Content and news by Rob Williams

It goes without saying, if there is information to be found somewhere, hackers will find it. Fast. Such is the case with Nikon’s latest high-end shooter, the D3. Deep within its firmware, secrets are kept, but are they actually secrets, or simply nonsense? Hard to say, but I’m willing to believe that this is definitely plausible

According to information found inside, the Nikon D3X will include a sensor capable of capturing a staggering 24.4 megapixels. It might seem redunkulous, but in the megapixel race, Nikon doesn’t have anything to compete directly with Canon’s 22MP Mark III 1Ds, so it seems reasonable that the D3X could actually be spec’d as such.

For now, all we can do is wonder… and begin saving up the ~$8,000 we’ll need to purchase one upon launch.

Some entirely too ingenious hackers have found a reference to the rumored D3X deep within the bowels of Nikon’s D3 firmware. The reference includes a list of resolutions available to the upcoming shooter, and it’s apparently set to max out at a potentially Higgs Boson-inducing 24.4 megapixels.

Source: Engadget

If you’ve read either of our two 9600 GT reviews so far, you’d know that it’s an absolutely stellar GPU for the price point. It’s no 8800 GT, but it sure comes close, and that’s without even taking overclocking into consideration. Neither card we have here is overly loud, but ASUS is making sure HTPC and silence-freaks are taken care of with their new EN9600GT Silent.

With the help of their V-Cool heatsink, the EN9600GT Silent is dead silent, which will have it’s obvious benefits. What’s better though, is the fact that ASUS boasts better temperatures over reference 9600 GT coolers… up to 10°C cooler. Dead silent and manages to keep cooler. Hard to go wrong there.

We’ll have a review of this GPU next week, so stay tuned.

The V-Cool Heatsink’s design stands as a testament to ASUS’ commitment to both form and function. Sporting the unique V-Engine concept, the V-fins dissipate heat evenly with a minimum of space required; while the high-density zipper array fin module utilizes the Intercooler technology to maximize the surface area exposed to the air to help heat dissipation.

There are cameras, and then there are freaking big cameras. Who better to deliver such a freaking big camera than RED? The company first exploded onto the scene last year when they released their RED ONE 4K camera, one that’s capable of capturing RAW video at a staggering 12 megapixel resolution… one that is so high, no TV on the market could display its video in raw form.

Yesterday, the company unveiled their Epic 5K and Scarlet 3K models, due out in early 2009, and released with them a resolution comparison chart, in case there was any doubt about just how ridiculous the resolution was. While the wimpy 2 megapixel 1080p resolution takes up the entire dark gray area, the 5K (~15 megapixel?) Epic is truly unparallelled.

I think “Epic” is appropriate.

You can see how basically it would take seven or eight of the newest 1080p hi-def TVs to show an entire 5K image, and even then it wouldn’t be the whole thing because Red shoots to a special raw format with more color depth than your TV can display.

Source: CrunchGear

I first heard about the magicJack last September at DigitalLife in New York, and was at first skeptical. Well, I was always skeptical, because the product itself didn’t seem to make much sense. Just how could a device give you free phone service for such a menial fee? Well as it turns out, there is a lot more than meets the eye.

Rob at BoingBoing Gadgets stumbled on the magicJack’s EULA, and it is not pretty. In order to have the device “pay” for itself, you have to agree to forced advertisements, else the device will be useless (as if it isn’t to begin with?). Even better is the fact that once you sign the agreement, you also sign away the ability to sue if the device somehow acts in a way to defraud you.

To make matters even worse, the device will take it upon itself to scan both incoming and outgoing phone numbers in order to deliver relevant advertisements. Need more convincing that this product and its company is worthless? Their web site counter is a piece of JavaScript that auto-updates every second or two. This is the ultimate in crapware… stay away.

It gets sexier. When you access MajicJack’s instant web help page, a bizarre series of “compatibility tests” take place first, reporting lies like “Your MagicJack is functioning properly” even if you don’t have one installed. Even the “look how many people came for a free trial” counter on the homepage is a fake, a javascript applet that increments itself automatically.

