AMD began shipping 40nm C- and E-series Fusion APUs (accelerated processing unit) to vendors back in Novemeber, 2010 and products featuring these integrated chips began entering the market in late January. The Fusion chips currently on the market are only meant for netbooks and low-cost notebooks. That is set to change very soon, though. AMD has begun shipping the more powerful A-series "Llano" chips to vendors, the company said Monday.
"Production units of AMD's 32 nanometer quad-core "Llano" A-Series Accelerated Processor Units (APU) with discrete-level graphics are now shipping," the company announced in a blog post.
The chip maker said that the first batch of mainstream laptops and desktops featuring the 32nm Llano chips will be available during the current quarter. These integrated chips from AMD will compete with Intel's latest Sandy Bridge-based Core processors.
Last week, a senior Dell executive dismissed the iPad's chances of enterprise glory, citing concerns about its high price. But he seemed quite confident of his company's "considered approach to tablets." He touted Dell's decision of giving people a lot of choices through a "multi-OS" (Android and Windows 7) tablet strategy. However, if a new rumor is to be believed, the Windows 7 component of that multi-OS strategy is unlikely to appear before fall. Hit the jump for more.
The 10-inch Windows 7 slate Dell announced back in February at its Dell Means Business event in San Francisco is unlikely to arrive in stores until fall, according to Forbes. While Dell was earlier said to be targeting mid-2011 for the release of the enterprise-centric tablet, a company insider has informed the magazine that the Intel-powered tablet isn't expected to come out anytime before September. However, the source did not provide any reasons for the delay.
While other companies roll out the savings to celebrate holidays and new game launches, Valve's themed its latest after the humblest and most unassuming of all roots: the potato. Then again, the simple confection's been instrumental in keeping humanity from dying of starvation over the years, so we think that might be worth a few slashed price tags. Gamers have quickly discovered, however, that this isn't merely some goofy Valve theme. Well, ok, it's still pretty silly, but apparently potatoes have infested each of the formerly spud-less games. Why? No idea, but there's already a wiki dedicated to it.
First off, the part you probably care about: not spending money. The sale covers 13 indie games – among them Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Super Meat Boy, Killing Floor, and AudioSurf. Individually, each game's only picking 50 percent of its normal price out of your pocket, but the whole bundle hacks off a whopping 75 percent. The bottom line? That's 13 excellent indie titles for $38.65. That's right. Reach for the "Add to Cart" button. It won't bite.
Now the weird part. Potatoes everywhere. Super Meat Boy now has a playable character named Super Potato Boy. The Ball's main screen is now a potato. Also, Amnesia's now sporting Eygptian hieroglyphics, because, uh, beats us. Fan theories, meanwhile, range from a Portal 2 tie-in (supported by some very GlaDOS-like messages in Cogs) to an incredibly elaborate April Fools joke.
It's all very... well, Valve. That's about the only way we can describe it. We're definitely not opposed to taking our cheap games with a side of baked, fried, or mashed intrigue, though, so we'll be keeping tabs on this. Just don't be surprised if Gabe Newell and co. are cackling maniacally to themselves as the Internet whips itself into a frenzy over freaking potatoes.
When last we saw Max Payne, well, we honestly weren't sure we'd ever see him again. The man who pioneered the perma-scowl's been out of action for quite some time, after all, and publisher 2K seemed content to pretend it'd simply put the chronically depressed detective out of his misery. Thankfully, we've finally got solid proof that Max is back. As for whether or not he's better than ever, well, see for yourself.
A preview in the latest issue of Edge Magazine finally freed the cat from its 25-to-life bag sentence and put an emphasis on strict linearity, big setpieces, a story that makes frequent jumps in time, and robust implementation of the Euphoria physics engine, and online multiplayer. Also, series creator Remedy has left Max Payne high-and-dry for the equally punny Alan Wake, so Rockstar Vancouver's taking over as the lead developer, with London, Toronto, and New England contributing as well.
Granted, on paper, this could be a recipe for disaster or another slow-diving, quick-shooting classic. At the very least, however, art director Rob Nelson's promising that the game won't pull any punches in terms of sophistication.
"Both the games and the audiences have become more sophisticated," he told Edge (via The Escapist). "Gamers expect a more fully-realized cinematic experience, even if the main mechanic is still shooting. And though this is a more linear game for us, people want to be constantly surprised and entertained in new ways."
"So you need a lot of custom setups, the environments need to be varied, and all of that while keeping the gameplay fun and responsive - people have become really specific about how they want things to be controlled," he added. "It's a lot more work!"
So then, it sounds like this won't quite be the same Max Payne you came to know and love back when this industry (and possibly you) wore diapers, but different doesn't necessarily mean worse – especially with Rockstar's storytelling prowess behind it. And besides, it could be worse. And by that, we of course mean Mark Wahlberg.
We don't know what kind of relationship you have with your current PC, but take a look at 1997's In Crowd and be grateful that you're not rocking a hard drive with a 2GB capacity. Ah, the good ol' days of modems, 32-bit graphics, notebooks that lacked USB ports and DVD players that would become available "When it becomes portable."
Get a good long look at the PCs that wowed us back in the boot days, then give some thanks that we've moved past the point of 32MB of RAM and laptops that weighed a little "less than seven pounds."
Two of the oldest names in the electronics industry have announced they're getting together. Texas Instruments is buying National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion. That's a pretty hefty 77% premium over the company's $3.4 billion market cap. The deal is about infrastructure as much as it is about technology, sources say.
TI's big business these days comes in the form of System on a Chip (SoC) components used in mobile phones and tablets. National Semi on the other hand, specializes in analog chips. Ti still has an analog operation as well, so these products will make up a large portion of TI's total business after the deal. Also of interest in the deal is National's manufacturing fabs in Maine, Scotland and Malayasia. TI says the facilities will remain in operation.
Shares of TI are up slightly on the news. National has seen its stock price skyrocket 70%, which interestingly enough, puts it right about in line with the value of the deal.
Today is the day. As of April 4, 2011 Eric Schmidt has stepped down as Google's CEO. Co-founder Larry page is taking the reins of the search giant, but Schmidt isn't leaving the company at this time. He will be taking on the role of Executive Chairman. What does this mean for Google?
This is not the first time Page has been the CEO. He ran the company from 1998 until Schmidt was hired in 2001. Google was a much different organization back then, though. The Google that Page ran had about 200 employees, and had just become profitable. With an order of magnitude more workers, and its proverbial fingers in every pot, Page may be in for a surprise.
Many feel that Google will take more risks with Page at the helm. We might be in for more experimental projects like the self driving cars and gigabit residential fiber networks. How do you think Page will fare as Google's CEO?
Over the weekend, well known and feared internet vigilante group Anonymous called out Sony for their legal pursuit of modder GeoHot. Here we are today, and PlayStation websites and even the PlayStation Network are suffering some notable stability issues. Is Anonymous behind it? Sony says no, Anon says yes.
The outage started late last night in Europe and then spread to North America. Anonymous was quick to claim responsibility for the disruptions. Sony's PlayStation Twitter account, however, claims the service is undergoing "sporadic maintenance".
