertainment has raised nearly $3 million from over 60K backers through Kickstarter and PayPal in its effort to resurrect the Wasteland franchise. After months of fund raising and fiddling around with various engines and elements, inXile has released a Wasteland 2 concept screenshot. InXile entertainment has raised nearly $3 million from over 60K backers through Kickstarter and PayPal in its effort to resurrect the Wasteland franchise. After months of fund raising and fiddling around with various engines 13

July 23rd, 2012

and elements, inXile has released a Wasteland 2 concept screenshot.

Published by: VR-Zone

Note: Donors and backers of Wasteland 2 are now able to upgrade their tiers, and change shipping information.

RT Surface tablet comes with Office 2013...sort of Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rt-surface-tablet-comes-withoffice-2013...sort-of/16763.html July 23rd, 2012

The screenshot reveals various characters in a postapocalyptic desert wasteland, but according to inXile’s Koy Vanoteghm, a barren desert lacking any signs of life won’t be Wasteland 2’s only post-apocalyptic locales. Vanoteghem claims that modern conceptions of a postapocalyptic world have changed, so inXile’s Wasteland 2 development will have to adapt to include the new, and “diversified” views of what a wasteland should look like. “In our effort to establish the appropriate look and feel for the re-launch of the Wasteland franchise, we sifted through a variety of media types available on the market for inspiration. Among all of the similarly natured games, CG film shorts, and various documentaries, it became increasingly clear that the modern day conception of a postapocalyptic world has diversified. Of course, the desert-oriented wasteland devoid of life was still there. But a newer and more compelling version which highlighted nature's reclamation of vacated places took hold of our attention. This new conception gives us the opportunity to generate a variety of environment types while staying true to the narrative. It also allows the location and geology to dictate the flora and fauna, as well as the manner and state of decay. From the dry deserts and icy mountaintops of Arizona to the coastal conditions of LA and larger southern California region, each region generates its own flavor. You saw a bit of this in our early concept pieces we had commissioned. Because the early part of the game, where our development is currently focused, takes place in Arizona, this first screen shot depicts (surprise) a desert scene.”

Are you looking forward to getting your hands onto a Surface tablet at launch, but wondering if it’ll come with the latest MS Office suite? Wonder no more, the RT Surface tablet will come with the latest Office suite…sort of. Are you looking forward to getting your hands onto a Surface tablet at launch, but wondering if it’ll come with the latest MS Office suite? Wonder no more, the RT Surface tablet will come with the latest Office suite…sort of.

If you go to the official Surface tablet page, and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page you will see a single sentence stating that the RT Surface “includes Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview.” The preview version of Office 2013 will most likely include everything that will be in the final version, but it’s a preview nonetheless, and users will have to spend some time upgrading to the final version once it’s released.

Firefox 15 to fix memory leaks for popular add-ons Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/firefox-15-to-fix-memory-leaks-forpopular-add-ons/16751.html July 23rd, 2012

Wasteland 2 is moving towards game-play scenarios and ingame environments prototyping, and since the public largely funds the project, inXile will keep fans, backers, and the press updated regularly. InXile announced back in mid-May that they intend to use the Unity engine to develop and run Wasteland 2, and it appears that the inXile-Unity partnership has not changed. Vanoteghm says that inXile finds Unity’s Asset Store to be more “appealing,” and therefore, it’s in the studio’s best interest to stick with Unity-exclusive packages.

A non-beta Firefox 15 is coming your way faster than you think. Up until now, some Firefox add-ons drain more system memory than it’s worth, but the Mozilla team is hoping that the next release will fix the majority of the memory leaks (or at least the majority of the popular addons). A non-beta Firefox 15 is coming your way faster than you think. Up until now, some Firefox add-ons drain more 14

July 23rd, 2012

system memory than it’s worth, but the Mozilla team is hoping that the next release will fix the majority of the memory leaks (or at least the majority of the popular addons). Popular add-ons such as Adblock Plus, Video DownloadHelper, GreaseMonkey, and Firebug causes memory leak. As a result of these leaky add-ons, users may experience Firefox slow downs and crashes. An excerpt from Nicholas Nethercote’s recent personal blog, he wrote: “Users who upgrade to Firefox 15 won’t have to upgrade their add-ons to see the benefits. While it is hard to predict the effect of this improvement on any individual user, many users should experience greatly reduced memory consumption, particularly on long browsing sessions. This should result in better performance, fewer pauses, and fewer crashes.” While Firefox 15 promises memory leak fixes for a lot of popular add-ons, Mozilla does not claim that the fix applies to all add-on. There are literally thousands of add-ons, and some add-on developers are more responsive than others when it comes to helping Mozilla fix the memory leak problems. Check out Nethercote’s blog for more on the memory fix.

Kodak Tries to Remain Relevant: The ITC Says It Isn't Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/kodak-tries-to-remain-relevant-theitc-says-it-isn-t/16762.html July 23rd, 2012

The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled on Friday that neither Apple nor Research in Motion infringed Kodak’s patents. Unfortunately, Kodak was not the only victim in this dispute. For the past several years, photography pioneer Eastman Kodak has been engaged in a battle with Samsung, LG, Apple, and Research in Motion over intellectual properties relating to digital photography. Based upon a patent that Kodak filed in 1997, the company alleged that it was entitled to large sums of money because the patent extended to the use of digital photography in mobile phones. The United States International Trade Commission, however, ruled that Kodak was wrong. Initially, things looked good for Kodak. In 2009, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued an initial determination that Samsung and LG had infringed Kodak patents relating to previewing images on LCD screens. While the companies could have awaited a final determination, and even appealed that in federal court, they decided to pay onetime royalty payments. Samsung agreed to pay $550 million, while LG agreed to pay $414 million. The ALJ, however, did not rule on the claims against Apple and RIM. This allowed those companies to continue the legal fight rather than pay a massive settlement. Luckily for them,

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the ITC ruled on Friday that there was no infringement; the only costs that they have accrued are legal fees. These fees are likely substantial, but they are nowhere near the hundreds of millions of dollars that Samsung and LG agreed to pay. As a result of this Hail Mary attempt by Kodak to remain relevant, Samsung and LG paid nearly one billion dollars, whereas Apple and RIM escaped virtually unscathed.

EA's CEO Sees Next-Gen Consoles Coming Soon Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ea-s-ceo-sees-next-gen-consolescoming-soon/16757.html July 23rd, 2012

EA's CEO in a recent interview with CNBC has said that he thinks the next generation of consoles will be coming soon in order to boost the NPD numbers of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The gaming industry is not doing well, at least as far as Wall Street is concerned. Electronic Arts, along with other game developers and publishers that are publicly traded, have been struggling with low stock prices. In his recent interview with CNBC, however, John Riccitiello, CEO of the publishing giant, said that he believes his company’s financial outlook will turn around if it can move into next-gen consoles soon. According to that logic, we should hopefully be seeing the next generation of gaming consoles sometime in 2013. Other analysts have pointed to signs, such as hints and leaked details about the PlayStation “Orbis” and the Xbox “720”, as indications that we can expect an announcement sometime in 2013, either at CES or at E3. In his interview, Riccitiello mentioned the company’s greatest challenges, which include a heavy saturation of the market for the next console generation. He predicts that we’ll hear official announcements about these consoles coinciding with how those announcements will factor into their NPD data. “I think a major catalyst coming forward and the most important catalyst coming forward is visibility on next-gen consoles because that NPD data… that can and should be reversed out at some point probably starting next year.” While this prediction isn’t the kind starting with “I believe we’ll see the next generation of consoles in…” it makes logical sense. Financial data hasn’t been great lately, with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo seeing, in some cases, double-digit losses in their sales figures for June, leading to the big three, and major third party developers, seeing the writing on the wall for this generation of consoles. Another indicator to the major players in the gaming industry is the massive amount raised by the Kickstarter project for Ouya, a new console being developed which will run Android, be fully open for tinkering and will cost only $99 on launch; this project should serve as a big sign that the gaming public is ready for something new.

July 23rd, 2012

Minecraft Creator Sued By Patent Troll

Published by: VR-Zone July 23rd, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/minecraft-creator-sued-by-patenttroll/16758.html July 23rd, 2012

Mojang, creators of the indie hit Minecraft have been sued by a patent troll over a software patent that has been held for 7 years. Once again, the software patent litigation beast rears its ugly head and serves another developer with a lawsuit. This time, it’s Mojang who is under the gun. Mojang, for those who don’t know, is the indie development studio started by Markuss Persson that developed the breakout hit Minecraft, one of the catalysts for the recent indie games boom and one of the first, if not the first, game to reach $1 million in sales while still in alpha development. Minecraft was offered for sale while still in development, relying on word-of-mouth marketing and the beauty of its sandbox gameplay to drive sales. The final version released on November 18, 2011 and it has gone on to spawn merchandise and ports for Android, iOS and Xbox Live Arcade. It is the Android port of the game that has sparked this lawsuit. Uniloc, a company based in the US and Luxembourg, has sued Mojang for infringing US patent No. 6,857,067; this is a patent for a “system and method for preventing unauthorized access to electronic data” which Uniloc has held since February 15, 2005. Specifically, Uniloc accuses Mojang of infringing on claim 107 of the patent, which reads: Computer code executable on an electronic device to prevent unauthorized access to electronic data stored on the electronic device, the computer code comprising: code for storing license data on a portable licensing medium configured to communicate with the electronic device; code for determining whether to allow access to the electronic data based on the license data; code for verifying the license data stored on the licensing medium by communicating with a registration authority having verification data; and code for providing updated license data received from the registration authority to the licensing medium. Specifically, Uniloc claims that because Mojang’s Android port of Minecraft has to communicate with a server to check a license in order to validate that the person playing the game actually purchased the game, it infringes on their patent. Uniloc is seeking damages and a recurring licensing fee from Mojang. Markus “notch” Persson said in response that “[i]f needed, I will throw piles of money at making sure they don’t get a cent.” We will continue to monitor this and keep you posted with the latest developments.

Asus announces TF300T Jelly Bean update in the making Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-announces-tf300t-jelly-beanupdate-in-the-making/16761.html

You might have paid for the pricey keyboard dock, and even a pouch or two, but there’s good news (cause it's free). Asus will provide upgrades to Jelly Bean for their Transformer Pad TF300T line. You might have paid for the pricey keyboard dock, and even a pouch or two, but there’s good news (cause it's free). Asus will provide upgrades to Jelly Bean for their Transformer Pad TF300T line. Prior to the Ice Cream Sandwich update, the Transformer Prime had various booting and lockup issues. Asus addressed that problems with update 9.4.2.13, but it did not completely cure the problem. Some users may have already abandoned the stock ROM in favor of more stable third party ROMs. The time frame for the official Jelly Bean update is unknown, but Asus is telling users to hang tight and wait for “further guidance.”

WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo 6TB and ASUS ThunderboltEX: High Speed Mass Storage on Windows Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/wd-my-book-thunderboltduo-6tb-and-asus-thunderboltex-high-speed-mass-storage-onwindows/16663.html July 23rd, 2012

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! We are finally starting to see Intel Thunderbolt-enabled motherboards and peripherals trickling into the PC ecosystem, albeit still commanding ridiculous prices. This weekend, we try out WD's high capacity storage solution for creative professionals - My Book Thunderbolt Duo 6TB. Two months ago, we played with a speedy 2.5-inch SSD RAID enclosure with Thunderbolt from LaCie (retro-fitted with a pair of Corsair Force GTs) during our review of the Asus P8Z77-V Premium/MSI Z77A-GD80. That contraption was screaming fast, but creative professionals like film makers and other digital media artists also need bulk storage on top of stable sequential transfer speeds, and a pure SSD implementation is still too expensive $/gb wise to fulfill that requirement. Enter the WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo, which offers 4 to 6TB of storage in a dual-disk enclosure, and can be configured as JBOD, RAID-0 stripping (speed) or RAID-1 mirroring (redundency).

July 23rd, 2012

Behind, we see two 10Gb/s Thunderbolt ports capable of daisy-chaining, an external power connector and a kensington security lock hole.

The two 3.5-inch SATA mechanical hard disks used were from the WD Cavier Green family (WD30EZRX), which boasts of a rotational speed between 5400 to 7200rpm (IntelliPower) and 64MB cache. WD claims they are "userreplaceable" in the event of drive failure.

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Up front, there is a small 40mm fan providing the drives with some air flow to avoid overheating during long hours of intensive operation.

From here, we will be carrying out our tests with ASUS's aftermarket ThunderboltEX expansion card for select H77/ Z77 boards, shown below hooked up to a Ivy Bridge ROG MVG rig.

July 23rd, 2012

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The Note II is unlikely to come with ICS out of the box, as Samsung has already announced that they intend to provide Jelly Bean upgrades for various devices.

Intel Redwood Ridge Thunderbolt Controller Arrives Towards Mid-2013 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-redwood-ridge-thunderboltcontroller-arrives-towards-mid-2013/16754.html July 23rd, 2012

Galaxy Note II official announcement on August 15? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/galaxy-note-ii-officialannouncement-on-august-15-/16755.html July 23rd, 2012

Rumor has it that Samsung may debut its Galaxy Note successor at the upcoming IFA, and according to The Verge, sources from within Samsung is telling the press to hold tight until August 15 for a â&#x20AC;&#x153;major announcement and unveiling of the newest Galaxy device."

According to sources, Intel's next-generation Thunderbolt host controllers, codenamed "Redwood Ridge," will make their industry debut in Q2, 2013. The controllers could likely feature on platforms for the next-generation "Haswell" Core processors. According to sources, Intel's next-generation Thunderbolt host controllers, codenamed "Redwood Ridge," will make their industry debut in Q2, 2013. The controllers could likely feature on platforms for the next-generation "Haswell" Core processors.

The new "Redwood Ridge" Thunderbolt host controllers by Intel supports the current-standard 10 Gbps data-rate, DisplayPort v1.1 and DisplayPort v1.2 "Redriver" signaling. Given that even the cheapest of current "Cactus Ridge" 2Ch ASICs are available to motherboard manufacturers at US $20 a piece in large-quantity reels, pricing could become the biggest factor for Intel to address with future generations of Thunderbolt host controllers. Speaking of future Thunderbolt host controllers, Intel plans the sucessor to "Redwood Ridge" to arrive some time in 2014. It is codenamed "Falcon Ridge," and could feature 20 Gbps data-rates through 2 channels.

Adding to the Note II rumors is a recent benchmark of a GTN7100 device featuring a 1280 x 720 HD display, 1.6 GHz CPU (Exynos?), and Android 4.0.4.

Rockstar's GTA 5 won't be at Gamescom Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rockstar-s-gta-5-won-t-be-atgamescom/16753.html

July 23rd, 2012

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July 23rd, 2012

Dotcom, founder of the once popular file-sharing site Megaupload, is currently facing extradition to the United States. Without further ado, Dotcom's “Mr. President.”

It has been over half a year since Rockstar sent out its Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer, and since then the New York-based gaming studio has been relatively tight lipped about the next installment of GTA. That said, it appears that Rockstar will be a no show at the upcoming Gamescom in mid-August. It has been over half a year since Rockstar sent out its Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer, and since then the New York-based gaming studio has been relatively tight lipped about the next installment of GTA. That said, it appears that Rockstar will be a no show at the upcoming Gamescom in mid-August. Prior to its removal, Gamescom featured a portion of the GTA 5 trailer as a part of the 2012 festivities. However, a spokesperson for Gamescom told the press earlier that the included footage of GTA 5 was an error. “Rockstar Games is not scheduled and has never been scheduled to exhibit at Gamescom 2012,” said Franko Fischer, communications manager for Gamescom. “We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.” Los Santos, the next destination for Rockstar’s GTA, will supposedly be the franchise’s “biggest open world game to date.”

Kim Dotcom asks Mr. President a few questions Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/kim-dotcom-asks-mr.-president-afew-questions/16752.html July 23rd, 2012

Kim Dotcom is stuck in his luxury mansion under orders from authorities, but that hasn’t stopped him from producing a catchy music video full of political remarks directed at U.S. President Barack Obama. Kim Dotcom is stuck in his luxury mansion under orders from authorities, but that hasn’t stopped him from producing a catchy music video full of political remarks directed at U.S. President Barack Obama. In the music video, Dotcom asserted that Hollywood is steering the government to create various legislations aimed at internet censorship. Dotcom has a “dream” similar to Dr. Martin Luther King, one in which innovations won’t be stifled by “copyrights.” “There needs to be a dialog leading to solutions. Aggression and destruction will hurt the US economy. The innovators of tomorrow will avoid doing business in the US. Shutting down one of the leading cloud storage sites, ignoring due process, the rule of law and the constitutional rights of our users is not the way to go,” Dotcom told Torrent Freak.

PC Gaming Fastest Growing Platform Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pc-gaming-fastest-growingplatform/16749.html July 23rd, 2012

PC gaming is dead, or so console manufacturers and the gaming media over the last five years would have us believe. Every year it seems like another industry head, game developer or media pundit is announcing the death of PC gaming, despite any and all evidence to the contrary. Now, it seems that at least one publisher has noticed that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of our death have been greatly exaggerated. In a recent interview with CNBC, the CEO of Electronic Arts, John Riccitiello, said that the PC platform has the fastestgrowing software revenues in all of gaming. “Just five years ago, people said that the PC game business was in a radical state of decline because NPD said it was down 10%, 20%, 30% year in and year out,” he said. “The fastest growing platform for video games today is the PC, but it’s growing through subscription, through microtransactions, through downloads.” With the stagnation of the latest console generation, the bright outlook on the ever-changing and growing PC platform should be no surprise to anyone. Riccitiello was also quick to point out, however, that overall digital sales, an area where the PC has a clear advantage, are experiencing massive growth; this is unaccounted for at NPD, because it’s a category they do not track. EA is reportedly seeing a 40% increase in sales year-over-year in its digital business, in the neighborhood of $1.2 billion in purely digital sales in the last fiscal year. What about EA’s latest foray into subscription gaming, Star Wars: The Old Republic, you might ask? The last official news, released in May, was that the game was experiencing a drop of roughly 400,000 active subscribers, despite EA giving out a free month to a large chunk of the playerbase. While he gave no hard, direct statements about the future of the game, Riccitiello sang the praises of the free-toplay model of gaming. He said, “We’ve begun to work with different models to bring more users into the game.” It’s possible that he could be referencing their recent shift to a limited free trial, much like World of Warcraft, where players can play to level 15 for free but must subscribe to continue, but only time will tell if the implication is of something more substantial.

Qualcomm can't meet 28nm Snapdragon S4 demands Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/qualcomm-can-t-meet-28nmsnapdragon-s4-demands/16750.html

July 23rd, 2012

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July 23rd, 2012

targeting low to entry-level smartphone markets. Fast forward three or so weeks and we have some screen shots of the Firefox Mobile OS.

Qualcomm has reported that it won’t be able to meet demands of its 28nm Snapdragon S4 chips until the end of this calendar year. What this means is that manufacturers that feature the S4 in their devices will have to scale down productions, and consumers will experience shortages in the devices that they want.

Mozilla announced earlier this month that it is partnering with various carriers to develop an HTML 5 mobile OS targeting low to entry-level smartphone markets. Fast forward three or so weeks and we have some screen shots of the Firefox Mobile OS.

Qualcomm has reported that it won’t be able to meet demands for its 28nm Snapdragon S4 chips until the end of this calendar year. What this means is that manufacturers that feature the S4 in their devices will have to scale down productions, and consumers will experience shortages in the devices that they want. “It's slowing down production rates for a lot of the current Android models and is leading to a number of companies having to delay or scale down production of next generation models,” Chris Green, analyst for Davies Murphy Group Europe, told the BBC. Despite having reportedly adding UMC and Samsung to their already established TSMC foundry, Qualcomm is having a hard time quenching the industry’s thirst for the popular 28nm CPU. Meeting demands won’t be Qualcomm’s only problem, as it may also face the possibility that manufacturers will find an alternative to the S4 in the future. Samsung recently bought out two companies that specialize in connectivity technologies—UK’s CSR and Sweden’s Nanoradio. These moves by Samsung have led a number of analysts to suspect that Samsung is making a move at developing a Qualcomm alternative. Samsung currently employs various Qualcomm chip elements in their devices and Apple’s iPhones. Qualcomm will experience a huge loss if Samsung decides to suddenly pull the plug on the Qualcomm design. Despite speculations of alternatives to Qualcomm’s technologies in the future, Qualcomm’s chief executive, Paul Jacobs, believes that companies like Samsung won’t invest to produce alternatives to Qualcomm’s technologies. "Do people for their own internal uses have enough scale to invest at the same rate we do? The answer is generally no,” he said.

Firefox Mobile OS screenshots Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/firefox-mobile-osscreenshots/16748.html July 23rd, 2012

Mozilla announced earlier this month that it is partnering with various carriers to develop an HTML 5 mobile OS 20

July 23rd, 2012

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July 23rd, 2012

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Many aspects of Firefox Mobile OS look eerily similar to features that are present in Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. From the texting screen to the app drawer, there seems to be nothing really new in terms of design. Firefox Mobile OS may be taking a page or two out of the Android and iOS smartphone book, but according to Mozilla, their mobile OS is lighter and faster than Android. Mozilla is known for their Firefox browser and their involvement in the web development community, so it won’t surprise any of us if Firefox Mobile OS will emphasize heavily on the web aspect of a smartphone. Also, Firefox Mobile OS apps will also be written in HTML 5, so in theory everything should come together nicely in terms of hardware cohesion and compatibility. However, that may not happen, evident through Android’s fragmentation and app compatibility issues. So will Firefox Mobile OS provide the looks and functionality of an Android or iOS at a much lower cost? I suppose that’s what Mozilla is aiming for, but will it succeed where WebOS failed? Image Source: iDownload Blog

July 25th, 2012

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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Samsung disables search function on Galaxy S3 in response to Apple claims Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-disables-search-functionon-galaxy-s3-in-response-to-apple-claims/16815.html July 25th, 2012

Samsung has disabled an advanced search feature on its Galaxy S3 smartphone in order to avoid infringing a search patent owned by Apple. Samsung has disabled an advanced search feature on its Galaxy S3 smartphone in order to avoid infringing a search patent owned by Apple. An over-the-air update disabled the function on devices in the UK and US and Samsung did not alert users to the change, according to the BBC, which may result in some angry customers who do not know the search ability has been axed. Samsung is taking the precautionary measure in the runup to a court battle scheduled for 20 August, despite the case not applying to the GT-i9300 S3 model. However, the Galaxy Nexus suffered a short sales ban in the US due to another case brought by Apple over the same patent, so clearly Samsung is not taking any chances.

The move will help Samsung avoid having to pay damages if the court decides that it is infringing the Apple patent, which covers search functionality that collects and sorts results from across the iPhone for use by the Siri personal assistant app. Apple is looking for $2.5 billion in damages for Samsung's alleged patent infringement. The two tech giants have been locked in a bitter tit-fortat legal battle in roughly a dozen countries across the world, resulting in temporary sales bans, numerous appeals, mounting legal costs, and a growing desperation to be king of the lucrative smartphone and tablet markets.

HIS Announces HD 7750 iCooler Low-Profile Graphics Card Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/his-announces-hd-7750-icooler-lowprofile-graphics-card/16814.html July 25th, 2012

HIS introduced a new mid-range low-profile graphics card based on the Radeon HD 7750 GPU. The card uses a twinfan cooler, dubbed the iCooler, which the company claims, will be acceptably quiet, despite packing two 40 mm fans. HIS introduced a new mid-range low-profile graphics card based on the Radeon HD 7750 GPU. The card uses a twinfan cooler, dubbed the iCooler, which the company claims, will be acceptably quiet, despite packing two 40 mm fans. The HD 7750 iCooler (SKU: H775FN1G) graphics card was launched to all markets where HIS has a presence.

The HIS HD 7750 iCooler uses a half-height PCB, which uses a 2+1 phase VRM to power the 1.5 billion-transistor GPU, 1

July 25th, 2012

and the four GDDR5 memory chips. The GPU is clocked at 800 MHz, sticking to the older AMD specifications. The new specifications up this frequency to 900 MHz. HIS probably chose the 800 MHz clock speed to keep power-draw low. The memory is clocked at 1125 MHz (4.50 GHz GDDR5effective). The card holds 1 GB of memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface.

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Nintendo fiscal first quarter results beat analyst expectations Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nintendo-fiscal-first-quarter-resultsbeat-analyst-expectations/16813.html July 25th, 2012

Nintendo's fiscal first quarter results beat analyst predictions, with the company reporting a much lower loss than expected. The Japanese gaming giant posted an operating loss of 10.3 billion yen ($131.7 million) for the quarter ending 30 June, half the average forecast of 20.6 billion ($263.4 million) from three analysts cited by Reuters. It was also nearly a third of the 37.7 billion yen ($482 million) it lost at the same time last year. The cooling solution that lends the card its name, iCooler, is a fan-heatsink. The heatsink is made of a single block of aluminum, which makes contact with the GPU and the four GDDR5 memory chips on the obverse side of the PCB. The reverse side lacks any components that heat up. The heatsink is ventilated by a pair of 40 mm fans. HIS mentioned that the cooler operates at noise levels below 28 dBA. The cooler makes the card need two expansion slots in your system:

While Nintendo is still losing money currently, the much lower than anticipated loss is a positive sign for the future of the company, which remains the top console seller in the world, despite slowing sales of its Wii motion control system. Nintendo plans to release its successor, the Wii U, later this year, and many believe that this will be the turning point to restore profitability to the company. The success of the Wii U is far from guaranteed, however, with changing gaming habits forcing traditional console makers to re-evaluate the industry. The boom in smartphones and tablets, which are being recognised more and more for their gaming capabilities, is challenging the big names like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.

Display outputs of the HIS HD 7750 iCooler include one each of dual-link DVI, HDMI 1.4a, and D-Sub (VGA). The D-Sub connector is detachable, which helps switching between fullheight, and low-profile brackets (included).

Based on the 28 nm "Cape Verde" silicon, the Radeon HD 7750 is configured with 1,024 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 64 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. It supports the latest DirectX 11.1 API. HIS did not release pricing information of the Radeon HD 7750 iCooler.

Wii sales were down from 1.56 million in the fiscal first quarter of 2011 to just 710,000 this year, while DS sales were down to 540,000 from 1.44 million. Despite this, Nintendo expects to sell 10.5 million Wii units and 2.5 million DS devices this year. It also expects a whopping 18.5 million sales of the 3DS by the end of its fiscal year, thanks to 3DS sales jumping from 710,000 last year to 1.86 million this year. According to Reuters, some analysts believe that Nintendo may be forced to offer its popular game franchises, such as Mario and Zelda, on rival consoles and devices, despite their 2

July 25th, 2012

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exclusivity being one of the main selling points for the Wii, Wii U, DS and 3DS.

