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This is a bit of fun for @RainierWolfcastle
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Hi, Can I get some suggestions over the cheap VPN? And by cheap, I mean it should be less expensive. I've used some of the VPNs, which I don't prefer mentioning about it here in this thread. But honestly, they were nothing but a waste of money. And the services were also pathetic. I was searching on google for the Zero Logs Policy and IP leak stuff. And for a trusted VPN, it means a lot. I also got this article on best cheap VPN. It was a good read though. But still, I need your suggestions. Kindly guide me through and let me know which VPN should I opt for home use, which could keep me safe and secure over the internet within low price? Thanks
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Cheep News Deadly drones unleashed... Haven't posted a news thread because I couldnt really find anything that interesting or funny. Kari and Dfighter deal with the mores serious news, I try and lighten it up a bit but recently there havent been that many topics worth posting. Heres one anyway... __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The owner of an aerial photography business has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after a drone he was operating knocked a woman unconscious. Paul Skinner was found guilty of reckless endangerment, by a judge at the Seattle Municipal Court. It is believed to be the first time a drone pilot has been given a jail sentence. The incident happened during Seattle's 2015 Pride Parade. According to the police, the 18in (45cm) by 18in drone crashed into a building and fell into the crowd, injuring two people. Judge Willie Gregory said he acknowledged that the incident was an accident but added that the pilot had "engaged in conduct that put people in danger of being injured". Close calls Prosecutor Pete Holmes said the faulty operation of drones was a "serious public-safety issue that will only get worse" and more prosecutions could follow. Ravi Vaidyanathan, a drone expert from Imperial College London, said he was "not aware of anything previously resulting in jail time". He said it was inevitable more accidents would follow and called on the regulatory bodies that governed drone use to provide "a consistent set of guidelines on usage". "In the US, there are rules for commercial use but different ones for hobbyists," he said. "In the UK, rules are governed by the size of aircraft, so in my understanding anything under 20kg [3st 2lb] can be flown without regulation. "We are in uncharted territory, but the guidelines have to be consistent." He added the inconvenience to the public was also "non-trivial". "Having a drone buzzing around does not add to most people's beach experience, for example, and we need to think about this too." During the past fiscal year, more than 1,200 possible collisions between an aircraft and a drone were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA was unable to confirm any strikes, but it has reported several close calls, including a Lufthansa jet approaching Los Angeles that passed within 200ft (60m) of a drone. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Do any of you guys have a drone? I DO, THEY ARE SO FUN! source :http://www.bbc.com/news/39114691
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We're scouring the web at a frantic pace to bring you the best Cyber Monday deals around and we found one heck of a bargain in graphics cards. It's for the factory overclocked Asus Dual GeForce GTX 1070 (DUAL-GTX1070-O8G), which can be had for as low as $329. The exact price depends on a few different factors. It's offered by Jet.com and if you're a new customer, you stand to save the most. First, head over to the product page here. The regular price is $390, though there a few options to get a better deal (you'll see them after you register and log in). You can opt out of free returns and knock it down to $382.97, pay by debit card and see it reduced to $386.87, or opt for both and watch the price drop to $379.91. That's already a good bargain, but if you're a new customer, coupon code TRIPLE15 knocks 15 percent (up to $30) your first three orders. That brings the tally down to $349.91. We're not finished. Asus is offering a $20 mail-in-rebate for this card. You can find the form here (PDF). That brings the final price down to $329.91 if you're a new customer, or $349.91 if you're not. Either way it's a really good deal for a fast card. The Asus Dual GeForce GTX 1070 has a 1,582MHz base clock and 1,771MHz boost clock in Game mode, and 1,607MHz/1,797MHz base/boost clocks in OC mode. Both are above Nvidia's reference design, which calls for the base and boost clocks to be 1,506MHz and 1,683MHz, respectively. Bear in mind that you can use the TRIPLE15 code on other products as well, including an even faster clocked GTX 1070. If utilizing the same options as above (opt out of free returns and pay by debit card), the Asus ROG Strix GTX 1070 is knocked down from $430 to $388.87 with coupon code, plus another $20 comes back via mail-in-rebate. The clockspeeds on that one are 1,632MHz/1,835MHz (base/boost) in Gaming mode and 1,657MHz/1,860MHz in OC mode. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/grab-an-asus-dual-geforce-gtx-1070-for-an-insanely-low-329/
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Earlier this year we learned that DirectX 12 would have a feature called Multiadapter, which can allow you to use multiple different GPUs in your system if game developers program their DX12 support to take advantage of the feature. You’ll even be able to use Nvidia and AMD cards together rather than using SLI / Crossfire, and that’s exactly what AnandTech has been testing. Developer Oxide Games has created a special build of its real time strategy game Ashes of the Singularity which takes advantage of this new DX12 feature. It’s a resource-hungry game, and so is a great test of what the new multi-GPU setups can do. It’s just a tech demo right now, since neither the game nor the multiadapter support are finished, but the results so far are surprising (and more than a little encouraging). AnandTech's tested the game using an Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan X and GTX 980 Ti, along with an AMD Radeon R9 Fury X and R9 Fury for the most part. AnandTech used the GTX 980 Ti and the R9 Fury X together as the main test cards, since they’re similar in price and specifications. They also used a GTX 680 and a Radeon HD 7970 together to see how the multi adapter works on older cards. As for the rest of the rig, it had a 4.2GHz Intel Core i7-4960X, along with 32GB of DDR3 RAM. Interestingly, using the new multiadapter technology, mixed GPU setups (i.e. mixing up the manufacturers) performed better than homogenous setups. At a resolution of 2560x1440, the mixed setup of the R9 Fury X and the GTX 980 Ti came out on top (70.8 frames per second) over the combined R9 Fury X and R9 Fury (67.1 frames per second). One note is that using the Radeon card as the primary card came out with a 1.4fps (2 percent) lead over the mixed setup with the Nvidia card as the primary. The mixed GPU setup also came out on top in overall percentage performance gains. The R9 Fury X + GTX 980 Ti setup was 75 percent faster than a single R9 Fury X, while a dual AMD setup was only 