Content and news by Rob Williams

Last summer, Apple made a surprise announcement at WWDC about Safari’s heading to Windows. To give that announcement some merit, a beta was released later that day. It was quickly discovered though, that the new browser was not much of a threat to IE, Opera or Firefox, for numerous reasons, and because of that, it didn’t take too long before it was completely forgotten about.

Things change now, however. Apple has released Safari 3.1 for both OS X and Windows, and Ars Technica took the latest revision for a spin on their Windows OS. Overall, the browser turned out to be quite stable, on par with the competition, but left a smaller memory footprint than Firefox. It also scored the highest in the Acid 3 test by a large margin, so Apple is definitely on the right path to making itself real competition.

Even now though, the browser is lacking in a few small regards. It doesn’t even include a “New Tab” button, which could drive some people nuts (me included), but once these small issues are ironed out, Safari may very-well increase in usage quick.

…we ran into problems trying to add certain buttons to the toolbar. Doing so would consistently fail, but a restart fixed this. I can live with Control-T and the few bugs that will be fixed soon. Apple has bigger fish to fry, though (like fonts), if it wants to accomplish something with this browser on Windows.

Source: Ars Technica

While visiting ASUS at CES this past January, I noticed the Splendid HD1 card tacked to a wall, but no one around could explain to me what it was. So here we are today… ASUS have announced the card. The problem is, many still don’t know what it is.

Essentially, the Splendid HD1 is both an upscaler and enhancer add-in card, and utilizes a PCI-E 1x port. It’s not a video card in itself, but rather contains a special chip (or chips) that can enhance the quality of any video passing through your computer. For lower-bitrate video, the card will upscale it to 1080p resolution. How well it does this is unknown, and no examples are given on the web site.

It comes down to a simple fact… this card should improve both quality and color for both games and video, although the games would not benefit from the upscaler. Rather, the card would improve the color and make the game appear better. ASUS’ Splendid software does this already, but it seems a hardware solution could improve on things even further.

All of this is tough to conclude on until we have the card in our labs, however. We should be taking a look at the card within the weeks to come, so stay tuned and we’ll let you know if it’s worth looking into. Although no price point or release date has been confirmed, we expect it to launch in late April with a sub $100 price tag.

This astounding piece of hardware is able to increase picture quality for HD content to deliver sharper, more vividly colored visual outputs. It can even enhance lower resolution inputs by recovering image clarity when viewing legacy content for viewing on LCD TV or monitors; as well as provide true HDMI with audio and HDCP.

Source: ASUS Press Release

It seems like we just launched our latest contest, but before we know it, it will be drawing to a close. Not including today, there is only SIX days left to enter, so if you are going to do it (which you will), don’t waste time! For those who need a reminder, we are offering a gaming computer valued at over $4,500!

Value aside… this computer is a beast, no matter how you look at it. It’s powered by a blazing-fast Intel Q9450 Quad-Core at 2.66GHz and includes two ASUS 8800 GT cards in SLI mode for ultimate gaming. Those cards will come in handy with the included Dell 3008WFP monitor, capable of displaying 1920×1200… a gorgeous resolution that’s not quick to get old.

To enter, go here and type in your e-mail address. You will quickly receive an e-mail with a unique URL to enter the contest. It’s simple… and takes about three minutes. What if you won? You sure wouldn’t regret spending those three minutes!

I do admit though that we’ve had a problem with some people not receiving their confirmation e-mail. We have not ignored this and will remedy it as soon as the contest closes. At that time, we will be going through the entries and seeing who has entered, but not filled out the survey. I will then manually e-mail each person to assure it’s received. If you happen to be in this crowd, you can use the new URL that I send and take care of business. The winner will be announced during the week of April 7th.

So if you haven’t already, go in there and enter!

Source: Techgage 2008 Birthday Contest

Computer chips can offer fast performance, we know this. But, the Pentagon believes that there should be a faster method to transmit information between chips than the typical wire. So, they’ve given Sun Microsystems a $44 million contract to explore the prospect of replacing these wires with laser beams.