Exactly what the Cupertino company is going to produce for consumers with this isn’t clear, but it’s probably fair to imagine something big is on the horizon.

This would see the company following suit with Sega, which shut up shop in the hardware market after the failure of its Dreamcast system at the turn of the century. Sega has since succeeded on software alone, opening its Sonic franchise to many gaming platforms.

Anonymous Strikes Australia Over Proposed Data Retention Policy Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/anonymous-strikes-australia-over-

Nintendo is in a much stronger position, however, and its ability to turn around initial poor sales of the 3DS shows that it is still relevant in an increasingly mobile-focused society.

Beware of the Electronic Eye: Apple's New Patent Presents Many Possibilities Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/beware-of-the-electronic-eye-apples-new-patent-presents-many-possibilities/16805.html July 25th, 2012

The United States Patent and Trademark Office have granted Apple a patent for way to interface humans with computers using sensors, touch screens and virtual reality gloves. The news was broken by Patently Apple, who called it “a wild patent”. Perhaps, like me, you said “5D… wait, what?” and thought Apple were delving into the higher dimensions usually the domain of string theorists and mathematical physicists, it turns out that 5D is a marketing ploy for a patent that, as Patently Apple put it, has the potential for “the widest range of applications I’ve ever seen.”

proposed-data-retention-policy/16804.html July 25th, 2012

Anonymous has claimed responsibility for the defacement of various websites run by the Australian state of Queensland in protest of a new "big brother" policy regarding data retention, specifically that the Australian government would hold information on individuals and businesses for up to two years. Members of the hacktivist group “Anonymous” have claimed responsibility for the defacement of several websites operated in the Australian state of Queensland in protest against Australian policies, currently still in draft form, regarding data retention. The Twitter user @Op_Australia made the claim in this tweet; a webchat channel at anonops.com, also named opAustralia, was referenced in other tweets and is still active, and also offers a link to news stories about the Australian government’s proposed data retention policies; these policies would give the government the ability and power to store and access up to two years’ worth of data about individuals and companies along with easier access to various social networks without the user’s consent. All of this is happening in the name of “national security,” of course. Anonymous claimed responsibility for the defacements in an email sent to News.com.au, which has reported that the attack was timed in order to coincide with the appearance of Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a Google+ Hangout. A Facebook page called “Anonymous Australia” has links to that story along with a list of sites that the group says it has defaced.

The 5D patent outlines advanced technology, interactive gaming and video conferencing. Think of gesture-controlled devices in the same vein as the Kinect or Wii. With the virtual reality gloves, home entertainment could take on a whole new meaning, with the ability to change their resistance to electromagnetic forces, heat, air or more. Also covered by the patent is tactile feedback technology, which could entail starting a car or other device through a handprint rather than with a key or button. How? In the Apple future, a “touchscreen” need not be a capacitive panel. They could be pretty much anything.

While none of the websites Anonymous claims to have defaced were still damaged at the time of writing, two sites, namely createitmakeitliveit.qld.gov.au and smartawards.qld.gov.au were each returning a redirect loop error and were unable to load. Also, it is difficult to know if the Twitter account, webchat, and defacements are really run by Anonymous, as the Guy Fawkes mask and hacktivism have been donned by various groups since Anonymous first made itself known in 2003. What we do know, however, is that many Australians are not happy with their government’s policies when it comes to freedom on the Internet. A proposed filter, supposedly aimed at preventing child pornography from making its way into the island nation, drew widespread protests before the 2010 election and an all-out attack by Anonymous. 3

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

While not entirely gone, the filter still technically exists in a kind of legislative limbo though it has not been put before the Australian Parliament for a long time. The data retention policy has engendered similar kinds of criticism. The government’s response to said criticism has been to reiterate that the proposals are only drafts and that the public will have a chance to comment on the proposals before August 6th.

The Collector's Edition adds some real-life goodies to the mix, including a behind-the-scenes DVD and Blu-ray, which features over an hour of commentary, interviews, and developer roundtables, a soundtrack CD featuring 20 orchestral pieces, a 208-page hardback book showing the art of the expansion from concept to reality, and a Chen Stormstout mouse pad.

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria expansion to launch 25 September

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will be available for Windows and Mac.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/world-of-warcraft-mists-ofpandaria-expansion-to-launch-25-september/16812.html July 25th, 2012

Blizzard has announced the release date for the fourth expansion to its popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft. Blizzard has announced the release date for the fourth expansion to its popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft. Mists of Pandaria, which will open up the long-lost continent of Pandaria and unlock the Pandaren race and Monk class, will launch on 25 September, giving the over 10 million existing players 5 more levels to gain and numerous dungeons, raids and battlegrounds to experience.

Astro Fembot Moves Like a Real Lady Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/astro-fembot-moves-like-a-reallady/16809.html July 25th, 2012

AILA has a feminine figure, a modern hairstyle and large, dark eyes, reminiscent of an anime character. She is also a robot. Markedly different to Robonaut 2, NASA’s broadshouldered space robot, together they may usher in a new era of space exploration, with humans and robots working together more than ever before. AILA is the work of the Robotics Innovation Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence as well as the Robotics Group at the University of Bremen. The German Aerospace Center has committed to an investment of $4.59 million U.S. dollars to the improvement of the software brains in AILA and robots like her.

Gamers can pre-purchase the game now for $39.99. A Digital Deluxe version is available for $59.99 and a Collector’s Edition will be available exclusively in retail stores for $79.99. Those who purchase the standard edition will also be able to upgrade to the Digital Deluxe edition for $20, so they won't lose out.

The Digital Deluxe version comes with the Imperial Quilen in-game flying mount and the Lucky Quilen in-game pet. It also provides exclusive Infested Orc and Night Elf Templar Battle.net portraits for StarCraft II and a unique Pandaren Banner Sigil and Accent for Diablo III, showcasing Blizzard’s unrivalled ability to entice players to some of its other popular titles.

In testing, AILA has been controlled using a specialised mouse as well as Microsoft’s Kinect Xbox controlling technology. She can mimic a human’s arm and hand movements and learn to push buttons or flick switches. Her software learned the motions by recording a human’s motion, breaking the motions down into smaller segments, then piecing the segments together to form new complex motions. These behaviours are added to a database that can be recalled whenever the robot is called upon to perform a new motion. This learning model is obviously not limited to humanoid robots. It could be applied to spider robots or other forms, for any number of learned behaviours. The “Behaviours for Mobile Manipulation” project is expected to continue for four years. The plan is to develop 4

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

the brains for the next generation of humanoid space-bots that may join Robonaut 2 aboard the space station, or even the moon or Mars.

security updates. It’s unclear whether or not OSX/Crisis will affect OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion, but updating to 10.8 would certainly not hurt.

The question on many lips may well be “why make her female?” A possible answer to this may be “why not?” While on the inside AILA is the same as a “male” robot, it could be that the robot workforce one day will have the same diversity as the human workforce does.

Apple releases OS X Mountain Lion

New Mac Trojan Found

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-releases-os-x-mountainlion/16811.html July 25th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-mac-trojan-found/16802.html July 25th, 2012

Apple has released the latest version of OS X, dubbed Mountain Lion, for its Mac computer range, touting hundreds of new features. Security researchers have discovered a new Mac trojan capable of installing itself without the need for admin permissions or even the user's password. Yet more proof for the cult of Apple that Macs are just as susceptible to viruses and Trojans as any other computer: a new OS X Trojan has been discovered that drops components based on whether or not the user account it is executed on has admin permissions or not. The Trojan installs itself completely silently without any user interaction required, including not needing your password in order to install itself. After installing, it calls home to 176.58.100.37 every five minutes while it waits for instructions. Intego, a Mac security software company, had to update its malware detection program when they discovered the threat, which they are calling “OSX/Crisis”. The good news, though, is that Intego has yet to find OSX/Crisis in the wild, instead stumbling on it at VirusTotal, a service that analyzes suspicious files and URLs. Like most Trojans, OSX/Crisis will silently install and create a backdoor to the system, but this threat is particularly dangerous and worrying is that it will install different components based on whether or not the user has admin permissions on the system; these components use low-level system calls and instructions in order to hide themselves from the operating system. Whether or not the user has admin privileges, OSX/ Crisis will have the proper components to complete the tasks it was designed for.

Apple has released the latest version of OS X, dubbed Mountain Lion, for its Mac computer range, touting hundreds of new features. Some of the features included are: iCloud integration; a new Messages app that replaces iChat and allows message sending to any Apple device; the Notification Centre, which provides easy access to alerts from most software, including third-party apps; system-wide sharing; Facebook integration; dictation in any text box; AirPlay Mirroring for wireless streaming of HD data to a HDTV using Apple TV; and the Game Centre, the iOS social gaming network brought to the Mac. “People are going to love the new features in Mountain Lion and how easy it is to download and install from the Mac App Store,” said Philip Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple. “With iCloud integration, Mountain Lion is even easier to set up, and your important information stays up to date across all your devices so you can keep editing documents, taking notes, creating reminders, and continue conversations whether you started on a Mac, iPhone or iPad.”

With admin permissions, OSX/Crisis will drop a rootkit in order to hide itself; it creates 17 files with admin permissions and 14 without. Some of these files are randomly named, but some are consistent throughout installs. For instance, the folder “/Library/ScriptingAdditions/ appleHID/” is created, and if admin permissions are present, the folder “/System/Library/Frameworks/ Foundation.framework/XPCServices/” gets created. What’s interesting is that, according to a spokesperson for Intego, the files are created in such a way as to make reverseengineering more difficult when analyzing them, a technique that “is common in Windows malware, but is relatively uncommon for OSX malware.” Interestingly, OSX/Crisis only affects OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and OS X 10.7 Lion, underlining the importance of keeping an antivirus program on Macs and keeping that program updated, as well as installing all of the latest

To upgrade users need to have Lion or Snow Leopard (OS X v10.6.8 or later), 2GB of RAM and 8GB of available hard drive space.

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

OS X Mountain Lion can bought for $19.99 from the Mac App Store. OS X Server can also be bought from the Store for the same price. Some customers who recently (on or after 11 June) purchased a Mac may also be able to upgrade for free.

Palit GeForce GTX 670 Jetstream 2GB Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/palit-geforce-gtx-670-jetstream-2gbreview/16650.html July 25th, 2012

The basic premise of paying more for non-reference graphics cards is for better/quieter cooling, improved hardware componentry, and hopefully higher overclocking margins. Palit's GeForce GTX 670 Jetstream achieves all of that, along with a very competitive price tag to boast about.

Basic documentation/driver CD and accessories like a HDMI-DVI and DVI-Analog convertor are provided in the package.

We've previously reviewed Palit's GTX 680 Jetstream 2GB back in April, and we found it to be an attractive choice for a high end enthusiast GPU, albeit it was in perpetual short supply. Shortly after, the launch of the cheaper GTX 670 changed the market dynamics. Although the lesser Kepler on the GTX 670 only had 87.5% of the number of SMX units than the fully-enabled GTX 680, real-world benchmarks and performance figures were much closer when both were matched matched clock-for-clock. In fact, factory overclocked cards like the one we have here today will give the GTX 680 and HD 7970/7970GHz (not GP compute scenarios though) a run for their money. After all, why pay more for intangible differences? Here at the I/O panel, we see the usual GTX 670/680 ports layout - full sized HDMI/DisplayPort and dual DVI (only one has dual link). In this picture, it is also clear to our viewers that the card takes up slightly more than two slots thanks to its over-sized cooler. This virtually rules out SLI on mATX setups.

Palit has an ongoing promotion right now where you can win another identical card for SLI, by posting pictures of your rig in use.

At the back, we see that the GTX 670 Jetstream actually has a short-depth PCB like the reference model, although the power circuitry used here is different.

July 25th, 2012

Netgear launches WN100RP WiFi Booster Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/netgear-launches-wn100rp-wifibooster/16810.html July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

There is a disclaimer, however, when it comes to a router that has an altered firmware. That is, the WN100RP may not be compatible with routers that are not equipped with OEM firmware. “May not be compatible with WiFi routers or gateways whose firmware has been altered or changed, including without limitation certain open source routers, or other WiFi routers or gateways with non-standard or outdated firmware.”

Who needs to fiddle with DD-WRT and wireless bridge when you can buy a WiFi booster. While this gadget is probably not as featured pack as a DD-WRT equipped router, it’ll increase the range of your current WiFi setup with little to no hassles at all. Netgear recently released the WN100RP WiFi Booster, and for $40 you can increase the range of your WiFi with a device that is as small as a night-light. Who needs to fiddle with DD-WRT and wireless bridge when you can buy a WiFi booster. Well, this gadget is probably not as featured pack as a DD-WRT equipped router, but it’ll increase the range of your current WiFi setup. Netgear recently released the WN100RP WiFi Booster, and for $40 you can increase the range of your WiFi with a device that is as small as a night-light. With a push of a button you can amplify your home’s WiFi, and nearly doubling its range. The tiny device is compatible with multiple router brands including Belkin, Linksys, DLink, among others.

The WN100RP also has a nifty power button that allows you to save energy without having to unplug the device from the outlet.

Desura offers Chester for free! Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/desura-offers-chester-forfree-/16808.html July 25th, 2012

The Steam summer sale just ended, and some of us are well stocked on discounted games until the next sale, but it’s its never a bad thing to get more computer games—especially when it’s free! Desura is offering Chester, an indie title, for free, and all you have to do is install the Desura game client. The Steam summer sale just ended, and some of us are well stocked on discounted games until the next sale, but it’s its never a bad thing to get more computer games—especially when it’s free! Desura is offering Chester, an indie title, for free, and all you have to do is install the Desura game client. “Chester is a 2D platformer with over 10 unlockable characters, a light RPG element and leveling up system, loads of unlockables, around 50 levels, and 8 "styles" that allow the player to change the look of the game at will. These styles include sketchbook, 8-bit, LCD, blueprints, and many more. They also each give a unique gameplay bonus to the player. The game also includes 4 difficulty levels so that almost anyone can beat the game or get a very challenging experience out of it.” 7

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Chester is no 3D behemoth, and it doesn’t require a high-end video card. It’s a great game for passing the time (Plants vs. Zombies? Super Meat Boy?). It’s available for free the next 48 hours. Sorry Mac users, Desura hasn't developed a Mac game client yet. Go!

Is Apple's Magic Balloon Deflating? Mixed Quarterly Results, Sharp QoQ Decline in iPhone Sales Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/is-apple-s-magic-balloon-deflatingmixed-quarterly-results-sharp-qoq-decline-in-iphone-sales/16803.html July 25th, 2012

Earlier today, Apple Inc. announced results for the fiscal third quarter 2012, i.e. second calendar quarter and immediately disappointed the market with a record drop in sales of its popular iPhone smartphone, and a decline in sales of iPods. iPads broke records, while Macs remained stale. Apple reported $35 billion revenue and a net income of $8.8 billion, resulting in $9.32 earnings per share (EPS). This is lower than Wall Street estimates, which estimated Apple at $37.18 billion in revenue with $10.36 EPS. However, shareholders had something to be happy about as Apple announced the company will pay off dividend to the tune of $2.65 per share to all stockholders on record before the closure of NASDAW on August 13th, 2012.

Published by: VR-Zone

However, if the company doesn't rebound with the arrival of iPhone 5 (or "The New iPhone"), one can only wonder what effect will it have on the stock price.

Apple Wants $2.5... BILLION From Samsung For Patent Infringement Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-wants-2.5...-billion-fromsamsung-for-patent-infringement/16798.html July 25th, 2012

In an unsurprising move, Apple demanded a substantial sum of money from Samsung according to its latest filings in the case between the companies. But, even for a massive tech company, this is a lot of money. Today, Apple alleged that the only way Samsung could compete in the smartphone market was by “copying Apple.” Further, the company alleges that “Samsung’s infringing sales have enabled Samsung to overtake Apple as the largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world.” As a result, Apple “conservatively estimates” that it is entitled to: $2 billion for unjust enrichment; $500 million in lost profits; and $25 million in reasonable royalty damages. This come out to a grand total of $2,525,000,000. Heres the obligatory Austin Powers Dr Evil reference:

Paying the dividend to its shareholders is considered a good step forward for AAPL stock traders, who relied on share price to earn money off the stock. However, this cash dividend might be a way to soften the blow of mixed sales results. For starters, Apple sold 26 million iPhones, which represents a neat 28% increase over last year. However, in terms of quarter-on-quarter sales, Apple suffered a blow close to the tune of 10 million iPhones. The company sold 35.1 million phones in second fiscal quarter (Chinese New Year Sales), and got beaten by Samsung (45 million). More importantly, we're continuously hearing analysts estimating that Samsung sold over 50 million phones . In case this turns true, Samsung will outsell Apple by practically 2 Galaxy smartphones to one iPhone. Bad news continued with a expected 10% decline in iPod sales to 5.8 million and this is where the bad news end. Apple sold a record 17 million iPads, spurned by the arrival of "the New iPad" i.e. iPad 3. This is 3 million short of what analysts expected, but record nevertheless. Furthermore, Apple sold four million Macs, which represents 2% growth from last year - the market is essentially flat in that perspective. Overall, the situation is still looking bright for Apple, as decline in one segment is offset in another.

The company calculated the royalties based upon the following valuations: • $2.02 for the "overscroll bounce" (or "rubberbanding") '318 patent • $3.10 for the "scrolling API" '915 patent • $2.02 for the "tap to zoom and navigate" '163 patent • $24 for use of any of Apple's design patents or trade dress rights Finally, Apple argues that if Samsung is entitled to any remedy, it must be calculated on FRAND terms. Thus, Apply is willing to pay only $0.0049 per unit for each infringed patent. Alternatively, it is rumored that Samsung is seeking 2.4% of Apple’s sales as a royalty for their patents. 8

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While these numbers may seem worlds apart, it is important to understand this in terms of the underlying patents. Apple’s claims are regarding non-standard essential patents (non-SEP). In essence, these are the patents that make an iPhone an iPhone. On the other hand, the patents that Samsung alleges were infringed are standard-essential patents (SEP). These are what must be included to make a wireless phone a wireless phone. As such, SEPs must be licensed on FRAND terms, whereas non-SEPs can be licensed on other terms. Is Apple correct in its valuation of their non-SEPs? Maybe, maybe not. But that does not change the fact that Apple’s non-SEPs for iPhone specific features are more valuable than Samsung’s general wireless SEPs. It is rather ironic, however, that Apple invokes FRAND terms only a few paragraphs after demanding $2.5 billion in damages. In the end, this just shows how far apart these two companies are from a settlement, and how little these two companies care about the consumer. In the filings, there is a quote from Apple CEO Tim Cook stating, “[I]t is important for Apple not to be the developer for the world. We just want other people to invent their own stuff.” Mr. Cook is correct – Apple should stop trying to destroy its competition in the courts to become the only developer in the world. Instead, it should give other companies the opportunity “to invent their own stuff” so that the customer can decide. Images from: HDblog.it and Gearcrave.com

Blizzard Facing Legal Trouble Over Diablo III Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blizzard-facing-legal-trouble-overdiablo-iii/16793.html July 25th, 2012

Blizzard is facing serious legal trouble from consumer rights groups in Europe and Asia over its newest game, Diablo III. Blizzard expected an outpouring of support from gamers and media with the release of Diablo 3; after years of development and speculation it was finally released, but not to the joyous adoration that Blizzard expected. Now, the company is facing a looming legal battle on opposite sides of the globe over what should have been another jewel in the crown of Blizzard’s achievements. PCGamesN has reported that the German body of the Federation of Consumer Organizations is threatening legal action against Blizzard if the company doesn’t begin highlighting the requirement of a persistent internet connection in order to play the game on the game’s packaging; the constant internet connection and server difficulties are one of the biggest complaints gamers had about Blizzard’s newest game. The German FCO has given Blizzard a July 27th deadline to respond; otherwise the group will begin seeking a legal resolution.

Published by: VR-Zone

In addition to the European threat, South Korean authorities have issued a fine of $7,000 for its failure to refund customers who suffered from the infamous Error 37, a server error caused by too many players being logged on at once which caused the game to be completely unplayable, even in single-player mode. Adding to these troubles are reports over the past few days of bugs players can exploit for major profit or advancement within the game that Blizzard has so far been unable to fix. Two of the exploits currently known are a bug with the wizard character’s spells where the player is able to make him permanently invulnerable. The other exploit is similar, involving barbarian characters being able to artificially boost their stats. While these issues would be annoyances in other games, in Diablo III players are able to sell their unwanted or unneeded items in the Auction House for in-game gold or real-world cash, and these exploits give those players a completely unfair advantage.

iPhone 5 Most Anticipated Upcoming Smartphone Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-5-most-anticipatedupcoming-smartphone/16792.html July 25th, 2012

A new survey hints that Apple's newest smartphone may be even more successful than the iPhone 4S, widely regarded as the most successful smartphone launch in history. Samsung’s executives are extremely happy with their sales figures; reports indicate that the Galaxy S III has already sold 10 million units. According to a new survey, however, it’s the iPhone 5 that people are most anticipating. Demand for the iPhone 5 is “strikingly higher” than for any other iPhone and Apple should get the most revenue from a massive uptick in smartphone sales this fall. The survey looked at the current demand for the iPhone 4S among 4,042 North American consumers and found that Samsung is showing major momentum, largely due to the new Galaxy S III. The South Korean company saw a fourfold increase in planned buying over the past 3 quarters, which is an astonishing rate of growth. The survey showed, however, that Apple had grown even more since March; Samsung only showed a 6% increase over these four months, from 3% to 9% of respondents saying that they are at least “somewhat likely” to purchase a Galaxy S III. Apple, on the other hand, increased from 21.5% of respondents in March saying the same thing for the iPhone 4S to 31% saying it for the iPhone 5, which paints a very good picture for Apple considering that the iPhone 4S is currently considered the most successful smartphone release in history. Samsung may have the spotlight now, but it appears that their days of being on the top are numbered as Apple prepares to release its newest, and probably most successful, phone yet.

July 25th, 2012

Marvel Security Consultant Threatens Site Over Source of Leak Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/marvel-security-consultantthreatens-site-over-source-of-leak/16790.html July 25th, 2012

An independent security consultant claiming to work for Marvel has sent a threatening letter to a site looking for the source of leaked information about the new Marvel movies coming out, even before the publishing giant had made an official announcement. For those who don’t know, the San Diego Comic Con, the largest comic book and general nerd convention in the world, took place in San Diego, California from July 12th to July 15th. On the third day, during a panel discussion which included Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, Marvel’s “Phase Two” plans were revealed (that’s not a joke, they actually called it “phase two”). What was interesting was that their second big movie in 2014, after Iron Man 3, would be Guardians of the Galaxy, with one of the featured characters being Rocket Raccoon. In late June, however, a few weeks before the announcement, Latino Review caught wind of the plans and began reporting on them. Marvel is reportedly saying that the leak was completely unauthorized and they’re trying to find out who did it. Latino Review reported receiving a very passive-aggressive email regarding the leak, and replied with a challenge to Marvel: “Maybe send us a more realistically written form letter and we’ll start to care.” Sent by an “independent security consultant” who claims to have worked for Marvel since 1982, the letter accuses the Latino Review editors of disseminating “confidential, nonpublic information concerning Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy.” We have included the full text of the letter below so that you, dear readers, can judge for yourselves. My name is [redacted] and I am an independent security consultant working for Marvel. I have worked as a security consultant for Marvel since 1982. I am currently conducting an investigation on Marvel’s behalf regarding the dissemination of confidential, non-public information concerning Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy. The executives at Marvel are extremely upset regarding the release of this information and they have instructed me to find you and ascertain how you received it. My goal is to accomplish this in a quiet manner. I do not want to see you or anyone else get into trouble nor do I want to see anyone’s career be tarnished because of this. However I am very confident that through your efforts and mine, we will be able to work through this together. I personally feel that you did not have any malicious intent when you posted your spoilers on the fanboy website. Like many fans out there, you just wanted to be the first one to post something on the internet. I get it, however the Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxyinformation was confidential and you did not have Marvel’s consent to post it. That was illegal!

Published by: VR-Zone

If you provide me with your source, I will make it worth your effort. I want to work with you. As I stated above, I do not want to see you or anyone else get into trouble. That would be a lose-lose for everyone. I would hope that you are now realizing that this is a very serious matter and the consequences will be quite severe if I do not find out how you obtained the Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy information. My goal is to ascertain how you got the Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy information and make this go away. All information you provide will remain confidential, even your identity. Your source will never know. Let’s work together and make this happen before it is too late. To date, everyone I have worked with has not suffered any consequences. I do not want to see this situation get blown out of proportion. However if we do not work together, I will have no choice but to take this investigation to the next level and I will not stop until this investigation is completed Please get back to me with your thoughts and let me know how you would like to proceed. It is my goal to bring this matter to closure as quickly and quietly as possible. Thank you for your time and please get back to me as soon as possible. If you would like to talk, you can reach me at [redacted] Thank you [redacted] What this consultant doesn’t seem to understand is that this is how reporting works; a reporter hears something from Person A, then goes to Person B and Person C to make sure that the claim made by Person A is legitimate. Latino Review doesn’t have to reveal their sources, either; first, if they just started handing out their sources, no one would ever work with them again (as anyone with a mild understanding of journalism knows), and second, a disclaimer is attached to the bottom of the email saying “Nothing contained in this e-mail shall (a) be considered a legally binding agreement, amendment or modification of any agreement with Marvel,” meaning that Latino Review, and any other site that may have received this email, can just ignore it. It’s possible that this consultant may not realize that Latino Review is a journalistic site as opposed to a competing studio or a site looking to use its content for advertising, etc. There is a legal precedent, though, set by tech websites who posted leaked designs for new Apple products; it turns out that the courts said yes, those sites can protect their sources just like any other journalistic organization. Should Marvel pursue this, if they are indeed behind this email, trying to beat a legal precedent set when Apple lost a case is going to be a difficult task, to say the least.

Club 3D Radeon HD 7970 royalAce Tops Off Poker Series Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/club-3d-radeon-hd-7970-royalacetops-off-poker-series/16801.html

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 25th, 2012

Club 3D launched the Radeon HD 7970 royalAce graphics card. The HD 7970 GHz Edition card tops off the Poker series the company launched in late-April, and combines "SuperOverclock" clock speeds with the company's CoolStream cooling solution. Club 3D launched the Radeon HD 7970 royalAce graphics card (model: CGAX-7977SO). The HD 7970 GHz Edition card tops off the Poker series the company launched in lateApril, and combines "SuperOverclock" clock speeds with the company's CoolStream cooling solution.

