Some Stakeholders Yell, "Oh... DELL No!"

Subject: Editorial, General Tech | February 16, 2013 - 01:19 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: dell

There have been some groups opposed to the planned deal to cease publicly trading Dell and release their shares. It would seem that for many, a short-term payout of 25 percent over trading price is insufficient and, they believe, undervalues the company. I mean, the price is totally not derived from the value you gave it when you just finished trading stocks at 80 percent of what Dell is offering you or anything. Yes, I am making a joke: some investors were almost definitely going long on Dell. I still suspect that some are just playing hardball, hoping that a quarter on the dollar raise is just a starting bid.

Buckle in, I will separate stockholders opinions into two categories: investment firms and employees.

Ars Technica clearly had football on the mind when they wrote a very Superbowl-themed editorial. Early in the month, Southeastern Asset Management sent a letter to Dell management expressing their stance to vote against a deal to go private. The investment firm controls 8.5 percent of Dell which means their opinion has a fair amount of sway. A short few days later, T. Rowe Price stepped up to likewise oppose the deal. This firm owns 4.4 percent of Dell, which means combined they have roughly a 13 percent vote.

Factor in a bunch of smaller investors and you are looking at almost a fifth of the company wanting to keep it public. That combined voting power slightly overtakes the 16 percent control owned by Micheal Dell and could hamper the festivities.

Employees, meanwhile, are upset all the same. Again, according to Ars Technica and their vigilant coverage states that some employees were force to sell their stock acquired as a part of their 401k at $9 per share – substantially lower than the 13.65$ being offered to investors.

There are several other ways which employees get their stake in the company reduced or hampered, but I would direct you to the Ars Technica article so I do not butcher any details.

Unfortunately these sorts of practices are fairly commonplace when it comes to investment deals. It would appear as if this deal trots on common ground instead of taking the high road.

God, I hate mixed metaphors.

Deals for February 15th - Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" 2560 x 1440 LCD Monitor for $649

Subject: General Tech | February 15, 2013 - 06:14 PM | PCPer Staff
Tagged: deals

Top deal

Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" 2560 x 1440 LCD Monitor for $649.00 with Free Shipping (normally $1000 - use coupon code: RDSVHG$9FHDJ44).

Laptops

HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14z-b100 AMD Dual-core Laptop w/ Windows 8 for $384.99 (normally $720 - use coupon code: 15LOGICBUY).

Desktops

Dell XPS 8500 Core i7 Quad-Core Desktop w/ 8GB RAM, Radeon HD 7570 for $649.99 with Free Shipping (normally $720 - use coupon code: PJHNV2JD13PHC$).

Mobile

Samsung Focus S 1.4GHz Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone [AT&T] for $1 with Free Shipping

AT&T RoundUp: Refurb Galaxy S III $30, iPhone 4 for $1, Lumia 900 for $1 with Free Shipping

Freebies

Free Juice It Up Smoothie for joining EClub

Maxim Magazine Subscription (1 Year Print) for Free!

Reader's Digest Magazine (Digital Issues) for Free!

Gadgets

zBoost YX545 SOHO Dual-Band Cell Phone Signal Booste for $189.99 (normally $230).

ZAGGkeys FLEX Bluetooth Tablet Keyboard & Stand for $34.99 with Free Shipping (normally $80).

ZAGGkeys iPad Mini Bluetooth Keyboard Case & Cover for $44.99 with Free Shipping (normally $100).

Jawbone BIG JAMBOX Wireless Bluetooth Speaker in Graphite (J2011-03-US) for $262.98 with Free Shipping (normally $300).

UNIGINE's Newest Valley Benchmark Features Huge, Open-Space Expanses

Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards | February 15, 2013 - 01:43 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: UNIGINE, valley benchmark

Move over Heaven, there is an uncanny new benchmark in town from UNIGINE called Valley, which takes your GPU on a journey to Siberia and forces it to labour on wide open spaces with full DX11 scenery.

Valley Benchmark is a new GPU stress-testing tool from the developers of the very popular and highly acclaimed Heaven Benchmark. The forest-covered valley surrounded by vast mountains amazes with its scale from a bird's-eye view and is extremely detailed down to every leaf and flower petal. This non-synthetic benchmark powered by the state-of-the art UNIGINE Engine showcases a comprehensive set of cutting-edge graphics technologies with a dynamic environment and fully interactive modes available to the end user.