There is something about unscheduled, intercontinental, sporadic maintenance that makes us a little suspicious. Do you think Anonymous is just gearing up for an all out assault, or is this all the fireworks we're going to see?
You or your client may have an idea for a web service so revolutionary that it could kick start the shift to web 3.0 all on its own. Unless you have a plan for building a website to go along with it, that sweet idea will most likely remain just that--an idea. Fortunately, Mockingbird, our Chrome Web App of the Week, is here to help you get the show on the road.
Mockingbird is a wire framing application geared towards generating mock-ups of a website. Once installed to Chrome, users can use a wide variety of pre-rendered shapes, icons and widgets to quickly flesh out the design of a site. With a Mockingbird free user plan, one project up to 10 pages in size can be shared and worked upon by two separate users. Mockingbird also offers a number of priced usage tiers should your needs or those of your company exceed that limit. It's worth noting that the application is powered by Cappuccino--a web framework that will run on most platforms - iOS devices included. That means that even if you're away from a machine rocking a Chrome browser, you can still get your productivity on without any limitations.
When it comes time to show off your final product, Mockingbird allows for PDF and PNG output. Better still, just plop your client down in front of a laptop or tablet display and let them navigate around the site mock up you've cooked up for them, as all of the UI elements in a Mockingbird mockup can be set to act just as they would were the final site actually built, up and running. It almost seems too easy.
Be sure to check back every Monday for another edition of Chrome Web App of the Week.
Ditch the discs! We show you how to rip, convert, store, and stream all your media—while retaining the highest possible level of quality
Listen up, mediaphiles, because this might just be the last time we tackle the preservation of physical media in the hallowed pages of Maximum PC.
Yes, the times are changing. Yes, we've cut back on purchasing CDs, DVDs, and BDs lately. Yes, we still have plenty of discs lying around in jewel cases on dusty shelves or in enormous three-ring binders. And yes—most definitely yes—we want to be able to access all these movies and songs from our PC, television, and our shiny new smartphone.
Is it legal to rip your own media? Mostly. In the United States, the circumvention of copy protection and playback control systems is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). However, recent "fair use" rulings have relaxed the circumvention rules in specific cases. Our take is that as long as you're not pirating the content, you're good, but for a fairly complete rundown of the most current interpretation of the DMCA, point your browser to http://bit.ly/fDiOit.
As always, we're curious to hear about the tips, tricks, software, and apps you use in your pursuit of the perfect media library. Tell us your deepest secrets at comments@maximumpc.com.
Rip All of Your Media
The first step is to transform your collection of CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs into files that can be played on the platform of your choice
Before we start blindly converting discs into files, take a moment to consider where and how the resulting files will be used. You may be interested in converting disc-based content for playback on a specific platform such as a PC, smartphone, portable player, HDTV, or game console. Or, you may want to simply archive a disc so that there is no sacrifice in features or quality.
For either scenario, the choice of file format is crucial. An ISO image is perfect for storing a complete copy of a particular disc, and these image files are easily played on a PC or on some stand-alone players. However, that same file may be too large or simply incompatible with a device like a smartphone or game console. Likewise, container, or "wrapper," file formats, such as MKV (Matroska) and AVI (Audio Video Interleaved), can comprise any number of encoded audio/video (AV) file formats that may or may not be compatible with a particular player. See the "AV Formats" sidebar on the facing page for our guidance, but as a general rule, if you are unsure of the target platform (or there are several) for your disc collection, you should losslessly archive your media so that you can convert it into whatever file format is desired at a later date.
How to Rip an Audio CD
Sure, you could use iTunes or Windows Media Player to create lossy or lossless encodes of your favorite CD audio tracks. However, if you want to ensure that your rips are 100 percent error free, then you need an application that supports AccurateRip (www.accuraterip.com), which verifies each ripped track against an Internet database that contains data on more than 1.7 million audio discs. AccurateRip is supported by our favorite free and paid ripping applications—Exact Audio Copy (free, www.exactaudiocopy.de) and dBpoweramp Reference ($38, www.dbpoweramp.com). These programs also support hardware error detection (C2), which helps ensure precise positioning of the drive's read head in relationship to the CD data track.
One of our favorite ripping applications, dBpoweramp is a multithreaded app that uses AccurateRip technology to ensure perfect rips of your audio CDs.
We're partial to dBpoweramp Reference for its inclusion of a batch ripper and batch audio-conversion tool, which includes extensive and easily updated audio codec support. The batch audio converter is ideal for tasks such as converting a collection of losslessly encoded FLAC tracks into the Apple Lossless format for your iPhone and into Ogg Vorbis for use with other media players. It's also superb at finding and filling in metadata, such as artist name, song title, and album art information.
Finally, dBpoweramp's Codec Central website (http://bit.ly/hdKdtd) is the place to go for one-click installations of the most popular audio codecs. To preserve your folder structure when batch-converting an audio archive into other formats, set the output folder to the desired destination (your work folder), and then select Dynamic Naming and change it to: [origpath]\[origfilename].
How to Rip DVD Video
Nowadays, decrypting DVD-Video is a painless task and the antiripping technology that some discs employ is easily circumvented. Tools such as the free DVDFab HD Decrypter (www.dvdfab.com/hd-decrypter.htm) and AnyDVD HD ($110 for a two-year subscription, www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html) offer one-click options for dumping the contents of a DVD-Video disc to a folder on a hard drive. This folder structure can then be written back to a recordable DVD or to an ISO image file using a free tool like ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com).
You can also convert ripped DVDs to various file formats using freely available encoding tools such as HandBrake (http://handbrake.fr/) or RipBot264 (http://bit.ly/h3j6h8). HandBrake's native support of DVD file folders makes it slightly easier to use, but RipBot264 can get the job done by pointing the program at the main movie's first VOB file (they are approximately 1GB) located in the VIDEO_TS folder—it will find and assimilate any related VOB files automagically.
One particularly handy feature of AnyDVD is its ability to bypass DVD encryption without actually ripping the disc. With AnyDVD running in the background, the contents of the inserted DVD can be accessed directly by any of the aforementioned tools. AnyDVD also offers the option to rip a DVD directly to an ISO image file that can be mounted in a virtual DVD drive such as SlySoft's free Virtual CloneDrive program (http://bit.ly/fe4deK). When used in combination with the My Movies for WMC program (www.mymovies.dk), you'll be able to pull down your entire movie archive in a stream. Some multimedia player programs such as VLC (www.videolan.org) and even some stand-alone players support the playback of DVD ISO files.
When backing up a DVD movie to a single-layer DVD-R (DVD5), you can improve picture quality by ripping only the main movie, deselecting unneeded audio tracks (stereo instead of 5.1-channel audio helps, too), and deselecting captioning information (also known as "Subpicture"). Finally, there is no reason to transcode DVD video into a resolution greater than 720x480 (the format's native resolution).
How to Rip Blu-ray Video
Blu-ray's constantly updated protection schemes require ripping software that's regularly updated. Once again, we'll use DVDFab and AnyDVD HD. One thing we particularly like about AnyDVD is that it allows for the playback of Blu-ray movies on PCs that lack a protected video path. One convenience here is that the main movie on a BD often consists of a single .m2ts file located in the .../BDMV/STREAM/ subdirectory. Sort by file size and it's usually the largest one. Once decrypted, this .m2ts file can be transcoded with free tools like HandBrake or RipBot264.