The European graphics card vendor, which goes by the catchy slogan "play your cards right," with a club in its logo, launched its Poker series of factory-overclocked graphics cards earlier this year, in late-April. The hierarchy in a deck of cards is used to denote the level of overclocking/ exclusivity. You see where this is going, with the Ace. Club 3D HD 7970 royalAce is based on the newer Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition chip (features PowerTune with Boost).

Club 3D deployed its trusty CoolStream cooling solution with the HD 7970 royalAce. The cooler uses a large aluminum fin heatsink, to which heat is fed by four 8 mmthick copper heat pipes, and which is ventilated by two 80 mm fans. The main heatsink appears to cool the GPU and memory, while a secondary heatsink is used to cool the VRM area. Power is drawn from a 6-pin and an 8-pin PCIe power connector. The OEM of this card appears to be TUL.

Club 3D did not reveal pricing of the Radeon HD 7970 royalAce graphics card.

New HighPoint RocketStor Dock Leverages Two USB 3.0 Connections Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-highpoint-rocketstor-dockleverages-two-usb-3.0-connections/16800.html July 25th, 2012

The Club 3D Radeon HD 7970 royalAce ships with GPU clock speeds of 1,050 MHz (GPU base), 1,100 MHz (GPU boost), and 6.00 GHz (memory, GDDR5 effective); against AMD reference clock speeds of 1,000/1,050/6,000 MHz (core/core boost/memory effective). The card packs 3 GB of memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface.

HighPoint's newest 3.5-inch/2.5-inch SATA drive dock, the RocketStor 5122B, leverages the bandwidth of two independent USB 3.0 host interfaces. This unique feature can also be used to share the dock between two PCs. Known more for its RocketRAID enterprise-grade HBA addon-cards, HighPoint has been making inroads to the consumer storage market for quite some time. These efforts are led by its RocketStor product family, the latest member of which, is a unique dual 3.5-inch/2.5-inch SATA drive dock, which features two USB 3.0 host interfaces.

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone July 25th, 2012

VIA announced the VAB-800, a motherboard in the picITX form-factor (10 cm x 7.2 cm, ATX/ITX compatible), driven by an ARM-based SoC. The company claims the SoC powering the board is capable of 1080p video playback, drawing less than 5W power. It features most common PC interfaces. The RocketStor 5122B from HighPoint features a rather convention "toaster-dock" design. It has two drive bays, capable of holding hard drives and solid-state drives in the 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch form-factors, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Each of the two bays has its own USB-to-SATA host-controller, making it what is essentially two singlebay USB 3.0 docks rolled into one. HighPoint claims the approach results in over 400 MB/s of bandwidth for each bay. The SATA host supports drives with volume sizes of up to 4 TB.

The RocketStor 5122B also comes with a one-touch backup feature, which works with bundled software, to back-up data from a host PC into the specified drives, or between two installed drives. Measuring 135mm (W) x 121mm (L) x 70mm (H), the dock weighs about 1 kg. It uses an external power-supply. The dock supports Windows Vista/2008/7, and Mac OS X.

HighPoint did not release pricing information, but talked briefly about a future product, the RocketStor 5212, which features a 10 Gb/s Thunderbolt interface instead of two USB 3.0.

VIA ARM-Powered Pico-ITX Motherboard Launched Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/via-arm-powered-pico-itxmotherboard-launched/16799.html

The VAB-800 from VIA is driven by either VIA's own WonderMedia 800 MHz or Freescale 1 GHz ARM CortexA8 SoCs, backed by 1 GB of DDR3 memory, 64 GB eMMC flash memory, and a SATA 3 Gb/s port to expand its storage. Either of the two SoC choices, according to VIA, pack integrated graphics capable of 1080p video playback.

The VAB-800 comes with a plethora of connectivity options, including several interfaces that PC users might be familiar with. For starters, its rear panel features its two external display outputs, D-Sub (VGA) and mini-HDMI, placed next to a couple of USB 2.0 ports, and an RJ-45 jack, backed by a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet controller. On the obverse side of the PCB, you'll find a standard HD audio front-panel header, SDIO and GPIO headers. The reverse side of the PCB holds a pair of LVDS headers, to connect with internal flat-panel screens (in case of notebooks and all-in-one desktops).

July 25th, 2012

Board starter kit packages for common ARM-compatible operating systems, including Android, Ubuntu, and Windows Embedded Compact 7, will be included with the VAB-800. The company did not release pricing information.

Sharkoon Outs Tactix Gaming Keyboard

Published by: VR-Zone

Measuring 431 x 136 x 24 mm, the Tactix lacks any dedicated macro keys, including multimedia keys, there are just the conventional 107-keys. Sharkoon instead includes a software that lets you set key combinations and re-map the keyboard. Up to 10 profiles holding unique sets of key combinations can be stored (on the PC, not in the keyboard). The keyboard ships with a detachable palm-rest (made of the same ABS plastic as the rest of the keyboard).

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sharkoon-outs-tactix-gamingkeyboard/16797.html July 25th, 2012

Sharkoon announced its newest gaming keyboard, the Tactix. On paper, it ticks quite a few checkboxes on the list of what a modern gaming keyboard really needs, including a sweet price. Sharkoon announced its newest gaming keyboard, the Tactix. On paper, it ticks quite a few checkboxes on the list of what a modern gaming keyboard really needs, including a sweet price.

The Sharkoon Tactix uses common membrane switches, which probably plays a big role in its pricing by the company. It sells for just 12.99€ (S$19.8).

Nintendo offers Mario game discounts in Month of Mario Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nintendo-offers-mario-gamediscounts-in-month-of-mario/16796.html July 25th, 2012

In the run up to the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo is offering a variety of classic Mario games at a discounted price. Sharkoon Tactix is a USB keyboard, and addresses the problem of ghosting by providing 18-key rollover (up to 18 simultaneous key presses get registered). The keyboard bears a conventional QWERTY layout, and comes in several regional options. The W, A, S, D, and arrow keys are replaceable, the package includes sets of blue, rubberized anti-slip keys, so you can't go wrong with pressing the right key in the heat of the battle.

In the run up to the release of New Super Mario Bros. 2, Nintendo is offering a variety of classic Mario games at a discounted price. The “Month of Mario” will see one Mario title at a super low price of just $2.99 or $3.99 each week starting from 26 July to 22 August. The first title on sale, Super Mario Bros., will be available for $3.99 from 26 July to 1 August. Super Mario Land can be nabbed for $2.99 from 2 August to 8 August. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins can be bought for $2.99 from 9 13

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

August to 15 August. Mario's Picross will sell for $2.99 from 16 August to 22 August.

“In the past people have been able to record TV shows and CDs using home recording equipment,” said Matesanz. “Now, Youtube wants to block users doing the same from its site. I launched this petition to make the point that changing technology should not affect peoples’ rights as a consumer. I have been amazed at the response to my petition but surprised that the company has not responded. I would very much like to sit down with them and discuss this issue.” The games can be bought from the Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS, which will also sell a downloadable version of the new Mario game next month. New Super Mario Bros. 2 launches for the Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL on 19 August.

1.1 million people petition Google to allow third-party YouTube recording Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/1.1-million-people-petition-googleto-allow-third-party-youtube-recording/16795.html July 25th, 2012

Over one million people have signed a petition asking Google to allow third-party recording of YouTube videos for private use. Over one million people have signed a petition asking Google to allow third-party recording of YouTube videos for private use. The petition was organised by 21-year-old Philip Matesanz from Hanover, Germany, who employed Change.org to help muster together support for his campaign. At the time of writing the amount of signatures is now at 1,107,856, with a target of 1,500,000. The petition is written in English, French, German and Turkish, criticising Google for having “teamed up with the RIAA” to take action against any service that allows users to record content uploaded to YouTube, such as a variety of websites that convert YouTube videos to .mpg or .mp3 files.

We contacted Google to see what it had to say. A YouTube spokesperson told us: “We have always taken violations of our Terms of Service seriously, and will continue to enforce these Terms of Service against sites that violate them."

Samsung and Corning to build $600 million LCD glass factory in China Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-and-corning-to-build-600million-lcd-glass-factory-in-china/16794.html July 25th, 2012

Samsung has teamed up with Corning to build a jointlyowned TFT-LCD glass factory in China that will cost $600 million. Samsung has teamed up with Corning to build a jointlyowned TFT-LCD glass factory in China that will cost $600 million. The duo inked a “memorandum of understanding” with the Wuxi New District government in China for the new facility, which will take over some manufacturing capacity from factories in South Korea. The companies previously set up Samsung Corning Precision Glass in 1995 and Corning has been gaining significant footing in the mobile market, with its Gorilla Glass featuring in the first iPhone launched by Apple and many other mobile devices since.

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

"partnership to the next level", the reality was that Microsoft decided to silk-screen its logo onto all of the hardware for the next-generation console. Xbox 360 - Creation of a New Business Model

The new factory will produce TFT-LCD glass, which is used in laptops, mobile phones, monitors and TVs, among a number of other devices, giving Samsung a further advantage across the spectrum of industries it operates in. The deal is expected to formally begin later this year, with both companies still needing to sign a final agreement. It is not yet clear when the build will begin or when the factory will open, but we expect it will take a few years.

NVIDIA's Major Coup: How AMD Lost a Man Who Brought All Next-Gen Console Deals Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-s-major-coup-how-amd-losta-man-who-brought-all-next-gen-console-deals/16789.html July 25th, 2012

The fact that AMD won all three next-gen console deals is probably one of worst-kept secrets in Silicon Valley, but little was known about the history of how next-gen consoles are coming to be. The following story culminates with the news that Bob Feldstein, one of key executives at AMD - decided to leave the company for NVIDIA. Today, Wall Street Journal broke the news that Bob Feldstein, a person with three Vice President titles (VP Business Development, VP Strategic Development, Strategic Dev) left AMD for NVIDIA Corporation. Under the California law, there are no enforceable non-compete clauses, thus Bob is free to exchange Boston for Santa Clara, and nobody will be able to say a thing. According to a statement from NVIDIA, the new job for Mr. Feldstein will be to "help us think through current and possible future technology licensing projects." In order to understand just what Bob did at AMD and before that at ATi Technologies, we need to go back by over a decade to May 2002. Microsoft and NVIDIA ended up in court over pricing of the MCP-X and NV2A chipset that powered the first Xbox console. After arbitration ruled in NVIDIA's favor, the GPU giant from Santa Clara was effectively out of the deal for the Xbox Next (aka 360). Even though Jen-Hsun Huang released a statement saying that two companies will take

Here's where Bob Feldstein and his team saw a giant opportunity for ATI, which was producing Radeon graphics cards for gamers, as well as the "Flipper" graphics chip for the Nintendo GameCube console. ATI went on to negotiate with Robbie Bach and Steve Ballmer and ultimately sealed the deal which created a completely unheard strategy among the GPU developers of the time - license its core R500 technology to Microsoft in a chip codenamed Xenos, which will carry two logos - 90nm GPU die will carry 'Microsoft Xbox' while 'NEC' logo will be imprinted on 10MB of eDRAM. Xenos chip was the base for all the success AMD will receive afterwards. Even though the company ceded the "ego" aspect of branding themselves on the chip itself, Microsoft as a customer brought significant revenue, since Microsoft had to pay for every die shrink (Xenos went from 90nm to 65nm, 55nm and ultimately 40nm), while ATI was free to develop future parts. Bob oversaw the creation of licensing mode where ATI provides the technology, and offers both bragging rights and cost-effective options. At the same time, Sony ran into problems with the idea of putting two Cell processors inside its upcoming PlayStation 3 console. The process technology hit the wall at 3.2 GHz and the company panicked, going to NVIDIA and asking them could they create a graphics chip for PlayStation 3 with less than year and a half ahead of launch (some sources say 15 months). NVIDIA charged through the roof for what was a GeForce 7800GT on an MXM module, using 128-bit interface instead of a 256-bit one (on the desktop). However, Sony got rock solid drives and they were happy with NVIDIA. SNAP Fail, Bob's team Rising to Fame It was no secret that AMD and NVIDIA had a secret agreement over the first Xbox, which was supposed to use the Duron CPU and MCP-X and NV2A chipset. AMD wanted NVIDIA, and NVIDIA wanted AMD. Serious negotiations lasted throughout 2005, and there was one limiting factor - Jen-Hsun Huang insisted that he becomes the CEO of AMD, while Hector Jesus Ruiz would become the President of the company. HJR could not accept to that and in the battle of two egos, Hector won and the deal was dead by September 2005. Truth to be told, by comparing AMD's and NVIDIA's market cap today, one must wonder what might have been. AMD started to negotiate the acquisition of ATI Technologies. At the same time, ATI helped Microsoft to beat the company's primary target, which was Sony PlayStation 3 console. However, neither Sony nor Microsoft had the slightest idea that Nintendo Wii will walk all over their next-gen high-definition blah blah consoles and become the winner of the 7th generation of consoles. Two things happened at the same time - Sony wasn't satisfied with the attitude shown by Nvidia's key employees. According to sources very close to heart of the matter, "working with NVIDIA is the same as going to the expensive 15

July 25th, 2012

dentist. You know it will get the job done and that your end result will be great, but that does not feel you will feel great. In fact, you will feel like sh**." Second thing was Intel and the doomed project called Larrabee. Intel was courting both Microsoft and Sony (what happened to Nintendo deserves a separate story) with the x86 Core-based CPU and Larrabee-based GPU. Things were going well for Intel with Microsoft (Sony showed them the door), but after it turned out that Larrabee was an utter failure which infringed on NVIDIA's and ATI patents (ATI patents were 'no problem' due to AMD-Intel cross-licensing agreement), doors were closed shut. Sealing the Deal AMD saw what Intel was trying to do and in order to beat Intel, they offered the same thing as Intel - we have the APU (CPU+GPU) for low-demanding tasks, and a fullyfledged GPU utilizing the R1000 architecture, which should be known as the Sea Islands or HD 8000 Series. There are also rumors that the next-gen hardware supposedly utilizes R900/Southern Islands/HD7000 Series, but that will not be known until the consoles actually hit the market. With hardware makers unwilling to commit to the next generation consoles and insisting that the current consoles should last until 2016, the hardware just kept on being refreshed, causing a lot of stress for the engineering team. Be that as it may Bob led the team to negotiate Sony PlayStation 4 and ultimately, ended with an impressive deal. Out of three next-generation consoles, three of them will have AMD GPU, and at least one will have an APU as well. Bob's Arrival - Can NVIDIA stop being a nightmarish Dentist? If you were AMD, how would you react to the person who saved your bacon more than once...? Well, what happened at AMD will remain a mystery, but the fact of the mater is that we heard from a lot of sources that they don't feel appreciated. There's no easy way of saying it, but over the past couple of years, AMD lost a lot of talent. First and foremost, the company had to make sacrifices in order to pay off its massive debt of around six billion dollars. Thomas Seifert replaced Bob Rivet and did a small miracle in preventing the company from going down under. However, brilliant talents were lost in failures to recognize which projects bring money, and which don't. Netbooks, Tablets, and obviously, consoles - are projects all lead by people that changed the way how the semiconductor industry sees opportunities. Bob's departure maybe hits AMD even more than the departures of hardware engineers, since he was the instrument that created a whole new way of selling chips (which did not exist in the GPU world before). The ways how ATI, i.e. AMD engaged its customers in the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo erased a lot of bad blood, but it is obvious that Bob channeled Sinatra's "I did it my way" and cashed out. NVIDIA now has an ally which knows how to sort out the relationships which turned quite catastrophically for the company, with a lot of hits and misses. After all, if Qualcomm did not messed up its schedule, Surface tablet would have ran on Snapdragon, while Sony wasn't enthused about working with NV ever again.

Published by: VR-Zone

With Bob Feldstein belonging to the green camp now, we might lose a few egos and NV just might get a large number of customers. However, he needs freedom to operate in order to assemble the team of people which will be at client's service, without sending every other email mentioning NRE's for products which are supposed to work in the first place. NVIDIA just scored big for Tegra, Project Denver and GeForce. Only time will tell how fast they can develop, though.

Kodak: Hey Guys, Look At Me! Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/kodak-hey-guys-look-atme-/16783.html July 25th, 2012

After declaring bankruptcy and losing its infringement case before the International Trade Commission, Kodak plans to continue its fight against Apple and Research in Motion. At this point, why not at least try? Kodak issued a statement saying that the patent "has been upheld in previous litigation at the ITC and was affirmed by the US Patent and Trade Office in the face of two separate challenges.” The problem, however, is that Kodak is arguing the patent entitles the company to revenues for any device that previews a digital picture. As the ITC ruled, that is not the case; the Kodak patent simply does not support such an expansive interpretation. The company is currently drafting a reorganization plan detailing how it could emerge from bankruptcy proceedings to continue operations. This is the last phase of a Chapter 11 proceeding. As part of this plan, Kodak is auctioning off 1,100 digital imaging patents on August 8. The company hopes to raise several billion dollars which would help to rejuvenate the once proud company. Which companies are likely going to bid against each other for these patents? Apple and Samsung. Great...

Apple & Samsung Patent Wars: Next Stop? Australia Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple--samsung-patent-wars-nextstop-australia/16782.html July 25th, 2012

Trial began today in the latest lawsuit between Samsung and Apple. This time, it is at a new venue, Australia. It seems that even at this very early stage, the judge feels the same way as most consumers – annoyed. Calling the dispute “just ridiculous”, Australian Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett seems poised to send this to 16

July 25th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

mediation. She noted that if this was a dispute between most other companies, it would have immediately been forced into mediation. She gave the parties until the end of the week to inform her as to why she should not order mediation.

The case began in July 2011 when Apple filed a suit against Samsung in Australia. Apple alleged that the technology used in Samsung’s Galaxy tablet infringed on Apple’s patents. Unperturbed, Samsung filed a cross-claim alleging that the iPhone 4 and 4S, and the iPad 2, infringed upon Samsung’s 3G patents. Neil Young, an attorney for Samsung, made quite a bold assertion at the hearing today. He argued that Samsung had reached out to Apple negotiating a license agreement on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms. In response, Young alleged that Apple simply refused to enter negotiations. Apple did not comment on the trial. Of course, this could be legal posturing by Samsung to portray the company as the victim – even though Samsung is the biggest smartphone manufacturer in the market. But, if the allegations by Samsung are true, then Apple should be severely punished. If there were negotiations however, then Samsung should be sanctioned for making these false allegations. While it would be interesting to follow the back-and-forth of trial, at this point we think it is clear that mediation is what really needs to occur here.

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

ARCTIC Sound P301, P311 and P402 Headphones Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/arctic-sound-p301-p311-and-p402headphones-review/16846.html July 27th, 2012

ARCTIC has been full of surprises lately, as the company has been diversifying towards other segments of the market rather than sticking with CPU and GPU coolers, the products which the company became wellknown for. One of the new market segments ARCTIC has been trying to penetrate concerns sound-related products, with the company releasing a large number of earphones, headphones and small speaker sets. Today we are having a look at three of the headphones ARCTIC currently offers, namely the P301, P311 and P402, each of which products is suited for a different kind of user. Read on for details. ARCTIC has been full of surprises lately, as the company has been diversifying towards other segments of the market rather than sticking with CPU and GPU coolers, the products which the company became well-known for. One of the new market segments ARCTIC has been trying to penetrate concerns sound-related products, with the company releasing a large number of earphones, headphones and small speaker sets. Today we are having a look at three of the headphones ARCTIC currently offers, namely the P301, P311 and P402, each of which products is suited for a different kind of user. Read on for details.

high performance headset with large 50mm drivers and a retractable microphone, designed for comfortable long-term and professional use.

007 Legends game to feature James Bond talent past and present Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/007-legends-game-to-feature-jamesbond-talent-past-and-present/16845.html July 27th, 2012

Activision has announced that 007 Legends, the latest secret agent game employing the iconic hero, will feature stars from the past and present of the popular James Bond franchise. Activision has announced that 007 Legends, the latest secret agent game employing the iconic hero, will feature stars from the past and present of the popular James Bond franchise. The game will includ voice acting by current spy Daniel Craig, who starred in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solance, and the upcoming Skyfall. Rory Kinnear, from Quantum of Solance and Skyfall, will voice Bill Tanner, Chief of Staff at MI6. Naomie Harris from Skyfall will also appear. Those who enjoyed the film Moonraker will get to experience a Moonraker mission, with Michael Lonsdale and Richard Kiel reprising their roles as villains Hugo Drax and Jaws respectively.

The storyline is written by Bruce Feirstein, who wrote the scripts for GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, while David Arnold, composer for Die Another Day and Tomorrow Never Dies, is crafting the new musical score. Additional missions from Bond's past are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, growing the all star cast even further.

The three headsets we have for review today are being marketed at entirely different target groups from each other; the P311 is a compact and lightweight Bluetooth headset, meant for sporty individuals and those seeking good performance but a wireless connection, the P402 is a typical headset which has been primarily designed for optimum music performance and finally the P301 is a

007 Legends will launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on 16 October.

July 27th, 2012

Facebook loses $157 million in second quarter Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/facebook-loses-157-million-insecond-quarter/16844.html July 27th, 2012

Facebook has reported a loss of $157 million in the second quarter of the year, causing shares to plummet only two months after the company went public. Facebook has reported a loss of $157 million in the second quarter of the year, causing shares to plummet only two months after the company went public. Revenue was up 32 percent to $1.18 billion, but those profits were eaten up by payments to early investors, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. If it were not for this employee share deal, the company would have posted a profit of $295 million, more than the $240 million it made at the same time last year. There was an 11 percent drop in share values in response to the news, down to just $23.94, substantially lower than the opening price of $38 in the company's IPO in May. Despite this, many shareholders are not overly concerned, given Facebook's potential and the likelihood that share prices will rally in the coming days, weeks and months.

Monthly active users were up 29 percent to 955 million, while mobile daily active users were up a massive 67 percent to 543 million compared to the second quarter of 2011, showing that there is still growth occuring on the social network. Some believe Facebook has been over-valued, however, which may ring true with the fact that the company failed to sell shares over its initial asking price, as was largely expected at the time. Others feel that the company lacks potential to make revenue, while some are still in it for the long haul, hoping to see another Google on their hands.

Google launches 100 times faster broadband service Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-launches-100-times-fasterbroadband-service/16843.html

Published by: VR-Zone July 27th, 2012

Google has launched a broadband service that it claims is 100 times faster than the average speeds experienced by most internet users. Google has launched a broadband service that it claims is 100 times faster than the average speeds experienced by most internet users. The jack of all trades company is rolling out Google Fiber to lucky users in Kansas City, Missouri, who will benefit from speeds of up to 1,000Mb per second. To put that into perspective, the highest speed in Ireland at the moment is 120Mb, with many users stuck on an a paltry 8 Mb line. For someone upgrading from a 10Mb line, the speed difference could mean it will only take 3 seconds to download 100 photos, compared to 4 minutes and 40 seconds, 3 seconds to download 100 songs, compared to 5 minutes 28 seconds, and 7 seconds to download a high-definition movie, compared to 10 minutes and 56 seconds.

The service also comes with additional features, with the internet service also doubling as a TV package, allowing not only YouTube and Netflix, but hundreds of high-definition TV channels. There will also be the ability to record eight TV shows at the same time, with 2TB of storage available. There will be limited availability to begin with, however. Users in an area will need to pre-register with Google for $10 and encourage others in their area to do the same. On 9 September Google will select the â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiberhoodsâ&#x20AC;? with the most desire for high-speed internet to install first. The service will likely be rolled out to more areas, however, once it meets with more support. The subscription cost to get the 1,000Mb line from Google is $70/month or $120/month with the TV package, but local schools and hospitals will be given the service for free. A free 5Mb service will also be offered to ensure that everyone in an area has internet access, though a $300 construction free is initially required. This fee is waived for subscribers to either of the two higher packages. 2

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

suits lately, but strong Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note sales boosted the South Korean tech giant to even greater heights.

iPhone 5 smuggled out of factory Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-5-smuggled-out-offactory/16842.html July 27th, 2012

We’re still months away from the iPhone 5’s much anticipated launch, but apparently Apple’s latest smartphone has already been smuggled out of a factory. We’re still months away from the iPhone 5’s much anticipated launch, but apparently Apple’s latest smartphone has already been smuggled out of a factory.

The world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones and TVs raked in an astonishing $5.9 billion in profit in Q2. PC display panels and laptops have not been Samsung’s strong suits lately, but strong Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note sales boosted the South Korean tech giant to even greater heights. Over half of Samsung’s Q2 (62% to be exact) profit came from the mobile business as more than 49 million smartphones were shipped in Q2. A large portion of the shipped smartphones was the Galaxy S III—Samsung’s latest flagship device. Seven million Galaxy S III units were shipped in Q2, and analysts expect that number to increase to 20 million in Q3. Despite the strong surge in smartphone sales in Q2, analysts also predict that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 might dowse Samsung’s hot streak. The new iPhone’s “revolutionary UI”, an analyst claims, will be one of its strongest selling points. Samsung may be dominating the high-end smartphone market, but its entry-level smartphones have to deal with quite a few competitions. Emerging Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE have proven that they should not be taken lightly. The glories and joy of cashing in on outstanding sales does not mean that there’s nothing standing in the way of even more success. Apple and Samsung are due for another trial date this Monday in a California court over patent infringement claims from Apple. Various sources have reported that Apple is demanding $2.5 billion in damages from Samsung.

If the device in the picture above is indeed a bona fide iPhone 5, then Foxconn is definitely not doing its part in making sure Apple’s next flagship don’t end up in the wrong hands. We’ve seen quite a few supposed leaks of iPhone 5 parts leading up to this particular leak of a fully assembled device. Apple’s last iPhone also experienced leaks well before the actual launch date, and the tradition continues with the iPhone 5. Photos and videos of an iPhone 4 appeared on a Vietnamese website back in May 2010 (also reported as a smuggled device).

Harman to develop facial and gesture recognition tech for cars Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/harman-to-develop-facial-andgesture-recognition-tech-for-cars/16840.html July 27th, 2012

The supposed leaked iPhone 5 looks amazingly similar to the rendered images from awhile back, and it may or not be a working device as it may just be a dummy for accessories manufacturers to inspect. If this iPhone 5 is just another rendered image, well, lets just say there are some amazing talents out there with a lot of free time on their hands.