66 percent faster than a single card setup. Meanwhile, the Nvidia-led mixed setup was 64 percent faster than a single GTX 980 Ti, and the dual Nvidia setup merely saw a 46 percent performance increase. Exciting stuff, as explicit multiadapter could allow PC gamers to take advantage of the strengths of Nvidia and AMD platforms, or get years of extra mileage out of aging graphics cards. Typically you can only run identical GPUs in tandem, but if enough developers support multiadapter through DX12, you could pair a new GTX 970 with an older GTX 660 and eke out a bit more performance. Anandtech adds a much-needed word of caution, though: "it’s important to note that what happens from here is ultimately more in the hands of game developers than hardware developers. Given the nature of the explicit API, it’s now the game developers that have to do most of the legwork on implementing multi-GPU, and I’m left to wonder how many of them are up to the challenge. Hardware developers have an obvious interest in promoting and developing multi-GPU technology in order to sell more GPUs – which is how we got SLI and Crossfire in the first place – but software developers don’t have that same incentive." Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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When AMD, Intel, or Nvidia launch new hardware, they almost always focus on the high-end of the consumer market. Low-end parts and server/workstation solutions typically follow at later dates. This time around, however, AMD is shaking things up and introducing support for DDR4 in a new embedded SoC, codenamed Merlin Falcon. The new chip leverages the Excavator CPU and the same basic silicon as AMD’s Carrizo, but with additional validation and testing for the embedded market, including support for its L2 cache and RAM. According to the company’s BIOS and Kernel Developer’s Guide for Excavator-class parts (Family 15h Models 60h-6Fh), Carrizo was designed to support either DDR3 or DDR4 in the same unified northbridge. This raises the question of why the company is only rolling out DDR4 support in the embedded market? According to Colin Cureton, senior manager of AMD’s embedded product management team, it comes down to lifecycle support and Carrizo / Carrizo-L’s market position. Embedded hardware is typically expected to operate for at least five years, with 7-9 years being relatively common. Right now, the consumer market is still mostly based on DDR3, but that will change over the next few years as DDR4 productions and clock speeds ramp up. If you’re buying hardware today and want cheap RAM four years from now, DDR4 makes more sense. The other reason AMD stuck with DDR3 for Carrizo was to make it easier for OEMs to design flexible systems. Carrizo and Carrizo-L now share a common form factor, a substantially overlapping power envelope, and use the same kind of memory. Carrizo-L, however, is based on AMD’s Puma+ CPU core, which is basically the Jaguar core from 2013 with a few additional changes and power tweaks. Since that chip doesn’t support DDR4, AMD opted to stick with DDR3 across its mobile and desktop stack. We should note it’s not clear how much additional benefit AMD would have actually gotten from DDR4 in any case. While more bandwidth is broadly better for integrated GPUs, our Kaveri tests when that chip was launched indicated that it’s not an absolute. We saw better performance with lower-latency DDR3-2133 than high-latency DDR3-2400. It’s possible that the power envelopes AMD wanted to sell into and the cost premiums attached to DDR4, it simply didn’t make sense to bring a DDR4 Carrizo to market — at least not yet. With Zen delayed to 2017, it’s possible we could see such a part next year. When AMD built Carrizo, it focused on making the chip smaller and on cutting its overall power consumption The older solution required two separate chips and was 1.92mm tall; the new package can limbo into a minimum height of just 1.62mm. The total chip area for the older two-chip solution was 1528 mm sq, while Merlin Falcon is just 1073mm sq.Like AMD’s full desktop parts, Merlin Falcon will include full support for HSA and can leverage a complete Linux open-source stack. All of the typical features of Carrizo’s integrated GPU, including multiple display-outs, hardware decode support for H.264 and H.265, and HSA 1.0 support are also included. The SKUs themselves are shown below: There aren’t many surprises here. Like AMD’s mobile Carrizo, Merlin Falcon focuses on the 12-25W power envelope, with chips available in dual and quad-core configurations, as well as a CPU-only version of the core with somewhat higher clocks. Overall performance is covered on the next slide — like Carrizo, Merlin Falcon is far more power efficient within the same TDP envelope than Kaveri was. In the graph above, the blue lines are Merlin Falcon products while the single grey line is AMD’s previous Hierofalcon SoC. AMD’s measured performance in CoreMark is fairly competitive with Intel’s 15W Core i3 and Core i5 processors, but whether or not Coremark maps well to embedded workloads isn’t a question we’ve spent much time studying. Overall, AMD wants to position these devices as suitable for pachinko systems, lottery terminals, communications infrastructure, medical imaging devices (where HSA’s capabilities could come in handy) and security and retail signage. Unfortunately, AMD wasn’t able to point to any major customer announcements for these products, but that’s not uncommon in the embedded space. Embedded hardware, by its very nature, tends to be invisible. At the same time, given AMD’s overall financial condition, the company needs every scrap of sales revenue it can find — we’ve asked for details on any upcoming wins or new customers and will update this story if we hear back Source http://www.extremetech.com/
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Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have just taken CPU cooling a step further. They're looking to make big water cooling blocks a thing of the past by moving liquid cooling directly onto the chip. Associate professor Muhannad Bakir along with graduate student Thomas Sarvey removed the heat sink and heat-spreading materials from an Altera field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. Then, they "etched cooling passages into the silicon, incorporating silicon cylinders approximately 100 microns in diameter to improve heat transmission into the liquid. A silicon layer was then placed over the flow passages, and ports were attached for the connection of water tubes." By feeding 20 degree Celsius water into the tubes at a rate of 147 ml per minute, the chip operated at a temperature of less than 24 degrees Celsius, while a normal air-cooled model would operate at around 60 degrees. Bakir said that the same technology could be applied to CPUs and GPUs. What this means is that we could be seeing denser and more powerful systems in the future, given how much less space this sort of liquid cooling would take up compared with current cooling solutions. “We have eliminated the heat sink atop the silicon die by moving liquid cooling just a few hundred microns away from the transistors,” said Bakir. “We believe that reliably integrating microfluidic cooling directly on the silicon will be a disruptive technology for a new generation of electronics.” Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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Dell has redesigned the XPS 15 laptop, and it’s available today starting at $1,000 for the base model, and up to $1,700 if you want something with a little more power. Dell has added its edge-to-edge "InfinityEdge" display to the XPS 15, much like the display in its popular XPS 13, and it’s looking extra nice. You’ll have the option of a 1920x1080 resolution or the 3840x2160 4K touch display. Another cutting edge inclusion: a USB 3.1 Type-C port (also compatible with Thunderbolt 3). An added bonus of the narrow bezel is that the 15.6-inch display now fits roughly into the size of an average 14-inch laptop. Its dimensions are 11-17mm x 357mm x 235mm, and it weighs 3.9 lbs for the non-touch, and 4.4lbs for the touch version. Dell has also upgraded to Skylake processors, letting you choose between the 2.7 GHz Core i3-6100G, the quad-core 3.2 GHz Core i5-6300HQ, and the quad-core 3.5 GHz i7-6700HQ. As for graphics, you’ll be choosing between Intel HD Graphics 530 and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M. The latter isn’t the most powerful card out there, but it's capable of good 1080p gaming performance—it's roughly equivalent to a desktop 750 Ti. 8GB DDR4 memory at 2133 MHz comes with most of the options, with 16GB on the most expensive i7 model, but you can upgrade up to 32GB if you want. For storage, you’ve got the options of a 500GB HDD + 32GB Flash, or 1TB HDD + 32GB Flash. Solid State Drives are also available, with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB PCIe options. Dell claims the XPS 15 should be able to get up to 16 hours of battery life, depending on configuration. Expect to get less than that when you're gaming, of course. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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While AMD is still struggling with its desktop graphics marketshare, they're still fighting the good fight against Nvidia and Intel. AMD makes the GPUs for all three current generation game consoles, and today they announced a new range of discrete graphics for embedded systems. They range from power efficient, to high performance, up to ultra-high performance, and they have Multi-Chip Module (MCM), Mobile PCIe Module (MXM), and PCIe options. The ultra-high performance E8950MXM is built for 4K applications with support for 4K decode, 4K encode, and up to six 4K displays. AMD says that this one is “ideal for high-end casino and arcade gaming machines, medical imaging devices and military/aerospace applications.” It’s got 32 Compute Units, with 3 TFLOPS peak single precision, and 8GB GDDR5 memory, while using below 95W thermal design power. It’s also a smaller form factor than standard commercial GPUs, specifically designed for systems with small space requirements. The mid-range E8870MXM and E8870PCIe options provide a balance of power and performance, with 12 Compute Units, 1.5 TFLOPS peak single precision, and 4GB GDDR5 memory. They operate under 75W TDP, and also have six output capabilities. The E6465MCM, the E6465MXM, and the E6465PCIe are the power-efficient options, operating at under 20W TDP. They have just the two Computer Units, with 192 GFLOPS peak single precision, 2GB GDDR5 memory, and have support for up to four display outputs. These exact GPUs won't be showing up in your desktop or laptop, but it'll be interesting to see how the E8950MXM stacks up against AMD's next high-end gaming laptop GPUs. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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Logitech has unveiled the G410 Atlas Spectrum TKL Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, a small RG keyboard that drops the G910's custom angled keycaps in favor of a more finger-familiar shape. Logitech says that fans have been asking for a smaller mechanical keyboard, so the G410 has a tenkeyless design (i.e. no numpad or macro keys) which makes it small and light enough to throw in your backpack. The G410 has Logitech's custom “Romer-G” mechanical switches, which Logitech says register key presses up to 25 percent faster than its competitors (with a 45 gram actuation force and 1.5mm actuation point, they're easier to press than most Cherry keys). The G410 has individually customizable RGB keys, and like most of Logitech's new products, you can download the Logitech Arx Control app for iOS or Android, which displays things like in-game information and vital statistics. The G410 comes with a little phone stand in case you want to prop it up on your desk with the app running. The G410 Atlas Spectrum is scheduled to launch in the US and Europe in October with a retail price of $130 / €149. We've got our hands on one, and will be reporting back soon with a review. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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Take a close look at the rocket-powered car that's set to achieve speeds of 1,000mph, including components built by 3D printers. Meet the Bloodhound SSC -- the car that will be propelled by a jet engine and a cluster of rockets to hit a top speed of 1,000mph, thereby setting a new world land-speed record. It's a phenomenal machine, with a mind-boggling set of facts to match: Its engines generate 135,000 horsepower (equal to 180 Formula 1 cars), it travels a mile in only 3.6 seconds and it uses the latest technologies, including 3D printing, in its construction. The car is being developed in Britain by a team comprising of military and aerospace experts and over 250 separate companies, providing skills, labour and materials. The previous record of 763mph was set by the Thust SSC -- a UK team that included various members of the Bloodhound gang. The new record attempt will be given a test run in South Africa in 2016, before returning for its actual record attempt in 2017. The car is being shown off in a free exhibition in London this weekend, but we took a look under the hood of this rocket-powered beast during its production to find out what's required in building a 1,000mph car. Source http://www.cnet.com/
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DARPA wants to build a robotic waystation in Earth’s orbit Everyone can see that when it comes to space, real progress is going to require some innovative new ideas. Maybe that will come in the form of a 100,000 kilometer ribbon of experimental nanotubes stretching all the way to geosynchronous orbit, or perhaps just an enormous, spinning spiral ramp. But any solution must give us a better ability to get to space and do work once we get there. Now, rumblings from DARPA and NASA show that they may be fantasizing about a new, semi-permanent installation in space — and they’re already working on the technology that could make it a reality. The idea is basically to create a construction, repairs, refueling, and mission restart hub, in space. Currently, all these functions require a return to base — the ISS receives shipments of supplies, it doesn’t generally dole them out. With such a station, NASA could imagine a new satellite design, pick a currently defunct old orbiter, and send up only those parts necessary to transform the old into the new. The solar panels, thrusters, and other time-tested hardware can stay intact, while computers and scientific instruments are swapped out by a series of robotic arms and