The largest file in a Blu-ray's STREAM folder is the main movie title.
Ripping a 3D Blu-ray movie is a little trickier. A complete ISO image of a 3D Blu-ray movie will play just fine on a PC running 3D-compatible player software, such as ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theater 5, Corel's WinDVD 2010, or CyberLink's PowerDVD 10. If you are interested in transcoding 3D Blu-ray video, DVDFab offers paid options for one-click conversions into a variety of popular file formats. (The feature is available to try free for 30 days, but it will watermark the output.)
Don't spend extra for Blu-ray movies that include a "digital copy" for use with compatible mobile devices. You can often achieve better picture quality, a smaller-size file, and wider compatibility by transcoding the movie's .m2ts file yourself. HandBrake has a convenient selection of encoder presets that are particularly great at this task. The program's picture tab allows you to adjust the output resolution of your encodes, and the video tab provides quality controls that can be used to target a specific bitrate or file size.
If you plan to transcode Blu-ray video into a highly compressed format to save storage space, plan on reducing the video resolution as well—a 35GB Blu-ray rip at 1080p converts quite nicely into a much smaller 720p file. Make sure to set the width to 1280 under the picture-size setting.
Choosing the Right File Format
Not surprisingly, choosing the right AV file formats to convert to largely depends on the devices you own. Here's some general guidance based on common usage.
Mobile Devices
Video: The MPEG-4/H.264 AV formats are ideal for most mobile devices, including the iPhone and Android-based products. When possible, encode using H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC/Part 10) video and two-channel LC (Low Complexity) AAC audio, as this combination provides good quality and compression and wide support. Common H.264 container file extensions include .mp4, .m4v, and .mov.
Audio: Android-based phones lack native support for most popular lossless audio formats (WAV is not a useful option). Android devices do, however, support the free Ogg Vorbis format, which produces superior musical reproduction vs. other lossy formats using similar bitrates—particularly when encoding with lossless channel coupling (Ogg quality-level "-q 6" or greater). For iPhone/iPad audio, Apple Lossless sounds the best, but you can save storage space by going with high-bitrate LC AAC.
DLNA
The only required formats in the spec are JPG pictures, two-channel LPCM audio, and MPEG-2 video. Several optional media formats are also available, and MPEG-4 with AAC audio is becoming increasingly popular. DLNA for mobile devices requires the support of MPEG-4 AVC (aka H.264) video with LC AAC audio—a format easily created with free tools like HandBrake.
Xbox 360
We recommend AVI and DivX—these containers are the only formats that support Dolby Digital audio (2.0 and 5.1 channel). Using H.264, the encoding resolution can go as high as 1080p30 at up to 10Mb/s, but audio must be two-channel LC AAC.
PlayStation 3
The PS3's lack of support for DTS audio (in files) makes playback of some ripped content problematic. Transcoding DTS audio into two-channel LC AAC ensures excellent compatibility, but surround sound (5.1 channel) is no longer an option. Files with AC3 audio (Dolby Digital) are playable on the PS3, but the video must be transcoded into MPEG-2 if not already in that format. Another workaround for these types of files is to use a real-time transcoder application such as PS3 Media Server.
Store Your Media Library
How to choose the right storage method and make the most of the hardware you already have on hand
As hardware prices continue to fall, cost is no longer the barrier between you and obscene amounts of storage. The real puzzle is choosing a storage method that makes your library accessible to other devices on your network. Let's take a look at different options for both storing your media and sharing it throughout your network.
Share Files on Your PC
Right or wrong, the classic method of sharing your media across multiple devices is the good old-fashioned file share. Windows 7 does a better job of making this user friendly with HomeGroups. Using a HomeGroup, you can create a relationship between multiple Windows 7 PCs using a single password. This allows you to share your music, pictures, and videos among multiple computers with ease. In conjunction with Windows Media Player, a HomeGroup also allows you to turn your PC into a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) digital media server (DMS), making your content available to a wide range of playback devices, such as your gaming system or TV.
Windows 7 can be easily configured to share your media library to other DLNA-capable devices on your network.
HomeGroups can be managed in the Network and Sharing Center control panel. In addition to allowing access to your digital media, HomeGroups also handle your Document and Printer sharing. In the Media Streaming options you can choose what types of media you share and what devices on your network are allowed to access your media library.
If you're serious about streaming your PC-based media, be sure to familiarize yourself with the Stream menu in Windows Media Player 12. You can use it to allow devices to play media from your local hard drive, and you can easily allow remote control of Windows Media Player itself. (For Windows XP or Vista users, the same functionality can be achieved using Windows Media Player 11 or 12, though the configuration process isn't as intuitive.)
Using your PC as your media server will also allow you to use advanced features that may not be possible using other solutions. For example, one of the optional fields for music and video is the Parental Rating field. Assuming these fields are populated, you can control which playback devices on your network can access which ratings. For example, you could specify that the kids' computer could only see media with a maximum rating of PG-13, while the home theater system could play any rating. Media that doesn't fit your prescribed rating simply doesn't appear in the library.
If you have children and/or sensitive content, use the advanced settings to specify media types and potential ratings.
Network Attached Storage (NAS)
A NAS appliance is one of the most cost- effective methods for centralizing your media. For a few hundred dollars you can purchase a solution that will provide you with multiple terabytes of storage. If you're really serious about streaming your media to your TV or home theater, you should focus on NAS options that are certified DLNA digital media servers.
A NAS that is a certified digital media server will perform all of the heavy lifting in terms of indexing your media and creating a library structure that is accessible from other DLNA devices on your network. Promise Technology's SmartStor Zero ($290, www.promise.com) offers two drive bays and effortless setup and installation. Performance is snappy—the included Gigabit Ethernet coupled with multiple RAID options (assuming you're using multiple drives) make it a solid choice in our book. Other NAS devices we've reviewed favorably over the last year include Seagate's BlackArmor NAS 220 (http://bit.ly/baeM6j) and Qnap's TS-239 Pro Turbo NAS (http://bit.ly/fX3WUD).
One other feature we like about NAS is that many manufacturers have partnered with established cloud services or have created their own means of allowing you to access your media from anywhere via laptops, phones, and tablets.
Windows Home Server
Our only real concern regarding WHS 2011, beyond the removal of the Drive Extender feature, is support. In light of HP's decision to cancel its WHS product line, will Microsoft continue to support the OS? Assuming that it does, and assuming that you live in a Windows-centric world, this remains the premium choice for creating and managing a centralized media library.
Users on the network can browse music and video in shared media libraries without leaving Windows Media Player.
Native support for DLNA comes in Windows Home Server 2011, but there are a plethora of software tools for folks using previous versions. Additionally, Windows Home Server allows you to configure access from outside your network, giving you the ability to download and even stream content located on your server.
Most off-the-shelf Windows Home Servers come with a preinstalled DLNA stack, making configuration a breeze. If you already have or are rolling your own custom-built server, there are several options for making your library accessible to DLNA devices; Twonky Server ($20, www.twonky.com) and TVersity (free, www.tversity.com) are our recommendations for turning your Home Server into a DMS.