In theory, replacing the wires with a laser beam would offer major benefits in every regard. For one, it would rid the problem of current leakage and could improve temperatures (probably), while also improving the performance dramatically. Though it seems like a far-out estimate, the article at the New York Times states that a beam of laser light could carry tens of billions of bits of data a second. Wow.

But, this project is not one that can give us great confidence in seeing a final product. One of the researchers at Sun Laboratories is quoted as saying the project has a 50% chance of failure. For a lottery, those odds would be great, but where a $44 million project is involved, they don’t seem overly promising. The goal is immense, but if laser beams replacing wires become a reality, the future of computer chips could be very interesting.

The wires that connect chips are analogous to the on and off ramps that cars use to move between freeways — just as cars slow down as they move onto city streets from multilane highways, electrical signals run more slowly between chips. The bottlenecks also generate additional electrical current and heat.

Source: New York Times

Picking out a graphics card today is more difficult than ever, given the sheer amount of choices available. It goes beyond the scope of simply choosing AMD or NVIDIA, since multi-GPU solutions change everything. In some regards, AMD’s solutions outperform NVIDIA’s, and vice-versa. The folks at X-bit labs have taken this predicament to heart and figured the best way to find a solution was to test out all scenarios and see what came out on top.

Not surprisingly, even with all of their testing, the answer is still not clear. In the end, there are many aspects that come into play with a new purchase. High-end cards that contain a single GPU can outperform a 4-GPU setup of mid-range cards depending on the game, but in other ways, it could hold performance back as well, since some games thrive on as much GPU power as it can get.

Their results do reveal something interesting though. The NVIDIA 9800GX2 in an SLI configuration didn’t outperform Quad CrossfireX-enabled HD 3870’s in the majority of games, especially at higher resolutions. If you want to go with the solution with a demanding lead, it looks to be AMD’s.

But, I think my solution is better. Go out and build four different computers with each configuration, that way you will never have to worry about suffering with lackluster performance! See? It’s easy!

So what can a gaming enthusiast expect from modern multi-GPU platforms offered by ATI and Nvidia? Unfortunately, it is much easier to say what he or she shouldn’t expect. And you shouldn’t expect stable and flawless operation at least with the currently available drivers.

Source: X-bit labs

Are you still in love with Windows XP? Many are, and probably for good reason. Despite its history of security flaws, XP has proven to be a rock-stable OS for those who know how to be careful and not download anything off of a P2P network and also update their PC anytime a new security fix is issued. But those who think love with XP will last forever, they are in for a hard reality.

Computerworld is taking a somewhat in-depth look at the Windows XP life-cycle and talks about how it will die off. Essentially, the recommendation I gather is that if you want XP in the future, you should purchase a few copies to store for when they cease to exist, although it still won’t be too long after that point that support will end, so Vista might actually be an attractive option.

Whether or not that will actually be the case is yet to be seen, since Vista hasn’t exactly been well received by many.

Microsoft has already made changes in its timetables. Last year, the company extended the sales life cycle — the time during which PC manufacturers and system builders could sell computers with XP installed — to June 30, 2008. It will stop selling XP altogether on Jan. 31, 2009. And it extended the mainstream support period for XP to April 14, 2009, in an effort to reassure customers made nervous by the long delays in shipping Vista.

Source: Computerworld

I admit that I am somewhat of a Sonic fanboy (aren’t we all?), so whenever a rumor of a potential new game comes about, it’s impossible to not pay attention. Well, rumors have been spreading like wildfire over the weekend about an upcoming game called Sonic Unleashed, and the evidence is so impressive, it would be more surprising to find out that it is actually a rumor and nothing more.

According to SEGA ON, some materials were leaked from an official FTP server, but not surprisingly, nothing is there now. Other tidbits include an unveiling which should happen in May and also a worldwide release in November. Now, these could be the guesses of any random person, but the rumor carries a lot more weight with the video that’s been posted.

The video is interesting in numerous ways. First, the game doesn’t look to be fully 3D like the few previous games, but rather carry 2D and 3D elements, so as to cater to fans of the old-school classics and also to recent fans (I also personally love Sonic Adventure 1). If one thing is for sure… every single Sonic fan out there is now excited, so hopefully this proves to be a lot more than a simple rumor.