manipulators. space station 2These arms are reportedly already in the works, and are souped up versions of the space shuttle’s original Canadarm. These would be capable of doing all the complex manipulation needed by an orbiting robot space mechanic. DARPA is already doing work on a mission called Project Phoenix, which looks to reuse the most valuable parts of old, dead satellites — it has also been working on grasper technology that could shear apart and potentially reassemble old space tech. In fact, this idea for a space-based repair station seems almost like a successor project to Phoenix, making its piecemeal efforts into an automated repair station. Speaking at DARPA’s Wait What? conference (yes, that’s what it’s called) in St. Louis, former NASA astronaut Pam Melroy, now deputy director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said that some sort of orbital staging and upgrade station could change the way NASA deals with space. The ISS orbits at a messy 400 kilometers, well within “low” Earth orbit, meaning that a geosynchronous station would open up all sorts of new possibilities. She said that it could do for the Earth what the great port cities of yore did for Europe — leading to perhaps the first ever time I’ve hoped that Mars doesn’t have any indigenous inhabitants. The idea, as proposed, is to build this station in geosynchronous orbit, or around 36,000 kilometers above the surface. At this height, it could enter an orbit that would keep it directly above a specific spot on the Earth’s surface, but it’s also too high to enjoy any real protection from the Earth’s atmosphere or magnetic field — this hypothetical station would need to either be shielded in some all-new way or, more likely, be robotically controlled for the vast, vast majority of the time. Even with some sort of super-next-gen launch technology like a space elevator, it’s a certainty that on a long enough timeline, we’ll have to eventually stop building spaceships anywhere but in space. We’ll never be able to mine resources in a vacuum, but other than that there’s nothing about the ship building or maintaining process that has to be down on the surface; not that there was ever any doubt, but we now know that NASA and the US military are very aware of this fact. Source http://www.extremetech.com/
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It hasn't been a long time since the Galaxy S6 edge plus and Note 5 were launched, but seems like Samsung as always wants to keep the market accommodated with its device and has finished producing its new flagship, The Galaxy S7 aka Project Lucky. The smartphone is suspected to launch next year. Specification- The Samsung Galaxy S7 would be running on the Snapdragon 820 chipset and The Adreno 530 GPU, which would be featuring the in house Kyro cores developed by Qualcomm instead of the ARM chipset which would deal with the significant underclocking and throttling issue of the 810 chipset. The Snapdragon 820 is the first self made 64-bit processor from Qualcomm and is based on the Samsung's 14nm FinFET process, Click Here To read more about the features of Snapdragon 820. It is also rumored that an another variant of the S7 would be featuring the new Mongoose chipset also referred to as the new Exynos 7430 Hero from Samsung. The Galaxy S7 would be featuring 4 Gigabytes of Ram, 64 Gb of ROM, a 5.7 inch 1440 x 2560 pixel display, a 16 Mp rear and a 5Mp front camera and is running on 5.1.1 version of Android at the current time. The Galaxy S7 would be featuring the UFS 2.0 memory controller for data storage and transfer as in the Galaxy S6. But this technology currently isn't compatible with micro SD card, however Samsung is working on implementing it with micro Sd card for future device and the S7. It has also been speculated that the final version of the S7 would feature a 20 Megapixel Isocell camera sensor instead of the 16Mp in the current test version. Source http://www.unrevealtech.com/
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Microsoft is scheduled to launch Office 2016 for Windows desktop in just a few weeks — the first new desktop version since the launch of Office 2013 two and a half years ago. After using the Preview version, what strikes me most is that Microsoft has clearly moved its focus and energy away from the desktop to its cloud strategy. While there are some nice interface updates and a few new features, most users won’t notice much of a difference from Office 2013 for Windows. However it is a solid upgrade for those with an Office 365 subscription, and may be worth paying for if you need one of its smattering of new features. Updated interface from Office 2013 With Office 2016, Microsoft has backed off a bit from the ultra-flat design of Office 2013. Like many others, I found it harder to find items on the ribbon than with its earlier, more-textured interface. Microsoft Office 2016 doesn’t bring back a 3D look, but it does use a little more color-coding to make the ribbon easier on the eye and a little more user-friendly. The default theme is now Colorful, but can easily be switched back, of course. The new version of the suite also adds support for 250% and 300% zoom settings for high-PPI screens. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint get an additional interface feature in the form of a “Tell me what you want to do…” field on the menu bar. It allows you to type all or part of a command and then click from a list of matches. While a nice addition for infrequently used commands, it is unlikely to please users who dislike the ribbon interface and want the old-style menus back. I found it a lot quicker than clicking through the various ribbons, almost acting as a mini help system in addition to a command box. Other than the interface tweaks, it isn’t easy to find any functionality changes in Word and PowerPoint. They do get the Ink to Math capability from OneNote (called Ink Equation), as does Excel. All three apps also get an expanded shape library. The biggest functionality upgrade in Word is better support for real-time collaboration. You can see others changes and even their cursor location live. OneNote is frozen in time Unfortunately for OneNote users, you’ll notice that the toolbar for the 2016 version is identical to the 2013 version other than color. There don’t appear to be any new features in OneNote 2016 at all, which is a real shame. Even some of the most annoying glitches — like sub-sections expanding whenever you add a page to them — are preserved instead of being addressed. Send to OneNote also appears to be missing, which would be fine if Office included a version of Microsoft’s excellent new Snip tool that integrated with OneNote — but it doesn’t. Presumably part of the reason for this is the effort the OneNote team has put into OneNote for Android, iOS, and Windows 10. It’s great that they’ve made the application cross-platform, but a shame that it has come at the expense of improvements in the full-featured desktop version. Backstage upgrade and tighter OneDrive integration If you don’t follow Office development closely, you might not even know that Backstage is the name Microsoft has given the File handling and Options functions in Office. Microsoft has responded to user requests for improved usability by making the Browse button more visible in Save As and in Open, and rearranging the order of storage locations