Tech News
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Windows 8 Upgrade Deals May Not Work Out Well for Microsoft
Published: Monday, July 9, 2012 | By: DennisEarly this month Microsoft announced that you could buy an upgrade to Windows 8 for $40US making it one of the cheapest OS's you can buy from Microsoft. But will this come back and byte Microsoft?? Will this be enough to offset the "phj34r of change" associated with Metro and the lack of a traditional desktop??
As a hardware enthusiast I don't think it will be enough. Sadly when it comes to software sales the majority speaks and the Majority in this case are *NOT* hardware enthusiasts.
"Being forced by their employers to work on Windows XP has been driving people toward Macs and tablets," Johnson said. "Microsoft's future viability depends on how fast it can get new value in the hands of users. A high cost of upgrading has been slowing them down."
However, the upgrade incentives can be a double-edged sword, because touchscreens, touchpads and mice that support gestures are important to providing a good experience with Windows 8, according to Michael Silver, a Gartner analyst.
"Most PCs that will really make Windows 8 work well won't ship until the OS does. People upgrading older PCs is actually a risk for Microsoft because they may not be as happy as users that have new PCs tuned for Windows 8," Silver said. "Users that upgrade should ensure they have either a touchscreen or a touchpad or touch mouse that supports gestures in Windows 8."I still don't see how the Metro interface will work in business, for the home user its golden but in the office environment workstations are dominated by keyboards I just don't see people flicking a screen and then moving back to the keyboard to finish their document. On the same token I don't see artists using a touch screen to photos or do anything to create images, you need a little more control than that and fat human fingers are not going to cut it.
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SSDs may replace HDDs to become mainstream storage
Published: Monday, July 9, 2012 | By: DennisSomewhat of an old story but I can see this happening in the near future. (or next 3-5 years according to Digitimes)
The large earthquake in northeastern Japan in March 2011 and flooding in Thailand in October 2011 resulted in short supply of hard disk drives (HDDs) and therefore pushed up prices for a while, according to Digitimes Research. In contrast, the average price of solid-state drives slipped 50% in the first half of 2012, making SSDs more competitive in price against HDDs. While average storage costs for HDDs stayed at US$0.09/GB, SSDs dropped to US$0.80/GB.
As they indicated the switch will depend largely on price and assuming we have more natural disasters that cause delays in manufacturing the offset in price may sway in favor of flash media over the traditional platter styles.
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Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Mainboard Review on Technic3D
Published: Sunday, July 8, 2012 | By: DennisGone are the days of a single motherboard design as diversity has become key to survival. This becomes clear if you look over the latest Gigabyte Z77 motherboard lineup. There you will find a dozen or so styles that vary from MicroATX up to high-end gaming rigs designed for large graphics arrays.
The Z77X-D3H featured in this review sits somewhere in the middle and arguably positioned below the GA-Z77X-UD3H that we reviewed on launch day. I revisited the same motherboard after the Ivy Bridge drop to both explore how well it could overclock and see if Ivy Bridge was all the chip people claimed to be.The Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Mainboard arrived Technic3D. We check the Mainboard with Intel Z77chipset functions and Performance in the following Review with a Intel i7-3770k CPU on Windows 7 64 Bit and Linux.
I can easily say that Windows 7 x64 runs great on the Z77 and would expect nothing less from any flavor of Linux you happen to fancy, assuming you can get the drivers.
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Facebook Hardware Giveaway July 9th - 31st 2012
Published: Monday, July 9, 2012 | By: DennisIt's giveaway time again and I would like to give a big shout out to Gigabyte and Thermaltake for helping me out with the prizes!!. The contest format is a little different this time around, there are three prizes offered and three people will be able to win.
In addition to the 3 prizes if the Ninjalane Fan page reaches 4000 likes then I will offer up a prize from the hardware closet, a EVGA Z68 FTW Overclocking Motherboard. If that wasn't enough a secondary prize will be offered at the 6000 like mark, the famed Level 10 GT. (GT edition *not* the BMW Level 10)
There is 4 things you have to do to win.
1) Fill out the contest entry form
2) Like the Ninjalane Fan page
3) Like the Gigabyte US Fan page
4) Share the contest page with your friendsIf you do all of those things you will be entered to win and be part of the random drawing on July 31st.
Questions and comments can be posted in the Ninjalane Message Forum or posted on the Ninjalane Fan page. Good Luck!
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NL: Review Block - After 4th Edition - Cases Coolers and Gaming Gear
Published: Thursday, July 5, 2012 | By: DennisI hope that everyone had a great 4th of July mid-week holdiay. Twill be awhile until the next one so check out some of this gear you can use to get the most from your system.
Also be sure to check out my review of the Cooler Master Storm Sonuz Gaming Headset. Its a stereo pair with removable microphone and cloth wrapping all around.
