News Category
October 21st, 2011 | 
As is customary, Apple’s newest mobile device has been torn asunder by curious gawkers in search of a cheap thrill. Also, they want to see what’s inside so they can price out components, but that is pretty thrilling. The iPhone 4S bill of materials was determined by iSupplyi to be roughly $188 for the 16GB version.
The most expensive part is, unsurprisingly, the touchscreen at $37. iSupplyi estimates that manufacturing costs are just $8 per device, so Apple pays less than $200 for the device, and it sells for $200 on contract. The 32GB and 64GB models were priced out … [Read More...]
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Tags: Last month’s release of Chrome 14 brought along with it Native Client (NaCl) support, paving the way for the execution of native C code within the browser. Native Client is meant to turn the browser into a playing ground for serious 3D games and powerful apps. That said, there haven’t been any real signs of that transformation in the few weeks (a seriously long time in Chrome years) since Chrome 14’s launch. But a new development might just help expedite the whole process.
The Bullet Physics library has been ported to NaCl. Published under the zlib license, Bullet has spread … [Read More...]
It’s not as if Maximum PC readers need any more convincing that the whole ‘post PC era’ theory is a bunch of hogwash, but just in case there remains any lingering doubt, Intel just reported yet another record quarter, for the sixth time in a row, as a matter of fact. Intel set new records for microprocessor units shipped, EPS, earnings, and revenue, which the chip maker reports was up 28 percent year-over-year.
“Intel delivered record-setting results again in Q3, surpassing $14 billion in revenue for the first time, driven largely by double-digit unit growth in notebook PCs,” said Paul … [Read More...]
Samsung is taking its surveillance game to the next level by introducing a new series of Full HD analog video products. Included in the new lineup is the HD-SDI 1920×1080 box camera, HD-SDI 1920×1080 dome camera, and a four-channel HD-SDI digital video recorder (DVR). Samsung’s HD-SDI technology makes it possible to transmit uncompressed and non-packetized digital video signals with no loss of image data and zero latency, the company said.
The obvious benefit here is improved image quality, which is more than five times better than conventional analog technology, Samsung says. But it also offers a “more cost-effective and easier … [Read More...]
This may be bad news to anyone that bought a Droid Bionic last month on Verizon. The Droid RAZR is expected to be announced tomorrow, and bring the RAZR branding roaring back with a slim design and 4G LTE on board. There’s a new teaser site up ahead of tomorrow’s event, and it leaves little to the imagination.
There is a full-size press photo of the new device on the teaser page. Unlike the Bionic and other LTE devices, the Droid RAZR looks to be extremely thin, and has a stylish kevlar back plate. Previous rumors have pegged the device … [Read More...]
When AMD spun off its manufacturing arm as GlobalFoundries back in 2009, it was assumed their controlling interest would drive the bulk of its investments in the same direction. AMD has been forced to use TSMC, a rival to GlobalFoundries in recent years to keep pace in the graphics card wars, however new rumors are suggesting Bulldozer might be forced to shift over as well.
The move would be a strong indication of issues with GlobalFoundries 32 nm HKMG node, and doesn’t bode well for GlobalFoundries as an independent chip maker if the two companies can’t maintain a strong partnership. … [Read More...]
The idea of Amazon’s Silk browser, for the Kindle Fire is an intriguing one. By caching web assets ahead of time, Amazon hopes to accelerate the browsing experience. But running all user traffic through Amazon’s EC2 cloud has made some privacy-minded people a little uneasy. Now members of Congress are starting to ask questions, and some of them are not totally ridiculous.
Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts sent a letter to Amazon asking for clarification on a number of points. He seeks the specifics about what data Amazon plans to store about user browsing habits, and what it plans to … [Read More...]
NBA Commissioner David Stern, Executive Director of the National Basketball Player’s Union Billy Hunter, and everyone else entrenched in negotiations with the NBA’s next collective bargaining agreement should take note. After a lockout that lasted 136 days, the NFL approved a new deal and saved football’s season, ensuring fan fallout would be kept to a minimum. As a result, Madden NFL 12 shot to the top of The NPD Group’s list of best selling videogames in the month of December.
The entire top ten list for September 2011 looks like this:
- Madden NFL 12 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP)
Cooler Master is under the assumption that not all gamers want a mouse with four hundred buttons and funky features like a built-in transmogrifier. If you find yourself shaking your head in agreement, you might be interested in Cooler Master’s new Xornet mouse. Inspiration for the Xornet came from “gamers focused on minimalistic designs,” and what CM ended up with is a lightweight rodent with a claw-grip design and affordable price tag.