Editions of Valley Benchmark

Alongside a completely free Basic edition, Valley Benchmark provides in-depth performance reviews in the Advanced and Pro editions for hardware manufacturers, graphics driver developers, industry professionals and all individuals involved with video card stability testing.

Advanced Edition
Targeted mainly towards overclockers and hardware reviewers, the Advanced Edition allows for stress-testing under different conditions and thorough reports outputted into a flexible format.

The Advanced Edition exclusive features:

• Command line automation for full control over run tests S
• tress testing mode (benchmark looping)
• Highly customizable reports in CSV format

The Valley Benchmark Advanced Edition is available for purchase in the official UNIGINE online store.

Professional Edition
The Professional Edition is a comprehensive benchmarking tool for hardware manufacturers and graphics driver developers as it is bestowed with the complexity of top-level gaming technology.

The Professional Edition exclusive features include:

• Licensed for commercial use (for one PC, site licensing option is available on request)
• Command line automation for full control over run tests Stress testing mode (benchmark looping)
• Highly customizable reports in CSV format Per-frame deep analysis
• Rendering of a specified frame Software rendering mode in DirectX 11 for reference purposes Technical support

The Valley Benchmark Pro Edition is available for purchase in the official UNIGINE online store.

 

Want some Raspberry Pi with a side of hashes?

Subject: General Tech | February 15, 2013 - 01:27 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: WPAD, security, Raspberry Pi, fud

On this weeks Podcast, Ryan wondered what he could do with his new Raspberry Pi and Hack a Day has an idea for him, though it is a wee bit nefarious.  It seems that Travis over at MADSEC is using a Raspberry Pi in penetration testing, using the NetBIOS Name Service to get responses from the Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Protocol (WPAD); responses which can include LM hashes from Windows machines.  With the use of Rainbow tables you can crack those hashes and take control of existing accounts on the PCs.  This type of attack is well know, but automating the attack on something as small and easily modifiable as a Raspberry Pi adds a new layer.  Whether you use it for good or evil, you can read more about it at Hack a Day.

"Plug in the power and Ethernet and this Raspberry Pi board will automatically collect Windows hashes from computers on the network. With a couple of RPi boards on hand [Travis] was searching for more hacks to try with them. This made a great little test to see how the board performs with the well established attack."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Traceroute reveals Star Wars Episode IV 'crawl' text @ The Register
• Your own head-mounted display for under two bills @ Hack a Day
• Apple: iOS 6.1 network overload caused by our Exchange SYNC OF DOOM @ The Register
• Doped nanotubes boost lithium battery power three-fold @ The Register
• SSDs at the Office – Trials, Tribulations and Still Worth It @ Techgage
• Nvidia revenues fight the PC tide, but annual profits pinched @ The Register
• Valve releases its Steam client for Linux @ The Inquirer

A4Tech might have trouble with mouse aesthetics but not with functionality

Subject: General Tech | February 14, 2013 - 07:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: input, gaming mouse, A4Tech, Ultracore3 V7 Gun3, HoleLESS engine

While the name and the bloody hand motif of the A4Tech Ultracore3 V7 Gun3 gaming mouse might be a little questionable there is one thing on this mouse which makes it stand above the competition, the so called HoleLESS engine.  Instead of an open area on the bottom of the mouse for the sensor and laser, there is a tinted covering protecting those components which means you will no longer have to pick hair or gunge out of your mouse.  Benchmark Reviews had no problems whatsoever with interference from the lack of an open hole during their testing and they had a bit of fun bumping mice together during the Q-Shoot tool in the driver.  This mouse comes with an impressive bundle, functions well and costs less than $30 ... not a bad deal at all.