to be more intuitive. Users can also do real time collaborative editing in Word on their documents stored on OneDrive for Business or Office 365 SharePoint sites. Outlook users can have attachments quickly uploaded to the cloud for easier sharing. Outlook finally gets some love Outlook now provides a list of recently-accessed files for quick attachment to a messageOne application that does get some attention is Outlook. The 2016 version has a nice new feature that shows recently-used files when you go to add an attachment. Clutter, which debuted with Office 365, is also added to Outlook 2016. It uses machine learning to automatically sort your incoming email by pushing lower-priority items into a separate folder. Unfortunately, it is still server-based, so you need to enable it using the Web version of Outlook and make sure any inboxes you want to filter are available to it. Searching in Outlook adds a new feature that notices if you are looking for a person and automatically shows you your correspondence with them. In my testing with the current preview version, I couldn’t get this to work, but it should be a nice improvement over having to type in full names of people to filter your email. Adding attachment also gets a nice new feature where you can see all your recently used files quickly — since those are the ones you’re most likely to want to attach. You can also choose to send just a link to your OneDrive documents instead of the entire file. Source: http://www.extremetech.com
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Still worried about privacy issues in Windows 10? There are a whole lot of settings menus you can go digging through to turn off how much data is shared with Microsoft, or you could tackle most of those questionable settings in one place. The newly released Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 can supposedly “make your system faster, more stable, personal and more secure with just a few mouse clicks,” according to TheWindowsClub, where you can download it. There are all kinds of UI tweaking options, but we’re mostly interested in the privacy settings. The 495 KB download contains over 200 tweaks, allowing you to customize Windows 10 to your heart’s content. It allows you to disable certain settings which may affect your privacy such as Cortana, Telemetry, and the Taskbar Web Search. The major ones we’d recommend disabling are Telemetry and your advertising ID means Windows won’t have access to information regarding targeting you with advertisements. Turning off Windows Update Sharing will stop using your system to help disseminate Windows Update files to other users, so tick that off if you care about every ounce of bandwidth. You can also disable things relating to security such as the registry editor or CMD, though it's not recommend it The tweaker is portable, as it doesn’t need to be installed. If you want to remove the program you just have to delete the program folder. Settings can also be toggled on and off at will, so you don’t have to worry about making any irreversible changes. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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Look out, mini-ITX: you’re not the smallest DIY board on the block anymore. Intel has launched a new 5x5 motherboard standard for ultra-compact form factor PCs. According to AnandTech, the board sits between the mini-ITX and the Intel NUC in terms of size and functionality. The 5x5 is 29 percent smaller than mini-ITX at 147x140mm (5.5x5.8 inches), making it the smallest socketed board available. Just like the mini-ITX (and unlike the smaller NUC), it has a socket which fits LGA processors. The 5x5 also has 2 SODIMM memory channels, and you can add a 2.5-inch SATA drive or M.2 solid state drive. In addition, it will feature support for wired and wireless connectivity. The 5x5 provides Celeron to Core processor scalability, supporting both 35W and 65W TDP CPUs. Intel says that despite the small size, it offers the same CPU upgradeability as a full-sized desktop. It is important to note however that you won’t have a full length PCIe slot with the 5x5. So, you’ll need to stick with the larger Mini-ITX if you want to add a PCIe graphics card to your system. A fixed CPU XY location on the motherboard is required with the standard, which makes building cases with integrated cooling systems a bit easier. There are currently no details on the 5x5’s price or availability. According to Digital Trends, there are suggestions that the 5x5 won’t be a consumer product, and will instead be used for device manufacturers to build systems around. If 5x5 did come to market. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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Qualcomm’s next-gen GPU will focus on VR gaming, superior camera performance Qualcomm announced its new Adreno 530 architecture at SIGGRAPH this week, and the company has big plans for its next-generation GPU. Qualcomm has been steadily improving the performance and capability of its Adreno hardware with each successive generation, and the upcoming 530 and the lower-end variant, the 510, are no exception. What’s changed this time around is that Qualcomm doesn’t just want to provide a solution that plays common titles like Candy Crush or Game of War. The Adreno 530 is meant to address the core of the gaming market, with support for both augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR respectively). With the Adreno 530, Qualcomm is predicting performance improvements of up to 40% compared to the older Adreno 430, while power consumption is expected to fall by 40%. Those are significant gains from a 20nm – 14nm transition, but there are ways to pull off such improvements — Nvidia’s Maxwell vastly improved performance and performance per watt over Kepler while remaining on 28nm, and it’s possible that the Adreno 430 had some low-hanging architectural fruit that Qualcomm optimized while simultaneously benefiting from the transition to 14nm. While the Adreno 430 already supports Vulkan, the Adreno 530 is the first chip designed for that API from the ground up. The gains in video processing and GPGPU performance are also impressive. We were a bit surprised to hear Qualcomm talking up heterogeneous computing as a major focus for this chip. Thus far, AMD has been the only company to make GPGPU compute the cornerstone of its product strategy. Qualcomm already uses GPU offload for certain camera processing tasks, and the company’s video processing capabilities have taken a huge step forward in this new architecture. The Adreno 530 will be fully OpenCL 2.0 and Renderscript-compliant, The 64-bit virtual address feature is important, since the upcoming Kryo CPU is a 64-bit ARM processor. This slide implies that Qualcomm has implemented some of the same functions that AMD first debuted with Kaveri, which would make sense, since QC has always been a member of the HSA Foundation. What this means for software or ecosystem development remains to be seen. The other side of the Adreno 530 are the improvements to the chip’s camera design. Qualcomm is calling its next-generation image signal processor (ISP) “Spectra,” and it brings a number of new features to the table. ç Spectra is designed to allow for effectively zero shutter lag, improved low-light photography, offers superior digital zoom, and implements algorithms to reduce