Windows Home Server 2011 features a built-in DLNA digital media server. Options pertaining to video quality and shared file types are configurable.
The biggest upside to using Windows Home Server as your centralized storage solution is how well it integrates with the Windows 7 computers that you already have in place. Windows Home Server will actually integrate into the Libraries feature of Windows 7, making it easy for anyone to add music or pictures to your library without having to learn a new UI. An added bonus is that if you're using Windows Media Center, all of your recorded TV can also be automatically dropped onto your home server, making storage and sharing of new TV episodes an automated process.
For detailed instructions on building out a home server, point your browser to http://bit.ly/fyoHmG.
How Do You Organize 4TB of Data? Diligently!
Regardless of your storage method, you'll initially want to spend some time making sure you have an optimized file hierarchy for your library. When accessing your content through DLNA, your media will be structured automatically using metadata such as ID3 tags, but you'll want to perform some fine-tuning in order to make sure everything is easy to locate. There may also be situations where you simply want to move the files and folders around, in which case you will want to have everything organized in a uniform manner.
How you use file names and folder structure is up to your personal preferences, but planning ahead and keeping it consistent is a must. For any sufficiently large collection of files, well-crafted folder hierarchies help keep things organized and accessible. Some examples of optimum folder structures for AV file collections include:
It's also a good idea to create a work folder for your ripped AV output that is separate from your carefully organized archive collection. Things can get messy quickly if a ripper/encoder application hiccups and scatters tracks/files across numerous folders. It's much easier to contain and clean up such a mess if it is limited to a noncritical work folder.
Stream Your Media
How to share and access your media library from a variety of devices across your network—and beyond!
Here's where all your hard work, organization, and emphasis on fidelity pays off. TVs, Blu-ray players, PCs, mobile phones, and tablets are just a few of the devices that can easily gain access to a DLNA-certified digital media server. The good news is that finding a DLNA device to play your media is a really simple process. These days, most consumer electronic devices support DLNA out of the box, making this a fairly painless process.
DLNA and Why You Should Use It
The primary function of the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), strictly speaking, is to provide a standard method of streaming music, video, and pictures to various devices around your home. The DLNA standards specify profiles that fulfill different roles in the streaming process. As an organization, DLNA members include industry heavyweights such as Microsoft, Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic.
Windows Media Player will allow you to play music or video to a DLNA-certified digital media renderer, such as an Xbox 360.
DLNA was spawned from Universal Plug n Play Audio Visual (UPnP AV) and uses web standards such as HTTP, XML, and SOAP to move data between devices. The real benefit of the standard is that the technology is open, which means that devices from competing manufacturers will be compatible. Currently, there are more than 9,000 DLNA-certified devices with more being added every day. Since DLNA is recognized as an international standard and is backed by the biggest manufacturers of consumer electronic devices in the industry, it's a safe bet that DLNA will be around for a while.
Optimize Your DLNA Setup
The networking aspect of DLNA may be your biggest technological hurdle in getting everything working effectively. DLNA-certified products are going to have to be networked in order to communicate, and extending your network to your home theater system can be… trying.
Wireless networking offers convenience, but the trade-off in most cases is reduced performance and stability when compared to a wired network connection. In addition, many DLNA-certified products don't support wireless networking, so an Ethernet converter or gaming adapter may be required. Performance on your network can be a key issue with DLNA, especially if you want to stream a video in HD with six channels of audio. To give you an idea of the data involved, the bitrate for DVD quality video is around 9.8Mb/s, while a Blu-ray comes in at around 40Mb/s.
On paper, a 54Mb/s 802.11g network should be enough to handle anything you throw at it, but with interference or distance that number usually drops dramatically.
DLNA Alternatives
DLNA isn't a great solution for streaming video from a service like Hulu or Netflix, and it's not a technology for mirroring your computer's display on your HDTV. A better solution for mirroring your display is Intel's Wireless Display (WiDi) technology. WiDi uses an integrated chip in a compatible laptop to talk wirelessly to an adapter that is connected to your TV. The requirements for WiDi are strict; the hardware has to be preinstalled in a laptop, and only Netgear and D-Link currently offer adapters.
Testing WiDi with a Sony VIAO EA Series laptop and a Netgear PTV1000 WiDi adapter revealed the major upside of WiDi—it's a completely seamless experience. Running the client application on a compatible laptop will scan for available adapters and show you previous connections. Once the adapter is selected you are only a couple clicks away from displaying your laptop screen on your TV.
Another more affordable option that works surprisingly well is Warpia's StreamHD product, which uses USB Ultra-Wideband (UWB) to transmit up to a 1080p signal (and digital audio) over line-of-sight distances up to 30 feet. We'll have a full review next month, but so far we're impressed with the quality of the wireless signal.
Core Components of DLNA
Once you have your digital media server built and populated with your media library, there are a couple methods for browsing and playing back your media. The most popular role for playing back media from a DMS is that of a digital media player (DMP). With a DMP you can find your server, browse the content library, and select media for playback. Any number of devices can function as a DMP—from popular gaming consoles like Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 to tablets like the iPad to TVs and Blu-ray players. When you use Windows Media Player to browse a media library other than your own, the PC you are browsing with is functioning as a DMP, while the device hosting the library is acting as the DMS.
TOP: A DLNA-certified digital media player is used to browse and play media stored on a digital media server.
BOTTOM: A digital media controller can browse a digital media server, and play music and videos to a digital media renderer.
The other popular scenario with DLNA utilizes the digital media server as the source for media, but uses two separate means for selecting and playing the media. A digital media controller (DMC), which could be a PC or a mobile device, browses the server and selects the media. The DMC then sends the music or video to a digital media renderer (DMR) for playback. Classic examples of a DMR would be the Xbox 360 or a DMR-capable HDTV.
Here are some practical examples of DLNA at work:
Playing Video in Windows Media Player In Windows Media Player 12, you can quickly and easily browse your locally stored media. Additionally, WMP will recognize DLNA digital media servers located on your network. When using Windows Media Player in Library mode, you can view digital media servers on your network under Other Libraries. From there you can simply drill down in the tree view to select the video you wish to play.
Playing music to a home theater receiver If your home theater receiver supports DMR functionality, like the Onyko TX-NR807 ($1,000; www.us.onkyo.com) receiver we tested, it's a cinch to queue a playlist to access within Windows Media Player. Clicking the Play tab at the top of the window will toggle the playlist pane, onto which you can drag music to build your playlist. If your DMR is on the network, the Play To menu at the top of the pane will be enabled. Choosing your receiver from the menu will send your playlist to the DMR. This scenario works equally well with other DMRs, like an Xbox 360.
Using a mobile device to start a video on your TV The scenario that will earn you the most geek cred is using a mobile device to play media stored on your digital media server to your DMR-capable TV. Using free DLNA software like Fusion Stream for iPhone/iPad (itunes.apple.com) or Skifta for Android (www.sifta.com), you can select and browse digital media servers on your network. After choosing a video, the software-based digital media controller then allows you to choose the digital media renderer on which to play the video.