"Being an enthusiast doesn't necessarily mean pouring an incredible amount of money into a hobby. While going to a web site that sells computer components, sorting by "Highest Price" and just adding everything at the top of the list to your cart will probably result in a fast computer (probably...) I'm not sure if that is what defines an "enthusiast." Sometimes finding those products that ride that price/performance line, getting the absolute most for the money spent - that's where enthusiasm can be found. A4Tech, a company with 25 years of experience with mice and other peripherals, has just released a new line of gaming mice that Benchmark Reviews is going to take a look at today. First up, the A4Tech Ultracore3 V7 Gun3 wired gaming mouse - let's see what A4Tech has in store for gaming enthusiasts..."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• AZiO Levetron GM2000 Gaming Mouse Review @ Neoseeker
• ROCCAT Lua Classic 3-Button Gaming Mouse Review @ Madshrimps
• Thermaltake Level 10 Mouse Review @ OCIA
• Roccat Kone XTD Gaming mouse @ Rbmods
• Zowie Gear EC1 Evo Black Competitive Gaming Mouse @ Tweaktown
• Cooler Master CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Gaming Mouse Revisited @ Madshrimps
• GX Gaming Gila MMO/RTS Professional Gaming Mouse @ Tweaktown
• GX-Gaming Gila @ LanOC Reviews
• FUNC MS-3 Gaming Mouse @ Kitguru
• Leetgion El'Druin RPG Gaming Mouse @ techPowerUp
• Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire TK Compact Mechanical Keyboard Review @ Pro-Clockers
• Eagle Tech Bluetooth Mini Keyboard with Speakerphone ET-KB100B-BK @ TechwareLabs
• Razer Orbweaver Mechanical Gaming Keypad Review @ Custom PC Review

Podcast #238 - Thinkpad Tablet 2, Raspberry Pi, Nonvolatile DIMMS and more!

Subject: General Tech | February 14, 2013 - 04:07 PM | Ken Addison
Tagged: podcast, NVDIMMS, Raspberry Pi, Thinkpad, tablet 2, nvidia, amd, southern islands, Solar System, Crysis 3, Intel

PC Perspective Podcast #238 - 02/14/2013

Join us this week as we discuss the Thinkpad Tablet 2, Raspberry Pi, Nonvolatile DIMMS and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

• iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
• RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
• MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath and Allyn Malventano

This Podcast is brought to you by MSI!

Program length: 1:13:52

Podcast topics of discussion:

1. Week in Reviews:
   1. 0:02:00 Crysis 3 Live Game Stream - Win Free Stuff!!
   2. 0:04:10 Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 Preview
   3. 0:09:15 Rosewill Tachyon Series 1000 watt power supply
   4. 0:12:00 Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 Preview
2. 0:16:18 This Podcast is brought to you by MSI!
3. News items of interest:
   1. 0:17:50 Reports of no new AMD cards for 2013
   2. 0:26:40 Windows is feeling "blue"
   3. 0:32:15 Nonvolatile DIMMs
   4. 0:38:08 Raspberry Pie 5MP camera module
   5. 0:43:55 NVIDIA bundles credits for free to play games
   6. 0:49:30 Corsair Acquires Simple Audio
   7. 0:53:00 Intel confirms upcoming set top box
4. Closing:
   1. 0:56:45 Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
      1. Ryan: A Raspberry Pi device
      2. Jeremy: ping -p 32 -s 1110 x.x.x.x
      3. Josh: System Shock 2 on GOG.com
      4. Allyn: ioSafe N2

1. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
2. http://pcper.com/podcast
3. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
4. Closing/outro

Be sure to subscribe to the PC Perspective YouTube channel!!

Deals for February 14th - Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition 15.6" Core i5 Laptop w/ 2GB HD 7730M for $549

Subject: General Tech | February 14, 2013 - 02:23 PM | PCPer Staff
Tagged: deals

Top deal

Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition 15.6" Core i5 Laptop w/ 2GB Radeon HD 7730M, Backlit Keyboard for $549.99 with free shipping (normally $800 - use coupon code: V0N3VFFVHKTWS0).

Laptops

HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14z-b100 AMD Dual-core Laptop w/ Windows 8 for $364.99 (normally $720 - use coupon code: 15LOGICBUY).

Computer Components

Logitech Rechargeable Wireless Touchpad T650 w/ Windows 8 Multi-touch Navigation for $67.99 with Free Shipping (normally $80 - use coupon code: 8LG7XLCVX7VL21).

WD My Passport 1TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive (WDBBEP0010BBK) for $89.99 (normally $100 - use coupon code: 2SWVM6553NQ6F7).

Dell V525w All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer w/ 2.4" Color LCD & Fax for $49.99 with Free Shipping (normally $130).

Dell UltraSharp U2711 27" 2560 x 1440 LCD Monitor for $649.00 with Free Shipping (normally $1000 - use coupon code: RDSVHG$9FHDJ44).