radial noise and color artifacts in hardware. The ISP supports dual front or rear cameras for depth-based photography and can perform both pre and post-processing to ensure superior image quality. Other common features like image stabilization have been improved as well. Smartphone cameras have made huge strides over the past five years, but they still pale in comparison to a DSLR in certain environments. We don’t expect that gap to vanish (there are technical reasons why high-end cameras are superior to even the best smartphones), but we’re happy to see manufacturers continue to shrink the gap. As for the rest of the SoC, the rumor mill has been busy. Kryo will reportedly support LPDDR4 (likely) but core count rumors have been all over the map. Some have suggested that the Snapdragon 820 will top out at just four CPU cores, but as much as we’d like to see companies haul back on the core count reins, it’s not guaranteed to happen. The phone-crazy Chinese market puts a high value on CPU core counts, and Qualcomm can’t really afford to hand MediaTek or Rockchip a marketing coup. On the other hand, if the Kryo’s performance is strong enough, Qualcomm might decide to highlight its superior performance as an advantage. Devices with Adreno 530 are expected to be in customer hands within the first half of next year. Given how long it takes to validate handsets, that implies volume production by the end of Q4 2015. S: http://www.extremetech.com/
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Heads up PlayStation Network users – next week will see some interruption of activity on August 17th. As Sony revealed, PSN will be undergoing maintenance from 9.30 PM PDT (which translates to 12:30 AM EDT/5:30 AM UK time on August 18th). The maintenance will go on for 1.5 to 2 hours and is thought to be a part of Sony’s regular maintenance checks for the network. During this time, you’ll be unable to access Account Management or PlayStation Video or even purchase anything through the PlayStation Store. Some features will still be usable including your PSN profile along with gaming and entertainment applications. So don’t worry – you should be able to play your favourite online games without any issues. It should be noted that your PS4 should be your primary activated console before the maintenance Source http://gamingbolt.com/
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Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 10, launched on Wednesday and is currently rolling out in phases. It now appears the first phase was a big one, as Microsoft says on its official blog that Windows 10 has now been installed on 14 million devices. Many more upgrades are still to come. "We still have many more upgrades to go before we catch up to each of you that reserved your upgrade," Microsoft marketing boss Yusuf Mehdi said. "Rest assured we are working 24×7 to continue the upgrade process and are prioritizing the quality of your upgrade experience over anything else," he added. "We are grateful for your excitement and enthusiasm and we appreciate your patience over the days and weeks ahead as we carefully roll out Windows 10 in phases to all of you that have reserved." People who reserved a Windows 10 upgrade will be notified through the system tray (see image) when their upgrade is ready. If you didn't reserve an upgrade already, you can do that here. Mehdi said demand for Windows 10 has been off the charts. "We're humbled and grateful to see the response to Windows 10," he said. "We have seen unprecedented demand for Windows 10, with reviews and customer feedback overwhelmingly positive around the globe. We are doing everything we can to upgrade the world to Windows 10 as quickly as possible over the coming days and weeks ahead." Overall, Microsoft hopes Windows 10 can reach 1 billion devices by 2018. As part of a special offer, Windows 7 and 8 users can upgrade to Windows 10 for free for the first year after launch. "Windows 10 delivers a refined, vastly improved vision for the future of computing with an operating system that's equally at home on tablets and traditional PCs," he said. Source http://www.gamespot.com/
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Samsung's latest phone is aimed at buyers who want a really slim device with still respectable features. Now available in China, the Galaxy A8 is the company's slimmest smartphone ever, just .23 inches or 5.9 millimeters thin, and weighing in at only 5.3 ounces, or 151 grams. The phone sports an all-metal body with a tight bezel, or frame, that leaves plenty of room for the 5.7-inch 1,920x1,080-pixel OLED screen. What's the appeal behind a thin phone? Samsung's Galaxy phones are usually brimming with features and therefore tend to be rather thick. Creating a phone that's this thin and doesn't skimp on too many features is certainly an achievement. But the key question is: will it draw in buyers? Samsung has been on the skids this past year with a downturn in sales and market share as greater competition has reared up from Apple on the high-end market and Chinese vendors such as Xiaomi on the low-end market. The company is undoubtedly looking at the thinness factor but also the decent specs as a way to lure in customers. And for a thin phone, the overall features aren't bad. The phone is outfitted with an 1 gigahertz eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, a 16-megapixel camera in the rear and a 5-megapixel wide-angle shooter in front, 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16GB of storage. Other features include a fingerprint sensor and a hand-wave detector that turns on a photo timer. And the large 3,050mAh battery is a hefty accomplishment considering the slimness of the phone. Other specs noted by blog site NDTV Gadgets are a microSD that can handle up to 128GB of storage, 802.11 a/b/g/n, GPS, NFC (near-field communications), Bluetooth 4.1 and 4G LTE support. The phone also comes in a choice of black, white or gold. For now the Galaxy A8 is selling only in China at a starting price of 3,199 yuan (about $515). Samsung hasn't publicly revealed any information about availability in the US or Europe. CNET contacted the company and will update the story with any further details. In the meantime, Samsung is also reportedly focusing on other new phones designed to appeal to consumers seeking big-screened devices, including the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5 Source http://www.cnet.com/