Samsung rakes in $5.9 billion in Q2 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-rakes-in-5.9-billion-inq2/16841.html July 27th, 2012

The world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones and TVs raked in an astonishing $5.9 billion in profit in Q2. PC display panels and laptops have not been Samsung’s strong

Road rage will never be the same again once in-car gesture controls are adopted. For instance, if you want turn on the radio on you could flip the middle finger, and for increasing volume you could shake your fist. Okay, no companies in their right minds will use those kinds of gestures, but Harman—an automotive tech supplier—has plans to begin producing systems that recognizes hand and facial gestures for automotive use. Road rage will never be the same again once in-car gesture controls are adopted. For instance, if you want turn on the radio on you could flip the middle finger, and for increasing volume you could shake your fist. Okay, no companies in their right minds will use those kinds of gestures, but Harman—an automotive tech supplier—has plans to begin producing systems that recognizes hand and facial gestures for automotive use. 3

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Microsoft is rumored to begin research and development of the same type of gesture tech for automotive use utilizing its Kinect technology. However, Harman may beat Microsoft to the punch as the Harman European division has already started developing their gesture technologies. As per the types of gestures used (they’re a bit more coy compared to the middle finger or fist shaking), Recombu reports that drivers can turn the radio on or off with a wink of an eye, increase or decrease volume by tilting their heads, and tap the steering wheel to skip to the next songs. The Harman dashboard unit has infrared sensors built-in to detect the user’s expressions and gestures. Don’t worry if you “accidentally” wink at a pretty lady in the car next to you, Harman claims that their technology can detect accidental as well as intentional gestures. Director of technology, Hans Roth, says that Harman’s gesture systems add to driver’s safety by “reducing distraction in the car.” “These basic gestures are being tested to find the ideal system that can be used in countries around the world,” he adds. “In Italy, for example, drivers use hand gestures a lot so it needs finalizing. It’s about choosing the right gestures and getting it into production.”

A star-attraction with the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity is its 10.1-inch Super IPS+ screen, which sports a stellar 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution, hence 16:10 aspect-ratio, and 178°/178° viewing angles. Powering the beast is an NVIDIA Tegra 3 T33 quad-core ARM SoC clocked at 1.60 GHz, with 12-core GeForce graphics that provides fullHD video acceleration, and enough computational power for full-HD tablet gaming. The Transformer Pad Infinity also inherits some of the engineering experience ASUS gained with designing its Xonar family of high-performance audio devices. Deployed with this device is what ASUS calls SonicMaster Sound Technology, a combination of highgrade hardware DACs, and software DSPs, for high-quality audio output.

Harman plans on deploying their automotive gestures technology in two to three years.

ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity Launched, First FullHD Android Tablet Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-transformer-pad-infinitylaunched-first-full-hd-android-tablet/16839.html July 27th, 2012

ASUS launched the Transformer Pad Infinity, a tablet that we've followed since its appearance way back in January, on the sidelines of CES 2012, where its full-HD Super IPS + screen made waves. The 10.1-incher, when paired with its Mobile Dock, transforms into a productive notebook-like computing device. ASUS launched the Transformer Pad Infinity, a tablet that we've followed since its appearance way back in January, on the sidelines of CES 2012, where its full-HD Super IPS+ screen made waves. The 10.1-incher, when paired with its Mobile Dock, transforms into a productive notebook-like computing device, complete with a QWERTY keyboard, a multi-touch trackpad, additional connectivity, and additional battery life. The Transformer Pad Infinity is available in two gorgous brushed-metal color options, Champagne Gold and Amethyist Grey.

The panel design of the Transformer Pad Infinity is derived from that of the Zenbook, of aluminum brushed in circular patterns. The aluminum part of its body is nearly monolithic, and helps it achieve a thickness of just 8.5 mm, and a weight of 598 g. The tablet is driven by Google's Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" OS, with a few UI customizations by ASUS. Interface features include multi-touch screen, multitouch trackpad (mobile dock), QWERTY keyboard (mobile dock), USB, multi-format card reader (mobile dock), and a pair of cameras (8 megapixel rear, 2 megapixel front). The tablet has 64 GB of internal storage, and ASUS provides 8 GB of free cloud-based storage, which can be expanded at a premium. Wi-Fi b/g/n is the only network connectivity.

ASUS did not reveal pricing of the Transformer Pad Infinity.

ViewSonic Launches New VA12 Series Value Desktop Monitors Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/viewsonic-launches-new-va12-seriesvalue-desktop-monitors/16838.html

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 27th, 2012

ViewSonic launched a pair of new VA12 series value-segment desktop monitors, including the 21.5-inch VA2212m-LED and 18.5-inch VA1912m-LED. The two are designed to offer sufficient performance and connectivity for businesses, schools, and government workspaces, at affordable prices.

AMD is planning to harvest lower-grade 32 nm "Trinity" APU chips by branding them as Athlon II X4 quad-core processors, which lack integrated graphics. The chips will be built in the socket FM2 package, supported by future motherboards. As many as three models are confirmed to be in the pipeline.

The VA2212m-LED provides 21.5-inch viewing area, with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. Its LED-backlit TN-film LCD panel provides 10 million:1 DCR (mega contrast), and 250 cd/m² brightness. Other panel-related specifications are under the wraps. The monitor takes input from DVI (HDCPcapable), and D-Sub (VGA).

The new Athlon II X4 chips will be carved out much in the same way as current "Llano" derived socket FM1 Athlon II chips are. Everything on the silicon, except the graphics core is enabled. It means that you need to have discrete graphics handy, when building with these chips, which kind of defeats the purpose of cheap APU-derived CPUs, as socket FM2 motherboards don't come with integrated graphics controllers in the chipset. Among the three Athlon II X4 FM2 parts are: • Athlon II X4 730: 2.80 GHz clock-speed, 4 MB L2 cache, 65W TDP

The VA1912m-LED is a more compact display, with 18.5inch viewing area, 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, with similar chops to its 21.5-inch sibling. It doesn't let go of DVI (HDCPcapable) input, and is one of the few 18.5-inch screens (in its price-range) that features it. Both displays feature mercuryfree LEDs, and claim to lower energy consumption and total cost of ownership (TCO) by as much as 40 percent (compared to conventional CCFL screens). The VA2212m-LED is priced at US $149, while the VA1912m-LED goes for US $125. The two will be initially launched in North America.

AMD Plans Desktop Athlon II X4 Chips Based on "Trinity" Silicon

• Athlon II X4 740: 3.20 GHz clock-speed, 4 MB L2 cache, 65W TDP • Athlon II X4 750K: 3.40 GHz clock-speed, 4 MB L2 cache, 100W TDP Interestinly enough, AMD included an overclocker-friendly model in its lineup. The Athlon II X4 750K ships with an unlocked base-clock multiplier, which makes overclocking a breeze, but that also jacks up its TDP rating to 100W. There's no word on when the products will be released.

ASUS Readies 27-inch 3D Monitor with 144 Hz Panel Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-readies-27-inch-3d-monitorwith-144-hz-panel/16836.html

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-plans-desktop-athlon-ii-x4chips-based-on-trinity-silicon/16837.html

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 27th, 2012

Thanks to its chops, the ASUS VG278HE supports NVIDIA 3DVision 2 (purchased separately). It also features 6-Watt stereo speakers. Its stand allows tilt and height adjustments. ASUS did not release pricing details.

ASUS is working on a new 27-inch desktop monitor that is capable of 144 Hz refresh-rate, for smoother stereoscopic 3D display. The VG278HE from ASUS is based on an older panel technology, but one that is perfected for the high refreshrates. ASUS is working on a new 27-inch desktop monitor that is capable of 144 Hz refresh-rate, for smoother stereoscopic 3D display. The VG278HE from ASUS is based on an older panel technology, but one that is perfected for the high refreshrates.

Sapphire Releases "NonTOXIC" Radeon HD 7970 Vapor-X Graphics Cards Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-releases-non-toxic-radeonhd-7970-vapor-x-graphics-cards/16834.html July 27th, 2012

Don't worry, we're not talking about toxicity (as in crayons) here. Sapphire launched a pair of new Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition graphics cards based on the same Vapor-X cooling solution as its recently-launched HD 7970 TOXIC, but with AMD reference clock-speeds. Don't worry, we're not talking about toxicity (as in crayons) here. Sapphire launched a pair of new Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition graphics cards based on the same Vapor-X cooling solution as its recently-launched HD 7970 TOXIC, but with AMD reference clock-speeds.

The ASUS VG278HE features a TN-film LCD panel that's LED-illuminated. While this doesn't result in stellar viewing angles of IPS panels, it is refined to support high refreshrates, and low response times. The 144 Hz refresh rate would let the monitor display an additional 24 frames per second, an additional 12 frames per plane, compared to 120 Hz 3D monitors. The TN-film panel ensures a snappy 2 ms response time.

Among Sapphire's new Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition graphics cards are a 3 GB version, and a 6 GB one. The 3 GB variant uses a cost-effective blue-colored PCB that has been featured on several Radeon HD 7900 series SKUs by Sapphire. The 6 GB variant, on the other hand, uses the same high-end, black-colored PCB featured on the HD 7970 TOXIC. Two things common to the two is the same Vapor-X cooling solution featured on the HD 7970 TOXIC, and AMDreference clock speeds of 1000 MHz core, 1050 MHz boost, and 6.00 GHz GDDR5-effective memory (288 GB/s). Both variants draw power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The ASUS VG278HE supports a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, but its 144 Hz refresh-rate demands duallink DVI to perform optimally. The video adapter has to transport more than 2x the amount of frame data (even if it's not generating those many unique frames), and hence, two TMDS links are needed. Digital transmission of 1920 x 1080 @144 Hz equals the bandwidth needed for 3840 x 2160 @ 72 Hz. The monitor also includes HDMI and D-Sub (VGA) inputs, but we suspect the refresh rates could be lowered, if the monitor is taking input from them. 6

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

The PCB of the Sapphire HD 7970 GHz Edition Vapor-X 6 GB has 12-layers for improved signalling efficiency, and a 10phase VRM that features International Rectifier DirectFETs. The 6 GB of memory is spread across 24 GDDR5 2 Gbit chips, 12 on each side of the PCB. The chips on the reverse side are cooled by a metallic back-plate. The 3 GB variant has all its major components on the obverse side, and so there is no back plate, just a bare-blue reverse side. The two also differ in display connectivity. While the 3 GB variant has two DVI and one each of HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2, the 6 GB variant has two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, next to an HDMI 1.4a, and two DVI. Sony denies that there is a problem and said it will not recall any of the products. “We believe the cause is that the cable got wet or had something stuck to it. There is no defect,” the company said in a statement. Sony said that users should avoid exposing the cable to “liquids or foreign substances,” a remark that may come off as condescending to some customers. The Vapor-X cooling solution uses a large vapor-chamber plate to draw heat from the GPU and memory chips on the obverse side of the PCB, and transport it to the massive aluminum fin heatsink. Four (two each 6 mm-thick and 8 mm-thick) nickel-plated copper heat pipes transport heat to the edges of the heatsink. Two 90 mm fans ventilate the heatsink. Based on the 28 nm "Tahiti" silicon, the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition packs 2,048 Graphics CoreNext streamprocessors, 128 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The chip supports the latest DirectX 11.1 API, and PCI-Express 3.0 bus interface. Sapphire did not release pricing information, as this is a global launch, and prices vary between markets.

Japan investigating PlayStation Vita overheating claims Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/japan-investigating-playstation-vitaoverheating-claims/16833.html July 27th, 2012

The Japanese government is investigating claims that Sony's PlayStation Vita handheld console is overheating, leading to possible fire risk. The National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, which works for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan, has launched a probe into the popular gaming device after reports of 31 cases of overheating, 23 of which occurred in Japan.

Google, Facebook and others to launch Internet Association Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-facebook-and-others-tolaunch-internet-association/16832.html July 27th, 2012

Internet giants including Google, Facebook, Amazon and eBay have banded together to set up the Internet Association in order to lobby the US government on important internet issues. Internet giants including Google, Facebook, Amazon and eBay have banded together to set up the Internet Association in order to lobby the US government on important internet issues. The group will launch in Washington in September, coordinating the big powerhouses of the internet to provide a unified message to lawmakers in the country. A larger list of members is expected to be announced at launch. Michael Beckerman, former adviser to the chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, is to take the helm of the new group. He said that the goal is to educate legislators about the internet.

All of the cases appear to be related, with claims that the cable burned out and changed colour while the device was recharging, suggesting a potential issue with the battery or charger. There are no reports of injury.

July 27th, 2012

Political lobbying is a big arena in the US, with $3.3 billion spent on it last year alone, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics. Google is one of the biggest spenders on lobbying, with $5.4 million paid out this year so far, while Facebook has spent a still sizeable $650,000. The companies have previously partnered in voicing concerns about laws that inhibit internet freedom and privacy, such as the Stop Online Piracy Act, but cybersecurity and taxes are among a number of other issues that are lobbied on.

Nokia abandons mobile software designed to compete with Android

Published by: VR-Zone

The news came from three anonymous sources cited by Reuters, with one source stating that the original plan was to have new phones running the software out on the market already, suggesting this move was a long time coming. Nokia has been struggling to remain relevant in a quicklychanging mobile market that it once ruled, now ousted by giants like Apple, Google and Samsung. A partnership with Microsoft for Windows Phone devices has also failed to rescue the company, though some believe that Windows Phone 8 could be a turning point.

VIA Releases ROM, Kernel, and Boot-Loader of APC

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-abandons-mobile-softwaredesigned-to-compete-with-android/16831.html July 27th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/via-releases-rom-kernel-and-bootloader-of-apc/16830.html July 27th, 2012

Nokia is abandoning its Linux-based mobile software that was designed to compete with Google's Android platform, with sources blaming a move to cut costs for the decision.

In June, VIA claimed that its APC (Android PC), a neo-ITX motherboard compatible with most ITX/ATX cases based on an ARM SoC and PC-like interfaces, was a sell-out success thanks to its $49 price-tag. The company today deleased all the software and documentation needed by developers and geeks to get started with the kit.

Nokia is abandoning its Linux-based mobile software that was designed to compete with Google's Android platform, with sources blaming a move to cut costs for the decision. The Finnish mobile company planned to replace its Series 40 software with a new platform code-named Meltemi, aimed at the mid-range market of phones priced between $100 and $200, one of its strongest sectors, with a 20 percent market share in the first quarter of the year.

Meltemi, which adds some smartphone functions to feature phones, has been a secret project of Nokia for some time now, with its existence first leaked last year. The company has kept tight-lipped on it and has refused to comment on the decision to axe the software today. 8

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Furthermore, the six display outputs make a return. For the first time since the 5870 Eyefinity6 Edition, AMD's reference design carries six physical display outputs with four mini-DisplayPort and two DVI links. Just like the previous Southern Islands GCN parts, the 7990 will support PCIe 3.0 and daisy chaining the Full HD displays using a DisplayPort breakout box (MST Hub). Price-wise, the part will replace the HD6990 at the top and will offer better pricing that the GeForce GTX 690. But for that, we'll have to wait for GamesCon in Cologne, Germany in Mid-August. Among the software released are the ROM image, the kernel, and the boot-loader, components that let you modify the operating system and its installation at a very low level. The three components also lets hackers and embedded computing enthusiasts mod the heck out of it. Along with the software, VIA released documentation such as start-up kits and elaborate data-sheets, and a user-forum on the VIA APC website, where the like-minded can get together to develop software, hardware, and accessories for the APC platform.

Technical Credits: Chinese VR-Zone

Lian Li Outs PC-B12 Silent Case Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lian-li-outs-pc-b12-silentcase/16829.html July 27th, 2012

Find the ROM image, kernel, and boot-loader here.

AMD Radeon HD 7990 6GB Still in the Works, German Gamers to See it First Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7990-6gb-still-inthe-works-german-gamers-to-see-it-first/16807.html July 27th, 2012

Lian Li announced the newest in its line of silent PC cases, the PC-B12. The all-aluminum ATX case is armed with acoustic damping foam on most of its panels, and features a downwards-facing exhaust baffle to dampen noise from the rear fan. Lian Li announced the newest in its line of silent PC cases, the PC-B12. The all-aluminum ATX case is armed with acoustic damping foam on most of its panels, and features a downwards-facing exhaust baffle to dampen noise from the rear fan.

Over the past couple of months, we saw quite a lot of things happening with the New Zealand board (HD 7990 6GB). After looking at technical drawings and the initial design decisions, AMD's New Zealand board has quite interesting design choices. While AMD was first out the door with the 28nm silicon "Tahiti XT" powering the Radeon HD 7970 3GB, NVIDIA was first out the door with the dual-GPU product, dubbed GeForce GTX 690 (as well as the high-performing part, the Tesla K10). At the same time, AMD showed its dual-GPU card codenamed "New Zealand" in multiple roadmaps and ultimately, the board was shown in flesh during the AMD Fusion Developer Summit in Bellevue, WA. According to information we obtained, AMD communicated to its partners that the boards will be ready in the third quarter of this year, with the alleged sampling date being June, then slipping to July etc. The latest information comes from confidential sources who told us that the boards will come in late August the earliest. First and foremost, the prototype board comes with a very unusual power system - four 6-pin PCIe connectors replace the double 8-pin connector which we became accustomed to with the previous generation parts. Those four 6-pin connectors lead to a multiphase power regulation, divided into three groups. The major groups consist out of Tahiti XT (not the XT2, i.e. the GHz Edition), 3GB GDDR5 memory per core (clocked at 1.5GHz) and the PLX PCIe 3.0 controller.

The Lian Li PC-B12 has minimal air vents. Two low-speed 140 mm fans draw air from the outside, through a narrow intake vent. The outward airflow from the 120 mm rear exhaust fan is passed through an exterior baffle. The front and side panels are layered with acoustic damping material. The aluminum feet of the case are suspended on rubberized bottoms, that dampen vibrations.

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

future of mobile industry. The presentation had even more importance than usual, since Qualcomm disappointed a lot of their partners (especially Hewlett-Packard, who canceled their 1st gen Windows RT tablets).

The PC-B12 from Lian Li is an ATX mid-tower case, measuring 210 x 472 x 498 mm (W x D x H), weighing 6.4 kg. It is made mostly of anodized aluminum. Drive bays include two 5.25-inch exposed, three 3.5-inch discrete, and one 2.5inch discrete. Drive installation is mostly tool-free, with the fasteners having strong joints and rubberized inner surfaces, to dampen vibrations. The drive cage holding the 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch bays is detachable.

The case has a total of eight expansion card slots, seven of which have tool-free fasteners. The motherboard tray has cutouts for cabling and managing CPU coolers with backplates. The front utility panel has two USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports (standard headers), and audio jacks (HDA front-panel headers). The case has enough room for graphics cards that are 36 cm (14.17-inch) long, and PSUs that are 24 cm (9.44inch) long. There are two big cutouts for liquid-cooler tubing to go in and out of the case.

During the session, the company focused on benchmarking the performance of its Snapdragon processors, which is Qualcomm's custom take on ARM Cortex-A15 architecture codenamed "Krait", multimedia processors (Audio, Video, Camera processing etc.), Connectivity (Baseband, 3G, 4G etc.) and Adreno GPU. According to Qualcomm, even the current generation Adreno 200 Series GPUs supports Windows 8, Google Chrome and Jelly Bean (Android) operating systems. They also have support for DirectX 9.0c and OpenGL ES 2.0 APIs.

Backed by a 2-year warranty, the PC-B12 from Lian Li is priced at US $169 (S$212).

Next Gen Qualcomm Adreno Hardware has Unified Shaders, OpenGL ES 3.0 Compliant Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/next-gen-qualcomm-adrenohardware-has-unified-shaders-opengl-es-3.0-compliant/16824.html July 27th, 2012

First off, to a great surprise, Qualcomm Adreno 320 is the first GPU with unified shaders, designed for advanced rendering modes. By looking at a architectural diagram (pictured below), Adreno's GPU architecture is starting to look more like the advanced graphics architectures from AMD and NVIDIA. True, Qualcomm is still a long way off from reaching the level of efficiency and performance especially from NVIDIA. GPGPU functionality is here with OpenCL and RenderScript Compute, while most of focus will go to OpenGL ES 3.0.

The competition in the field of mobile graphics is heating up. For an event held at the W Hotel in San Francisco, Qualcomm invited 30 top journalists and analysts to present the details about the upcoming quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor featuring next generation graphics - Adreno 320. Qualcomm means business and the American telecommunications equipment giant selected San Francisco, at the very top of Silicon Valley to demonstrate their 2013 parts and show that they do have a say in the 10

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Biwin Gives its Entire 2.5inch SSD Lineup 7 mm-thick Casing Option Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/biwin-gives-its-entire-2.5-inch-ssdlineup-7-mm-thick-casing-option/16828.html July 27th, 2012

Codenamed Halti, OpenGL ES 3.0 is poised for introduction at the upcoming Siggraph 2012 conference, bringing new features which move graphics from the fixed pipeline into a fully programmable one.

Instead of bloating its lineup with "new" 7 mm-thick SSD models, Biwin announced 7 mm-thick casing options for nearly all its SSDs in the 2.5-inch form-factor. The slimmer drives are designed for compact PC form-factors such as the Ultrabook. Instead of bloating its lineup with "new" 7 mm-thick SSD models, Biwin announced 7 mm-thick casing options for nearly all its SSDs in the 2.5-inch form-factor. The slimmer drives are designed for compact PC form-factors such as the Ultrabook.

According to a story detailing Qualcomm's benchmarking day, "Tim Leland, who is the product manager responsible for Qualcomm's Adreno GPU group. He began to talk about the Adreno GPU regarding how the Snapdragon Adreno GPU is used primarily in three ways, with empasis being put on graphics rendering, composition and GPGPU compute. The real, new feature of Adreno 320 came in the form of Qualcomm's FlexRender which is Qualcomm's new technology which enables intelligent switching between tiled and direct rendering modes to maximize application performance and minimize power consumption. FlexRender enables the GPU to intelligently switch between these two modes through an API that would tell the GPU to switch from tile based rendering to direct rendering as tile based rendering is the default for the GPU. Tim also stated that they were working on a tool to enable the GPU to analyze the situation frame by frame and to render each individual frame based upon the most power efficient method be it direct or tile based deffered rendering." In any case, Qualcomm is becoming more aggressive. However, it seems that the company still isn't there (yet), given the rumored issues with Windows 8 drivers and the ongoing aggressive acquisition of new talent , Still, Qualcomm's Adreno 320 GPU and Snapdragon S4 Prime/ Pro will give NVIDIA T40 (Tegra 4), as well as AMD's Temash (x86+ARM+DX11 GPU), Intel's Atom Valleyview, a good run for their money.

Internally, most client SSDs these days are built on single PCBs, which along with the components and connectors, aren't more than a few millimeters thick. For Biwin, it is virtually free to design the new casing option. The new 7 mm casing is made of sturdy anodized-aluminum. The casing is available for Biwin's Elite, Pro, Smart Series, NuvoDrive NX and NuvoDrive PX SSDs in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 3 Gb/s and 6 Gb/s interfaces. Joe James, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Biwin America, said "Customers using 1U or 2U rack mount chassis want to pack more drives and more storage capacity into a smaller space. Biwin can now fit 48 2.5-inch 480 GB SSDs into a 2U server. Our 7 mm case enables greater storage density with no incremental cost."

Razer Ouroboros Wireless Gaming Mouse Announced Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/razer-ouroboros-wireless-gamingmouse-announced/16827.html July 27th, 2012

Once again, we remind unsuspecting readers that "Adreno" is a clever anagram for "Radeon".

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Razer may have pulled off the unthinkable: an ambidextrous high-end gaming mouse that comes without wires...except for its charging cradle. The Razer Ourboros was announced, with availability slated for Q4, 2012. Razer may have pulled off the unthinkable: an ambidextrous high-end gaming mouse that comes without wires...except for its charging cradle. The Razer Ourboros was announced, with availability slated for Q4, 2012. It is priced at US $129.99 (S$163).

Measuring 116 mm to 136 mm (length) x 71 mm (width) x 42 mm (height), the Razer Ouroboros weighs about 135 g. The mouse is backed by Razer's extensive button mapping software, which can store your profiles on the cloud, using Razer Synapse service.

The Ourboros, named after a mythical character of a snake/ dragon that eats its own tail, may have been aptly named, for it lacks one (cord). It uses a high-performance wireless technology that claims wireless polling rates as low as 1 ms (comparable to wired USB). The mouse uses a lightweight lithium-ion battery, which can deliver up to 12 hours of continuous gaming, before needing a charge. This is unconventional, compared to cheap wireless mice that use AA or AAA size alkaline batteries, and can go for weeks, or even months, before needing a battery replacement. Razer includes a USB-powered cradle, on which you can simply place the mouse (as if it were a cordless telephone).

“Designed for excellence and total ownage, the Razer Ouroboros was intended to be wielded by all serious gamers looking to win any FPS, RTS or RPG with custom-made dominance,” said Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff, president of Razer USA. “We are proud to introduce it as Razer’s first gaming mouse that features optimized, customizable, ambidextrous ergonomics that better fit the curvature of any and every hand size and personal grip style by delivering ultimate comfort, control, power and built-in intelligence to ascend to gaming immortality.”

Samsung copies Apple's design, and Apple accused of hypocrisy The Razer Ouroboros is an ambidextrous mouse designed for claw and palm grips using either hands, the thumbrests are detachable, and the button layout is symmetric. It comes with a total of 11 HyperResponse buttons. It uses a dual-4G sensor system, with a tracking resolution of 8,200 DPI. Despite being wireless, it offers 1000 Hz polling with 1 ms response time. The sensors provide up to 200 inch/sec or 50 g acceleration.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-copies-apple-s-design-andapple-accused-of-hypocrisy/16825.html July 27th, 2012

Next week, Apple and Samsung will continue to duke it out in court over patent infringement issues. This time around, however, Apple intends to use Samsung’s own documents to make its case. Next week, Apple and Samsung will continue to duke it out in court over patent infringement issues. This time around, however, Apple intends to use Samsung’s own documents to make its case.

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Among these documents are details containing warnings and advices to Samsung from various third party firms.

However there was no correlation with locomotive skills like running, hopping and jumping.

In one of the documents, Google reportedly warned Samsung that the Galaxy Tab and Tab 10.1 had designs that were “too similar” to the iPad.

The findings only applied to interactive games; no association was drawn with non-interactive gaming.

On a different occasion, designers at a Samsung-sponsored event advised Samsung that the Galaxy S looked too much like the iPhone, and that the Galaxy S lacked innovations. Adding to the insults of no originality, the designers reportedly said that if the Samsung logos were covered up it would be hard to tell the difference between the iPhone and Galaxy S. What’s even worse is that Samsung’s own Product Design Group agreed that the Galaxy S looked similar to the older iPhone models. Samsung’s rebuttal may come in the form of a more indirect route. Apple supposedly used some of Sony’s UI design in its products in 2006, and therefore, pointing out Apple's hypocrisy may be one of Samsung’s strongest cases against the Cupertino tech giant.