Mobile

AT&T RoundUp: Refurb Galaxy S III $30, iPhone 4 for $1, Lumia 900 for $1 with Free Shipping

Freebies

Maxim Magazine Subscription (1 Year Print) for Free!

eMusic: 14 Day Trial plus $10 Music Credit for Free!

Gadgets

Fitbit One Wireless Fitness Sleep Tracker for $99.95 with Free Shipping (normally $110).

EcoSphere Closed Aquatic Ecosystem for $45.00 with Free Shipping (normally $80).

Starbucks Verismo 585 Espresso Machine for $399.95 with Free Shipping (normally $436.80 - use coupon code: SHIP4FREE).

Ride Manic Wide Snowboard (154cm) for $251.95 with Free Shipping (normally $360).

Bad day for cellphone security

Subject: General Tech | February 14, 2013 - 01:47 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Android, iOS 6, apple, security, FROST

Two different mobile phone security concerns were revealed today, one for devices using iOS 6.1 and one for Androids.  DailyTech has posted text instructions as well as linking to a video which shows how an iPhone 5's password protection can be completely bypassed and allow anyone with physical access to your phone to log into the phone with full access.  The second vulnerability, tested with Android 4.0 but possibly wide spread, was discovered by a team at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany, and it allows you to recover  information from a phone which has used the Android disk encryption.  They used both a freezer to drop the temperature of the phone and a trick with the battery which puts the phone into 'fastboot' mode and allows the loading of a custom image via a Linux PC which installs their Forensic Recovery Of Scrambled Telephones tool, aka FROST.  As you can see from the images below, that gives you the ability to get the encryption key or even brute force some passwords. 

"First part:
-Go to emergency call, push down the power button and tap cancel.
-Dial 112 and tap green and inmediately red.
-Go to lock screen.

Ok...ready for second part:
-Go to passcode screen.
-Keep pushing down the power button ...1...2...3...seconds and before showing the slider "turn off"...tap the emergency call button and ...voilá!
-Then without releasing the power button press the home button and ready..."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Intel's new TV box to point creepy spy camera at YOUR FACE @ The Register
• Toshiba announces a noise cancelling chip @ The Inquirer
• 555-timer charges lead acid batteries @ Hack a Day
• Micron glues DDR4 RAM to flash, animates the 256GB franken-DIMM @ The Register
• Futuremark 3DMark Review @ Neoseeker
• Hacking a Coffee Machine for a Better Brew @ Hack a Day
• Cern shuts down LHC after three years of operations @ The Inquirer
• NVIDIA/AMD OpenGL Benchmarks Of Unigine Valley @ Phoronix
• Win an AverMedia RECentral Live Gamer HD Capture Card @ eTeknix
• Funky Kit Presents: Mod-my-Box™ Spring 2013 - Official Launch

Deals for February 13th - HP ENVY 27 IPS-panel 27" LED-backlit LCD Monitor w/ Beats Audio for $454

Subject: General Tech | February 13, 2013 - 05:10 PM | PCPer Staff
Tagged: deals

Top deal

HP ENVY 27 IPS-panel 27" LED-backlit LCD Monitor w/ Beats Audio for $454.99 with free shipping (normally $469.99 - use coupon code: 15LOGICBUY).

Laptops

Asus Zenbook UX32A-DB31 13.3" Ultrabook w/Core i3 ULV for $549.99 with Free Shipping (normally $720).

Computer Components

HP Pavilion 27xi 27" 1080p IPS LED-backlit LCD Monitor for $294.00 with Free Shipping (normally $340 - use coupon code: DIG5).

HP Pavilion 23xi 23" 1080p IPS LED-backlit LCD Monitor for $194.00 with Free Shipping (normally $230 - use coupon code: DIG5).

MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB GDDR5 Video Card (N660TI-2GD5/OC) for $239.99 with Free Shipping (normally $300).

OCZ Vector Series 2.5" 128GB SSD (VTR1-25SAT3-128G) for $119.99 with Free Shipping (normally $160).

Mobile

Nokia Lumia 920 LTE WP8 Smartphone [AT&T] + Wireless Charging Plate or BOGO for $99.99 with Free Shipping (normally $200).

HTC One VX 4.5" Smartphone (Red) [AT&T] for $0.99 with Free Shipping (normally $50).

Gadgets

Mini Gadgets Inc Picture Frame Hidden Camera for $222.99 with Free Shipping (normally $30 - use coupon code: love2save5).