SEGA is launching SONIC UNLEASHED with a HUGE production budget and it seems not only SONIC TEAM is involved but a very huge part of SEGA’s developer teams including those from Japan, the US and, apparently for the first time, even Europe. There seems to be one clear mission: Rebuild the Sonic brand and prove it could work in 3D environments. We also have one new artwork for you.

Source: SEGA ON

Whether or not you are a space enthusiast, it’s hard to not be impressed by the recent discovery of what is the most powerful blast in the universe ever observed. The gamma-ray burst was discovered last Wednesday by NASA’s Swift satellite which runs an advanced algorithm that can intelligently detect anything out of the ordinary, including these gamma-ray blasts.

The bursts, named GRB 080319A – D, proved to be the most powerful blasts ever observed. So powerful in fact, that it could have been seen with the naked eye if looking at the sky at exactly the right moment. The fact that the explosion occurred at a distance of half the universe away makes it only more spectacular.

As if the blast wasn’t impressive enough already, the brightness of the event is also staggering. After running through their calculations, scientists discovered that the second burst (GRB 080319B) had over 2.5 million times the luminosity of the brightest supernova ever observed. Truly staggering.

It’s unclear what exactly caused this incredible brightness, but most theorists think that gamma-ray bursts produce two narrow jets of matter and energy, so we may have been lucky to look right into the cannon’s barrel. But, says Vreeswijk’s colleague Jens Hjorth, “in this business, getting surprised ceases to surprise you”.

Source: New Scientist

Last week, Engadget posted about an option that Sony added to their TZ2000 notebook – one that you don’t see often. For $50, Sony would give you a “fresh start”, with equates to a new laptop without all of the bloatware. Sadly, no option exists that would give you a notebook with no OS.

What rubbed many the wrong way was the fact that it cost $50 to include this option, which essentially meant that they would remove bloatware that shouldn’t be there in the first place. Thanks to a public outcry (not verified) though, Sony wasted no time in removing the price tag for that option, making it free to all.

Was this a mistake, or did Sony actually mean to make this a free option? If it was meant to cost $50 from the get go, then offering the option to begin with was a mistake, since if they kept quiet, they’d still be able to load bloatware on all of their notebooks. Here’s a guess that this option will not soon be available on their other models, though it would be nice.

After a minor outcry at Sony’s new “Fresh Start” option to skip the crapware on TZ laptops for a hefty $50 charge, the company has seen the error of its ways and is going to start offering the option for free as of tomorrow [Saturday].

Source: Engadget

You know what time it is? Time for a contest reminder! It’s drawing ever-closer to the end of the month, so if you haven’t entered our birthday contest, there is no better than than RIGHT NOW. As a reminder, we are offering up a gaming PC valued at over $4,500 to one lucky winner… and all it takes is filling out a quick survey. What do you have to lose? You are online all day anyway, so spend three minutes on something that may just pay off in a huge way!

For those of you who need a friendly shove push, the PC consists of EVERY component you need. ASUS have included their killer Striker II SLI-capable motherboard along with two EN8800GT 512MB cards and also the Xonar D2 card (which half of our staff owns)… and to power the beast, we have Intel’s latest 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q9450.

Other such components include Dell’s brand-new 2408WFP 24-inch wide-screen, D-Link’s awesome DGL-4500 gaming router, Ultrasone’s HFI-550 closed-back headphones, Logitech’s G51 speakers, MX5500 desktop and G9 mouse and even an LG Blu-ray reader!

Once again, we thank all of our sponsors who made this contest possible, including ASUS, Crucial, Dell, D-Link, Intel, LG, Logitech, Microsoft, Seagate, Thermaltake, Ultra Products, Ultrasone and Zalman.

So what in the world are you waiting for?!

We put our prize together with care. With much discussion of the staff, the resulting PC is very similar to what most of us would have built ourselves if we had $5,000 to spare. Each one of the components included were chosen by us, and from companies that we personally trust.

Source: Techgage 2008 Birthday Contest

By now, many of you are well aware of the false securities that are imposed by many institutions, including banks, but a new video at Boing Boing further proves the fact that we are are less secure than ever.