Source: BB Gadgets

After two antagonizing weeks of waiting, the revamped Playstation Store has finally launched this morning. In order to access it, you’ll first need to download the latest firmware update, but within minutes you will be able to peruse the much improved offering.

Whereas the older store was essentially a customized web browser, the latest version is an actual application, so it looks far cleaner and is very responsive. It’s not all good, however, as the launch day traffic is having an apparent effect, leaving icons missing or slow to load. In one category, it took well over a minute for all of the icons to appear, and even at times, some disappeared. Luckily, these issues are not likely to remain for too long.

For those who were hoping that the new launch would also come with a slew of new releases, don’t get your hopes up. All that was launched alongside the fresh face are two GT5 videos and add-on content for Stardust HD and Lair. Am I the only one who wants to see more PSx Classics released? We’ve only seen three releases this year, and the last one was two months ago!

From the “Wow, who ever expected this?” files, Wired is reporting on the now obvious fact that Windows XP has a huge fanbase, part in thanks to the rather lackluster reception to Windows Vista. We found out just last month that XP’s availability will end this coming June, and that support will end next April, so some consumers are now up in arms.

I was oblivious to such a petition to save XP, but 100,000 people certainly weren’t, since that’s just how many signatures the “Save XP” petition scored since launching in January. January! Will this seemingly new found love for Windows XP coerce Microsoft into extending support? Not likely, but I think it’s obvious why the company is trying to get Windows 7 out the door as soon as possible.

Al Gillen, an IDC analyst, estimated that at the end of 2008 nearly 60 percent of consumer PCs and almost 70 percent of business PCs worldwide will still run XP. Microsoft plans to end full support – including warranty claims and free help with problems – in April 2009. The company will continue providing a more limited level of service until April 2014.

Source: Wired

I mentioned last month in a news post that my personal decision between two 30-inch behemoths was with Dell’s 3008WFP and Gateway’s XHD3000, which we reviewed here. Although I appreciated the Dell’s higher color gamut and DisplayPort inclusion, I ended up going with Gateway’s offering because of the many disgruntled 3008WFP reports I stumbled across.

The biggest issue with the 3008WFP right now is with backlight bleeding, and for a monitor that carries an SRP of $2,000, such a noticeable defect is needless. The other issue is with input lag, although I’m unsure Dell would even call that a problem since it’s most prevalent when using non-native resolutions.

The folks at Engadget hit up the PR at Round Rock to see what the deal is, and as it turns out, the problems were indeed widespread and resulted in a forced removal of the listing from all Dell.com web sites. Ouch. This won’t affect a lot of people, however, as the waiting time for the new-fangled model has been at 6+ weeks for the past few months. Dell does assure customers that the issues have been corrected… it’s now just a matter of fulfilling all those orders.

Currently the monitors are on extended lead times and in order to manage demand, the 3008 is not available on dell.com. We are managing orders on a prioritized basis and hope to have the product available to all customers in the near future.

Source: Engadget

Rasterization or ray tracing? It’s a somewhat heated debate right now, because while most of the industry has no intention of going the ray tracing route, Intel is pushing for widespread adoption when their Larrabee platform launches. Although ray tracing delivers arguably better results in games and other 3D applications, it’s a real performance hog.

Because of Larrabee’s nature, however, Intel believes moving game renderers to ray tracing would be feasible thanks to the many cores available… cores that are slow at rendering DirectX and OpenGL APIs. We know Intel’s stand on things, but how about key industry figures?

PC Perspective sat down with Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek, to get some of his opinions. After reading, I think it’s quite clear… no one is gung-ho to move to a ray tracing method, and Cevat doesn’t see it becoming a reality for at least another five years. The biggest question right now is whether or not we even need ray tracing, or if the only one it matters to is Intel, since it’s their product that’s going to lack in driving current methods.

So far I haven’t seen a compelling example for using pure classical ray tracing. Part of the problem is that the theoretical argument is derived from looking at the performance of static geometry under certain assumptions for what sort of lighting environment and material types you have in the scene. These examples often compare a ray tracer using a sophisticated acceleration structure for storing static polygon data against a trivial implementation of a rasterization engine which draws every polygon in the scene, which produces an unfair advantage to the ray tracer.