Displaying pictures from your phone to a TV Many of us have experienced the situation where we have pictures located on our phone that we want to share with a group of people. With a DMR-capable TV, such as the Samsung Series 7 HDTV, you can simply share the pictures from your phone or tablet to the big screen, making it possible for the whole family to view your handiwork. One hurdle is the limited number of TVs that function as a digital media renderer, as opposed to those supporting the digital media player role. Skifta for Android allows you to get around this by serving as an intermediary DMS, so you can browse the mobile device itself using a TV that supports the DMP role.
Watching video on your phone or tablet How often do you have a desire to watch a movie, only to find that someone else is using the TV? As an alternative, you can use a tablet to browse the digital media server that is hosting your videos, select a movie, and begin watching it on the tablet's screen. Some DLNA software solutions will even allow you to download videos or music for later use offline.
DLNA-Certified Products
With upward of 9,000 DLNA-certified products, it can be a chore to find devices that fulfill the different roles you need. DLNA has a couple of tools to help with this process. First, DLNA-certified products all carry the DLNA logo. Many products will support DLNA without being officially certified, though in the case of computers and mobile devices, the certification is based on software capabilities and is generally only an indication that the device manufacturer pursued the certification.
In conjunction with an Intel Wireless Display–capable laptop, Netgear's PTV1000 adapter will allow you to mirror your PCs display to your HDTV.
DLNA also has a web-based tool allowing you to search for specific devices based on manufacturer, role, and model. This database lists every DLNA-certified product and what roles and media types the device supports.
You now only have one very important step left: Kick back and enjoy your media!
5 Ways to Access Your Media Library from the Internet
1. Windows Home Server
The introduction of a Windows Home Server onto your network introduces a plethora of additional functionality. One of the coolest features is the ability to download or stream all of the documents and media stored on your home server from the web. Beyond that, Windows Home Server will even facilitate a Remote Desktop session to any capable member PC on the network, all from a single web page.
It's really hard to describe the PogoPlug in just a few sentences, but essentially it's a cloud-centric NAS appliance. The PogoPlug hardware itself doesn't contain storage, but that is easily remedied with the four USB ports. The free My PogoPlug service will provide you with a web-based method for accessing your files and also makes sharing those files with others a breeze. Free PogoPlug mobile applications are available for iOS, Android, Blackberry, and WebOS devices.
Orb Live is based on a software install on your PC called Orb Caster. In addition to indexing the media files on your PC and sharing them to your mobile device, Orb will allow you to watch live TV on your iPhone or Android device through a connected PC with a TV tuner card. Orb Live can also transcribe ESPN3 and other Internet TV so that it's watchable on your phone and provide you with live access to compatible webcams that are attached to the host PC. An Orb plugin is available for Netgear's ReadyNAS Ultra line of products. Mobile apps come in both free versions with limited functionality and full versions for $9.99. Yes, it's awesome.
Blending the best of both worlds, Tonido offers both hardware and software solutions to take your media to your own personal cloud. Most of the applications are free, including the mobile clients. The hardware solution is a low-powered home server dubbed the TonidoPlug, which features a single USB port, and costs $99.
If you use an Android device, Skifta is an absolute must-have. Not only does Skifta function as a DLNA-certified digital media controller, but in conjunction with a PC-based application, it will allow you to remotely connect and stream content from any DLNA digital media server on your home network. Netgear also shows Skifta some love with an add-on for ReadyNAS Ultra appliances. To top it all off, Skifta lets you push your remote stream to a digital media renderer wherever you are.
Everybody knows about Netflix and Pandora, but there are a host of other online content providers that offer high-quality (even HD) content for little to no cost. These six services grant you a wealth of content no matter where you are—as long as you have an Internet connection.
Amazon Video on Demand
Yes, that Amazon. Amazon is becoming a sleeper in the digital content space; it has been adding to its digital content selection for years now and offers digital versions of movies and TV episodes for rental or purchase. Amazon is also making a move in the subscription market with Amazon Prime. Subscribers get unlimited access to more than 5,000 commercial-free movies and TV shows, and this number will grow over time. The service, initially formed to give subscribers unlimited free shipping on all purchases, costs $79 per year. Many Internet-capable TVs and set-top boxes, including Roku, support Amazon Video On Demand, even at HD resolutions.
We've covered this one before, but it's so ubiquitous that it bears repeating. Hulu Plus's premium service gives you the ability to watch Hulu on devices like the iPhone/iPad and Roku set-top boxes. The other primary benefit of a Hulu Plus subscription is the ability to watch the full current season of TV shows. Monthly subscriptions cost $7.99, and a one-week free trial is available.
If you haven't been paying attention, ESPN is one of the most technologically advanced media entertainment companies in the universe. From 3D television broadcasts to state-of-the-art web apps, ESPN is constantly pushing the boundaries of technology. ESPN3 is one of the biggest streaming video endeavors to date. While it offers archived video, ESPN broadcasts much of its content live. Offering features such as picture-in-picture, live score updates, and bookmarked timelines to allow you to find the key moments in your game, ESPN3 is a "must bookmark," in our minds, for sports fans. And, as if that weren't enough, ESPN has partnered with Microsoft to bring ESPN3 to the Xbox 360 for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. The only real caveat to ESPN3's world domination is its licensing structure. ESPN3 is free to use, as long as your Internet service provider has a partnership with ESPN.
Billed as an alternative to Hulu Plus, Bitbop is a streaming video service for mobile phones backed by Fox Mobile. Supporting Android, Windows Phone 7, and BlackBerry, Bitbop provides access to many popular TV shows, some of which are not available on other services. The service will run you $9.99 per month, with movies available on a pay-per-download basis. Unlike many other streaming video options, the Bitbop application will allow you to download content so that you can watch it later.
Sling Media is another innovative company with an established presence. Its Slingbox product doesn't remove the need for a cable or satellite TV provider. Instead, it feeds off of and further enables your TV dependency. There are two components to the Slingbox system. The Slingbox itself is a piece of hardware that connects to your TV service and your home network. The second component is an application for your mobile phone or tablet. The point of the system is to allow you to view live TV from your home on your mobile device from anywhere you have Internet connectivity. There are currently two hardware options—the Slingbox Pro-HD and the Slingbox Solo. Mobile applications exist for all of the major mobile platforms.
Microsoft's music and video store, Zune, offers digital downloads for prices comparable to the competition. The Zune Pass is one of the hidden gems in media streaming and purchasing; this subscription-based service gives you the ability to download or stream unlimited music from the Zune library. In addition to the free content, you are allowed to download and keep 10 free tracks per month in MP3 format. Zune is available for PC, Xbox 360, and Zune HD, but is especially powerful with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 devices, as you can download and stream music over the air.
This stunning soundcard makes a solid case for discrete audio
Audiophiles, hear this: The amazing Asus Xonar Essence STX finally faces a true competitor.
Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium is startling in several ways. A gaming and music enthusiast's audio card, this X-Fi is ready for Windows 7 (and Vista) out of the box and comes armed with Creative Alchemy, which restores multichannel positional audio for legacy Windows XP and Vista games. Watch out, though: The sheer fidelity of the card's output will really make you notice any shortcomings in the quality of your speakers' or headset's sound. Another thing you'll notice: Its analog outputs don't include an option for more than two speakers. Users of 5.1 or 7.1 systems without optical or digital audio inputs or a decoder will probably want to think about another soundcard because of this.