RFID chips are nothing new, and now, many credit cards, ID cards, employee ID cards and others are equipped with the technology. What’s supposed to be secure, is not so much, as proven in the video. According to hacker Pablos Holman, all you need to read an RFID chip is an $8 scanner that can be had on eBay.

In the video, he shows just how easy it is to read these cards. In a real scenario, walking up behind a person is all that it takes to read their RFID tag, unless of course, they have a metal wallet, in which case it would block the signal. But, that kind of situation would be rare. For $8 though, a malicious person could simply rub up behind you and grab your credit card and possibly even all of your identification. Scary stuff, but a blatant reality. RFID has its uses, that’s for sure, but they don’t belong in our credit cards.

But on today’s episode of Boing Boing tv, hacker and inventor Pablos Holman shows Xeni how you can use about $8 worth of gear bought on eBay to read personal data from those credit cards — cardholder name, credit card number, and whatever else your bank embeds in this manner.

Source: Boing Boing

I’ve posted a few times this week regarding stock of 45nm Xeon Quad-Cores that are becoming available all over the place, but now it’s time to focus on the Dual-Cores, since there are many people who are looking for them, but are out of luck. It’s hard to believe, but it’s already been over fifty days since we reviewed the 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo E8400, and they still cannot be found in regular stock.

We posed the question earlier this week, and it applies here as well. Why not consider a Xeon? The E8400 equivalent is the E3110… the specifications are identical, so what’s to lose? Nothing, that’s what. In fact, you gain in most cases. While the E8400 retails for around $260 from most e-tailers when it’s actually in stock, the E3110 costs $30 less.

I have to give props to NCIX, because they have been kicking ass lately with their stock and pricing. They are currently selling the E3110 cheaper than anyone else, at $207. Yes… this 3.0GHz Dual-Core offering is $207! The second-best price I could find was at PC Connection, where it’s $230. Sadly, Canucks have to pay a small premium, but it’s on par with the E8400, at $250.

Though I’d still be quicker to recommend the Quad-Core X3350 that I mentioned in yesterday’s posting, for those who insist on a Dual-Core (or straight-out don’t need a Quad), then the E3110 is the right choice. Though overclocking success is different with each chip, our E8400 (retail chip) overclocked to a stable 3.83GHz using stock voltages, and chances are that the E3110 should not be much different.

• Xeon E3110 3.0GHz – NCIX Canada ($250)
• Xeon E3110 3.0GHz – NCIX US ($207)
• Xeon E3110 3.0GHz – PC Connection ($230)

Update: Thanks to werty316 for finding a better NCIX Canadian link that has the E3110 for $220!

If there is one thing I’ve discovered recently, it’s very difficult to find a “perfect” 30-inch display. No matter what one you point your finger at… there will be a nice list of pros and cons, making weighing out your options an arduous chore. Last week, we posted a review of Gateway’s XHD3000, which does a lot right, but is still not perfect.

One thing I’m confident in, is knowing that I am not alone in thinking the process of choosing a 30-inch model is less fun than walking up a massive hill. With iron boots. In the past few weeks, I’ve read through numerous forum threads, and surprisingly, that didn’t help much. There is just no perfect model out there! Though I liked the XHD3000 a lot, (I did give it an Editor’s Choice, after all), Dell’s 3008WFP stood out to me thanks to the higher color gamut. But after much reading around, I am glad I looked the other way.

Though it may be a limited problem, I found many threads with users complaining about their personal 3008WFP units. The largest issue is with bad backlight-bleeding, which seems to be common on IPS panels, although my 24″ Dell 2408WFP exhibits no such issue. Input lag was another common problem, and while the Gateway doesn’t escape that issue, I never found it to be so bad that it would cause someone to not play a game. The absolute deal-breaker for me was seeing many forum posters talking about their second or third RMA for that display… it’s kind of needless for a model in that price-range ($1600 – $2000).

After a whack of pondering, I decided I wanted the Gateway, for many personal and obvious reasons. It offers a superb upscaler, includes plenty of connections and has a nice bright picture, at 400 cd/m2. The problem though, is that since I live in Canada, my options were few. Best Buy and its online web site are the only locations in the entire country that stock them. During the entire time I had Gateway’s review sample, the BB web site didn’t have the display in stock once. Luckily though, I checked last night and it finally happened… so I ordered one right away.