Don’t mistake minimalistic and inexpensive to mean this is a barebones mouse destined for the clearance bin. Noteworthy features include anti-slip rubber side grips; a textured stealth black … [Read More...]
Since Microsoft released the new Xbox 360, users haven’t had much choice in storage space, just that spendy $130 250GB add-on drive. Now Redmond is upping the ante a bit with a new 320GB drive, and is keeping the price set at $130. Still expensive, but this one does come with a little bonus.
In most regions, the 320GB drive will come with Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Slovakia won’t get the game as an add-on or otherwise, sadly. For those that want the $60 game, this definitely sweetens the deal. Strangely, … [Read More...]
A few months ago, a company called BlueStacks announced it would be developing software that allows user to run Android apps on a PC. To everyone’s surprise, BlueStacks has followed through, and the alpha version of the App Player for Windows is available as a free download. This hefty 116MB installer comes with 10 pre-loaded apps and the ability to install more.
The program runs Android apps in full screen with a series of Android soft keys at the bottom, along with an ‘x’ to close the window. Interestingly, the apps seem to save their state when you exit, so … [Read More...]
Civil liberties groups are up in arms today with the news that California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have forced police to obtain a search warrant before searching the mobile phones of suspects upon their arrest. The veto means that for the time being, anyone arrested in California can be forced to submit to a search of their phone. These days, that essentially means handing over your entire life to officers.
Brown’s veto message says that due to the complicated issues involved, and the contradictory court decisions, he did not feel comfortable making a decision. Some have pointed to … [Read More...]
Microsoft has been pretty clear in its message regarding the system requirements for Windows 8. If it will run Windows 7, it will run Windows 8. Promising to add new features, all while keeping the OS footprint steady is no easy task, but why stop there. In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft announced isn’t looking to just hold the line on resource usage; they actually believe it’s possible to make Windows 8 even more efficient than 7. When compared to Vista….. lets not go there.
According to Windows 8’s lead designer Steven Sinofsky, “Fundamentals such as memory usage represent a … [Read More...]
Looking to get your movie watching on? Turn to Zotac. The company might not be at HP’s level in terms of sales, but when it comes to HTPCs, few companies deliver better small form factor results. The company’s ZBox line has been a go-to brand for video streaming enthusiasts, and now, there’s a new Zotac ZBox available that ditches Intel and AMD in favor of a VIA processor.
The Zotac ZBOX nano VD01 Series – which Zotac says can fit in the palm of your hand – actually sports two VIA processors: both the 1.2 GHz dual-core Nano X2 U4025 … [Read More...]
If you’ve never heard of Intellectual Ventures, get your confused face ready. This patent holding firm, which makes nothing but does hold about 35,000 patents, has filed suit against Motorola Mobility for patent infringement. IV says it has been in talks with Motorola for some time, but has been unable to reach a deal for licensing of the IV patent portfolio. Unwilling to allow “ongoing infringement,” the lawyers are gearing up.
IV has made name for itself acquiring patents from all over the country, and using them to extract licensing fees from organizations large and small. Many of the patents … [Read More...]
Steven P. Jobs, the founder of Apple, passed away today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Although we’ve voiced a lot of complaints about Apple over the years, there’s not one of us on the Maximum PC staff (even Gordon) who isn’t saddened to hear this news. Steve Jobs was a one-of-a-kind figure in the tech community, and his passing is a tremendous loss.
Rest in peace, Steve. You were a true innovator and you’ve left a hell of a legacy.
This article was written by MaximumPC (Source)… [Read More...]
Over the course of millions of years of evolution, the human race has come quite a long way. We’ve created mountains of sophisticated literature, skyscraping architecture, and the collected works of King Crimson. Sometimes, though, we can’t help but slip into Old Ways. Which is all to say, “Ooooo, pretty picture!” That’s pretty much how we felt looking at screenshots of id Software’s megatexture masterwork RAGE. Sadly, the game in motion tells an entirely different story – at least, on PC.
Early buyers have reported – and posted video evidence of – texture pop-in issues that render RAGE nearly unplayable. … [Read More...]
Among a host of other things, Google is also a mighty successful browser vendor, what with both its desktop and mobile browsers occupying the third spot in their respective markets and constantly conquering fresh ground. However, a lot of people are wondering why Google continues to have two separate browsers for the desktop and mobile markets. But soon enough these people will have better things to do, for an effort to port Chrome over to Android now seems to be underway.
According to the Chromium codebase website, Android has been set up as a build target. It will be interesting … [Read More...]