Coolers (Used to keep your junk at the right temp)
- Phanteks PH-TC14CS C-Type CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews
- Be Quiet! Dark Rock Advanced CPU Cooler @ Planet Overclock
- Funky Kit Review: Phanteks PH-TC14PE CPU Cooler
- Noctua NH-U9B SE2 CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
- Thermaltake Water 2.0 Extreme Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ NikKTech
- Noctua NH-L12 L-Type Low-Profile Cooler Review @ OCIA
- Cooler Master Storm Sentinel Advance II @ LanOC Reviews
Gaming Gear (Stuff for Battlefield 3)
- CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Gaming Mouse Review @ Techgage
- Cooler Master Storm Sonuz Gaming Headset @ Pro-Clockers
- CM Storm Sonuz Gaming Headset Review @ ThinkComputers
- Razer Taipan Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse @ Pro-Clockers
- SteelSeries 7H Fnatic Edition Gaming Headset Review @ Madshrimps
- CM Storm Speed-RX Mouse Mats @ techPowerUp
Cases (also known as chassis)
- Cooler Master HAF XM Mid-Tower Case Review @ HardwareHeaven
- BitFenix Shinobi XL Window Full-Tower Case
- Thermaltake Armor Revo - Snow Edition @ Techreaction
- Rosewill THOR V2-W Full Tower Computer Case @ Modders-IncMore in the hopper so kick back and enjoy the show.
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ASUS Maximus V Extreme @ ocaholic
Published: Thursday, July 5, 2012 | By: DennisOne of the most sought after motherboards in the past two months, the ASUS ROG Maximus V Extreme. This is a Z77 enabled gaming motherboard that moonlights as an extreme overclocker.
The Maximus V Extreme, is ASUS' new flagship model regarding Intels latest Z77 chipset. The guys over there at ASUS ROG put a lot of new features on the board. On the paper it looks like they've moved their flagship ROG board to another level (yet again?). So it's quite understandable that we can't wait to have a close look at this product.
There comes a time when you simply cannot pack any more features on a motherboard but it would seem that ASUS didn't get the memo. Instead they ignore the painful cries and keep shoving more on there. Looking at the specs the motherboard can support 4-way SLI and Crossfire with the help of an onboard PLX chip. Officially making it the second Z77 motherboard I have seen to enable that option.
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Phobya WaCoolIT Bench Table @ PureOverclock
Published: Thursday, July 5, 2012 | By: DennisI'm still working on my test bench design. It may not be as refined as this bench table but it should lend itself well to the type of testing and overclocking I do on a regular basis.
Today we take a trip out of the norm in our typical case review. For those who use a case for your computer and do a lot of hardware changes, watercool or just plain cannot leave your system alone, you may want to think about a change of pace. The change being a bench table, and the Phobya WaCoolIT is a new one we’re looking at today. It packs some style and great features, so grab a frosty beverage and let’s take a look at the functionality of this stylish and large test bench.
I have to admit, the design looks good, might have to give it a test run.
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Google is killing off iGoogle
Published: Wednesday, July 4, 2012 | By: DennisI suspect that anyone reading this may have never heard of iGoogle and is likely one of the reasons the Google camp is killing a somewhat useful extension to their web portal.
An un-remembered time ago Google launched a web portal called iGoogle that gave you a useful front-end to the normally stark and plain searching homepage. The portal allowed you to add "apps" to the page so you could easily get to things like Google news, Gmail, Gchat along with custom things like RSS and flash games. I've been using iGoogle ever since it was first announced and it has been my homepage ever since.
Over the past year Google has been changing things on the Google homepage and eventually dropped the direct link to iGoogle which signaled the beginning of the end. Today they have posted a very short explanation stating that iGoogle is going away in November of 2013 and to pack your shiz and get the flip out. (not their exact words)What's happening to iGoogle?
iGoogle will be retired in 16 months, on November 1, 2013. The mobile version will be retired on July 31, 2012.
How did you come to this decision?
We originally launched iGoogle in 2005 before anyone could fully imagine the ways that today's web and mobile apps would put personalized, real-time information at your fingertips. With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for something like iGoogle has eroded over time, so we'll be winding down iGoogle on November 1, 2013, giving you a full 16 months to adjust or easily export your iGoogle data.Check out the iGoogle announcement page for more gory details and the lack luster explanation for the change. Makes you wonder how long it will take for Google+ to find a similar home.
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Reality Show on Mars Could Fund Manned Colony by 2023
Published: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 | By: DennisNot really tech news but technology related. A Dutch company is planning to setup a colony on Mars and exploit the experience by treating it like a reality TV show.
Seems like a good idea, right?
A Dutch company aims to land humans on Mars by 2023 as the first step toward establishing a permanent colony on the Red Planet.
The project, called Mars One, plans to drop four astronauts on Mars in April 2023. New members of the nascent colony will arive every two years after that, and none of the Red Planet pioneers will ever return to Earth.
To pay for all of this, Mars One says it will stage a media spectacle the likes of which the world has never seen — a sort of interplanetary reality show a la "Big Brother."There is no denying how popular reality TV shows are, to a certain degree more popular in Europe, but sending a group of people to a alien planet seems like a plan best left for the film studios and not a real life adventure.
With that being said the only way you could fund something like this in the modern world would be with the private sector with advertising dollars.
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Foxconn reportedly to invest in Indonesia
Published: Tuesday, July 3, 2012 | By: DennisThis is some good news for those living in Indonesia.
Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is said to be planning to establish manufacturing plants in Indonesia as the minister of Indonesia's Ministry of Industry recently revealed that Foxconn is set to invest US$1 billion in Indonesia, and the investment is expected to create about one million jobs, during his attendance of Indonesia Taiwan Chambers of Commerce, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
This brings company benefits in lowered labor costs and also more efficient transportation into other parts of Asia. The expansion also helps to diversify their product offerings as it relates to raw manufacturing including famous items like the iPhone and not so well know things like CPU sockets and other raw computer components.