Finally SHODAN rides again

Subject: General Tech | February 13, 2013 - 01:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, system shock 2, GOG, steam, kick ass

It has been a long drawn out battle but gamers can finally claim a victory as Good Old Games and Steam finally get the rights to distribute System Shock 2, one of the best FPS games ever released.  Not only were the mechanics, (can you say leaning?) and the AI but the story and atmosphere were the scariest around at the time and still compete well with similar modern games such as Dead Space.  The team at Night Dive has been working hard on stability and option improvements as well as adding in soundtracks, interviews and other historical documents from the games inception.  You will be able to pick up the game 16.5 hours from the writing of this post for $10, well worth the investment and much more fun and probably less buggy than Colonial Marines.  Check out Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN's interview with the team that has finally been allowed to provide the most requested old game around.

"RPS: You have updated the Night Dive website to read: “System Shock franchise to resurface with GOG/Steam release”. What is your involvement in the release and is the digital version an update, with high-res textures etc, or a straight re-release?

Kick: Night Dive Studios secured the license to distribute the game, and made the initial modifications to allow the game to run on most current operating systems.

Rambourg: There are some user-made mods out there which do phenomenal work on the game’s stability, but none of them were quite perfect, so we took the game to our expert techninjas to analyse and swat the remaining bugs. It was some work to get it done, but as this is a game that we’ve wanted to release for four-plus years, it was also definitely a labour of love."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Hands On: Neverwinter Beta @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Wot I Think – Aliens: Colonial Marines Single Player @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Star Trek To Feature Ship From Star Trek @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Assassin's Creed III: Deluxe Edition @ Benchmark Reviews
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Review @ Techgage
• Dead Space 3 Tested, Benchmarked @ Techspot
• Mojang Releases Minecraft: Pi Edition For the Raspberry Pi @ Slashdot
• Dead Space 3 Xbox 360 @ Tweaktown
• The Cave Review (PSN) @ Kitguru

... and Intel officially jumps into the TV or set top box business too

Subject: General Tech | February 13, 2013 - 12:40 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Intel, tv, intel media, imagination, PowerVR, intel tv

Ryan spotted prototype Intel TV hardware at CES in the Imagination suite and today Intel Media's Erik Huggers has confirmed that Intel will be producing some sort of set top box or TV for sale in the near future.  It will likely be in partnership with Imagination and their PowerVR technology and might possibly be tied to the new NUC that Intel released recently and which would fit the definition of set top box, plus keep your cat nice and warm.  While The Inquirer did get confirmation that Intel will release hardware to compete with Apple and Google before the end of the year but they would not specify exactly what that hardware would be.  They plan to set themselves apart from NetFlix and other content streamers by offering live TV streams which will probably not make them popular with established cable or satellite proveders but with Intel's deep pockets and the possiblity of personalized advertising they could well steal customers away.

"CHIPMAKER Intel has confirmed that it is working on hardware to stream live and on-demand content to televisions in 2013."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Intel outs caching software for 910 series SSDs @ The Inquirer
• iFixit tears down the Surface Pro @ The Inquirer
• Apple iWatch could be used as smartphone ‘support’ tool @ Kitguru
• TECH LOVERS competition with Seasonic and Sapphire @ Kitguru

Deals for February 12th - Dell XPS 8500 Core i7 Desktop w/ 8GB RAM, Radeon HD 7570 for $699

Subject: General Tech | February 12, 2013 - 03:16 PM | PCPer Staff
Tagged: deals

Top deal

Dell XPS 8500 Core i7 Quad-Core Desktop w/ 8GB RAM, Radeon HD 7570 for $699.99 with free shipping (normally $800.00).

Laptops

Asus Zenbook UX32A-DB31 13.3" Ultrabook w/Core i3 ULV for $549.99 with Free Shipping (normally $720).

Dell Inspiron 14R 14" Core i3 Touch Laptop for $599.99 with Free Shipping (normally $740 - use coupon code: J9ZR64?V1WQ2S0).

Computer Components

Dell P2412H Professional 24" 1080p LED-backlit LCD Monitor for $229.99 with Free Shipping (normally $300).

Samsung 840 Series 250GB SATA 6Gb/s 7mm 2.5" SSD (MZ-7TD250BW) for $154.00 with Free Shipping (normally $180 - use coupon code: DIG5).