Dr Barnett continued “while we found that greater time spent playing interactive games is associated with higher object control skills in these young children we cannot say why.” “It could be that these children have higher object control skills because they are playing interactive games that may help to develop these types of skills (for example, the under hand roll through playing the bowling game on the Wii). Playing interactive electronic games may also help eye-hand coordination. It may also be that children who already have higher object control skills tend to play interactive electronic games more. “What our findings do point to is a need to investigate further to determine if playing these games improves object control skills or if children with greater object control skill proficiency prefer and play these games.

Samsung may also make the argument that Apple’s patent tactics does not allow for fair competitions. Furthermore, some of the iPhone’s components are Samsung-derived (with patents), and so Samsung may argue that Apple should be paying Samsung for using its patented technology.

“It is important that we know this because children with better fundamental movement skills have been shown in my previous research to become fitter and more active adolescents compared to children who have poorer movement skills.”

Wii Kids Move Better - Study Finds Link Between Playing Games and Motor Skills

Darksiders II PC Requirements Revealed

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/wii-kids-move-better--study-findslink-between-playing-games-and-motor-skills/16823.html July 27th, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/darksiders-ii-pc-requirementsrevealed/16822.html July 27th, 2012

If you’ve been wondering what it will take to run Darksiders II on your PC, your days of wondering are over. The system requirements were released today, and we’ve got them. Minimum Specs: • OS – Windows XP, Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7

In a pilot study, Australian researchers have discovered that pre-schoolers who play interactive video games have better motor skills than their non-playing counterparts. In collaboration between Deakin University and the University of Wollongong, 53 pre-schoolers were tested to see if an association existed between basic movement skills and playing electronic games. It was found that skills like throwing, catching and kicking were better in the group of children that played games. The results of the study are published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills. NHMRC postdoctoral researcher Dr Lisa Barnett of Deakin’s School of Health and Social Development was the lead researcher on the study. Of the results she said “the study was not designed to assess whether interactive gaming can actually develop children’s movement skills, but the results are still quite interesting and point to a need to further explore a possible connection.” The findings of research were that children who played more interactive games were more competent in object control skills, such as catching, kicking and bouncing a ball).

• Processor – 2.0Ghz Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor or AMD equivalent • RAM –2GB • Hard Drive – 20 GB space free (10 GB free after install) • Video Card – NVIDIA 9800 GT 512 MB Video Card or AMD equivalent • Online Steam account Recommended Specs: • OS – Windows 7 • Processor – Any Quad-core AMD or Intel Processor • RAM –2GB • Hard Drive – 20 GB space free (10 GB free after install) • Video Card – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 512MB Video Card or AMD equivalent • Online Steam account

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Darksiders II releases for all platforms (except for the th

Wii U) on August 14 . Darksiders II is the sequel to the original Darksiders, which was an action game similar to the Zelda franchise which saw you play as the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, War, as you tried to take revenge for being tricked into causing the Apocalypse to come early. The sequel will place you in the shoes of the second Horseman, Death, as you try to uncover evidence that War has been tricked into starting the Apocalypse; the game takes place parallel to the first game, placing you in concurrent but separate events from the first game.

Japanese Government Suffers From Two-Year-Long Trojan Infestation Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/japanese-government-suffers-fromtwo-year-long-trojan-infestation/16820.html July 27th, 2012

The Japanese Finance Ministry has just uncovered a Trojan that has infected more than a hundred of its computers over the past two years. Trojans and viruses have been known to remain undiscovered for long periods of time, and it seems that the Japanese government is the latest victim of just such an attack. Reports indicate that the Japanese government has uncovered an attack that may have been running undiscovered on its internal networks and leaking confidential data for more than two years. The local Kyodo news service was told by the Japanese Finance Ministry that the first infection came in January 2010; the most recent attack took place in November 2011, with the attacks apparently stopping after that. However, the infections were only discovered last week during an ongoing security audit of the IT systems of the Finance Ministry begun by an independent security firm in May. So far, 2,000 machines have been checked and 123, a high, concerning, disturbing number, were found to be infected by the Trojan. The Japanese government has been trying to downplay the severity of the attacks, claiming that confidential information like taxpayers’ details had not been leaked and that the infected computers belonged mainly to junior staff, though the Trojan may have accessed documents relating to ministry meetings. The report references the hacktivist group Anonymous, which launched Denial of Service attacks and website defacements of several government and political sites, including those of the Finance Ministry; the attacks took place last month, but this recent Trojan attack appears at first glance not to fit the standard operating procedure of Anonymous. The Trojan apparently went undetected by the anti-virus software installed on the government PCs for a long period of time, a hallmark of a sophisticated, advanced, persistent threat-style attack, traits uncommon in previous Anonymous attacks.

The Finance Ministry has yet to identify exactly how the PCs became infected in the first place, but they have replaced the hard drives on all the affected computers. Last October, a Trojan attack on computers belonging to several members of the Japanese Parliament was uncovered. Using the tried-and-true method of being sent as a malicious attachment, the malware caused the hijacked machines to send data back to a server located in China.

Black Hat Researcher Demonstrates Massive Security Flaws in NFCenabled Mobile Devices Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/black-hat-researcher-demonstratesmassive-security-flaws-in-nfc-enabled-mobile-devices/16818.html July 27th, 2012

Chris Miller, a security researcher presenting his findings at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, has discovered some severe security flaws with the new Near Field Communications technology. The next big thing in smartphones is here, and it’s insecure. Surprise, surprise. Smartphones running Google’s Android or the Linux-based MeeGo operating systems are extremely vulnerable to major security flaws in a new technology they are including called Near Field Communication, or NFC. The security flaws in this technology make it trivially easy for hackers to hijack handsets in close proximity according to a researcher appearing at the Black Hat security conference. Charlie Miller, the researcher exposing the flaws in NFC, is able to take control of handsets made by Samsung and Nokia trivially easy. His attack, which takes advantage of multiple security flaws and weaknesses in the NFC protocol, works by either placing the target phone near a chip roughly the size of a US quarter or touching it to another NFCenabled phone; code on the chip or attacker-controlled handset then gets beamed to the target device wirelessly which opens malicious files or websites which exploit known vulnerabilities in either a document reader, web browser or the operating system itself. Miller is the principal research consultant at the security firm Accuvant and has spent the past five years demonstrating various software flaws that allow hackers to take control of Macs, iPhones and Android smartphones; this year, at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, Miller decided to turn his attacks on the NFC capabilities available in three popular devices: Samsung’s Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus and the Nokia N9. The results of his research and attacks are far from encouraging. While it’s already widely available in some countries, NFC has only recently been added to devices being marketed in the United States. NFC allows devices to establish a wireless signal with other devices containing NFC chips when they 14

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pass within close proximity. It allows people to exchange business cards or web links on the fly or establish Bluetooth connections with PCs, speakers or other devices effortlessly. While already built into Android and MeeGo devices, it’s been rumored to be part of future Windows Phone and iOS devices.

user. Using NFC to exploit known vulnerabilities in various apps that handle documents like PDFs and Microsoft Word documents would be trivially easy, according to Miller. “If you know of a PDF bug, instead of trying to email the person or getting them to go to your website, you can just get near them with NFC and get them to render it,” he said.

The Nexus S contains multiple memory-corruption bugs when running Android 2.3, also known as Gingerbread, the most common Android version installed on handsets by far. These bugs allow Miller to take control of the application “daemon”, or controller, that controls the NFC functions with nothing more than a specially designed tag. With some extra work, the tag could be modified in order to execute malicious code on the device. Some of these bugs were fixed in the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android, version 4.0, but not all of them were, meaning that the attacks might also work against both it and Jelly Bean, version 4.1. But even if the NFC code itself has no exploitable bugs, a new feature added to Ice Cream Sandwich called Android Beam allows Miller to force the handset’s browser to open and visit any website he chooses without requiring permission from the user. “What that means is with an NFC tag, if I walk up to your phone and touch it, or I just get near it, your web browser, without you doing anything, will open up and go to a page that I tell it to,” Miller said. “So instead of the attack surface being the NFC stack, the attack surface really is the whole web browser and everything a web browser can do. I can reach that through NFC.”

Many of the attacks Miller is describing could be initiated using a concealed NFC tag attached to a payment terminal or other legitimate NFC device. While the attacks require that the phone’s screen be active and, in the case of Android Ice Cream Sandwich or MeeGo, unlocked, Miller said that provided little protection since the most common attack scenario targets people already using NFC, much like card skimmers target credit cards and debit cards as they’re being used.

Shockingly, NFC and Android Beam are enabled by default, causing devices to automatically download any file or web link sent through the service. There is no way for users to approve or reject specific transfers initiated by other devices. This is a gaping security flaw, since it requires no action from the end user and provides no feedback to the end user when such an attack occurs. In a statement which deserves an award for “Understatement of the Year,” Miller called this situation “not ideal.” What makes malicious hackers’ jobs easier is the fact that older versions of Android contain known security vulnerabilities that remain unpatched months or even years after they’ve been revealed. Miller’s demonstration at Black Hat this year includes an attack exploiting a browser bug that has shipped with every phone running Android version 4.0.1 or earlier. Using NFC and Android Beam, he can force the phone to visit a malicious website that allows him to execute arbitrary commands as the web browser, including viewing files that are stored on the device, and he claims that other documented security flaws in the WebKit browser engine can be exploited in exactly the same way. With Nokia’s N9 handset, NFC is at least not enabled by default, but once it is enabled it also accepts malicious content and requests, no questions asked. Some of the easiest and most dangerous attacks using the NFC capabilities of the phone are attacks that use NFC to establish a Bluetooth connection with another device; an N9 will automatically accept any connection requests over NFC with no prompts to the user, allowing the device to then make phone calls, send text messages or upload and download files, including contact lists. But even if users enable a feature on the N9 that notifies them of any NFC connection request the phone will still accept file transfers automatically without prompting the user, then opens an application to render that file, again without prompting the

While Google representatives have not issued a comment on this research, Nokia has made an official statement, saying “Nokia takes product security issues seriously. Nokia is aware of the NFC-research done by Charlie Miller and are actively investigating the claims concerning Nokia N9. Although it is unlikely that such attacks would occur on a broad scale given the unique circumstances, Nokia is currently investigating the claims using our normal processes and comprehensive testing. Nokia is not aware of any malicious incidents on the Nokia N9 due to the alleged vulnerabilities.”

Windows 8 RTM Build Number Leaked Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windows-8-rtm-build-numberleaked/16816.html July 27th, 2012

As we move ever closer to the October release, the latest build number for Microsoft's Windows 8 RTM has been leaked onto the Internet.

Jaguar CX75: 4-cylinder, 500 horsepower hybrid supercar Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/jaguar-cx75-4-cylinder-500horsepower-hybrid-supercar/16819.html July 27th, 2012

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

When you think of a car with a 1.6 liter 4-cylinder engine, you’ll probably think of an economy car for around $20K. How about a 1.6 liter 4-cylinder supercar that churns out 500 horses, and can go from 0-96.5 km/hour in under 3 seconds? Jaguar’s CX75 does just that, but at the same time it's also very eco-centric. Two hundred CX75 are scheduled for production some time next year, and although it’s no Prius, the CX75 will boast a hybrid-mode as well as a full electric-only mode. The CX75 will have a combustion engine paired with two electric motors, one at each axle, for full on fun or for ecofriendly driving. The car’s lithium battery pack holds enough juice to get green-conscious Jag lovers about 59 km on electric-only. What’s a little befuddling about the car’s layout is that it comes with gasoline-electric and electric-only modes but no gasoline-only mode. Jaguar isn’t the only supercar manufacturer that has (or already has) high performance hybrids in the making. Ferrari’s upcoming Enzo and Porsche’s 918 Spyder are claiming to have similar performance—albeit, with different setups. What’s the going price to get your greasy hands on a Jaguar CX75? If you must really know, it’ll be around $1 million.

Samsung Galaxy S II CyanogenMod 10 preview release Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-galaxy-s-iicyanogenmod-10-preview-release/16817.html July 27th, 2012

Can’t wait until Samsung releases a Jelly Bean upgrade for your Galaxy S II? Worry not, Jelly Bean-based CyanogenMod 10 is headed your way. A preview release of CM10 for the Galaxy S II has appeared on the XDA forums, and although it contains bugs—not to mention no support from the devs—it’s worth looking into if you’re excited about adding JB to your beloved Galaxy S II. It took awhile for developers to transition from CM7 to CM9, but that won’t be the case with CM10 since ICS and JB are very similar. Samsung recently made the ICS update available for the Galaxy S II (a very welcomed update). However, there are no words as to when an official JB upgrade will be available. As with any unsupported CM releases, don’t expect the Galaxy S II preview release to be your daily driver. It’s definitely worth following the development process, however, if you’re a Galaxy S II owner. Brave souls who want to enter uncharted CM10 preview release territory may do so. Or if you have a spare Galaxy S II lying around, you can flash the preview release and help the developers out by reporting bugs and glitches. Full installing instructions have also been posted.

July 27th, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

July 31st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Sapphire Low-Profile, Single-Slot Radeon HD 7750 Graphics Card Launched Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-low-profile-single-slotradeon-hd-7750-graphics-card-launched/16883.html July 31st, 2012

Sapphire's low-profile, single-slot Radeon HD 7750 graphics card, which we've been tracking since Computex 2012 (June), is finally launched. The card uses an active fanheatsink to cool the 1.5 billion transistor GPU, and is designed for HTPCs and SFF PCs in general.

The cooling solution deployed by Sapphire is a monolithic aluminum heatsink, which is ventilated by a 40 mm fan. The heatsink appears to make contact only with the GPU. The card has an all-digital display output loadout, including dual-link DVI, mini-DisplayPort, and microHDMI. Adapters are included in the package, for micro-tostandard HDMI, mini-to-standard DisplayPort, and DVI to D-Sub. The card comes with a low-profile bracket pre-fitted, and full-height bracket is included in the package (on most low-profile graphics card bundles, it's the other way round).

Based on the 28 nm "Cape Verde" silicon, the Radeon HD 7750 graphics processor from AMD is based on the Graphics CoreNext architecture, packs 512 stream processors, a 128bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and support for the latest graphics APIs, including DirectX 11.1. Sapphire did not release pricing of its low-profile single-slot HD 7750 graphics card. Sapphire's low-profile single-slot HD 7750 graphics card uses a 2+1 phase VRM design, consisting of compact chokes, driver-MOSFETs, and tantalum capacitors. The card draws power from the PCI-Express slot. The AMD Radeon HD 7750 graphics processor is clocked at 800 MHz, and is wired to 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface, clocked at 1,125 MHz (4.50 GHz GDDR5effective).

Crucial Launches V4 Series Mainstream Consumer SSD Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/crucial-launches-v4-seriesmainstream-consumer-ssd/16881.html July 31st, 2012

Crucial announced its newest line of mainstream consumer SSDs, the V4 series. The drives come in standard capacities, 1

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at extremely low price per GB, and could be an inventoryclearing exercise by the memory giant. Crucial announced its newest line of mainstream consumer SSDs, the V4 series. The drives come in standard capacities, at extremely low price per GB, and could be an inventoryclearing exercise by the memory giant.

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The game originally launched in Japan in 1990 and was remade for the Nintendo DS in 2006, but it has never been available on a normal console in other countries, making it an attractive title for Ouya's initial line-up. It is not yet clear if this is a simple port of the recentlyreleased Android version of the game, which also touts improved graphics, but things will likely need to be changed to make it look and play well on a large TV screen and offer controller support.

Crucial V4 series consists of four models, 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB. The drives are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 3 Gb/s interface. The drives offer read speeds of up to 230 MB/s, with up to 190 MB/s writes, figures that closely resemble those of the Crucial M225 series from 2009. The drives give Crucial's parent company and memory giant Micron Technology a chance to clear inventories of 25 nm MLC NAND flash chips.

The Ouya console has won tremendous support on Kickstarter, with 45,608 backers and over $5.8 million pledged at the time of writing, over six times the original goal. A price for Final Fantasy III on Ouya has yet to be decided, but a free demo will be provided.

On the bright side of things, though, Crucial V4 series SSDs come with some of the lowest launch-prices ever for consumer SSDs. The 32 GB model sells for US $49.99, the 64 GB model for $69.99, 128 GB model for $99.99 ($0.78 per GB), and 256 GB for $189.99 ($0.74 per GB). The drives are backed by 3-year warranties.

Final Fantasy III to get highdefinition treatment on Ouya Android console Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/final-fantasy-iii-to-get-highdefinition-treatment-on-ouya-android-console/16882.html July 31st, 2012

Final Fantasy III is coming to the Ouya Android console in high-definition, making up one of the launch titles for the much-anticipated $99 gaming system. Final Fantasy III is coming to the Ouya Android console in high-definition, making up one of the launch titles for the much-anticipated $99 gaming system.

Ubisoft patches major security hole in game software Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ubisoft-patches-major-security-holein-game-software/16880.html July 31st, 2012

Ubisoft has released a patch that fixes a major security hole in its Uplay application, employed by many of its popular games. Ubisoft has released a patch that fixes a major security hole in its Uplay application, employed by many of its popular games. The bug, discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy, allowed hackers to gain control of people's computers, thanks to the accompanying Uplay web browser plug-in. Any website could use the plug-in to launch applications on a user's machine, presenting a monumental security risk. 2

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Ubisoft has since issued an emergency patch to fix the problem and recommends that users update Uplay without any web browser open, which will ensure it updates correctly. A patched version of the installer is also available from Uplay.com.

FIFA Online launched in 2010, but servers were shut down in March of last year. Its predecessor launched in South Korea in 2006 as “FIFA Online,” but was since renamed FIFA Online 2, despite it being the older of the two games.

Uplay is software that tracks user's game performance while logged in, providing points and rewards. It is bundled with many of the company's big franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Just Dance and Tom Clancy. “Ubisoft takes security issues very seriously, and we will continue to monitor all reports of vulnerabilities within our software and take swift action to resolve such issues,” said a spokesperson for Ubisoft.

The other FIFA Online games are “free-to-play,” which means that anyone can download and play, though some features need to be paid for to be unlocked. This will likely be the same for FIFA Online 3.

Apple to make official iPhone 5 announcement on September 12? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-to-make-official-iphone-5announcement-on-september-12-/16874.html July 31st, 2012

EA to launch FIFA Online 3 in South Korea Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ea-to-launch-fifa-online-3-in-southkorea/16878.html July 31st, 2012

Electronic Arts (EA) has announced that it will be bringing an online version of its popular FIFA sports franchise to South Korea. Electronic Arts (EA) has announced that it will be bringing an online version of its popular FIFA sports franchise to South Korea. Developed by EA Seoul Studio and published by Nexon, FIFA Online 3 will give players as authentic a football experience as possible, with over 15,000 real-world players, 30 leagues and 40 national teams to choose from. The game also adds a slew of new and improved features, such as improved AI, enhanced animation and graphics, and a new 5-aside multiplayer competition.

Apple might make a major announcement soon regarding the highly anticipated iPhone 5 on September 12, according to an anonymous source! An anonymous source has reported that Apple may unveil the latest iPhone on September 12. The iPhone 5 will be Apple’s next flagship smartphone, which is rumored to have a larger screen, thinner dimension, and better overall processing power. A supposed leak of a fully assembled iPhone was found earlier, but it was unconfirmed whether the smuggled device was the real deal. The iPhone 5’s official announcement is perhaps Silicon Valley’s most anticipated news of the year, and it's almost a no brainer that Apple will take advantage of the increase holidays spending to boost sales of their cash cow device. The anonymous source also said that the September 12 date might change; so don’t get excited just yet. We’ll know in about a month and a half whether or not Apple decides to lift the lid on their next-gen smartphone. We have our calendar circled and will keep you posted.

July 31st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

Windows 8 exploits found before official release Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windows-8-exploits-found-beforeofficial-release/16873.html July 31st, 2012

Windows is the most widely used desktop OS so it's not strange hackers are constantly trying to figure out the systems' exploits, and Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 can't escape this reality either. Windows 8 is set to launch in about three months from today, and someone has already found three exploits. SungTing Tsai of Trend Micro says that the three exploits are found in the kernel level advanced local procedure call, the component object model (COM) application programming interface, and the Windows Runtime API. Tsai developed various methods for testing the exploits, and although he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to fully attack the vulnerabilities, he mentioned that if a person put out enough time and effort into it they could find ways to compromise the system. A few months ago,Tsai also discovered a memory corruption vulnerability in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. He then reported the problem to Microsoft and soon after the vulnerability was patched.

Intel Xeon Phi (B0 Stepping): The Knight in Shining Armor? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-xeon-phi-b0-stepping--theknight-in-shining-armor-/16871.html July 31st, 2012

Several weeks ago, Intel officially announced first products based on the 22nm Knights Corner architecture. Known as Xeon Phi, the Larrabee Reborn is coming to fight Nvidia Tesla, AMD FireStream, FPGAs and Chinese CPU vendors. Background Last week, Intel started sampling the B0 silicon of Xeon Phi to its preferred partners. There are five different SKUs floating around and this article will reveal the details and intricacies surrounding Intel's attack on the GPGPU and homogenous computing. To every Intel insider, codenames P54C, Camino, Coppermine, Tejas and Larrabee carry special weight on the shoulders. In Intel's 44-year history, these products brought major disgrace to engineering ethos which always operates by the code of "manufacturable excellence" (even though many bad mouths claim the beancounters calculate the die sizes and feature sets). For the purpose of this story, we'll concentrate on Larrabee ashes, codenamed Aubrey Isle, Knights Corner and Knights Landing (Not to be confused with King's Landing).

After the cancellation of Larrabee as a discrete graphics project, Intel took the Aubrey Isle silicon (Larrabee = Architecture, Aubrey Isle = ASIC) and started sampling select partners. The board which hosted the Aubrey Isle was codenamed Knights Ferry and the project was officially announced as MIC (Many Integrated Core) in March 2010, with the limited sampling following immediately after the release. Aubrey Isle chip was manufactured in 45nm process, consisting out of 32 cores, 1MB L1 and 8MB of L2 cache operating at 1.2GHz. 2GB of GDDR5 memory connected to the chip using ultra-wide 1024-bit ringbus architecture (remember ATI R600? It utilized a 512-bit Ringbus memory controller). In order to power the board, you needed to provide 300 Watts of power. Overall, Knights Ferry board delivered 750 GFLOPS in single precision, while the double precision figures varied between 41-47% (effectively sub-400 GFLOPS). It is unknown how many boards Intel delivered to its partners, but it was pretty hard to gain access to one. The author of these lines had limited experience with one Knights Ferry board, and the state of developer tools was nothing to write home about. The situation changed in early 2011, with the arrival of another knight in shining armor. Knights Corner is a completely new chip manufactured in 22nm process node, using Tri-gate transistors similar to the Ivy Bridge processors today. The chip utilized an unknown number of processing cores, with different BIOS and board revisions enabling different amount of cores, cache and onboard memory. For example, A0 silicon boards featured 48, 52 or 60 cores, ranging from 1.5 to 1.9MB of L1 and 24-30MB of cache. Onboard memory size went from 2GB to either 4 or 8GB GDDR5 memory, clocked at 2.4 to 4.5 billion transfers per second (600-1125 MHz in QDR mode). The frequency of Knights Corner A0 chip went down to 1GHz, though. This rough 22nm design consumed up to 300 Watts of power, but the computational power went down as the company reorganized the way how chip works. In essence, Knights Corner represents the return to the processing mantra inside Intel, ditching overly complex ringbus architecture for a more direct approach to each and every processing core.

Back during the initial reveal fanfare, Intel used 60C A0 silicon to show 1 TFLOPS in single precision. However, new 4

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architecture puts a lot of accent on the double precision calculations and the parts offered different figures for double precision. Still, the parts lagged behind Nvidia Tesla M2090 boards by all accounts. Nvidia's announcement of Tegra K10 and K20 did not change the attitude inside Intel, as the chip giant remain bullish about prospects they can offer. Intel wants to show that Knight's Corner can take on the Tesla K20 (GK110 GPU, 2304 cores, 384-bit memory interface, 12GB GDDR5). However, with Dual-GPU Tesla K10 offering 4.58 GLOPS in Single Precision (but mediocre 190 GFLOPS DP) and K20 targeting 3 TFLOPS Single and 1.5 TFLOPS Double Precision, it is clear that Intel has to play catch up even though the company manufactures its Knights Corner ASIC in a leading manufacturing node (Intel 22nm Tri-Gate versus TSMC 28nm Planar).

TDP e.g. Thermal Design Power also underwent significant changes. Intel now offers two 245W boards (57C/3GB and 60C/6GB) and three 300W designs (57C/6GB and two 61C/8GB) and is available in two configurations - with or without passive heatsink. Active heatsink (the old Larrabee design) is only available with the 57C/6GB/300W version, while top range configurations (G5756-200 and G5757-200) come either without any thermal solution (probably for testing the liquid cooling and 3rd party designs, such as liquid cooling design from CoolIT Systems, which dates back to 2009), or with a passive heatsink. The passive designs are all meant for rackable servers, where large amount of air will funnel through the thick and heavy dual-slot heatsink. Personally, I had one of the cards in my hands and trust me they are not light by any standards.

Our sources were adamant that while they were on the right track, they don't believe the parts were ready for prime time and still believed that they have much to improve in the Knights Corner in B0 and C1 silicon revisions. However, with commercial shipments starting sooner than later (target = Lead the Top 500 list in June 2013), a Chelsea miracle had to happen.

All B0 boards carry the revision ES2 and feature a lot of changes from A0 silicon. Allegedly, wonder BIOS managed to fix a lot of things, and our sources are confident they can take the battle versus the more power efficient parts from Nvidia and AMD. Intel's internal desire is to reach 1TFLOPS DP and 2TFLOPS SP. According to the numbers above, we don't believe it is an impossible task. After all, if you invest billions, sooner or later you'll hit the jack pot. Or at least hope for it.

Today... Enter B0 ASIC. This part represents a much bigger step in evolution of the part and introduces several "must have" features from contemporary GPUs, or should we say - "must have" features from desktop and notebook CPUs from quite some time. Knights Corner B0 comes in several flavors, with 57C, 60C and 61 cores being the most common configurations. Yes, the company unlocked an odd number of cores, compared to even number in Larrabee and Aubrey Isle. The change in number of processing cores changed L1 and L2 cache, and we now have 1.8-1.9MB of L1 and 28-30.5MB of L2 cache. Onboard memory now greatly varies between the parts, with available flavors being 3GB, 6GB and 8GB of GDDR5 memory.