So, if you read the review and needed more proof that the XHD3000 is a great display, this is it. One of the main reasons I needed/wanted it is due to the upscaler. I need an all-in-one display, and because the upscaler chip helps make the Xbox 360 / Playstation 3 / Blu-ray movies look so damn good, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Sure, not everyone needs those secondary features, but I do, so I am glad Gateway has delivered a killer all-in-one. I go further into my thoughts regarding the purchase and also the state of things in our forums, so check out the thread!

I looked around at other competitors, but the main problem there is that none of those have upscalers, which I love. I am confident that no other monitor out there (minus the 3008WFP, perhaps) would make the Playstation/Xbox and Blu-ray movies look so good. The upscaler on the XHD3000 is superb in those regards. It could be better, of course, but at this point in time, I have no complaints. Plus, with those scenarios, I didn’t really notice any input lag, so it could be that it will only be noticeable when playing fast FPS PC games.

Source: Related Forum Thread

Yesterday, I posted about Intel’s new 45nm Quad-Cores and the fact that they are seemingly non-existent. But, if you have been wanting to pick one up, chances are good you are already well aware of this. As mentioned in that post, there are comparable Xeon models that you can keep in mind instead, as they offer identical specs and are priced pretty much the same.

As it stands, there are two e-tailers I can find that are stocking the mid-range version of the three, the X3350. This is a 2.66GHz offering, includes 12MB of L2 Cache and a 1333FSB… identical to the Q9450. Right now, NCIX has good stock and are selling for $389.99 CAN, while PC Connection is selling theirs for $385.04, at the time of writing:

• NCIX (Canadian) – $389.99
• PC Connection (USA) – $385.04

If you are looking to delve into the 45nm Quad-Core world right now, I have no reservation in recommending the Xeon X3350. Though marketed as a server chip, there will be no loss of performance when compared to the Q9450, so you can buy now or wait a few more weeks until e-tailers get their desktop-variant stock in. If you are interested in the other Xeon models, here are the ones to look out for:

• X3360 – 12MB L2 Cache, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz, 95W
• X3350 – 12MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz, 95W
• X3320 – 6MB L2 Cache, 2.50GHz, 1333MHz, 95W

Sure, it’s no big surprise. In fact, we knew this would happen, but it’s cooler when it’s official. The upcoming GT5 Prologue has hit over one million pre-orders in Europe. From what I gather, pre-orders from other PAL regions are included in this number. An impressive feat, but again, not much of a surprise since the game should prove to be a must-own for the PS3.

Personally, I cannot wait. For one thing, the game will offer its graphics in gorgeous 1080p, and for the first time we will be able to hop in many new cars, including the both a 2007 BMW M3 and 135i Coupé, in addition to the 2007 Nissan GT-R, a 2000 color-changing TVR Tuscan Speed Six… and not to mention the introduction of Ferrari with the 599 and F430!

The game will be released in North America on April 17th, while the lucky blokes in Europe will be treated to a March 28th launch. If NA follows Europe and Japan, then the game will both be offered as a downloadable game or store-bought Blu-ray version.

The upcoming Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for PlayStation 3 has already reached a milestone, with SCEE confirming the title has reach one million in European pre-orders. That pretty much assures the racer of hitting platinum status within its first week of release.

Source: Joystiq

According to industry-tracking web site DigiTimes, AMD have revised their roadmap to include a few new models, all of which should launch in the coming weeks. The Phenom 9050 models will include the 9850, 9750, 9650, 9550 and the 9150. Although the 9850 was initially due to launch with a 2.6GHz clock speed, difficulties have kept it from hitting that goal, so it will be released at 2.5GHz instead.

Triple-core 8×50 Phenom’s will be launched in late April and include a TDP of 65W, and we should also be seeing dual-core Athlon 64-branded X2 Black Edition 5600+ and 4600+’s by the end of this month. For those awaiting high-end Phenom Quad-Cores, the company is still on track to launch those sometime in the third quarter.