Intel 520 Series 2.5" 120GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD for $129.99 with Free Shipping (normally $150).

Mobile

HTC Titan II 4.7" 4G Windows Smartphone [AT&T] for $0.99 with Free Shipping (normally $200).

LG Nitro HD Smartphone [AT&T] for $0.01 with Free Shipping (normally $50).

Gadgets

Felicity 5-in-1 Portable Handheld Massager for $14.00 with Free Shipping (normally $30).

Vornado VH2 Vortex Heater for $49.00 with Free Shipping (normally $100).

Premium Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker for $350 with Free Shipping (normally $500).

Mota iPhone-Controlled Helicopter for $27.00 with Free Shipping (normally $130).

News from the Common Platform Technology Forum

Subject: General Tech | February 12, 2013 - 02:10 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: IBM, Samsung, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, CNTFETs, nanotubes

You might not think of IBM, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries as working together for a common goal, but much like the HSA the Common Platform Technology Forum brings together some strange bedfellows.  The Tech Report had a chance to sit in on some of the conference and just how this disparate group of Fab owners and pure research companies are working together to shape the future of the silicon beasts we all love to hate.  One of the main topics of discussion was the move to the 14nm process and just how designs must change in order to shrink the process to that size while at the same time increasing wafer size, with GloFo showing off their plans for the near future.  You will also be introduced to the idea of CNTFETs, the proposed carbon nanotube based replacement for Silicon FinFETs which could beat the limits of even Extreme UV lithography if they can be coerced into self assembly.  Read on and check out where the second and third largest Fabs on the planet are headed in the next few years.

"The opportunity doesn't come along every day to get a detailed peek into the future of computing from the people who are building it. Last week, I had just such a chance."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• 'Let anyone be administrator' bug in VMware snapped shut @ The Register
• Remember that Xeon E7-Itanium convergence? FUHGEDDABOUDIT @ The Register
• Google starts rolling out Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean @ The Inquirer
• Adobe muzzles TWO zero-day wild things with emergency Flash patches @ The Register
• Blackberry uses Samsung Galaxy S3 chips in its Z10 smartphone @ The Inquirer
• Every single Internet Explorer at risk of drive-by hacks until Patch Tuesday @ The Register
• ConnecteDevice COOKOO Watch Review @ Madshrimps
• Netgear R6300 Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router @ eTeknix
• Unigine Valley & Unigine Heaven 4.0 Coming Next Week @ Phoronix
• Ninjalane Podcast - Console Hardware, HWBot Aquamark Wrapper and EVGA Interview

Corsair Acquires Simple Audio: Aggressive Expansion into New Markets

Subject: General Tech | February 11, 2013 - 03:57 PM | Josh Walrath
Tagged: streaming, Simple Audio, Roomplayer, networking, corsair, audio

Corsair sure does like to expand upon their product base.  The company was founded in 1994 and produced only memory for quite a few years.  The past five years have seen tremendous growth from the company in terms of SSDs, cases, power supplies, and high end cooling solutions.  Corsair also dabbled in sound with a line of successful speakers (though these have not been updated in some time).  Corsair is again making another move, but this time with an aime to deliver content around the entire house.

The front of the Roomplayer II is rather bland, but it should hide itself well in nearly any decor.

Simple Audio is a Scottish based company (if it isn't Scottish it's crap!) that designs and sells multimedia streaming solutions.  The hardware is the Roomplayer 1 and Roomplayer II units which are high definition media players that are either amplified (forconnecting directly to speakers) or non-amplified to connect to current stereo and home theater systems.  Audio is broadcast to these units from iOS enabled devices or PC and Mac computers via software provided by Simple Audio.

Corsair has acquired Simple Audio in a multi-million dollar transaction, but we do not have exact numbers due to Corsair being a privately owned company.  From my understanding these products will still carry the Simple Audio name, but Corsair will be the parent company and will distribute the products throughout Asia and North America (two areas that Simple Audio currently does not support).

The back of the Roomplayer I is much more interesting as it has a 50 watt amplifier built-in so it can power speakers independently.

The Roomplayer solutions are apparently quite easy to hook up and their output is very clean (supports up to 24 bit sound natively).  As the average consumer is becoming more and more comfortable with setting up a home network, this is an opportunity for both Corsair and Simple Audio to market these products in new regions where overall market penetration of networked home audio is still quite low.