Source: PC Perspective

No one is sure what to make of Intel’s upcoming Larrabee platform, but that’s simply because it’s difficult to predict the future. If done right, Larrabee could prove a true competitor in the discrete graphics market, and neither NVIDIA nor AMD are pleased with the notion, understandably.

During an analyst meeting, DailyTech reports that NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang exclaimed that the the company was “Going to open a can of whoop ass”. Wow. That’s not something you hear from a CEO everyday.

Obviously, Jen-Hsun is a bit perturbed about Intel’s claims that discrete graphics as we know them are on the way out, thanks to their lack of scalability. Of course, at Beijing’s Intel Developer Forum last month, Pat Gelsinger made it known that Larrabee would not replace mid-range and higher discrete graphics, so NVIDIA has nothing to worry about right now.

Huang argues that not only are Intel’s integrated offerings “a joke,” but that even if Intel manages increase graphics performance by ten times by 2010, that’s barely up to par with current NVIDIA offerings. He claims what passes for average graphics outside of the tech enthusiast crowd should be consider abysmal in the visual computing world.

Source: DailyTech

Regardless of what kind of collectible you have, there’s likely to exist a service that would be happy to look it over and give it a grade, or rating, based on it’s appearance and quality. One type of collectible that has lacked this kind of service, however, is the video game. But as Joystiq reports, the first “VGA” (Video Game Authority) games have been rated, and all are up for grabs on eBay.

The ranking system runs between 10 – 100, with 90 – 100 representing a “Gold” status, but none of the sixteen games on eBay have been blessed with such a rating. But by taking a look at a few rated 80 – 85, you can be assured that 90 and upward would have to be games in immaculate condition.

The original Final Fantasy, as pictured below, is rated VGA 85 and is currently going for $500 in the eBay auction. It makes me regret not taking better care of my copy while growing up, although truth be told, I wouldn’t sell it anyway. That game is a true classic! The original Dragon Warrior is only currently $41… seems like such a steal! Sadly, this VGA ranking service is not yet public, but the web site promises to launch “later this month”.

After paying a fee, gamers send in their beloved collectibles, which are graded and sealed in tamper-evident acrylic cases, marked with the official hologram of the organization. The first of these VGA-graded items are currently up for auction on eBay.

Source: Joystiq

DDR3 first launched on the desktop last May, and since then adoption has been slow. It’s no surprise, however, due to high cost of ownership, whereas DDR2 is so inexpensive, it can cost a mere $300 to have 8GB of RAM in your rig. So why pay multiple hundreds for DDR3? Well, DDR3 prices are going down fast, and it’s a good thing too. Now a very good 2GB kit can be had for $200, so we are going in the right direction.

The notebook has nothing to fear, though, as it’s not being left behind. Lexar has just announced mobile parts, and yes… they are expensive. Clocked at the rather loose speed of PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066), the modules carry a CAS latency of 7. By comparison, CL7 is popular for DDR3-1333 desktop parts, so like mobile DDR2, DDR3 SODIMM’s will lag behind in overall performance.

Lexar is offering both single modules and a kit of two, but the kit won’t save you a dime. The single 1GB module retails for $135, while a 2GB module can be had for a very expensive $370. Kits are $270 and $740, respectively. You can expect high-end boutiques to be the first to pick up on the new memory.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the immediate availability of Crucial DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) 204-pin SODIMM memory modules. The new DDR3-1066 modules feature enhanced performance, reduced power consumption and produce less heat compared to equivalent DDR2 modules, and are available now in 1GB and 2GB densities at www.crucial.com, www.crucial.com/uk and www.crucial.com/eu.

Source: Lexar Press Release

Rumors have it that the ASUS Eee PC has been doing well sales-wise, so it’s only natural for the company to follow-up with the same idea, but packed into a desktop. Although, while the Eee PC is rather lackluster in power, the Essentio CS5110 actually has some power, so it looks to be a good choice for HTPC use or for any other use, where a small, quiet PC, is required.