We will continue our coverage of Knights Corner, as well as the second generation architecture codenamed Knights Landing (or is it fifth... if we count all Larrabee generations).

Intel Plans SSD 335, SSD 525 Series for 2013 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-plans-ssd-335-ssd-525-seriesfor-2013/16860.html July 31st, 2012

Intel is planning two new lines of client SSDs in 2013, including the mainstream SSD 335 series, and the performance SSD 525 series. The company could deploy its newest 20 nm NAND flash memory tech on some of these drives. Less than three weeks after breaking to the world news of Intel lowering prices of most of its client SSDs, we've scored an insight to what the company has in the works for next year. Intel is planning two new lines of client SSDs in 2013, including the mainstream SSD 335 series, and the performance SSD 525 series. The company could deploy its newest 20 nm NAND flash memory tech on some of these drives. Chips now have a set minimal clock speed of 600 MHz (57C/3GB and 57C/6GB) and 630+ MHz for the 60C/8GB and two 61C/8GB cards. Memory clock is now set at more realistic 5-5.5 billion transfers (1.25-1.37 GHz QDR), enabling memory bandwidth figures exceeding 300 GB/s. Top clock is now set at 1.1GHz for 57C/3GB and 57C/6GB parts, while the rest either works at 1.05 or 1.09GHz. The big news is the introduction of Turbo mode, but we weren't able to sniff out the exact clock achievable in Turbo mode for a low amount of active core. 5

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Intel's mainstream SSD 330 series will meet its successor in 2013, the SSD 335 series. The new series resembles the SSD 330 series in many aspects, but could feature a new NAND flash memory type, built on the 20 nanometer silicon fabrication process. Intel could also tweak the performance of the drives a tiny bit above what SSD 330 series drives offer, as they're based on the same LSI-SandForce SF-2281 processor, which is capable of much higher performance than the SSD 33x series is intended to have, given the right firmware and NAND flash combination. The SSD 335 series could be initially launched in 80 GB and 180 GB models in Q1-2013. A 240 GB variant could join the lineup a little later. By 2013, 180 GB could very well become the next "120 GB" (popular SSD capacity).

Published by: VR-Zone July 31st, 2012

A few companies have been working on an Android-based video game device, and accompany the recently announced Ouya Android gaming console; the Wikipad will be a handheld 10.1’’ tablet with detachable control triggers. Technically the Wikipad will be like any other Android tablet with the exception that it comes with physical control triggers on both sides.

The next major series on cards is the performance-segment SSD 525 series. Over the past year, Intel replaced its performance-segment with two series: the Marvell-driven SSD 510, and SandForce-driven SSD 520 series. In 2013, an even newer line could join the pack, SSD 525 series. Unlike with SSD 335, it doesn't look like the SSD 525 series will use 20 nm NAND flash, and could stick to 25 nm NAND flash, for reasons unknown. What's more, it's also unlikely that Intel will change the controller from the SF-2281 that SSD 520 series uses. What could change is a secret-sauce firmware that ups performance. The SSD 525 series will ship in mSATA and 2.5-inch form-factors, and will be available in 30 GB, 120 GB, 180 GB, and 240 GB capacities.

Android Wikipad hand-held gaming device to launch soon Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/android-wikipad-hand-held-gamingdevice-to-launch-soon/16870.html

It may not stand out as an Android tablet on its own, but perhaps the specs may help the Wikipad gain some attention in the growing tablet market. The Wikipad will boast an IPS display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, NVIDIA's Tegra 3 T30 quad-core clocked at 1.4GHz, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, a 23-46Wh battery pack, and will weigh about 560 grams. For picture taking and video recording need, the Wikipad will have an 8 MP rear camera, and a 2 MP front-facing camera. Additionally, Google’s latest Android Jelly Bean will be the OS of choice out of the box. If the Wikipad comes with a display-out port (i.e., HDMI), then it may as well be an Ouya with a 10.1’’ screen. And if Android tablet makers decide to make gaming controllers for their tablets, then we will have huge selection of Android gaming devices. Images: Venture Beat

UK wants faster rather than more access to broadband Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/uk-wants-faster-rather-than-moreaccess-to-broadband/16869.html

July 31st, 2012 July 31st, 2012

There will be happy and unhappy UK residents as the government has decided to invest £150 million to upgrade 15 cities to fiber-optic broadband, and leaving other areas with slow or no broadband access. What is more important, faster broadband speed in few areas or higher overall access to broadband in more areas? Apparently, the UK government feels that blazing fast fiberoptics in a few areas is more important than increasing the country’s overall access to broadband. In a recent report, Lords communications committee states that the government's focus on improving already existing broadband in some areas means the country will risk leaving “people and businesses…behind.” “…Inadequate access to the internet and all its benefits is actually afflicting their daily lives,” states the report. The committee believes that the government’s investment in delivering increased network speeds to few areas is a “flawed” strategy. The BBC reports that the UK’s government is investing £100 million in fiber-optic hubs in 10 cities, and another £50m for smaller cities. The committee adds to the objection of governmentsponsored fiber-optic by stating that the plan does not benefit the country in the “long run.” “The delivery of certain speeds should not be the guiding principle; what is important is the long term assurance that as new internet applications emerge, everyone will be able to benefit, from inhabitants of inner cities to the remotest areas of the UK.” UK’s government is hoping to deliver improved broadband speed and high-speed wireless to 4.7 million residents by 2015.

Published by: VR-Zone

economic downturn affected them, experiences with the legal system, and connections to Apple, Samsung, or Google. A Google employee was excused, and so was an Apple employee who said that he hoped his employer will win the case. Additionally, another person was excused because he felt that the Apple vs. Samsung case was similar to the past Apple vs. Microsoft case. "In my mind this is practically the exact same thing, but now just dealing with slightly different technology," he said. The case deals with patents (among other things), so a man with over 120 patents to his name was also eliminated. Apple already won two early victories by obtaining bans on the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and a pretrial ban on the Galaxy Nexus in the U.S. The trial is expected to last at least one month.

Court document exposes Samsung's next tablet to have retina-like resolution Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/court-document-exposes-samsung-snext-tablet-to-have-retina-like-resolution/16867.html July 31st, 2012

Samsung may have their Galaxy Tab tablets banned in various places due to patent infringements, but this has not stopped the South Korean tech giant from developing a tablet that will have a 2560 x 1600 retina-like resolution. If you’re tired of the Apple vs. Samsung patent brawl, and don’t follow the court proceedings anymore, here’s a bit of interesting news that may draw you right back in. According to one of the court documents, Samsung is readying a highresolution display tablet that matches Apple’s new iPad.

Image Credit: BBC

Judge hand-picked jurors for Apple vs. Samsung trial Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/judge-hand-picked-jurors-for-applevs.-samsung-trial/16868.html July 31st, 2012

The Apple vs. Samsung patent battle in the U.S is so important that potential jurors were questioned beforehand, and then hand selected by the presiding judge. Jury duties are usually not very interesting, but in the case of Apple vs. Samsung, jury duty is so important that presiding Judge Lucy Koh hand-picked the jurors to prevent biasness. Judge Koh questioned potential jurors about various topics including what were their choices of phones, how the

The tablet, codenamed “P10", will have LTE connectivity, and a 11.8’’ 2560 x 1600 (WQXGA) display. Considering Samsung’s display manufacturing prowess, it’s no surprise that the South Korean tablet maker has the capacity to introduce a tablet with a resolution that is on par with the new iPad. Quite frankly speaking, Apple can’t patent display resolutions, and unless Samsung calls its upcoming high-res tablet “Tab 11.8 with Retina” and makes it look like an iPad, Samsung’s next tablet may be a true iPad-killer.

Apple's Genius ad not a smart move? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-s-genius-ad-not-a-smartmove-/16866.html

July 31st, 2012 July 31st, 2012

Apple, for a long time, has relied heavily on marketing to sell their products. It’s anyone’s call to judge whether or not an Apple product lives up to the marketing hype, but it doesn’t take a “Genius” to know the world’s hunger for Apple’s apples is almost unappeasable at times. Despite all the successes of past campaigns, Apple’s recent “Genius” ads are receiving some harsh criticism from Ken Segall—known for his involvement in the “Think Different” campaign. In recent a blog post, Segall said that the Genius ads don't fully express the quality of the Apple brand. The “idea” behind the ads were good, but according to Segall the “execution” was poor. “The ‘idea’ is pretty good. I’m not convinced it’s worthy of an ongoing campaign, but there is some good comedy in the basic concept. The problem is, a good idea is only half of the winning formula in advertising. The other half is execution — and that’s where this campaign went south.” Yikes, Apple’s Genius ads are causing the company’s image to go south? This is a harsh rejection from a person that is relatively familar with past Apple marketing campaigns. Segall argues that Apple’s past ads instill the concept of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” with the help of an easy to use product. The recent Genius ads, however, take away the sense of self-reliance, which is a direct contrast to Apple’s past ads. Therefore, consumers are the ones on the “dim side”, and the Genius employee becomes the all-important figure in the campaign. The element of flattering a consumer’s ego is not there, and if a potential buyer doesn’t feel good about himself then he won’t feel good about the product.

Published by: VR-Zone

In the end, it goes without saying that "customers are always right." You decide the genius behind the Genius ads.

Microsoft Surface tablet to launch 26 October with Windows 8 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-surface-tablet-tolaunch-26-october-with-windows-8/16865.html July 31st, 2012

Microsoft's own-branded Surface tablet will launch on 26 October, the same day as Windows 8. The date was revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where Microsoft said it would launch “a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices” to accompany the launch of Windows 8. The first of these will be the Windows RT version of the Surface tablet, but there are no details yet on other Surface devices that might launch at the same time or soon after. The wording of the filing suggests that Microsoft has a slew of products up its sleeve, and a recent report by Intel suggested that there are 20 Intel-powered Windows 8 tablets on the way. Microsoft plans to release a version of the Surface tablet with an Intel processor, so this is likely one of the “series” the document refers to.

“Therein lies another problem with this campaign. In the effort to show that the Genius is the most helpful guy in the world, Apple has created customers who, shall we say, are on the dim side. In past ads, Apple has shown “ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” simply because Apple products are so easy to use. Now we have thick people who want to be better, but need a Genius to help. Not exactly flattering.” Segall vehemently objects the Mac vs PC idea, as he believes it downgrades the “quality” of the Apple brand. Apple is not Best Buy or an OEM like Dell, therefore, according to Segall, the ads should reflect the unique Apple brand and not the brands of others. “The idea of creating a “character” from an Apple employee is… well…. damn, I can’t even say this without feeling awful… it feels like something Best Buy would do. Maybe even Dell. Between the writing, casting, directing and production, this campaign has a very “local” feel to it. It doesn’t have the feel of quality that has defined previous Apple advertising.” So Segall thinks Apple screwed up the Genius ads, but if the late Steve Jobs was still around, could such a failure be rectified? “Every one of us, Steve Jobs included, has experienced failure,” Segall said.

The filing also revealed the requirements Microsoft needs to meet for Windows 8 to be deemed a success: “In fall 2012, we are launching Windows 8, a major new release of our PC operating system that seeks to deliver a unique user experience through well-integrated software, hardware, and services. Its success depends on a number of factors including the extent to which customers embrace its new user interface and functionality, successfully coordinating with our OEM partners in releasing a variety of hardware devices that take advantage of its features, and attracting developers at scale to ensure a competitive array of quality applications.” 8

July 31st, 2012

The company also expects to eat into its operating profits by paying â&#x20AC;&#x153;substantial marketing costsâ&#x20AC;? in order to make the Windows 8 launch as successful as possible.

With Cray on board, Intel rounds up its interconnect strategy - what about the others? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/with-cray-on-board-intel-rounds-upits-interconnect-strategy--what-about-the-others-/16864.html July 31st, 2012

By the virtue of my high end system integration focus, I was aware of Intel's - and other CPU vendors - attempts to consolidate the high end system interconnect part of the product support, over the years. After all, seamlessly connecting a larger number of high margin multi-socket server boxes together into single system units, whether clusters or even tighter shared memory systems, does help have a winning proposition for many multi-million dollar deals in the datacenter, cloud and supercomputing space. These interconnects can vary from plain-vanilla Gigabit Ethernet in simple setups where the communication between nodes isn't too high, to their faster (but not much lower latency) 10GE and 40GE versions, then on to even faster Infiniband low - but not lowest - latency QDR 40 Gbps and FDR 56 Gbps setups - but still limited to message passing between nodes, and then on to specialised low latency interconnects that allow some sort if memory sharing, either shmem or even NUMA single memory space. Until 4 years ago, it was the UK that had the best of them all that you could buy openly, the QsNet from Quadrics in Bristol, whose fate deserves a separate story. SGI's NUMA and the Cray interconnect fit into this same category. As the server and networking businesses come closer, we saw Intel taking up Fulcrum switch chippery to its existing 10GE node controllers, then acquiring Qlogic Infiniband arm, and now, just recently, finally concluding a long negotiated deal with Cray, to get a hold of its high speed interconnect. What's the impact?

Published by: VR-Zone

and switch chips; complete Infiniband solutions, and topend supercomputer interconnect from Cray. The last one can be combined with the proposed fibre-optic QPI CPU interconnect, seen in Intel research papers, to scale those Xeons to thousands of sockets able to share the memory space, whether virtual or even physical as in NUMA systems, for both uber supercomputers and ultralarge clouds - the final part of the Exascale computer strategy. Even in message passing clusters, the standard mainstream of today, a very efficient low latency interconnect can up the performance of a supersized system by large chunks, whether it is extra 10% in Linpack benchmark for higher TOP500 standing and the related owner ego boost, or much more than that in actual highly parallel applications sensitive to the inter-system connection lags. Think molecular modeling or weather simulation here... Any trouble for AMD, since they were close with Cray? Not really - the problem there is that Cray needs a new, faster CPU core from AMD, and the CPU vendor will need some time for a full turnaround from the Bulldozer, to bring in a much faster core that competes back with Intel. On the other hand, AMD already has an ultrafast open spec large system interconnect for years - the High Node Count extension to HyperTransport, using inexpensive Infiniband structure as the physical layer, but with efficient low overhead Hypertransport protocol, is handled by HT Consortium and can be used on all HyperTransport enabled CPUs. This includes Chinese Loongson MIPS CPUs, whose high speed multiteraflop per chip derivative is expected to be deployed as the main CPU, not an accelerator, mind you - some 2 years from now in one of China's 100 PetaFLOPs systems in the Chongqing city. The irony is, yes, that non X86 CPUs may benefit the most from it. And the others? Mellanox, which with the fellow Israeli Voltaire acquisition, was the dominant Infiniband total solution party, needs to diversify beyond just Infiniband - where they now compete against Intel, who created the Infiniband, after all - and Ethernet presence, where the likes of Huawei are gaining ground too. To keep their market spread, looking at the solutions above Infiniband in both performance and features may be needed for them. System vendors like SGI and HP, will lose yet a bit more of their differentiation, as Intel's new interconnect spread will cover more of their own niches - SGI's NUMAlink is still the fastest and tightest way to link multiple Xeons, enabling fully shared single memory space and single system images for 2,048 Xeon cores and 16 TB RAM in one block, and even more in the Ivy Bridge EX generation. Such capabilities now could come to Intel interconnects openly sold to any system integrator. Finally, the smaller fish will likely have to get away from the dangerous open seas now - small corners under the coral reefs, with specific niches - whether NUMA single memory image for supercomputers, or application specific networks, may be the solution.

Within Intel, this completes their full spectrum coverage of interconnects: all of Ethernet standards, with both system

Picture Credits: Chinese VR-Zone

July 31st, 2012

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Xbox 720 developer kit details leaked

Taiwan university sues Apple over Siri

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/xbox-720-developer-kit-detailsleaked/16863.html July 31st, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/taiwan-university-sues-apple-oversiri/16862.html July 31st, 2012

Details of the Xbox 720 developer kit have been leaked, giving us an inkling of what we can expect from Microsoft's next-generation console. Details of the Xbox 720 developer kit have been leaked, giving us an inkling of what we can expect from Microsoft's next-generation console. A man operating under the name DaE tried to sell a “Durango” developer kit, the codename for the next Xbox, for a whopping $10,000 on the Assembler Games forum over the weekend, but his post was quickly removed and he was banned from posting again. The kit apparently ran an eight-core Intel CPU, an Nvidia graphics card, and 8GB of RAM, effectively matching some of the latest gaming PCs. The RAM is expected to be half of this in the final version, however, as developers are usually supplied with a higher spec.

A screenshot from Microsoft Visual Studio also suggests that the system uses x86 CPU architecture, with AVX support, showing a move away from custom hardware. Of course, the details are unconfirmed, but Digital Foundry hunted down a number of anonymous sources working on Xbox 720 games who claimed that the leaked information is accurate. Apparently developers have been given a working version of the next Xbox since February of this year, which shows that Microsoft is well into its development cycle, news that will delight fans hoping for a 2013 release.

Apple is again embroiled in a patent battle after a Taiwanese university sued it over the alleged infringement of two of its speech recognition patents. Apple is again embroiled in a patent battle after a Taiwanese university sued it over the alleged infringement of two of its speech recognition patents. The National Cheng Kung University, in Tainan in southern Taiwan, claims that it invented technology that Apple is using in its Siri personal assistant software, a popular feature in the company's latest iPhone model. The lawsuit focuses on two patents from 2007 and 2010 which cover voice-to-text technology, a prominent feature in modern smartphones, but particularly apparent in Siri, which allows users to ask questions to their device and receive appropriate responses.

“We filed that lawsuit in the Texas court because it processes faster and its rulings are usually in favor of patent owners and the compensations are usually higher,” said Yama Chen, legal manager of National Cheng Kung, according to Reuters. The amount of damages being sought was not revealed, but Chen did say that it would be based on the US sales of devices which employ Siri, which means Apple will likely have to pay out of a lot of money if it loses the case. So far Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S, but Apple plans to allow iPad users to access it with the iOS 6 update in Autumn, which could make matters even more complicated and potentially expensive for the company.

July 31st, 2012

The university is now looking to see if Google or Microsoft have also infringed these patents in their Android and Windows Phone mobile operating systems.

Apple sells 3 million copies of OS X Mountain Lion in 4 days

Published by: VR-Zone

New Intel 7-series Desktop Boards Arrive in Q3-2012 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-intel-7-series-desktop-boardsarrive-in-q3-2012/16859.html July 31st, 2012

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-sells-3-million-copies-of-os-xmountain-lion-in-4-days/16861.html July 31st, 2012

Apple has sold three million copies of OS X Mountain Lion, the latest release of the Mac operating system, in just four days. Apple has sold three million copies of OS X Mountain Lion, the latest release of the Mac operating system, in just four days.

We've unearthed plans by Intel to launch two new 7-series socket LGA1155 motherboards in Q3-2012, the Extreme Series DZ77GAL-70K "Gasper Light" and DZ75ML-45K "Middle Lake." The two boast of Windows 8 WHQL certificiation, Fast Boot, and Lucid VirtuMVP. We've unearthed plans by Intel to launch two new 7-series socket LGA1155 motherboards in Q3-2012, the Extreme Series DZ77GAL-70K "Gasper Light" and Media Series DZ75ML-45K "Middle Lake." The two boast of Windows 8 WHQL certificiation, Fast Boot support, and Lucid VirtuMVP.

The software released last Wednesday and has been downloaded by millions of Mac users around the world since then, with the low price tag of $19.99, $10 cheaper than the previous version, likely a huge factor in the surge of support. Apple touts a list of 200 new features for the release, though many of these are minor alterations. Some of the larger changes, however, including iCloud integration, a new Messages app, the Notification centre, dictation, and the Game Centre. Facebook integration will also be added in an upcoming update.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just a year after the incredibly successful introduction of Lion, customers have downloaded Mountain Lion over three million times in just four days, making it our most successful release ever,â&#x20AC;? said Philip Schiller, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple.

Intel is expected to launch the Desktop Board DZ77GAL-70K "Gasper Light," its third Extreme Series motherboard based on the Z77 Express chipset, after the DZ77GA-70K "Gasper" and Thunderbolt-equipped DZ77RE-75K "Roads End." Its codename gives away a lot about it. It's based on the same exact PCB design as the other two. Its specifications sheet is nearly identical to that of the DZ77GA-70K. A major point of difference between the two is the exclusion of paraphernalia such as the WiDi-capable WLAN add-on card with its antenna kit, the Bluetooth dongle, 3.5-inch USB 3.0 frontpanel port kit, and Extreme Series mouse-pad, which the DZ77GA-70K ships with. The DZ77GAL-70K otherwise bears such strong resemblence to the DZ77GA-70K that the industry partners recycled its image in material that details the new board.

Mountain Lion is available as an upgrade from Lion or Snow Leopard from the Mac App Store.

July 31st, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

GTX 560, 550 Series Exit Closely Trails GTX 660, 650 Series Entry Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gtx-560-550-series-exit-closelytrails-gtx-660-650-series-entry/16858.html July 31st, 2012

Stuff you stand to miss in the DZ77GAL-70K package (Image Credit: The Tech Report) The next board in the pipeline is the Media Series DZ75ML-45K "Middle Lake." It is based on the same exact PCB design as the DZ77SL-50K and DH77KC. The "Middle Lake" codename is apt, as the DZ75ML-45K is a middle ground between the two aforementioned boards. On offer, is a board that is closer to the DH77KC in terms of features, as it lacks the VRM heatsink, but one that tops it with support for CPU overclocking, thanks to the Z75 Express chipset it's based on. A sacrifice here is Intel Smart Response Technology (SSD caching), which is present on the H77 Express chipset, while Z75 Express lacks it. The Z75 PCH is about US $8 cheaper than the $48 Z77 PCH, other than lack of Intel Smart Response and Rapid Start technologies on the Z75, the two are identical. The Z75 is also $3 cheaper than the H77.

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 560 and GTX 550 series graphics processors, which command attractive sub-$200 price points, could be discontinued immediately after the company launches next-generation GeForce GTX 660, GTX 650 series, according to a report. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 560 and GTX 550 series graphics processors, which command attractive sub-$200 price points, could be discontinued immediately after the company launches next-generation GeForce GTX 660, GTX 650 series, according to a DonanimHaber report.

NVIDIA's hit GK104 graphics chip will soon go into making two new SKUs, the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, and GeForce GTX 660. The company is expected to launch its mid-range GK106 chip, on which the GeForce GTX 650 will be based. The three desktop GPUs will be announced in the AugustSeptember time-frame. By then, it is expected that swelling inventories of existing GTX 560 and 550 series could be digested to a big extant by the market, following which NVIDIA could issue product discontinuation notifications for the three. Since the two boards launch close to that of the year's biggest PC industry launch, Microsoft Windows 8, the two will come with BIOS firmware that's ready for the new operating system, complete with support for the Fast Boot feature. Intel will also include licenses for LucidLogix VirtuMVP graphics virtualization software.

A product discontinuation notification (PDN) is a formal notice to existing and prospective distributors that the company intends to discontinue a product, specifying a last date of accepting orders for it. After the very last of the orders are fullfilled (shipped), the product attains "end of life" (EOL) state.

We expect the DZ77GAL-70K package to shave a neat US $30-40 off the current market price of the DZ77GA-70K, and the DZ75ML-45K to cost nearly the same, if not cheaper, than the DH77KC.

MSI GTX 680 Lightning Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/msi-gtx-680-lightningreview/16308.html

July 31st, 2012 July 31st, 2012

The GTX 680 Lightning is the latest addition to MSI's highly regarded flagship GPU range. The underwhelming reference design has been discarded and rebuilt from the ground up resulting in a GTX 680 for the overclockers. It features unlocked digital triple voltage control and the efficient Twin Frozr IV cooler. Like all Lightning cards we have tested, the bar is set high. Introduction We love it when a new MSI Lightning card hits our desk. The GTX 680 Lightning is the latest addition to the highly regarded range that MSI reserves for the highest end GPU's from the AMD and Nvidia ranges. Without even opening the box we expect that MSI will have produced a card that will be a strong contender for the best GTX 680 available.

We'll begin with a quick refresher on the cards base architecture. The MSI GTX 680 Lightning is built around the Nvidia GK104 GPU. It's a 28nm GPU built by TSMC and packs 3.54 billion transistors into a 294mm2 die. We have a 256 bit memory bus and 1536 shaders or 'CUDA cores' in Nvidia parlance. The 680 Lightning follows these basic specs, surprisingly keeping the memory clock at 1502Mhz for the 2GB of GDDR5 memory. The biggest differentiating features of the 680 Lightning are its unlocked triple voltage control and the highly regarded Twin Frozr IV cooler. The reference PCB has been completely overhauled and now features MSI's trademark customized Military Class III components. Add in twin 8pin PCIe power connectors and clearly this is an altogether different beast from the rather bland reference design. MSI have substantially boosted the core clock over the reference card. It ships with a 1111Mhz base clock, which is able to boost to 1176Mhz when TDP conditions allow it. The memory clock remains at the reference clock of 1502Mhz (6008Mhz effective.) We would like to have seen this boosted a bit as the GTX 680 generally responds well to bandwidth increases. We'd also like to see a 4GB option. Perhaps MSI will release another version in the future like we saw with the GTX 580 Lightning Extreme Edition.