Corsair is a very, very aggressive company when it comes to entering new markets.  Their power supplies and cases are perfect examples of how they tend to do business.  Corsair actually produces neither of those product lines, but instead relies on contract manufacturing to handle production.  What Corsair certainly appears to do well is specify these components very well and handle end product quality control.  There really are few overall complaints about Corsair and their products, and as a consumer I do hope that they have another good one on their hands.

The sales numbers will of course be key, and obviously Corsair feels comfortable enough with Simple Audio and their products to buy them up.  We are not certain when we expect to see the Simple Audio products on store shelves, but Corsair typically does not screw around.

Now we only have to wonder, "Who is next on Corsair's radar?"

Deals for February 11th - Alienware X51 Core i7 mini Gaming PC w/ GTX 660, Blu-ray for $1,099

Subject: General Tech | February 11, 2013 - 12:55 PM | PCPer Staff
Tagged: deals

Top deal

Alienware X51 Core i7 mini Gaming PC w/ GeForce GTX 660, Blu-ray & 10% off upgrades for $1,099.99 with free shipping (normally $1,349.00).

Laptops

15% off! HP ENVY dv7t-7300 Quad Edition Core i7 Laptop w/ Blu-ray for $764.99 with Free Shipping (normally $999.99 - use coupon code: NB92685).

Toshiba Satellite S870-BT3N22 17.3" Core i3 Laptop w/Win 8, 8GB RAM, 640GB HDD (customizable) for $549.99 with Free Shipping (normally $849.99 - use coupon code: CNYS870).

Computer Components

Logitech Bluetooth Illuminated Keyboard K810 for $84.99 with Free Shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: 8LG7XLCVX7VL21).

Samsung 840 Series 120GB SATA 6Gb/s 7mm 2.5" SSD (MZ-7TD120BW) for $99.00 with Free Shipping (normally $110).

Logitech Rechargeable Wireless Touchpad T650 w/ Windows 8 Multi-touch Navigation for $67.99 with Free Shipping (normally $80 - use coupon code: 8LG7XLCVX7VL21).

Tablets

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 8GB 7" Tablet (Refurbished) [10": $260] for $149.99 with Free Shipping (normally $200).

Gadgets

R2-D2 USB Cufflinks for $199.95 with Free Shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code: FSRETAIL).

Lego Star Wars Darth Vader LED Torchs for $19.00 with Free Shipping (normally $30).

Hasbro Transformers Prime Bumblebee Blaster for $10 (normally $30).

Cuisinart CGS-5014 14-Piece Grilling Set for $16.99 with Free Shipping (normally $50).

Raspberry Pi Releasing 5MP Camera Module

Subject: General Tech | February 10, 2013 - 12:45 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: SFF, Raspberry Pi, camera, arm

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has been working on offering a camera attachment for Raspberry Pi boards for some time now. The developers began with a 41MP sensor, but have since moved to a smaller (and cheaper) camera with a 5MP sensor. That particular model is nearly complete and should be available for purchase sometime this spring, according to the developers.

The Raspberry Pi camera will be $25 which aligns itself well with the recently released Model A Raspberry Pi computer (which is also $25). The PCB hosting the camera module measures 20 x 25 x 10mm, while the camera module itself measures 8.5 x 8.5 x 5mm. It connects to the Raspberry Pi board via a flat cable into the CSI port below the Ethernet jack.

The $25 camera is capable of capturing HD video as well as stills. It uses the Omnivision OV5647 sensor and a fixed focus lens. The 5MP sensor is capable of capturing still photos with a pixel resolution of 2592 x 1944 and up to 1080p video. While the developers are still working on the kinks to ensure that it the camera can do this, the sensor itself is capable of 1080p30, 720p60, and 640x480p90 video capture. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has stated that at least the 1080p30 capture mode is working.

Interestingly, the Raspberry Pi ISP hardware can support two cameras, but the PCB only provides a single CSI connector (so no 3D image capture using two cameras). The Raspberry Pi Foundation is providing this little CSI camera as an alternative to USB cameras. While it is possible to use USB cameras with the Raspberry Pi, USB driver overhead and USB bandwidth issues specific to the Raspberry Pi limit the performance that you can get out of USB cameras. The $25 CSI camera add-on bypasses the USB interface in favor of the CSI port that feeds into the image processing parts of the ARM SoC.