The CS5110 is designed to lay flat, and should be comparable to either an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, when they are laid flat. The machine is pure black, and glossy, so dust will be attracted to it like a magnet (I have this same problem with the PS3, but not my Xbox 360), and total noise hovers around 24dB.

Thanks for the included 8600M GT graphics processor, the CS5110 can also handle some light gaming, and in all truth, given that there is better airflow in this machine, that GPU should perform better than how it does in a standard notebook. That all aside, pricing will of course decide the success of the machine, but if priced-well, it should fly off the shelves. After all, it boasts far more power than a Mac Mini, but those still sell, despite their inflated price.

Despite the small dimensions, the CS5110 packs quite a punch. The desktop features an Intel G35-based motherboard and supports Core 2 Duo, Pentium Dual Core and Celeron D processors. Up to 4GB of DDR2 memory (via two SO-DIMM slots) is supported and the chassis can accommodate a single 3.5″ SATA II HDD, and either a slot-loading DVD SuperMulti or Blu-ray drive.

Source: DailyTech

This past November, we posted a news item that posed the question, “Are Gaming Magazines Going to Die?”, but sadly, that answer has been known for a while. The fact has only been strengthened today, as news comes from the Games For Windows: The Official Magazine, which is now dropping the “Magazine” part of its name.

From now on, the magazine will remain as an online-only publication. It’s unknown whether it will be available in a PDF format or even follow a similar layout as the magazine, but that should soon be seen. The sad reality is that Games for Windows will not likely be the last magazine to cease producing paper magazines, for all-to-obvious reasons.

I admit I’ve never even cracked the cover of the magazine, but it’s sad to see any gaming magazine close shop, especially magazines are all we could rely on for years on end. Nintendo Power for the win! (The old ones, the new ones are appalling).

Editor-in-chief Jeff Green, whose columns I enjoyed for a number of years, has written a eulogy of sorts on his 1UP blog, wherein he laments the state of the industry yet simultaneously accepts that Internet publishing is the future. It’s simple economics, really: continue to chop down trees and ship them off every which way, or upload a couple of HTML files to a central server?

Source: CrunchGear

What’s the most natural thing to do after completing a massive contest like we threw in March? To follow-up immediately with another, of course! Yes, it’s true. We are going to do our best to hold regular contests, because there is obvious demand, and we always strive to give our readers what they want! We’re good like that.

For those of you who happen to look at the news before our content, be sure not to miss the contest that our very own GeekGirl has thrown together, with the help of NCsoft, creators of amazing games like City of Heroes and Villains, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars and my personal favorite, Lineage II.

This week, we are focusing on City of Heroes and Villains, offering you the chance to win some good (or evil) swag! I mean, how many contests offer a FREAKING CAPE as a prize? Not too many, and that’s where we are different than most other websites ;-)

So get on in there and enter!

Source: Techgage City of Heroes Contest

Whew, March was such an exciting month! For those who slept through the entire thing (I bet you regret it now!), we held a contest where the winner would walk away with a high-end gaming machine, complete with SLI capabilities, a heck of a processor and wicked accessories.

Welp, now that the dust has settled, we’d like to announce that the winner to the contest is Alex Morrison from the beautiful state of Georgia! Well, I’ll assume it’s beautiful. Hey, there’s a Sbarro’s in their airport… that’s all that matters! Regardless, huge congrats to Alex for winning this amazing prize!

I will be building the machine this coming weekend and shipping it off next week, and I’m confident that Alex will stroll by our forums to rub his winnings in everyone’s face, so stay tuned for that.

One last time, I’d like to give a huge thanks to all of our sponsors who really went above and beyond to make this prize possible. Each one of these companies are ones that WE chose, because WE love their products. We recommend checking them out if you need a product that they offer.

It’s not too often that the fastest single-GPU available is also affordable, but the 9800 GTX is just that. At just over $300, it delivers incredible performance at all resolutions and also turns out to be amazingly overclockable. It’s just too bad that the 8800 GTS 512 is not much slower…

Earlier this year, Intel promised that the 45nm Quad-Cores would become available in late Q1, but we all know how that went. Even their 45nm Dual-Cores, such as the E8400, suffered from a severe lack of shortages. The Q9450 was a different story… it was entirely impossible to find in stock, and if you did happen to find one, you were very lucky.