For the dual-core CPU market, AMD will launch the Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Black Edition and 4600+ by the end of March and will follow with Phenom-based Athlon 6250 and 6050 CPUs by the end of the second quarter. The company has also informed customers that final orders for Athlon 64 X2 6400+, 6000+ and 5600+ (89W versions) will be taken at the end of March, the sources added.

Source: DigiTimes

Up to now, SSD seemed like an unstoppable technology. The drives are super-fast, ultra-light and incredibly durable. But according to a “large computer manufacturer”, return rates on their notebooks equipped with such drives are as high as 20 – 30%. This is staggering when comparing them to the 1 – 2% return rate for notebooks equipped with regular hard drives.

The reason for the defects are unknown, or what the actual problem is, but return rates like that do not bode well for the future of flash. According to one Dell representative, flash-based drives, although fast, can actually prove slower with certain applications – particularly those that exchange data in small packet sizes.

In the end, this manufacturer could have potentially just received a massive batch of bad drives, so it’s far too early to judge what will happen. If stories like these begin popping up often, then it will become a notable problem.

While the returns are bad news for notebook makers right now, the problems also dim the outlook for the flash industry in general. Flash manufacturers are looking for applications that will suck up the large volume of chips coming out of factories right now. The industry went on a building spree in the last few years.

Source: C|Net Crave

The auction that felt like it was never going to end, has finally ended. The FCC-sponsored auction of the 700MHz spectrum hit a staggering $19.5 billion, far exceeding original expectations. As Ars Technica points out, $19 billion was hit in early February, so the last $0.5 billion really dragged things out.

Not surprisingly, the auction winners have not been disclosed, but the FCC promises the names to be revealed within ten days. Potential names are Google and Verizon, although many speculate that Google halted their bids early in the auction, which would be surprising to say the least.

As it stands though, the spectrum is not entirely freed up, and won’t be until analog TV signals are ceased next February. It will be at that time when the winners will begin building their networks, so it may very-well take until late next year before we begin to see products using the spectrum.

One of those new entrants may be Google, which was one of the companies approved for participation in the auction. It’s more likely that one of the major wireless players like Verizon will walk away with Block C; however, the FCC is expected to release the identities of the winning bidders soon.

Source: Ars Technica

We posted last Monday about the possibility of Intel’s 45nm desktop Quad-Cores hitting e-tailers, and as X-bit predicted, it did happen. What we didn’t expect though was the fact that the allocations would be incredibly tight, so as a result, it’s as though they were never released at all.

In talks with various e-tailers, it seems that replenished supplies will not come until the end of the month, and even then, units will be scarce. With demand so high, it would not be unexpected to see whatever stock hits to sell out almost immediately. Regular stock should improve by mid-to-late April.

For those who want a piece of the 45nm Quad-Core action as soon as possible, an alternative option would be to consider a Xeon equivalent. Though marketed as a server processor, specs-wise, they are identical to the standard Core 2 Quads. NCIX.com let us know that they are expecting a shipment of such Xeon’s sometime this week. For those interested, here are the models to be on the lookout for:

• X3360 – 12MB L2 Cache, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz, 95W
• X3350 – 12MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz, 95W
• X3320 – 6MB L2 Cache, 2.50GHz, 1333MHz, 95W

Note that the specifications are identical to the Q9550, Q9450 and Q9300, respectively. I’m also told that these processors will be priced almost identically to what the Core 2 Quads will be, and will remain so until the regular C2Q stock gets in order.

Last week, we learned that Vista’s SP1 should be available this week, and lo and behold, it is! You can grab the download here, as a 434.5MB download. It’s noted on that page that SP1 is also available through Windows Update, so it would be smart to check there first, as the download would be far smaller.

For our most recent testing, we’ve been using Vista Ultimate as our primary OS, but will begin using an SP1-equipped version now that it’s public. Assuming no problems arise, of course. You can read all of what’s new in the service pack here, but beware… it’s a huge read.

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) is an update to Windows Vista that addresses feedback from our customers. In addition to previously released updates, SP1 will contain changes focused on addressing specific reliability, performance, and compatibility issues; supporting new types of hardware; and adding support for several emerging standards. SP1 also will continue to make it easier for IT administrators to deploy and manage Windows Vista.

Source: Vista Service Pack 1 Download Page