Trust us on this one—your ears will thank you.
Our test bed's crispy-clear Logitech Z-5500 5.1 kit is, thankfully, equipped to handle what the X-Fi Titanium HD has to offer, as are our Phiaton headphones.
To test this beast, we stayed in the real world, employing careful listening tests and comparing the clarity and accuracy of the card to Asus's triumphant Xonar Essence STX. We played a dozen games and listened to countless hours of music, including CDs, ripped MP3s of various bitrates, and a studio-quality, 24-bit, 96kHz DVD of the Flaming Lips' recent album Embryonic.
The games proved the card is a true player's paradise. Dead Space and its sequel, which you could easily argue have the best sound design in gaming history, both sounded atmospheric and creepy with an impressive-sounding range of effects across all sound spectrums, and the positional audio was perfectly accurate through both a two-cone headset and the Z-5500. Mass Effect 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, BioShock 2, the underrated reboot of Medal of Honor, and Dead Rising 2 all sounded tip-top as well. Alchemy even made oldies-but-goodies like The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 sound snappy and vibrant.
Musical tastes vary, as do file formats, bitrates, and studio mastering. It would be impossible to list all the bands and songs we tested, but we hit every genre from ambient to experimental noise. To say we were blown away doesn't do justice to how impressed we were with the audio this card pumped out.
It's important to note that low bitrate rips are quite obviously tinny, with sizzle in the cymbal crashes—a card of the X-Fi Titanium HD's prowess really exposes the flaws in an audio file. Our 320Kb/s MP3 rips, however, sounded fantastic, and the Lips' studio-quality double album was so full of life, we noticed details in the music we never detected listening to a CD of the same material.
The card installed quite easily. The control software is typical Creative stuff (if you've used past generations of X-Fi cards, the Creative Console will be familiar from the outset). The X-Fi Titanium HD's operational amplifiers are force-fit rather than soldered in, which means they're replaceable; the card encodes Dolby Digital and DTS for HTPC purposes; it supports ASIO 2.0 for outstanding recording quality.
The only thing it doesn't support, which might be a stickler for gamers, is Windows XP and prior versions of Microsoft's ubiquitous OS. The Titanium HD was designed from the ground up for the audio driver stack of Windows Vista and 7.
So, is it better than the Xonar Essence? Honestly, we couldn't detect a difference. Both cards are of such high quality that a purchasing decision will probably be determined by pricing, brand loyalty, or simple personal preference.
At its street price, which hovers in the $160 to $170 range (far lower than its MSRP of $300), gamers might stick with the crummy onboard audio that comes with every motherboard—but real audiophiles will find the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD a rewarding purchase.
Whenever AMD or Intel introduce a new processor, there's the question of whether or not it will work in your existing motherboard, and if not, which one(s) will it work with? The answer isn't always as obvious as a pin count, especially with the current generation of AMD parts. To help alleviate any confusion over AMD's next generation CPUs for current AMD 800/700 series chipset motherboards, Gigabyte announced it's the first to market with AM3+ "Black Socket" motherboards, giving users at-a-glance confirmation that everything's kosher.
"Wanting to ensure users their motherboard is able to take advantage of all the performance enhancements that AMD's upcoming AMD3+ CPUs have to offer, Gigabyte has equipped their entire line of AM3+ CPU ready motherboards with a new black colored socket, making it easy to spot for AM3+ support," Gigabyte says. "In addition, Gigabyte 'Black Socket' series offer full backwards compatibility with AMD's current generation AM3 socket CPUs, allowing for painless migration to the AM3+ CPUs when they become available."
There are currently 16 Gigabyte AM3+ "Black Socket" series motherboards, including:
Nobody wants to pay for something that doesn't work, and the same holds true for big corporations, like AMD. No longer willing to accept non-working parts, AMD hammered out a new deal with GlobalFoundries in which it will only pay for chips that that work as advertised. Prior to this revised agreement, AMD was paying for all chips produced at cost plus a markup for GlobalFoundries, and it didn't matter whether the chips worked or not.
According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, AMD's toughened stance is to serve as an incentive for GlobalFoundries to improve production of 32nm chips. It's unclear how many defective parts AMD paid for up to this point.
AMD reckons it will pay GlobalFoundries in the neighborhood of $1.1 billion to $1.5 billion in 2011 and $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion in 2012. AMD, which is GlobalFoundries' biggest customers, paid around $1.2 billion in 2010.
Too bad there's no eBay for dead people. If there was, you could make a, ahem, killing selling your iPad 2 tablet to people on the 'other side.' Apple's second generation tablet is proving so popular that not only does it remain sold out in stores and online, but Chinese families in Malaysia can't even get their hands on paper replicas to burn as part of a centuries-old ritual.
There's a Chinese tradition in which paper replicas of material goods, like money, mobile phones, and other luxury items, are burned to pay tribute to ancestors. It takes place during the Qingming festival, and one of the items heavily sought after this year is the iPad 2. Turns out even replicas are hard to come by, Reuters reports.
"Some of my customers have dreams where their departed relatives will ask for luxury items including the iPad 2," said prayer item shopkeeper Jeffrey Te. "I can only offer them the first iPad model."
Te, whose store is stocked with paper iPhones and Galaxy Tabs, received 300 iPad 2 replica sets from China for the festival, all of which were quickly snatched up. Both the first and second generation replica tablets sell for a dollar for 888 gigabyte capacity, a number regarded as a symbol of fortune and prosperity in Chinese culture.
Our insane stat of the day involves Rovio's Angry Birds Rio app, which has been downloaded a whopping 10 million times in just 10 days following its March 22 release. That includes downloads for both iOS and Android. Angry Birds Rio is a $0.99 download via iOS, but was made available for free on Android through an agreement with Amazon on its new Appstore for Android.
The 10 million download milestone was revealed in a cryptic tweet from Rio and later clarified by Mobile-Ent.biz.
"10 in 10:-) Angry Birds Rio breaking all records. A massive thanks to all our fans!!!," Rovio tweeted.
As of today, Angry Birds Rio is still being offered for free on Amazon's Appstore, though it's unclear how long the promotion will last. The normal price is $0.99, same as for iOS, or $2.99 for the iPad version.
According to Gamasutra, it took the original Angry Birds 10 months to notch 10 million downloads, all of which were paid downloads on the iTunes App Store. The original app now boasts more than 100 million downloads and over 40 million active users.
Some things you definitely should not try at home, like microwaving electronic components. Leave it to the professionals and the crazies to take on such tasks, of which Kenny Irwin might be a little of both. Irwin operates the Microwave Show, a YouTube channel dedicated to popping various electronics into microwaves and recording the carnage. His latest experiment is Nintendo's 3DS handheld console.
The video is a little over 4 minutes in length, but the 3DS goes up in smoke, and then flames within seconds of being nuked at full power like a Hot Pocket. Be warned that the subsequent narration gets a little loud at times, and it sounds like Irwin is a little off his rocker, which we suppose you'd have to be in order to microwave consoles and other toxic items, but there's a reason for his madness. At the end of the video, Irwin scoops up what's left of the charred 3DS console and announces it's available on Ebay for $1,000. With as many hits as his videos get, he'll probably find a buyer.