Published by: VR-Zone

Other noteworthy features include the addition of a separate rear mounted PCB called the GPU Reactor. It is designed to provide cleaner power with reduced ripple for the GPU. We also have voltage measurement points and a dual BIOS switch. One is the default bios that is set from the factory while the second one is optimized for subzero cooling that allows for a higher TDP limit and removes overclocker unfriendlies such as overcurrent protection and overvoltage protection. Obviously this isn't your common GTX 680. Specifications Graphics Engine Interface Memory Type Memory Size(MB) Memory Interface Core Clock Speed(MHz) Memory Clock Speed(MHz) Memory Bandwidth(GB/sec) DVI Output D-SUB Output HDMI-Output DisplayPort HDCP Support Dual-link DVI Display Output (Max Resolution) RAMDACs (Mhz) DirectX Version Support OpenGL Version Support SLI Support Up to 4-way SLI Card Dimension(mm)

GeForce GTX 680 PCI Express x16 3.0 GDDR5 2048 256 bits 1111 (Boost Clock 1176) 6008 (3004 x 2) 192.3 2 1 (via adapter) 1 1 Y Y 2560x1600 400 11 4.2 Y Y 280x129x49.15 (w/ GPU Reactor)

Can Internet addiction be a real disorder? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/can-internet-addiction-be-a-realdisorder-/16857.html July 31st, 2012

Can over-indulgence or overuse of the Internet lead to a type of addictive disorder? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the question various psychologists, doctors, and tech-experts are trying to answer. A recent article from the Guardian UK suggests that over-use of the Internet may one day become a medically diagnosable disorder. Can over-indulgence or overuse of the Internet lead to a type of addictive disorder? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the question various psychologists, doctors, and tech-experts are trying to answer. A recent article from the Guardian UK suggests that over-use of the Internet may one day become a medically diagnosable disorder. 13

July 31st, 2012

China, Korea, and Taiwan have accepted Internet addiction as a psychiatric problem, and treatment centers are established to treat people who are considered to have such problems. Even America’s Diagnostic and Statistical of Mental Disorders may include “internet use disorder” as a part of its official listing of mental illnesses in the future. Apparently, Google is also investigating the possibility of Internet addiction in their workplace by deploying campaigns to teach employees about the risks of over-using their web-connected gadgets. Richard Fernandez, a leading figure in Google’s “mindfulness” movement, says there should be a “balance” when it comes to how technology influences a person’s online and offline life. “Consumers need to have an internal compass where they’re able to balance the capabilities that technology offers them for work with the qualities of the lives they live offline,” says Fernandez. Various psychologists are linking the overuse of social networking sites such as Facebook to one’s social ineptitude. For instance, a person may spend too much time “stalking” an ex on Facebook, rather than getting off the computer and socializing with friends and family. Such extreme usage of the Internet can perhaps turn a sane individual into a depressive, temperamental, or even psychotic person. A metaphor that’s usually slung around during some sort of “addiction” illness is that if a person’s craving for something becomes great enough it’s comparable to an addictive drug. Psychologist Seth Meyers agrees with the notion that an Internet addiction is much like an addiction to some type of drugs. He points out the stalking of the ex on Facebook to make this correlation between Facebook and drugs: “Checking Facebook to see what the ex is doing becomes a drug.” Constantly checking an ex’s Facebook status doesn’t mean that you’re an Internet addict, and it’s not unordinary for many people to strongly associate Facebook with the Internet—Facebook is, after all, one of the most widely surfed social networking site.

Published by: VR-Zone July 31st, 2012

The Pirate Bay has a long history of rebranding its site to piss off supporters of copyrights. In addition to the catchy “this is for everyone, The Pirate Bay rebadged itself as “The Olympic Bay” in its latest campaign to piss off the International Olympic Committee. The Pirate Bay has a long history of rebranding its site to piss off supporters of copyrights. In addition to the catchy “this is for everyone, The Pirate Bay rebadged itself as “The Olympic Bay” in its latest campaign to piss off the International Olympic Committee. In July 2005 the site rebadged itself as “The Pear Bay” when Apple’s OSX x86 was leaked, and in that same month it changed its name to the Grand Theft auto-inspired, “Grand Theft Bay.” The spirit of peaceful competition through the Olympics Games should be enjoyed by all those that wishes to, but for some it might not be possible due to broadcasting rights. Apparently, The Olympic Bay took it upon itself to make it possible for everyone to be able to watch the Olympics—even if it means pissing off IOC. The Olympics-inspired banner links to Olympics related torrent files. One of the more prominent torrents is the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

Apple iPhone Sales Fall in China Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-iphone-sales-fall-inchina/16854.html July 31st, 2012

Although there are people who feel that Internet addiction is a serious mental disorder, there are also others that feel the addiction “is a symptom of a greater problem.” So perhaps a person’s compulsiveness to constantly check his ex’s Facebook may be due to his obsession with the person and not with the Internet. Thus, the Internet is just a method for fulfilling his desire to be able to “stalk” his ex.

Apple's sales in the Chinese market have fallen, according to their financial report for their third quarter of this fiscal year. This drop can be attributed to increased competition as well as anticipation for the iPhone 5.

However one chooses interpret this particular matter concerning addiction to the Internet, the cliché that our forefathers/mothers have taught us still applies today:

Apple’s next major market is mainland China; with over a billion potential customers, the mobile giant has acknowledged that China is a major portion of its overall revenue. Thus, the news that Apple’s revenues in that market have slipped is troubling news indeed.

“Too much of a good thing is not always good thing.”

Pirate Bay rebrands itself as Olympic Bay Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pirate-bay-rebrands-itself-asolympic-bay/16856.html

In the third quarter of this fiscal year, Apple’s sales have revealed a considerable drop when compared to the previous two quarters, with a significant portion of the decline coming in its iPhone sales. The revenue for the third quarter in Greater China came to $5.7 billion, a total of 16% of the company’s global revenues. Even though revenues were up 48% from the same quarter last year, it had fallen 27% from the previous quarter.

July 31st, 2012

With increased competition from Samsung and domestic Chinese smartphone brands in the Chinese market, the iPhone’s momentum has been slowing in the past few months according to Li Yi, the secretary of China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance. Apple sold 26 million iPhones in the last quarter, down 26% from last quarter. These sales figures were well below what was expected by the Wall Street analysts. Apple also released its expected financial report for the fourth quarter of this year; the report is poorer that the previous quarter’s, leading to the Wall Street Journal to describe the company’s performance as a disaster. The expected revenues may imply that the iPhone 5, forecasted to account for 50% of the company’s total revenues, will be launched as early as October. Looking to previous launches, and considering that Apple’s fiscal year starts in October, this seems like a very reasonable estimate.

US Government Argues It Can Keep Megaupload Assets Frozen Indefinitely Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/us-government-argues-it-can-keepmegaupload-assets-frozen-indefinitely/16853.html July 31st, 2012

The US government has argued that, even if the case against Megaupload is dismissed on procedural technicalities, they can keep the company's assets frozen. For those looking for a quick end to the Megaupload case, it seems like their hopes might be unfounded as the United States government is claiming that, should the indictment against the Megaupload corporation be dismissed, they can continue an indefinite freeze of all of the corporation’s assets while they await the extradition of Kim Dotcom and his associates. Judge Liam O’Grady is currently weighing the merits of a motion to dismiss the indictment against Megaupload because the federal rules of criminal procedure provide no way to serve notice on corporations like Megaupload with no US address; while not yet issuing a ruling, he grilled both attorneys in the case at a hearing in Alexandria, VA. O’Grady sarcastically speculated that Congress intended to allow foreign corporations like Megaupload to “be able to violate our laws indiscriminately from an island in the South Pacific,” but Megaupload’s attorney insisted that this may actually be close to the truth. Megaupload is a Hong Kong corporation with no presence in the United States, he said. He then argued that it was perfectly reasonable for Megaupload to be subject to the criminal laws of Hong Kong but not the United States. For what it’s worth, the government suggested that there were ways in which they could sidestep the notice mailing requirement. For example, it could wait for Kim Dotcom to be extradited to the United States and then mail the notice to him, as Megaupload’s representative, at his address in prison. They also suggested that they could send notice of the indictment to Carpathia Hosting, a Virginia-based company that leased hundreds of servers to the file locker site. A third option is the possibility of the government using the

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provisions of a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with Hong Kong in order to send notice to Megaupload’s Hong Kong address. Judge O’Grady, however, seemed skeptical of these arguments. He noted that the “plain language” of the law required that the federal government send notice to the company’s address in the United States. “You don’t have a location in the United States to mail it to,” he said. Megaupload has, in fact, never had an address in the United States. Megupload also pointed out that the government hadn’t produced a single example in which the government had satisfied the criminal procedure rules using one of the methods they suggested; most precedents offered by the government were for civil cases which have different rules of procedure and most involved serving a corporate parent company through its subsidiary company, a completely different relationship than the vendor-customer relationship between Megaupload and Carpathia Hosting. The government did bring up one example during the hearing of an instance where notice was not served by mail to a United States address: a judge allowed notice to be sent via email to FARC, the Columbian guerilla group. Megaupload’s attorneys played down this example as well, arguing that FARC was not a corporation and that the propriety of that service was never tested in court. It was also argued by the government that Megaupload could be kept in legal limbo indefinitely, since “[none] of the cases impose a time limit on service,” the government’s attorney told the judge. Therefore, the government argues, the indictment can be left hanging over the company’s head indefinitely. Not only that, but the government argues that they can continue to freeze the file locker’s assets and paralyze its operations even if the motion to dismiss is granted; they argue that this is possible since, in the government’s view, the assets are the proceeds of criminal activity and the prosecution against the eccentric founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, will still be pending. The fact that the assets are in the name of Megaupload rather than Kim’s is of no consequence argued the government’s attorneys.

Apple and Samsung Seeking to Keep Embarassing Documents Secret Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-and-samsung-seeking-tokeep-embarassing-documents-secret/16851.html July 31st, 2012

Apple and Samsung, days before the start of their trial in San Jose, are seeking to have certain documents kept secret from the public, arguing that the confidential information contained in them would be harmful to them and their industry if they were made public. With Apple and Samsung drawing the battle lines and preparing for a court battle in San Jose next week, a secondary skirmish is erupting on the sidelines. Apple 15

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and Samsung, along with various other tech companies associated with the embattled mobile giants, such as Intel, Qualcomm and Microsoft, are begging the court to keep various details in the court filings away from the public view. These filings include various sensitive details the companies want kept private, such as product diagrams, contract terms and internal market research. Apple has also sought to keep expensive market research reports it purchased, arguing that if these reports were revealed it would destroy the value of the reports along with the relationships between Apple and the research firms who produced the studies. Reuters, the well-known news agency, is fighting to have these requests denied, arguing that almost everything should be made public despite the objections of the various tech companies. Reuters’ attorneys said in their motion opposing the requests that “[the] third parties’ reliance upon agreements they may have made with Apple or Samsung for confidentiality is not a compelling reason to seal, and their license terms do not rise to the level of trade secrets meriting sealing.” This skirmish comes just ahead of the main trial, which is set to begin on Monday. The judge has already limited the scope of what may be kept private by Apple and Samsung as the trial draws nearer. In a filing on Friday, Apple narrowed the number of documents that it is seeking to keep private; only four briefs and 30 documents of the hundreds filed in the case are being argued by Apple to be highly sensitive. “if the select documents that Apple seeks to seal and redact are allowed to enter the public record, Apple will be irreparably harmed in innumerable ways,” the company said. “Apple’s business partners will lose trust in Apple when their confidential material, shared with Apple under the understanding it would be protected, is opened to the world, destroying the market for third-party research company’s reports and revealing highly sensitive details of heavily negotiated license agreements. Apple’s competitors will gain in-depth knowledge of Apple’s cost structure and profit margins, as well as intelligence into Apple’s market.” Apple and Samsung have proposed a procedure by which they would jointly submit to the court trial exhibits that they would like to be redacted as well. The two companies, despite their legal dispute, made a joint filing in which they said that “[while] the parties have yet to reach a final agreement that would eliminate the need to introduce exhibits that contain highly sensitive information, both Samsung and Apple are committed to negotiating in good faith to minimize the need for maintaining the confidentiality of trial exhibits and ensuring that the trial remains an open forum.”

Blizzard adds itself to growing list of non-Windows 8 supporters Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blizzard-adds-itself-to-growing-listof-non-windows-8-supporters/16855.html July 31st, 2012

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partners and developers seems to be growing ever so quickly. Blizzard executive vice president, Rob Pardo, recently added his company to the growing list of companies that aren’t too excited about Windows 8. Microsoft’s next operating system is getting a lot of heat from software developers and OEMs. The list of disgruntled partners and developers seems to be growing ever so quickly. Blizzard executive vice president, Rob Pardo, recently added his company to the growing list of companies that aren’t too excited about Windows 8. Pardo wrote on his Twitter earlier this week: “I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space—not awesome for Blizzard either.” Valve’s co-founder and managing director, Gabe Newell, also denounced Windows 8 recently in an interview with All Things D. “I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality,” Newell said. Valve and Blizzard are both involved in the PC space through gaming development and distribution, and up until now, no other PC platforms even come close to having as many supported video games as Windows. Competing OS such as Linux and Apple’s OSX don’t have the kind of presence that Windows has in the gaming scene. According to Newell, “People don’t realize how critical games are in driving consumer purchasing behavior.” Which is why Linux, among others, has failed to garner more users. HP announced that it would not launch a Windows RT tablet alongside Microsoft’s Surface, which was possibly HP’s way of showing that it was not happy with Microsoft trying to compete with partnering OEMs. Now imagine if Blizzard and Valve do not develop and distribute games for future Windows platforms, what will happen to Microsoft’s presence in the PC space? Tag on the possibility that less OEMs will partner with Microsoft to build different types of Windows machines at various prices, and Windows is looking at becoming a desktop OS that will have less supported video games like the current Mac OSX platform. If Newell’s assumption about the significance of gaming holds true for consumers, then Microsoft will lose a lot of users. If more game developers and distributors begin to voice their dissatisfaction with Windows 8, then that may be a sign that Microsoft’s next OS is heading in the wrong direction. As of this moment, Windows 8 doesn’t seem like it has a distinct direction in the immense PC space. Is it a tablet platform with end-to-end control like the iPad’s iOS? Or is it a desktop OS that will help Microsoft maintain desktop supremacy? OEMs are unhappy, developers are unhappy, but for now we don’t know whether or not consumers will reject Windows 8. October 26 marks the debut of Microsoft’s next-gen OS. Lets see if Microsoft is trying to bite off more than it can chew.

Microsoft’s next operating system is getting a lot of heat from software developers and OEMs. The list of disgruntled 16

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Wii U priced at 250 pounds? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/wii-u-priced-at-250pounds-/16852.html July 31st, 2012

There are no official words from Nintendo on how much the Wii U will cost, and it doesn't help that various sources also report different pricings for Nintendo’s next console. Amazon initially reported that the Wii U was £199, but had to remove the listing as well as all pre-orders because that was not the supposed price. The Amazon mistake came at the expense of the people that pre-ordered the Wii U.

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From a budget-conscious-fan’s point of view, however, it will be greatly appreciated if GT6 lands on the PS3.

Zuckerberg said Facebook smartphone "wouldn't make sense" Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/zuckerberg-said-facebooksmartphone-wouldn-t-make-sense-/16848.html July 31st, 2012

The unfortunate news for Wii buyers continue as various sources have reported that the Wii U will be about £50 more than the initial Amazon listing. Japanese business newspaper Nikkei recently claimed that the Wii U would run for about 30,000 yen (~£250). In a separate report from MCV UK, an unnamed senior publisher was quoted as saying the Wii U “will definitely be less than £249.”

Facebook may not build its own smartphone after all, and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently stated that “it wouldn’t make sense” for a social networking firm to dive head on into competing with the likes of Apple and Android.

So how much will the Wii U cost? Until there’s an official announcement from Nintendo, we can only speculate that the console will in the range of £199 to £250—which seems like a fair estimate.

Gran Turismo 6 in the making? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/gran-turismo-6-in-themaking-/16849.html July 31st, 2012

If you’re not too busy to trying to become a real racecar driver through Gran Turismo’s racing academy, you might be interested to know that Kazunori Yamauchi has hinted that GT6 is in the making. If you’re not too busy to trying to become a real racecar driver through Gran Turismo’s racing academy, you might be interested to know that Kazunori Yamauchi has hinted that GT6 is in the making. Yamauchi said at a Sony product-displaying event in China that he had been working on GT6’s framework since the GT5 release. “We’re always aiming for the latest technology and the latest expression,” he added. When asked about GT’s future on the Vita, he said that if they were to produce GT for the vita it would have to take full advantage of the handheld’s connectivity. “If we were to make it, we’d like to make use of the ability to play anywhere and the ability to use 3G at any time,” he said. This is great news for GT fans, but don’t get too hyped just yet. The chance of GT6 being a PS3 title is slim to none. The GT franchise is one of Sony’s flagships, so why not launch it alongside the PS4? Launching an established franchise alongside the PS4 makes perfect business-sense.

(Image Credit: Bob Freking) Facebook may not build its own smartphone after all, and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently stated that “it wouldn’t make sense” for a social networking firm to dive head on into competing with the likes of Apple and Android. Zuckerberg made the statement when questioned about whether Facebook had strong emphasis on taking their mobile platform to a whole different level with a physical device. The social networking giant’s mobile app is one of the most used, if not the most, on basically all smartphone operating systems. With that in mind, Zuckerberg feels that Facebook does not need to disturb the natural orders of things by launching a Facebook exclusive phone. Partnering firms such as Apple may feel indifferent if Facebook does decide to launch a competing smartphone. Rather than competing with already established smartphone OS providers and OEMs, Zuckerberg wants to “increase the depth of experience” of its mobile app on those particular platforms. Apple and Facebook are rumored to begin a partnership in which its social networking app will come preinstalled on the iOS. Zuckerberg’s statement helps to reaffirm that Facebook does not intend to disrupt the Apple-Facebook union. 17

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Facebook is under immense pressure from investors after its IPO fell short of expectations, but the college-drop-outturned-billionaire-Zuckerberg has no intentions of steering away from what made Facebook, Facebook.

Original Baldur's Gate returns to Mac, PC, and iPad Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/original-baldur-s-gate-returns-tomac-pc-and-ipad/16847.html July 31st, 2012

If you didn’t have the money for a PC back in 1998, then chances are you never had the chance to play Baldur’s Gate. That may change, however, because Overhaul Games is currently working on a re-release of the classic Baldur’s Gate. The classes, races, and plots will be the same, but Overhaul Games is promising never before seen features. If you didn’t have the money for a PC back in 1998, then chances are you never had a chance to play Baldur’s Gate. That may change, however, because Overhaul Games is currently working on a re-release of the classic Baldur’s Gate. The classes, races, and plots will be the same, but Overhaul Games is promising never before seen features. What type of new content you ask? Reportedly, Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition will have new dungeons, three new playable sidekicks, and cross-platform multiplayer. So you’ll be able to connect and play with Mac and PC players, and even iPad players can join in. That’s right, Baldur’s Gate will be available for the iPad, but why not Android? Although Overhaul Games is responsible for rebuilding the original Baldur’s Gate, its original developers will also be involved in its development. The game will debut on PC and Mac for $20, and $10 for the iPad on September 18. The only downside is that optional characters must be purchased in game.

August 3rd, 2012 August 3rd, 2012

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will grab your attention with a very attractive price of USD $89.99.

NASA retired its fleet of shuttles, so now what? Now, it is time for private firms to step in and help develop and deploy spaceships that are capable of transporting astronauts. SpaceX, Boeing Co., and Sierra Nevada Corp. are rumored to have received a large sum (several hundred million dollars) from NASA to begin development of spaceships that will replace the retired shuttles. NASA retired its fleet of shuttles, so now what? Now, it is time for private firms to step in and help develop and deploy spaceships that are capable of transporting astronauts. SpaceX, Boeing Co., and Sierra Nevada Corp. are rumored to have received a large sum (several hundred million dollars) from NASA to begin development of spaceships that will replace the retired shuttles.

Looking for a cheap Android ICS tablet? By cheap, I mean a 7’’ 800 x 480 Android ICS slate for under USD $90. Matrix One recently launched a device that won’t blow your mind with a Tegra 3 or an ultra-high resolution screen, but it will grab your attention with a very attractive price of USD $89.99. This device costs less than half of what a Nexus 7’’ 8GB would cost, and honestly, for USD $89.99 it is exactly what you should get—nothing more, nothing less.

According to NBC News, Boeing has received USD $135 million for work on its proposed CST-100 capsule, Sierra Nevada has been given $125 million for R&D of its Dream Chaser spacecraft, and SpaceX has been allotted $75 million to upgrade its Dragon space capsule to carry astronauts. NASA won’t make an official announcement until Friday morning, but insiders have confirmed that the above mentioned firms have already negotiated terms and will begin working on a launching system, capsule, launch vehicle (‘space taxi’), and ground and recovery operations. Since NASA retired its shuttles, the American space exploration agency has relied on the Russian to transport American astronauts into space. The Russian good will doesn’t come free, however, as it costs $60 million per seat to hitch a ride on their spacecraft.

The Matrix One slate comes with a 5-point multi-touch 7’’ (800 x 480) screen, 2MP front camera, a Cortex A8 clocked at 1.5GHz, 512 MB or 1 GB RAM, Wi-Fi connectivity, a 3200 mAh battery, and Android 4.0.3 ICS to boot. There are two versions, the 4GB-base model ($89.99), and the 16GB model ($129.99). Additionally, it comes in four colors: black, white, blue, and pink.

A launch-ready spaceship could be ready as early as 2015, but a NASA official said that 2015 might be too soon. The planned ‘space taxis’ are purportedly designed to carry up to seven astronauts.

Matrix One 7-inch Android ICS tablet for under $90 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/matrix-one-7-inch-android-icstablet-for-under-90/16908.html August 3rd, 2012

Now here’s something that will give this budget slate an edge over the rest: a mini HDMI port with full 1080p HD out support! How about some HD streaming on your 40’’ TV from this inexpensive device? For USD$90, you can’t really complain about the specs, and even if you’re unimpressed by the mini HDMI out, you can appreciate the fact that Matrix One is doing annoyed parents a favor. Drop $90 smackers on this slate to stop the annoying kid from asking for an iPad.

August 3rd, 2012

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Google and Rovi Reach Patent Agreement For Upcoming Fiber Pay-TV service Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-and-rovi-reach-patentagreement-for-upcoming-fiber-pay-tv-service/16904.html August 3rd, 2012

Microsoft drops 'Metro' because of branding conflict Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-drops-metro-because-ofbranding-conflict/16907.html August 3rd, 2012

Windows 8 is set to launch only a few months from today, but don’t expect the term 'Metro' to stick around. Microsoft has officially suspended use of Metro—codename for its typography-based design—due to legal issues with a German company. Windows 8 is set to launch only a few months from today, but don’t expect the term 'Metro' to stick around. Microsoft has officially suspended use of Metro—codename for its typography-based design—due to legal issues with a German company.

Rovi Corp has just signed an agreement with Google Inc giving the technology giant access to its wide range of patents for its Fiber Pay-TV service. Rovi Corp has just signed an agreement with Google Inc permitting the technology giant to use its interactive program guide patent portfolio for set-top boxes, sending its shares up 4 percent in premarket trade. Rovi say this is for Google Inc.’s new Fiber Pay-TV service. The agreement also allows Rovi's patents to be used for online and mobile platforms. Rovi Executive Vice President Samir Armaly said of this, "Our agreement with Google continues the growth and relevance of our patent licensing program for not only traditional platforms, but also new media experiences across multiple screens.” Rovi's software is used in home entertainment devices to play various digital media formats such as DivX. Last week, Google said it will begin offering high-speed Internet and TV service in Kansas City later this year, thrusting the Web-search giant into competition with telecom companies. Google claims its fibre Internet speed is around 100 times faster than speeds at most American homes. Shares of Santa Clara, California-based Rovi rose 59 cents to a high of $14 in trading this week. The stock closed at $13.41 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday. Rovi may not be a household name, but the publicly traded company owns over 5,100 patents related to digital entertainment.

According to a memo released from an unnamed source, Microsoft said that after an “important” discussion with a European partner, the Redmond software giant decided to “discontinue the use” of the Metro branding in Windows 8 and future Microsoft products. Microsoft employees as well as developers are asked cease using and associating the term to any Microsoft products. Also, according to the memo, Microsoft is “working on a replacement term…and plans to land on that by the end of this week.” Until a new branding is coined, employees will use “Windows 8 style UI” instead.

Before 2009, Rovi was known as Macrovision, a company that quickly became infamous in the early 2000s because of its widely used DVD copy protection technology. Last year, Google made the headlines by buying Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc for $12.5 billion last year and got access to its hardware business, which builds mobile phones and television set-top boxes.

8.7 percent of Facebook accounts are duplicate or false Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/8.7-percent-of-facebook-accountsare-duplicate-or-false/16905.html August 3rd, 2012

August 3rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

So, how would you police this? Simple! Use the Wi-Fi police! Sadao Turner tweeted a picture of the “Wi-Fi police” walking around with big red detectors, looking for your hotspot.

In a recent regulatory filing on Wednesday, Facebook informed the public that 8.7 percent of its 955 million monthly active users are duplicate or false accounts. Facebook categorized these types of accounts into three groups: duplicate accounts, misclassified accounts, and ‘undesirable’ accounts. Duplicate accounts, which makes up 4.8 percent (45.8 million users), are self-explanatory; they are accounts that are made by the same users. Facebook’s terms of service states that a person is only allowed to have one personal account. Furthermore, people are not allowed to make accounts for other people. Kids under 13 are not allowed to have Facebook accounts, so parents who have been creating accounts from their kids are also considered to be violating the terms of service. Misclassified accounts make up about 2.4 percent (22.9 million users), and most of these are accounts made by people for their pets or other ‘non-human’ things. However, pet accounts can be converted into approved accounts if they are deemed as ‘public figures.’ The last group makes up 1.5 percent (14.3 million accounts) of the false accounts and is considered to be the most troublesome out of the three. These undesirable accounts are made for the sole purpose of violating Facebook’s terms of usage—such as spamming. According to the filing, much of the duplicate and false accounts come from developing markets such as Turkey and Indonesia rather than developed markets such as the U.S. and Australia.

Look out! It's the Wi-Fi Police... Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/look-out-it-s-the-wi-fipolice.../16902.html August 3rd, 2012

This is just the latest in a string of protective moves by the IOC to protect their sponsors. Only official sponsors who have paid enough are permitted to use the Olympic rings in advertising. Fair enough, you say. How about not being able to use words like “gold”, “silver” or “bronze”? Even “London” and “summer” have been banned from advertisements, in case they are seen to be tacking themselves onto the Olympics. So if you are at the Olympics and feel like tweeting a few photos of your own, you can, but it may cost you…

LaCie Releases RuggedKey USB 3.0 Flash Drive Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lacie-releases-ruggedkey-usb-3.0flash-drive/16901.html August 3rd, 2012

LaCie introduced the RuggedKey, a USB 3.0 "designed for life's adventures," as it puts it. The drive is characterized with its metal main body, which slides into a rubberized cylindrical cap, which protects it from 100 meter drops, and boasts of IP-54 certification to back its claims. LaCie introduced the RuggedKey, a USB 3.0 "designed for life's adventures," as it puts it. The drive is characterized with its metal main body, which slides into a rubberized cylindrical cap, which protects it from 100 meter drops, and boasts of IP-54 certification to back its claims.