The developers have not released an exact weight measurement, but have described it as being rather lightweight--making it ideal for use in drones, weather balloons, and other flying projects. For more information, the developers have set up a forum thread to answer questions and keep interested users updated on the project status.

NVDIMM: Nonvolatile... Not NVIDIA

Subject: General Tech, Memory, Systems | February 10, 2013 - 03:44 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: NVDIMM, micron, IMFT NAND, imft

So a RAM chip, a NAND module, and an “ultracapacitor” walk into stick...

This week Micron released a press blast for technology called, “NVDIMM”. The goal is to create memory modules which perform as quickly as DRAM but can persist without power. At this point you could probably guess the acronym: Nonvolatile Dual In-line Memory Module. It has been around for a few years now, but it is in the news now so let's chat about it.

I often like to play the game, “Was this named by an engineer or a marketer?” You can typically tell who was responsible for naming something by gauging how literally it breaks down into a simple meaning versus not having any apparent meaning at all. A good example of an engineer name is UHF, which breaks down into ultra-high frequency because it's higher than VHF, very-high frequency. A good example of a marketing name would be something like “Centrino”, which sounds like the biggest little penny-slot machine in the world. I would quite comfortable guessing that NVDIMM was named by an engineer.

This is AgigA Tech's module, who provides the capacitors for Micron and their NVDIMMs.

The actual makeup of NVDIMMs is quite sensible: DIMMs are fast but die when the power goes out. You could prevent the power from going out but it takes quite a lot of battery life to keep a computer online for extended periods of time. NAND Flash is quite slow, relative to DIMMs, in normal operation but can persist without power for very long periods of time. Also, modern-day capacitors are efficient and durable enough to keep DIMMs powered for long enough to be copied to flash memory.

As such, if the power goes out: memory is dumped to flash on the same chip. When power is restored, DIMMs get reloaded and continue on their merry way.

According to the Micron press release, the first NVDIMM was demonstrated last November at SC12. That module contained twice as much NAND as it did DIMM memory: 8GB of Flash for 4GB of RAM. Micron did not specify why they required having that much extra Flash memory although my gut instinct is to compensate for write wearing problems. A two-fold increase to offset NAND that had just one too many write operations seems like quite a lot compared to consumer drives. That said, SSDs do not have to weather half of their whole capacity being written to each time the computer shuts down.

Who knows, double-provisioning might even be too little in practice.

It's More than Windows Feeling "Blue"

Subject: Editorial, General Tech | February 9, 2013 - 02:49 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: windows blue

Could the sadness Microsoft feels with their OEM partners make the whole company feel just a little Blue?

I have been thinking about this while reading the latest news from Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet. This has not been the first time that we have mentioned the color. Blue was, and still is, a codename for the first major feature-update of Windows 8. What we learned is that now it seems that “Blue” covers much more.

As many know, Microsoft has shifted their branding into four color-coded divisions: blue is for Windows; red is for Office; green is for Xbox, and yellow has yet to be disclosed. As far as we know, the Windows division encompasses Windows Phone, Internet Explorer, official apps, and so forth. Apparently “Blue”, the codenamed update, will start Microsoft on an annual update schedule for the Windows division. This means that Internet Explorer as well as the Mail, Calendar, Bing app, and other “Windows Services” such as SkyDrive and Hotmail will shift towards the yearly timer.

As I read Mary Jo's article, I focused on a point buried late in the second act of the column:

Instead of RTMing a new version of Windows once every three or so years, and then hoping/praying OEMs can get the final bits tested and preloaded on new hardware a few months later, Microsoft is going to try to push Blue out to users far more quickly, possibly via the Windows Store, my contact said.

While I have speculated about Microsoft and their desires to shift business models to a subscription service for quite some time, I have not considered OEM partners as a prominent reason. Microsoft has been wrestling with their manufacturers, that has recently been made obvious. The release of a new operating system drives users to go out and purchase new hardware. The PC industry bounces forward with software and hardware enhancements chained in lockstep to the three year Windows cycle, even the enthusiast market to some extent.

Perhaps Microsoft is trying to let the hardware itself drive the market. Instead of pushing the industry forward in big leaps, would it be possible that Microsoft wants the hardware to evolve and a new version of Windows to be there waiting for it?