Irwin's fame extends beyond just the Internet. According to CNet, he also appeared on the Conan O'Brien show. 3DS video below.
Several former Engadget editors have decided to jump ship and partner up with a sports publisher to launch an unnamed tech site. The crusade is being led by Josh Topolsky and followed by seven ex-Engadget staffers, including Nilay Patel, Joanna Stern, Paul Miller, Dan Chilton, Justin Glow, Ross Miller, and Chris Ziegler. Topolsky acknowledged that it's a little odd to be partnering with a sports publisher, but promises that the new site will be something completely different.
"I've decided to join the team at SB Nation to build something brand new in the tech space," Topolsky blogged over the weekend. "Now I know it might seem odd to some that I would be partnering with a sports publisher to build a technology news site, but that's only half the story. this isn't just about sports, or tech, or lone silos. What we will try to build together at SB Nation is a new media company -- buoyed by the absolutely incredible work SB Nation has already done in publishing -- and part of that new media company will be the as-yet-unnamed gadget and technology site that I'll be working over the next few months to create. When we launch (hopefully in the fall), I will be editor-in-chief of a property that I hope will inform, entertain, and engage fans of technology in whole new ways."
Topolsky went on to explain that SB Nation shares his "vision of what publishing looks like in the year 2011," though stopped short of offering up any real details.
News of Topolsky's upcoming venture was first reported by The New York Times, which points out that "Engadget's relationship with AOL was always tense." AOL inherited Engadget when it purchased Weblogs Inc. in 2005 for $25 million. More recently, AOL acquired The Huffington Post for $315.
"But beyond the technology (and possibly more important than the technology), there's another factor here that's driving my decision," Topolsky said. "It's that SB Nation believes in real, independent journalism and the potential for new media to serve as an answer and antidote to big publishing houses and SEO spam -- a point we couldn't be more aligned on."
We're a little surprised that, up until now, NEC hasn't released a large-screen LCD display with LED backlighting, but hey, there's nothing wrong with showing up fashionably late. NEC joins the large-screen LED party with a pair of professional-grade models, the 46-inch X461S and 55-inch X551S. Like nearly all LED displays, both of NEC's new models sport a super-slim profile.
"These super-slim displays are the first large-screen products from NEC to offer LED backlighting technology, bringing a new class of professional-grade displays to NEC's lineup," NEC said. "Their edge-lit LED backlights enable lightweight design with minimal depth, providing flexibility for a variety of installations. The highly reliable panels allow for 24/7 operation with advanced thermal protection and a sealed panel design to accommodate the most formidable digital signage industry requirements."
NEC's two new displays are also the company's first to offer Intel's Open Pluggable Specification (OPS), an industry-wide standardization in option slots to simplify digital signages.
Both the X461S and X551S boast a 1920x1080 resolution, up to 4,000:1 contrast ratio, 500 cd/m2 typical brightness (600 cd/m2 maximum), less than 2W of power consumption in standby mode, landscape and portrait orientations, 10-bit color over HDMI, ambient light sensor, real-time clock, built-in close captioning, and built-in 5W speakers.
The X461S will ship in May for $2,400, and the X551S in June for $3,800, both backed by a 3-year warranty.
Logitech threw us for a loop by announcing a new mouse that isn't geared towards gamers. It doesn't have dozens of buttons, adjustable weights, or an ultra high DPI. What the new wireless M325 rodent does have, however, are a few subtle features Logitech says makes it ideally suited for Web surfers, a target audience that doesn't often receive specialized products. Let's have a look at the M325.
"No matter how much time you spend at your computer, the Logitech Wireless Mouse M325 keeps your hand happy thanks to its feel-good shape and textured rubber grips," Logitech states in a blog post. "Optimized for Web browsing, the micro-precise scroll wheel -- with four times the number of ratchets as the average mouse -- fits your style, and makes reading Facebook or reviewing Google searches even easier. Plus the tilted wheel gives you trouble-free backward or forward Web movement."
And that, folks, is the M325 in a nutshell. It has a contoured design, hyper-fast scrolling, a rubberized grip, up to 18 months of battery life, and a unifying nano-receiver that also works with other compatible devices.
So what's the verdict, do you see the M325 as being totally tubular for surfing through cyberspace, or is this an average rodent backed with creative marketing?
Sometimes loose lips sink ships, and other times they reveal details about unreleased products, like the iPhone 5. That's what Sony CEO Howard Stringer did in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, in which Stringer let it be known that Sony is supplying the image sensor for Apple's upcoming iPhone 5. It was an inadvertent slip that, if you read between the lines, provides a couple of interesting tidbits regarding Apple's next smartphone.
Stringer made the slip when discussing the recent earthquake in Japan. He said the earthquake damaged 15 of Sony's factories in Japan, which he inadvertently followed up by saying that a camera sensor in one of those plants would be delayed in getting to Apple.
It "always puzzles me," Stringer said. "Why would I make Apple the best camera?"
That's as close as Stringer came to confirming that Sony is building an 8-megapixel image sensor for Apple's iPhone 5, which is close enough considering Sony doesn't currently build any image sensors for Apple. And as CNN points out, this assumption is reinforced by an earlier report suggesting that Apple might move away from OmniVision for its iPhone cameras because OmniVision's 8MP sensor wouldn't be ready in time for the iPhone 5's launch.
Love 'em or hate 'em, ribbons will play a big role in Windows 8, even more so than in Windows 7. Word on the Web is that Microsoft is extending the ribbons interface beyond just core applications, like Paint and Word, and will deck out Windows 8's entire interface with ribbons, completely replacing menu-driven toolbars in the process. Is this a good thing?
According to GottaBeMobile.com, the Redmond software giant feels a ribbon interface will make Windows 8 more tablet-ready than Windows 7. It's an interesting move from Microsoft, not just because ribbons will play a critical role in the next version of Windows, but also that Microsoft is opting to use the same OS for both mobile and non-mobile form factors.
If you're not a fan of ribbons, before you go lighting torches and picking up pitchforks, or even worse, defecting to iOS, you might not be forced to use ribbons. ZDNet says that beta users of Microsoft's upcoming OS have been able to turn off the ribbon UI and revert back to the traditional interface, though it's unclear if this option will survive all the way to the final build.
Eurocom knows a thing or three about desktop replacements, but a full fledged server replacement? At least on paper, that's what you get with Eurocom's Phantom 4.0 "Server-on-the-Go" notebook. This beast of a system comes loaded to the brim with high performance hardware, including a pair of server class processors.
The new Phantom 4.0 supports up to two Intel Xeon processors, up to 48GB of RAM via 8GB sticks in al six memory slots, up to six storage drives with RAID 0/1/5/10/30, and a wide range of operating systems to choose from, including Microsoft Server 2003R2 x32 or x64, Server 2008R2 x64, VMware, Red Hat, Linux, Solaris, and Windows 7.
"The Eurocom Phantom 4.0 is the perfect solution for customers looking for Server-on-the-Go capabilities. Server-on-the-Go is a new category of server-class notebook form-factor computers with integrated display, keyboard, and UPS (internal battery) which allows for both 'on-the-go,' 'rapid server deployment,' or 'Ad Hoc' (temporary network setup) when single server capability is required, multiple operating system compatibility is needed, and running virtual machines is a must," Eurocom says.