Sponsorship is almost bigger than the sport at the Olympics. Big, big money is paid to the International Olympic Committee for exclusive rights, and the IOC is going to great lengths to protect its income... BT is the “official communications service provider” for the London 2012 Olympics and have set up 1500 Wi-Fi hotspots at and around Olympic venues. Pricing starts from £5.99 for an hour and a half. To ensure revenue, they’ve banned “personal/private wireless access points and 3G hubs” from all areas covered by the BT hotspots. That’s right. You can’t just switch on your wireless hotspot on your smartphone so you can use your tablet for a few minutes. That’s banned.

The best part of the RuggedKey is that it's a USB 3.0 flashdrive, capable of transfer-rates as high as 150 MB/s, when connected to a USB 3.0 host. The drive also supports AES 256-bit data encryption. It is available in two capacities, 16 GB and 32 GB. 5

August 3rd, 2012

Measuring 53 x 27 x 21 mm, the LaCie RuggedKey weighs about 30 g. Its main body is made of plastic and aluminum, while its protective shell is made of rubber. The main body locks into the shell. It holds a key-ring for your other keys.

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The EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel+Acetal, pictured above, is a set of three water blocks designed for EVGA's Super Record X (SR-X) dual socket LGA2011 enthusiast motherboard. The set consists of two blocks for the CPU VRM areas of the two CPU sockets, and a larger block covering the Intel C606 PCH and PLX PEX8784 PCIe bridge chip. The primary material of the blocks is nickel-plated copper, with acetal-made tops.

The RuggedKey USB 3.0 flash-drive from LaCie starts at US $39.99 for the 16 GB variant, while the 32 GB variant is priced at US $69.99.

EKWB Outs Water-Blocks for EVGA SR-X and MSI R7970 Lightning Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ekwb-outs-water-blocks-for-evga-srx-and-msi-r7970-lightning/16900.html August 3rd, 2012

The EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel is mostly identical to its sibling, with the exception of the tops of the blocks, which are made of clear acrylic with a frosted finish. The transparent tops reveal a simple single coolant channel design for all three blocks, which is U-shaped on the PCH block, and slightly curved on the VRM blocks. Both blocks support standard G1/4 threads for fittings (not included).

Slovenian PC water-cooling specialist EK Water Blocks (EKWB) launched a trio of products, the EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel and EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel+Acetal water block sets for EVGA SR-X dual-LGA2011 motherboard, and the FCR7970 LTG for MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning graphics card. Slovenian PC water-cooling specialist EK Water Blocks (EKWB) launched a trio of products, the EK-FB KIT SRX Nickel and EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel+Acetal water block sets for EVGA SR-X dual-LGA2011 motherboard, and the FC-7970 LTG for MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning graphics card.

The FC-7970 LTG, on the other hand, is a graphics card water-block, which we've been tracking since July, which is specially designed for MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning graphics card. The card uses MSI's in-house design PCB, and as such is incompatible with blocks designed for AMD reference design PCBs. The block's primary material is nickel-plated copper, with an acetal top that has a dash of aluminum. 6

August 3rd, 2012

Published by: VR-Zone

band, 450 Mbps capabilities, built in the low-profile expansion card form-factor, with PCI Express interface. Wireless networking major TP-Link launched the TLWDN4800, an 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN adapter with dualband, 450 Mbps capabilities, built in the low-profile expansion card form-factor, with PCI Express bus interface.

The underside of the FC-7970 LTG reveals that the coolant channel passes over the GPU, memory, and VRM areas. Often, VGA water block designers don't extend the channel to the VRM area, and simply connect it to the main chamber with the common metal slab. At least EKWB claims that the channel flows directly over the VRM area. The base of the block is given a mirror-finish at its GPU, memory, and VRM contact points.

The FC7970 LTG supports EKWB's in-house FC-Link fittings, which makes it easy to pumb-out tubings for standalone and multi-graphics card setups. It features common G1/4 threads.

The TL-WDN4800 from TP-Link supports the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless bands, in both bands the adapter supports 450 Mbps bandwidths. It uses a trio of antennae, and hence supports MIMO. Also supported are most standard security modes, including WPA, WPA2 with AES encryption, and WEP. Beneath its EMI shield is a Qualcomm-Atheros controller. Available now, the TL-WDN4800 from TP-Link is priced at US $49.99.

Apacer Outs AH354 Series Slider USB 3.0 Flash Drive Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apacer-outs-ah354-series-sliderusb-3.0-flash-drive/16898.html August 3rd, 2012

Apacer introduced its newest line of USB 3.0 flash drives built in the slider form-factor, the AH354. The drives offer mainstream performance, and a "U-ring" structure on one end of the sliding arm, which lets you accessorise it. The EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel is priced at 134.95€ (S$205), the EK-FB KIT SR-X Nickel+Acetal at 129.95€ (S$197.5), and the FC7970 LTG at 114.95€ (S$174.5).

TP-Link Intros TL-WDN4800 Wi-Fi N450 PCIe Adapter

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/tp-link-intros-tl-wdn4800-wi-fin450-pcie-adapter/16899.html August 3rd, 2012

The USB connector of the Apacer AH354 retracts into the drive's main body. As it retracts, the other end of the sliding arm pops out, which reveals a "U-ring," which is a structure with holes for a lanyard and a key-chain. Wireless networking major TP-Link launched the TLWDN4800, an 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN adapter with dual-

August 3rd, 2012

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their request. Apple protested against this, saying it had “polluted” the jury, and Judge Koh was apparently “livid” at the revelation.

Apacer isn't specific about the performance numbers of the AH354, but mentioned that when connected to a USB 3.0 host, the drive offers up to 80 MB/s reads, and when connected to a USB 2.0 host, it offers up to 34 MB/s reads. The drive will be available in capacities of 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB. However, Quinn denies that he did anything wrong, stating that he “did not violate any court order or any legal or ethical standards,” adding that the evidence provided had already appeared in media coverage of the case before a jury had even been selected.

Measuring 65.7 mm x 21 mm x 8.7 mm (L x W x H), and weighing 9 g, the Apacer AH354 is designed to handle operating temperatures as high as 60°C. It comes with installers for ACE compression software. Apacer did not release pricing information.

Samsung lawyer responds to accusations in Apple case Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-lawyer-responds-toaccusations-in-apple-case/16897.html August 3rd, 2012

The main lawyer for Samsung has released a statement defending the public release of evidence that the judge refused to admit in court. The main lawyer for Samsung has released a statement defending the public release of evidence that the judge refused to admit in court. John Quinn, Samsung's chief legal representative, initially tried to lodge new evidence in the case against Apple, highlighting what Samsung claims is proof that it designed the F700 phone in 2006 before the iPhone was announced, and that the iPhone itself was inspired by “Sony style.” The judge, Lucy Koh, refused to accept the new evidence, stating that it had been presented too late.

Quinn was particularly condemnatory of what he called “false representations by Apple's counsel,” which he felt had a damaging effect on his reputation. The case is the latest in a bitter dispute between the two technology giants, with both sides accusing each other of patent infringement and seeking damages that amount to $2.5 billion in the case of Apple's demands. The figure sought by Samsung has not been revealed. The trial continues on Friday.

Activision announces release dates for last two content packs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/activision-announcesrelease-dates-for-last-two-content-packs-for-call-of-duty-modernwarfare-3/16896.html August 3rd, 2012

Activision has announced the release dates for the final two content packs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, adding new modes, maps and missions to the first-person shooter. Activision has announced the release dates for the final two content packs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, adding new modes, maps and missions to the first-person shooter.

The material was then released in a statement via Samsung's PR agency, with additional details given to journalists at 8

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Collection #3: Chaos Pack will launch on 9 August, introducing players to the Special Ops Chaos Mode, three new Face Off maps (Vortex, U-Turn and Intersection), and four new Special Ops missions (Vertigo, Arctic Recon, Light 'Em Up and Special Delivery). The new gameplay mode pits gamers against unending waves of enemies, helped by power-ups across maps like Resistance, Village, Underground and Dome.

Collection #4: Final Assault will launch on 6 September, adding five new multiplayer maps. The Gulch map involves a mining town, the Boardwalk map will feature beach combat on the Jersey Shore, the Offshore and Decommission maps will set players up on oilrigs and ocean liners, and the Parish map will take place in the French Quarter of New Orleans. This will be the â&#x20AC;&#x153;final actâ&#x20AC;? and is aimed at hardcore gamers. It also brings the total DLC updates to 29 for the game, which launched in late 2011, making up a sizeable addition to the core title in less than one year. The updates will be available initially on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1,200 Microsoft Points or $14.99. They will then be released on other platforms soon afterwards.

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media players and of course, numerous low-end tablets and smartphones. Given every product we've seen so far, you would not put Rockchip in the same class of product as Qualcomm Snapdragon, Nvidia Tegra, TI OMAP or Samsung Exynos.

At Computex Taipei 2012, the company unveiled products based on the RK3066, first-generation dual-core chip based on ARM Cortex-A9 processors and using Mali-400MP as the GPU. At first glance, it looked like RK3066 cannot hold the candle to its contemporary competitors. Given Rockchip's focus on creating chips as affordable as possible, the company relied on TSMC's trusted and tried 40nm process. On the contrary, it turned out that the results were quite remarkable from the company which used to lag up to 20% clock-for-clock when compared to the competition. In the Basemark 2.0 ES Taji benchmark, tablets based on RK3066 gives its competitors a run for their money, especially at common 1024x768 and 1280x800 screen sizes. We did not expect to see the chip beating the acclaimed 28nm Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 design, which consists of Krait core (based on the next-gen Cortex-A15 core) and Adreno 225 GPU, which should demolish the Mali-400MP.

China's Rockchip DualCore ARM Beats Qualcomm Snapdragon, NVIDIA Tegra & Samsung Exynos Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/china-s-rockchip-dual-core-armbeats-qualcomm-snapdragon-nvidia-tegra--samsung-exynos/16895.html August 3rd, 2012

Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company (or simply Rockchip) is mostly known for its low-power silicon which powers numerous entry-level tablets, smartphones, digital frames, personal media players etc. The company recently unveiled its high-performing chips, the RK 3000 Series. The company from Mainland China is powering vast majority of set-top-boxes, digital picture frames, personal

Three RK3066 powered tablets recently entered Rightware's PowerBoard list and immediately took the top three positions, beating well-known devices such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Lenovo IdeaPad, Asus PadFone and others luminaries. Even though the Basemark 2.0 ES Taji benchmark focuses only on 3D performance, seeing RK3066 delivering over 30 frames per second in HD resolution presents encouraging signs for Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Company. If anything history has showed us that far eastern players appear and shine like a supernova in the semiconductor universe - only to pale as other vendors invest more 9

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resources and go for the economies of scale. Rockchip also has to contend with local players such as MediaTek and HiSilicon (division of Huawei). Nonetheless, the competition is heating up and going forward, wellestablished players will have to break a sweat in order to beat rising stars from China.

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Will add as I get more details from the hangout. So now we know that the Google Glass won’t be just a camera mounted eyewear, but instead it will be a Galaxy Nexus eyewear without the cellular radio. Augmented reality enthusiasts may once again have something to look forward to.

Image Credits: Engadget

Google Glass to be like Galaxy Nexus minus cellular radio Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-glass-to-be-like-galaxynexus-minus-cellular-radio/16894.html August 3rd, 2012

Google amazed some and disappointed some at the past I/O event with its Google Glass skydiving demonstration. Albeit, the project is still in development, many were anticipating more than just a WiFi connected head mounted camera. Google amazed some and disappointed some at the past I/O event with its Google Glass skydiving demonstration. Albeit, the project is still in development, many were anticipating more than just a WiFi connected head mounted camera. After the all the fancy skydiving and video conferencing demos at Google’s I/O, the people attending the event were offered a chance to pre-order the Google Glass Explorer Edition for $1,500, and unless you’re into a collector’s item, the pre-order price tag on the Google Glass is hardly a justifiable investment. There are, however, some new insights into what the Google Glass may actually be like come 2013. In a recent Reddit post, a person posted some rather interesting details from his experience at a Google Glass Explorer hangout. We just finished a Google Glass Explorer hangout. Basically they wanted to get feed back from devs and users on what they want to do/see in/with glasses. Here is what we know so far : The equipment level in the Glass will be similar to "a high end smartphone like Galaxy Nexus without the cellular radio" All the sensors and non-cellular radios present in GNex will be available on Glass. You will have access to all the sensors. They will let you flash the glass, as in it will be an open device. They are expecting developers come up with interesting app ideas/concepts with the explorer edition. There will be some sort of cloud syncing APIs which is different from the Android cellular phones and tabs. (I tried to ask about specifics but the Glass manager said she couldnt give out any more information on this)

Windows Server 2012 to launch September 4 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/windows-server-2012-to-launchseptember-4/16893.html August 3rd, 2012

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Server 2012 is set to launch on September 4, and the team claims that the new server platform will help people and organizations “realize the benefits of [a] cloud OS.” Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Server 2012 is set to launch on September 4, and the team claims that the new server platform will help people and organizations “realize the benefits of [a] cloud OS.” Hardware and software vendor partners have received the final RTM, and volume licensing customers will get their hands on it in a couple of weeks. The general public, however, won’t get an official release until the September 4 launch date. For the launch date, Microsoft will host an online collaborative event in which Microsoft executives, engineers, customers, and partners will help people learn about the features and capabilities of Windows Server 2012. To make things more interactive and interesting, people will be able to collect points during the launch event to win“amazing prizes” (free Windows Server 2012 licenses?). Howdy! Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for. I’m proud to announce that Windows Server 2012 has been released to manufacturing. That means the final code is complete and we are delivering it to our hardware and software vendor partners this week. We will also make the software available to our volume licensing customers in the next couple of weeks. Get out your calendars and free up some time on September 4. That’s when Windows Server 2012 will be generally available for evaluation and purchase by all customers around the world. On that day we will also host an online launch event where our executives, engineers, customers and partners will share more about how Windows Server 2012 can help organizations of all sizes realize the benefits of what we call the Cloud OS. You will be able to learn more about the features and capabilities and connect with experts and peers. You’ll also be able to collect points along the way for the chance to win some amazing prizes. You don’t want to miss it. Visit this site to save the date for the launch event. 10

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On behalf of the Windows Server engineering team, I can tell you it has been a thrill and honor for us to deliver this product. Most importantly, we thank the many thousands of you who have provided your input and guidance throughout the process of designing and building it. So far the handson feedback on the product from you, industry analysts and press has been phenomenally positive. I attribute that to the fact that, from the outset, we committed ourselves to building Windows Server 2012 around the needs and goals of our customers and partners. It feels great to ship software that so squarely addresses customer objectives, both in the here and now and in the future. Source: Microsoft

Robotic Diver Signals Safer Future Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/robotic-diver-signals-saferfuture/16892.html August 3rd, 2012

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Dr Franz Hover and Brendan Englot from MIT used a robot called the Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (HAUV). The researchers programmed the HUAV to generate a cloud of data points using traditional sonar. This was then processed to create a map the HAUV could use to scan at a distance of one metre. It was tested on ships in San Diego and Boston, and early results are promising. It was able to reproduce the details of the hulls in great detail, including the tight spaces around the rudder and propellers where terrorists love to stash small explosives. How will it fare in the real world? At the moment, it’s not as effective as conventional methods. The HAUV has a lot of trouble dealing with complex currents, so it looks like you won’t see any dolphins in the unemployment line this week.

Sending human and animal divers to sweep for mines may be on its way out, thanks to MIT research into robotic divers.

The Hovering Autonomous Underwater Vehicle was developed by MIT researchers and is made commercially by Bluefin Robotics.

One of the world’s most dangerous occupations must be the naval diver who goes below the surface to search for explosives mounted on the hulls of warships. It’s important work, obviously, but it is also highly perilous. As mines get smaller and harder to find, the job becomes more dangerous as time goes on.

Sunny Future for Transparent Solar Cells

At least the brave men and women who do this have a choice. The world’s navies also use dolphins and seals to perform this dangerous task. Removing for a second the question of the welfare of these animals, it is a heavy burden on resources to maintain marine mammals on a boat. So what’s the alternative? Robots, you say? You know robots are expensive right? Oh, you do? Well there is one more problem with that: robots are not very good at navigating around hulls without crashing into them. Combine that with the downward trend in mine size and you should probably forget you even mentioned robots… Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) may be able to help however, with the development of a two-step process aimed at solving the mine-finding problem.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sunny-future-for-transparent-solarcells/16891.html August 3rd, 2012

Tired of carrying a spare battery for your smart phone? Relief may be on the way thanks to advances in transparent solar cell technology. Imagine charging your phone, without using a charger. That’s the reality before us if American researchers have their way. University of California scientists have developed a new type of solar cell, made from a new polymer. The polymer lets through 66 per cent of light at a wavelength of 550nm, and around 60 per cent of the rest of the visible spectrum. This could one day pave the way for the installation of transparent solar cells in smart phone screens, letting them remain charged without wires, or built into windows to power our homes. It wouldn’t be the first time windows have been used to gather power – others have played with coatings that trap light and direct it to solar cells in the edge of the pane – but it is the first time the window itself could be the photovoltaic cell.

August 3rd, 2012

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newsletters and social updates, and built-in smartphone and tablet compatibility.

Okay, so what makes this different? According to lead researcher Yang Yang, the key is the top layer, which is an electrode constructed by laying down titanium dioxide, coating it with a network of tiny silver wires, and filling in the gaps with nanoparticles of indium tin oxide. The method of production, solution processing, could lead to cells being manufactured on a large scale, similar to a printing press for photovoltaic cells. It’s not a walk in the park, mind you. Polymer solar cell technology, while potentially cheaper than conventional silicon cells, has a less desirable efficiency record. Additionally, the efforts to make them transparent have reduced this even further, with Yang’s cells converting light into electricity with 4 per cent efficiency. Compare this to regular polymer cells at around 10 per cent, and standard silicon cells converting at 40 per cent efficiency and you can see that the road ahead is long. Be that the case may, but the long walk down this road is underway.

Microsoft to replace Hotmail with Outlook.com Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-to-replace-hotmail-withoutlook.com/16890.html August 3rd, 2012

Microsoft has launched a preview version of its upcoming new email service Outlook.com, which should replace the once-dominant Hotmail service in the months and years to come. Microsoft has launched a preview version of its upcoming new email service Outlook.com, which should replace the once-dominant Hotmail service in the months and years to come.

Microsoft also took a dig at Google by saying “we don't scan your email content or attachments and sell this information to advertisers,” hoping to win back support by marketing Outlook.com as a more privacy-conscious email experience. “We think the time is right to reimagine personal email, from the datacenter to the user experience,” said Chris Jones, Corporate VP of Windows Live at Microsoft. “So today we’re introducing a preview of Outlook.com.” While Microsoft has not announced plans to close down Hotmail, which launched back in 1996, it seems like it will only be a matter of time, as Hotmail is far less popular than it used to be, largely eclipsed by Google's Gmail, which took advantage of Hotmail's small storage space by offering 1GB for emails. Hotmail users are now being offered the chance to "upgrade" to Outlook, which is likely the first death knell for the old webmail service. Microsoft will now be able to unify its email brand with the Outlook client, which will be getting a revamp in the new Office package, and it will also be able to abandon any negativity surrounding the image of Hotmail, such as the rampant growth of spam and a number of hacks that exposed the details of many users. The preview can be found at Outlook.com.

The new email service will allow people to use their existing email addresses or sign up for a new @outlook.com one. The web-based email network is designed to employ a modern approach to email, taking advantage of huge shifts in user activity online, such as the boom in social media. This latter point will be a particular focus, with integration of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and soon Skype, so that people don't need to leave their inboxes to keep up to date with friends. Some of the other touted features include a new user interface with less clutter, the removal of display ads and search boxes, automatic sorting of emails such as 12

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variety of products, including its upcoming augmentedreality glasses.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Specifications Leaked? Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-geforce-gtx-650-tispecifications-leaked-/16887.html August 3rd, 2012

Google delays Nexus Q music player Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-delays-nexus-q-musicplayer/16889.html August 3rd, 2012

Google has announced an indefinite delay for its oddlyshaped Nexus Q music player, stating that it wants to make some improvements before launching it.

NVIDIA's GeForce Kepler juggernaut is about to roll through slippery paths as the company comes up with new SKUs to capture key cost-performance sweetspot and valueperformance market segments. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti could end up being a crucial cog in the wheel for the juggernaut, according to a recent report. NVIDIA's GeForce Kepler juggernaut is about to roll through slippery paths as the company comes up with new SKUs to capture key cost-performance sweetspot and valueperformance market segments. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti could end up being a crucial cog in the wheel for the juggernaut, according to a recent DonanimHaber report.

Google has announced an indefinite delay for its oddlyshaped Nexus Q music player, stating that it wants to make some improvements before launching it. The spherical device was set to release this month and many people have pre-ordered it, eager to get their hands on Google's latest experiment, an Android-powered music player that can access songs stored in the cloud and play them over its built-in speakers. The Nexus Q was unveiled at the I/O event in June, surprising most onlookers as Google seemed to be moving more strongly into the hardware market with what looked like a very strange device, heralded by some as something that is as much about home décor as it is about music.

However, a lack of functionality caused the delay, with Google planning to add more features, likely a response to early reviews which focused on these missing elements, which is understandable given the $299 price tag. Those who pre-ordered will not lose out, however, as they will be given a “preview version” for free. This should help the company clear any stock it has produced of the current feature-lite model and prevent any back-lash from consumers. Since the delay is “indefinite,” we likely won't see it surface again until next year at the earliest, and the project could be shelved entirely as Google continues to juggle a wide

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 650 Ti will succeed the current GTX 550 Ti, and help the company capture a key sub$250 or sub-$200 price-point. It will be based on the spanking new GK106 silicon, built on the 28 nm silicon fabrication process. It appears as if the GTX 650 Ti enables all the components there are, on the chip, and hence has an interesting specifications-sheet. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti, according to the report, will pack 960 CUDA cores, a count which is just 37.5 percent lower than that of the GeForce GTX 680. The chip will feature a 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, and both 1 GB and 2 GB memory options will be available. NVIDIA will seat the amounts of memory on the odd-sized memory interface by making a few chips share 32-bit wide paths meant for single chips (à la GeForce GTX 550 Ti). Interestingly, NVIDIA is in no hurry to launch the GeForce GTX 650 Ti. The company's Summer-Autumn launch schedule begins with the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, followed by GeForce GTX 660, which are based on GK104 and GeForce GTX/S 650, which is based on the GK107, which arrive some time in August-September. The GeForce GTX 650 Ti will stroll its way to the market in Q4-2012 (October-December).

August 3rd, 2012

Energy Sistem to launch i8 budget Android ICS tablet Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/energy-sistem-to-launch-i8-budgetandroid-ics-tablet/16888.html August 3rd, 2012

Energy System's 8-inch i8 Android tablet will have a hard time competing with the Nexus 7 and Amazon's upcoming revised Kindle. Energy Sistem has announced that they will release an 8inch Android tablet priced at about USD$227. While many manufacturers are sticking with the 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratios, Energy Sistem will favor a 1024 x 768 (4:3) display for the upcoming tablet.

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Its perfect dimensions and ultra-light weight (only 491gr) let the Energy Tablet i8 go with you anywhere you want. You can now enjoy its multiple functions everywhere you go, fully updated with the latest Android version and surfing the net at the highest speed thanks to its Wi-Fi connection. The 8 GB of internal memory will allow you to store a lot of Apps, games, pictures, eBooks and up to 32 hours of video or 4000 songs, as well as the possibility of widening its capacity up to 64 GB with microSD/XC cards. An exclusive model with Hi-Fi earphones and a carrying case, so that you can take it with wherever and whenever you want. Stay always connected with your Energy Tablet i8!

Ivy Bridge-E HEDT Arrives in 2013 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-e-hedt-arrivesin-2013/16886.html August 3rd, 2012

Dubbed as the i8, this tablet won't be an iPad-killer, and as far as a budget slates are concern, it may not be able to compete with Google's recently released Nexus 7 and Amazon's upcoming revised Kindle. The Ice Cream Sandwich loaded 8-incher will boast a 1.0GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, a VGA front facing camera and a 2 MP rear camera, 8 GB of internal storage, 1 GB of RAM, HDMI-out, a 3,800mAh battery, and WiFi b/g/n connectivity. The i8 slate is set to launch on August 23, and Energy Sistem is currently accepting pre-orders on its website. However, just so you know, for about USD$27 less you can get a Tegra 3 quad-core Nexus 7 8GB. Press Release: 31 July 2012 Unlimited connectivity with the new Energy Tablet i8

We won't play Capt. Obvious in stating that Intel's next highend desktop (HEDT) platform is codenamed "Ivy Bridge-E," but we've dug up some reliable information pointing at its launch time-frame, and compatibility with current "Sandy Bridge-E" platform. We won't play Capt. Obvious in stating that Intel's next highend desktop (HEDT) platform is codenamed "Ivy BridgeE," but we've dug up some reliable information pointing at its launch time-frame, and compatibility with current "Sandy Bridge-E" platform. The latest version of the client platform road-map by Intel, which looks deep into 2013, indicates that launch of the next-generation HEDT platform will follow that of the first Core "Haswell" socket LGA1150 processors. Core "Haswell" is a line of next-generation client processors, that succeed the current Core "Ivy Bridge" series. The first Core "Haswell" chips arrive in Q2-2013, according to the road-map

The company relies on including more members to the Energy tablet family with Android 4 and Wi-Fi connection. This new Internet Media Tablet i8 will be ready to be sold in August, a highly efficient device with 1GB of RAM memory, ultra-slim aluminium body and multi-touch screen of 8â&#x20AC;ł in High Definition so that you can enjoy of an exceptional quality . Its capacitive TFT LCD 8â&#x20AC;ł screen with 4:3 format, which is perfect for visualising all your content in High Definition and living a sensory experience. It also has a front and rear camera, so that you can make video calls, photos and videos, as well as a HDMI Full HD (1080p) output to play all whatever you want, directly in your TV or monitor. It includes an USB-OTG function to make it easier to access the tablet's memory from the computer and a USB-Host to connect external USB devices like pen drives, keyboard or mouse.

The Ivy Bridge-E HEDT platform, on the other hand, arrives in Q3-2013 (July-September). What's more, we've learned that the Ivy Bridge-E processors could retain support for 14

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current socket LGA2011 motherboards based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, with simple BIOS updates. Much like today's Core i7 Sandy Bridge-E processors, Ivy Bridge-E processors will occupy Premium Performance and Extreme product positions, and could be generally expensive. Very little is known about Ivy Bridge-E at this point, except that Intel could built the chips on its swanky new 22 nm silicon-fabrication process, and that the new chips could pack six cores or more. In related news, the road-map confirms the entry of Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition some time in Q4-2012 (OctoberDecember).