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Samsung has announced a pair of high-capacity SSDs based on its 3D NAND (also known as V-NAND) technology — the 850 EVO and the 850 Pro. Specs on the drives are similar to the smaller capacity products that have already launched, but the drive densities have skyrocketed. The 2TB 850 Pro contains 128 individual 32-layer Flash ICs (128Gb capacity per IC, or 16GB). Samsung also upgraded the MHX NAND controller to handle 2TB arrays, and boosted the on-drive cache to 16Gb (2GB) of LPDDR3. Take the original 850 Pro and 850 Evo and scale them up, and this is what you get. Performance specs on the two drives haven’t been disclosed yet, but we’d expect the 850 Pro to be moderately faster than the 850 EVO, which uses TLC NAND and an SLC cache buffer to boost overall performance. Readers may be concerned about the 850 EVO suffering from some of the same issues that have plagued the original 840 EVO, but we’ve seen no reports that link the 850 EVO to similar performance degradation — and there’s reason to think it may not be an issue. Samsung’s vertical NAND is built on 40nm technology rather than the 19nm NAND that Samsung used on the 840 EVO. While lower process nodes are typically thought of as being unilaterally good for semiconductor design, that’s not the case for NAND flash, which suffers lower data retention and decreased durability as the process node shrinks. In this case, the 850 EVO likely benefits from being built on higher process technology while still offering the benefits of vertical design. We’ve covered Samsung’s V-NAND, the 850 Pro, and 850 EVO in the past, so readers wanting more information on these topics are advised to refer to those articles. The one difference we do know about as of this writing is the warranty period on the two drives and the total write guarantee is quite different. Samsung guarantees the 850 EVO to 150TB written, whereas the 850 Pro is guaranteed for 10 years or 300TB written. Previous testing has confirmed that drive manufacturers tend to be extremely conservative about the maximum write capacity of their drives; even TLC drives are often capable of writing 2-3x more data than the manufacturer specifies. Pricing for the new drives is reportedly set at $800 for the 2TB 850 EVO and $1000 for the 2TB 850 Pro. while still a huge amount of money in absolute terms, these figures show that the 850 Pro has come down to 50 cents per GB — a huge advance compared to a few years ago, when $1 per GB was common, even on budget drives. We don’t expect to see SSDs fall to HDD per-GB pricing in the near-term future, but the gap between the two standards should continue to decrease, making larger capacity SSDs more affordable in the process. Source http://www.extremetech.com/ -
Those of you who expect to get Windows 10 on July 29 may be disappointed. In early June, Microsoft said that Windows 10 would officially launch on July 29. But that doesn't mean everyone will get the new operating system on that date. Microsoft is counting on Windows 10 to bring back some of the appeal and audience it lost with Windows 8. As such, the company has been working hard to fine-tune the new operating system with each new beta build of its Windows 10 Technical Preview to try to get it just right. Microsoft is also offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users in hopes of getting it into the hands of as many users as possible. Those people have been able to reserve a copy of Windows 10. But some will have to wait for their reservation to be filled. In a blog posted on Thursday, Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive VP of Operating Systems, clarified how the Windows 10 roll out will actually commence. "Starting on July 29, we will start rolling out Windows 10 to our Windows Insiders," Myerson said. So those people who joined the Windows Insider program to try out each build of Windows 10 will be first in line. In effect since last October, the Insider Program invites people to test Windows 10 and provide their feedback to Microsoft. "From there, we will start notifying reserved systems in waves, slowly scaling up after July 29th," Myerson added. "Each day of the roll-out, we will listen, learn and update the experience for all Windows 10 users. If you reserved your copy of Windows 10, we will notify you once our compatibility work confirms you will have a great experience, and Windows 10 has been downloaded on your system," Myerson said. So Windows 7 and 8.1 users who reserved their free copy of Windows 10 will apparently be next in line, but only after Microsoft has completed testing to make sure the new OS will work for them as expected. Instead of all interested parties getting Windows 10 on July 29, the rollout will occur in waves, running past the initial launch date. And just how far past July 29 will the rollout run? Days? Weeks? Myerson didn't point to any specific timeline. CNET contacted Microsoft and will update the story if the company responds. So is this "wave" approach to the rollout good or bad? Well, folks who have to wait an indeterminate amount of time to get Windows 10 may be upset if they were hoping to have it by July 29. It's kind of like not being able to open your Christmas present until after Christmas. But Microsoft is actually adopting a sensible approach to the rollout. Despite all the internal and external testing that's been done on Windows 10, the new OS is still just that -- new. And though Myerson said that Microsoft has seen "full compatibility today with the vast majority of Windows 8x and Windows 7x systems," there are still likely to be glitches and incompatibilities with some systems out there. Doing the rollout in stages gives Microsoft time to resolve those issues so the versions of Windows 10 launched after July 29 are more rock-solid. And even beyond the initial rollout, Microsoft will continue to fine-tune and enhance Windows 10 to address any ongoing problems or concerns. Further, Microsoft knows that trying to download Windows 10 on July 29 to everyone who wants it would be difficult. Such an effort would certainly put a strain on the company's backend to try to keep up with the heavy load. Pushing out the OS in stages ensures that the downloads go more quickly and smoothly. "We've been really pleased with the strong response to Windows 10 since we kicked off reservations in early June, with millions of reservations," Myserson said. "We want to make sure all of you have a great upgrade experience, so we'll roll-out Windows 10 in phases to help manage the demand." And what about hardware vendors aiming to roll out new PCs and tablets with Windows 10? Myerson said that Microsoft will soon deliver a build of Windows 10 to its hardware partners so they can start installing the OS on their devices. Soon after that, Microsoft will distribute a build of Windows 10 to retailers so they can help consumers, who buy devices still stuck with Windows 8.1, upgrade to Windows 10. So although you may have to wait beyond July 29 to get your copy of Windows 10, Microsoft's staged rollout is a smart way to ensure that the copy you install is as stable and as compatible as possible. Source http://www.cnet.com/
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. Allegedly, Google started manipulating search results in some European markets as early as January 2008, and the European Commission is not happy about it. Now, Google has until August 17th to respond to the commission’s claims. Reports have surfaced that the original deadline was July 7th, but an extension was granted to allow Google to properly review the issue at hand. And unless Google can pull out some seriously compelling arguments by the middle of August, it could be facing some non-trivial fines. Orange is the new Black Of course, all of this antitrust discussion immediately brings back memories of the Microsoft antitrust debacles in the US and EU. It didn’t end well for Microsoft in the aughts, and there’s a decent chance that Google could face a similar fate. Microsoft easily survived the repercussions, and it’s pretty obvious that Google wouldn’t shut its doors either. However, the threat of fees, negative press, and added scrutiny will probably be enough to make the Mountain View company stay on the straight and narrow. A few days ago, a