This new breed of mobile server doesn't come cheap. Pricing for the Phantom 4.0 starts at $7,999, more than three times as much as the Phantom 3.0, which starts at $2,631.
It's still too early to call it a 'Fusion frenzy,' but we are seeing an increasing number of notebooks being built around AMD's Fusion platform. One of the newest entries is Dell's M102z ultraportable. The M102z rocks an AMD E-350 processor with AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics and a slightly-larger-than-netbook 11.6-inch screen.
The E-350 processor with integrated graphics provides a solid foundation from which to build upon. Dell piles on up to 4GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, up to a 500GB hard drive spinning at 7200RPM, 1.3MP webcam, 7-in-1 media card reader, USB 2.0, HDMI, SRS premium surround sound, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 3.0 combo card, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and a 6-cell battery (optional 9-cell battery also available).
Pricing starts at $699. No word on when it will be available to order.
Craving a new smartphone but don't have a pocket full of cash to spend? As luck would have it, Sony Ericsson's Xperia 10 has been spotted in some Best Buy stores selling for $1. Naturally you need to sign up for a 2-year service agreement, and the special pricing is only available for new customers, but there's another reason why you might want consider this one.
According to Engadget, Sony Ericsson is promising to address complaints of the Xperia 10's janky UI and software by updating the phone with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). That should tidy things up a bit, though be warned that the update isn't coming until the end of the second quarter, so if patience isn't one of your virtues, you'll want to look elsewhere.
This also appears to be an in-store only special, perhaps as Best Buy looks to clear out remaining inventory. As a refresher, the Xperia X10 sports a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen with a 480x854 resolution, 1GHz processor, 1GB internal storage, 384MB RAM, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, microSD card slot (8GB included), and 8MP camera with autofocus and LED flash.
While other companies roll out the savings to celebrate holidays and new game launches, Valve's themed its latest after the humblest and most unassuming of all roots: the potato. Then again, the simple confection's been instrumental in keeping humanity from dying of starvation over the years, so we think that might be worth a few slashed price tags. Gamers have quickly discovered, however, that this isn't merely some goofy Valve theme. Well, ok, it's still pretty silly, but apparently potatoes have infested each of the formerly spud-less games. Why? No idea, but there's already a 
When last we saw Max Payne, well, we 
Two of the oldest names in the electronics industry have announced they're getting together. Texas Instruments is 
Today is the day. As of April 4, 2011 Eric Schmidt has stepped down as Google's CEO. Co-founder Larry page is 
Over the weekend, well known and feared internet vigilante group Anonymous called out Sony for their legal pursuit of modder GeoHot. Here we are today, and PlayStation websites and even the PlayStation Network are 
You or your client may have an idea for a web service so revolutionary that it could kick start the shift to web 3.0 all on its own. Unless you have a plan for building a website to go along with it, that sweet idea will most likely remain just that--an idea. Fortunately, 
Whenever AMD or Intel introduce a new processor, there's the question of whether or not it will work in your existing motherboard, and if not, which one(s) will it work with? The answer isn't always as obvious as a pin count, especially with the current generation of AMD parts. To help alleviate any confusion over AMD's next generation CPUs for current AMD 800/700 series chipset motherboards, Gigabyte announced it's the first to market with AM3+ "Black Socket" motherboards, giving users at-a-glance confirmation that everything's kosher.
Nobody wants to pay for something that doesn't work, and the same holds true for big corporations, like AMD. No longer willing to accept non-working parts, AMD hammered out a new deal with GlobalFoundries in which it will only pay for chips that that work as advertised. Prior to this revised agreement, AMD was paying for all chips produced at cost plus a markup for GlobalFoundries, and it didn't matter whether the chips worked or not.
Too bad there's no eBay for dead people. If there was, you could make a, ahem, killing selling your iPad 2 tablet to people on the 'other side.' Apple's second generation tablet is proving so popular that not only does it remain sold out in stores and online, but Chinese families in Malaysia can't even get their hands on paper replicas to burn as part of a centuries-old ritual.
Our insane stat of the day involves Rovio's Angry Birds Rio app, which has been downloaded a whopping 10 million times in just 10 days following its March 22 release. That includes downloads for both iOS and Android. Angry Birds Rio is a $0.99 download via iOS, but was made available for free on Android through an agreement with Amazon on its new Appstore for Android.
Some things you definitely should not try at home, like microwaving electronic components. Leave it to the professionals and the crazies to take on such tasks, of which Kenny Irwin might be a little of both. Irwin operates the Microwave Show, a YouTube channel dedicated to popping various electronics into microwaves and recording the carnage. His latest experiment is Nintendo's 3DS handheld console.
Several former Engadget editors have decided to jump ship and partner up with a sports publisher to launch an unnamed tech site. The crusade is being led by Josh Topolsky and followed by seven ex-Engadget staffers, including Nilay Patel, Joanna Stern, Paul Miller, Dan Chilton, Justin Glow, Ross Miller, and Chris Ziegler. Topolsky acknowledged that it's a little odd to be partnering with a sports publisher, but promises that the new site will be something completely different.
We're a little surprised that, up until now, NEC hasn't released a large-screen LCD display with LED backlighting, but hey, there's nothing wrong with showing up fashionably late. NEC joins the large-screen LED party with a pair of professional-grade models, the 46-inch X461S and 55-inch X551S. Like nearly all LED displays, both of NEC's new models sport a super-slim profile.
Logitech threw us for a loop by announcing a new mouse that isn't geared towards gamers. It doesn't have dozens of buttons, adjustable weights, or an ultra high DPI. What the new wireless M325 rodent does have, however, are a few subtle features Logitech says makes it ideally suited for Web surfers, a target audience that doesn't often receive specialized products. Let's have a look at the M325.
Sometimes loose lips sink ships, and other times they reveal details about unreleased products, like the iPhone 5. That's what Sony CEO Howard Stringer did in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, in which Stringer let it be known that Sony is supplying the image sensor for Apple's upcoming iPhone 5. It was an inadvertent slip that, if you read between the lines, provides a couple of interesting tidbits regarding Apple's next smartphone.
Love 'em or hate 'em, ribbons will play a big role in Windows 8, even more so than in Windows 7. Word on the Web is that Microsoft is extending the ribbons interface beyond just core applications, like Paint and Word, and will deck out Windows 8's entire interface with ribbons, completely replacing menu-driven toolbars in the process. Is this a good thing?
Eurocom knows a thing or three about desktop replacements, but a full fledged server replacement? At least on paper, that's what you get with Eurocom's Phantom 4.0 "Server-on-the-Go" notebook. This beast of a system comes loaded to the brim with high performance hardware, including a pair of server class processors.
It's still too early to call it a 'Fusion frenzy,' but we are seeing an increasing number of notebooks being built around AMD's Fusion platform. One of the newest entries is Dell's 
Craving a new smartphone but don't have a pocket full of cash to spend? As luck would have it, Sony Ericsson's Xperia 10 has been spotted in some Best Buy stores selling for $1. Naturally you need to sign up for a 2-year service agreement, and the special pricing is only available for new customers, but there's another reason why you might want consider this one.