Well, some good news. The Q9450 is finally beginning to pop-up on some e-tailers, and in good quantity, too. As of right now, NCIX has the best prices for both the US and Canada, at $364.42US and $394.99CAN. Is it just me, or does it seem odd that a Canadian e-tailer that sells from within Canada manages to sell cheaper than the actual US retailers?

For those looking to pick one of these beauties up, you can head right over to NCIXUS.com, MWave.com or Directron – the latter of the two that are selling at a higher premium. Oddly enough, NewEgg seems slow to get stock in lately. I’ve never seen the Q9450 in stock, and that’s still the case. But once it is, they are offering it for $379.99.

• NCIXUS ($364.42USD)
• Directron ($369.99USD)
• MWave ($389.00USD)
• NCIX ($394.99CAN)

We posted a few weeks ago that the Xeon-equivalent of the Q9450 was also a good choice of CPU, but now that the Q9450 has finally hit a few e-tailers, the X3350 has sold out at most places, and is now more expensive. I still find it odd that NCIX seems to be the only ones with the CPU in good stock, and for good prices, but it shouldn’t be long before NewEgg and others grab hold of a fresh shipment. Hopefully we’ll see their high selling rates decrease a bit when it happens…

If on the lookout for a good GPU at a great price, it’s easier than ever. NVIDIA’s 9600 GT packs a punch and retails for well under $200. We are taking Gigabyte’s stock-clocked solution for a spin to see how it stacks up against our other models. And yes, it overclocks like a beast.

It’s been rumored for a while that the next incarnation of Windows may be modular, in that it could consist of a core operating system and be built upon, like virtual Lego… except that each Lego piece could potentially be a block of functionality. When I first heard this, I laughed and quickly said, “As if that will happen.” But, I’ve made that foolish comment in the past, namely with regards to the AMD/ATI rumors… and we all know how that turned out.

Ars Technica takes a look at what a modular Windows would be like, in some depth, from a variety of different viewpoints. If there were such thing as a modular OS, it could be good for the consumer, and good for Microsoft… or bad for both. There are numerous angles looked at… even one that would consist of a subscription-based model. That… is one I just can’t see happening. It would make a total mockery of what an OS is. Sure, folks subscribe to a lot of things nowadays, but considering the cost of an OS in general, a subscription fee for a certain “block” seems truly ridiculous.

The article is well-worth a look, though. Considering the fact that Windows 7 is due to hit in 2H 2009, we might find out about Microsoft’s modular plans (if there are any) sooner than we think.

The issue is that modularization strikes a blow against the very concept of a platform. When a software developer writes a program for Windows XP, they more or less know what they’re going to get. They know what Windows XP does out of the box, and although some parts might be optional, someone can install everything from the XP CD if they want without paying a penny extra.

Source: Ars Technica

Late March, we posted about a new Sonic game that was en route. Although at the time, nothing was official, and the sources were still sketchy, despite having a detailed trailer available. We have to wonder no more, however, as Sega has finally made the game official. It is indeed going to be called Sonic Unleashed, so we will just have to hope that it’s unbad, unlike the previous Sonic the Hedgehog game.

The game mixes 2D and 3D elements together and offers fast gameplay. Based from the early trailer, the game looks incredibly hopeful. Graphics don’t make a game, but the environments here are sure to add a lot to the eye candy. In a 2D view, you can see further in the background… probably of different parts of the level that you will at some point reach.

Hit up the link and check out the updated trailer. It’s worth it, but it’s going to be difficult to wait until the end of the year to see the game hit the shops!

The announcement hints at the new 3D portions of the game in which Sonic turns into a werewolf, another well-known secret I’m sure they’ll officially reveal somewhere down the line. For now, enjoy the extended version of the video you’ve already watched, now with extra-added Sonic goodness!

Source: Kotaku