Yelp-backed study was released publicly, and it provides evidence that Google may be purposefully manipulating its search results to increase the reach of its own products. Yelp seems to have an axe to grind with Google, but this study is just another log on the fire. Many people have been suspicious of Google’s monopolistic tendencies for years now, so it’s no surprise that the EU is getting in on the fun. The European Commission’s initial complaint was filed back in April of this year, and our own Joel Hruska gave us a breakdown of the issue. We all know that only the first handful of results really matter, so the idea that Google is pushing the competition below the fold is worrisome. And since Google has moved into the OS and hardware space in the last decade, the potential for abuse is strong. Are you being manipulated by Google every time you use your Android phone? Frankly, I’m more than a little scared that the answer might be “Yes.” If this ordeal bothers you as much as it does me, you’re probably considering giving Google the boot. For search, you can give DuckDuckGo a try. They beat the privacy drum pretty hard, so it’s nice to know you’re not being tracked by your search provider. You can swap out Chrome for Opera, and keep pretty much all of your extensions. Replacing Android and ChromeOS is a little bit trickier, but there are plenty of third-party solutions for the adventurous among us. Source http://www.extremetech.com/
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Valve's "Get It Early" scheme offered advance access to the company's forthcoming range of hardware to those willing to throw down cash before anyone else. But "only while supplies last," Valve warned earlier this month, when it announced that 35 percent of the stock had already been sold. And now it seems that the remaining 65 percent is gone too. Head over to their respective store pages and you'll notice that the Controller and Link now list an availability date of November 10, rather than October 16, which is when "get it early" preorders will start shipping. You can still put down your money on them, but you'll have to wait in line with the rest of us before you'll get your hands on the gear. Interestingly, as Ars Technica noticed, while the Alienware Steam Machine also lists November 10 as the date of availability, the Syber models have a shipping date of "on or after Oct. 15." That date comes from Syber's own website, however, and not Steam, and it's vague enough to mean just about anything. The remaining Steam Machines carry a less-precise availability date of "November 2015." Valve still hasn't said how many of these devices it has actually sold so far, meaning we have no idea if 500 Steam Controllers have been preordered, for instance, or 5000, or 50,000. It's not unreasonable to assume the kit is selling briskly, but without solid numbers it's impossible to get an accurate picture as to just how popular it really is. The one thing we can say for sure right now is that if you wanted to be early, you're too late. Source http://www.pcgamer.com/
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Will Windows Insiders get Windows 10 for free? Microsoft answers that question. Microsoft is trying to clear up the confusion over whether Windows Insiders will be entitled to the final version of Windows 10. The question of who would get Windows 10 for free seemed a simple one at first. In January, Microsoft announced that users running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 could upgrade to the new OS for free for the first year. By extension, that meant those still using Windows XP or Vista would have to pay for Windows 10. But a blog post published Friday by Gabe Aul, head of the Windows Insider Program, intimated that those in the program -- who have been getting preview versions of Windows 10 at no cost, in a series of trial runs -- would also get the final release for free, seemingly regardless of their current version of Windows. The final version of Windows 10 is scheduled to roll out July 29. With the return of the Start menu and other new and improved features, Windows 10 is in many ways an atonement for Windows 8, which failed to catch on with consumers. The new OS is also an attempt to offer a similar experience among PC, tablet and mobile phone users, with Microsoft hoping that those who try Windows 10 on a PC might be persuaded to try it on a smartphone. As such, the software giant is aiming to get Windows 10 into the hands of as many people as possible, at least within reason. On Monday, Aul clarified that Windows Insiders won't be getting Windows 10 for free, at least not exactly. Though July 29 marks the release of the "final" version of Windows 10, Microsoft will continue to tweak and enhance the operating system beyond that date. The company will also continue to run the Windows Insider program, through which participants can download the latest preview builds to test Windows 10 as it continues to evolve and then offer Microsoft their feedback. And it's those preview builds that Windows Insiders will freely receive on a regular basis. Each preview build expires at a certain point, but Microsoft promises that it will be replaced by the next build. So in essence, those who wish to remain in the Windows Insider Program can get Windows 10 for free, but the version you run will always be a prerelease build, in other words a non-activated beta product. "Since we're continuing the Windows Insider Program you'll be able to continue receiving builds and those builds will continue to be activated under the terms of the Windows Insider Program," Aul said. "We provide ISOs for these builds for recovery from any significant problems, but they are still pre-release software." Those who wish to upgrade to the fully-tested and public release of Windows 10 on July 29 as well as in the future still need to be running Windows 7 or 8.1 to qualify for the free upgrade. As Aul describes it in his blog post, users can choose from a couple of scenarios: Do you want to continue as a Windows Insider and keep getting preview builds after 7/29? Or do you want to upgrade your Genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 system that has been getting Windows 10 Insider Preview builds to the 7/29 release and stop being an Insider? Or to put it another way, do you wish to remain in the Windows Insider program to keep gettting beta and usually buggy versions of Windows 10 for free? Or do you want to be sure you're running Windows 7 or 8.1 so you can get the final and fully-tested public release of Windows 10 for free? Aul also stressed that XP or Vista users who quit the Window Insider program will have to acquire a legitimate license for Windows 10. "This is not a path to attain a license for Windows XP or Windows Vista systems," Aul said. "If your system upgraded from a Genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 license it will remain activated, but if not, you will be required to roll back to your previous OS version or acquire a new Windows 10 license. If you do not roll back or acquire a new license the build will eventually expire." Of course, Windows 7 and 8.1 users who are part of the Windows Insider program can choose to stick with it. That way you can preview each new build of Windows 10 as it comes out and run the legitimate licensed version as well. Source http://www.cnet.com/
