Tech News

Opera 9 Tech Preview 2 Released

As said yesterday, Opera Software today released the second preview of Opera 9. New features include a widget engine, web page thumbnails, syntax highlighting in the source viewer, a content blocker, and much more.

I’m partial to Firefox, but this release intrigues me. You can grab links to the downloads at OS News.

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Wired 2005 Vaporware Awards

Ladies and gents, welcome to the 2005 Vaporware Awards — the prize that celebrates the tech products that were promised last year but never delivered. We have a few surprises this year — wait ’til you find out the winner; you’ll never guess what it is.

Well, I managed to guess the winner, only because I’ve been waiting for it to arrive for near 10 years. Blu Ray, HD-DVD and Team Fortress 2 are also included in the list. Check out the full article at Wired.

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GMail Talk?

Gmail learned to Talk. Now Gmail accounts are automatically enabled with chat features. You don’t have to do anything special, it just works. See when your friends are online and decide for yourself how you want to get in touch with them. Email and instant messaging don’t have to be so different. And why should you always have to remember whether something important was said over email or IM? We’ve made it easy for you to save chats, so you can search for them, print them, even reply to one over email.

Leave it to Google! This is an odd feature really, because if you wanted to chat with someone bad enough you could hop on IM. I suppose it could be useful if you are on someone elses PC, or maybe I’m actually missing the end goal here. Either way, you can read about this future feature here.

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BitTorrent to Sue Over Trademark

The people at BitTorrent are to begin to protect their rights through lawsuits if necessary: “The company will set the lawyers on anyone using the BitTorrent name, and trademark, if they are using it to distribute spyware or adware” They also plan to put into action a system where by people will have to pay a licence fee to use the name in the hope of cutting down on adware distribution.

It’s funny to set legal action to protect a name of software which can be used worldwide to distribute illegal software. Of course that’s hardly the only use for BT, but it’s funny nonetheless. Check out the full posting at Slashdot.

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Novell Raises the Bar for the Linux Desktop

WALTHAM, Mass. – Feb. 7, 2006 – Novell today announced it has released significant enhancements to the X over OpenGL (Xgl) graphics subsystem, which will let developers create richer graphical experiences for Linux* desktop users. Xgl is new core rendering technology for the Linux desktop that takes advantage of now widely available accelerated 3D rendering hardware. These enhancements make Linux desktops more usable, increase end-user productivity and more firmly position Linux at the forefront of client computing technology.

You can read the full press release here.

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Hardware Roundup for Feb. 7

There’s a new TT case on the horizon and techPowerUp! has the first look. This is one sleek case, I have to admit. The case utilizes screwless drive bays and a removeable motheboard tray. There are very few bad things about the case which is why they awarded is a nice 9.3/10! If you love jumping on the wierd product bandwagan, then 3D Xtreme has a review for you! This “Claw” will replace your keyboard, leaving a bunch of keys at your fingertips. It looks like a mouse, but it’s far from it. It performed well enough for a perfect score though!

The battle of the best.. Corsair Voyager vs OCZ Rally. It’s actually quite hard to conclude on which one is better though, because ones designed for speed, and the other is built for durability. Check out the full review at Motherboards.org for their opinions. OC Tools and Rojak Pot are both offering a 7300 GS up for grabs. If you are in need of a value card, check both those out!

Cases & Enclosures
• Cooler Master Praetorian 730 – Viper Lair
• ENlight eXtreme Gaming Case – 3D Velocity
• Lian-Li PC-V600 – PC Perspective
• Silverstone’s Lascala 17, LC17B HTPC – Case Mod God
• World-exclusive: Thermaltake Eureka – techPowerUp!

Cooling
• Arctic Cooling AVC-NV5R3 – Hardware-Review
• Danger Den Maze 4 Acetal Top GPU block – Geek Extreme
• Thermaltake Blue Orb II – Hardware Hell
• Thermaltake Symphony Mini Water Cooled Heatsink – A1 Electronics

Memory & Storage
• Corsair Flash Voyager Versus OCZ Rally – Motherboards.org
• SmarThumb 256MB USB Drive – Think Computers

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Intel Yonah hidden features exposed – Hexus

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• Modware Radiance Illuminated Pro Gaming Keyboard – Virtual-Hideout
• Terratec Mystify Claw – 3D Xtreme
• ThermalTake ToughPower 550W PSU – DV Hardware
• Thermaltake Silent PurePower 600W Power Supply – 3D Gameman

Video Cards & Monitor
• ATI All-In-Wonder X1900 – Design Technica
• EVGA e-GeForce 7800 GS Superclocked – Extreme Tech

Etcetera & Contests
• NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS Giveaway Contest – Rojak Pot
• OCTools and NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS Giveaway – OC Tools

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Torino 2006 Review

In the end, this game can be described as a lame compilation of Mario Party wanna-be mini-games. Lacking any substance or depth to pull you in, Torino 2006 seems to fail in every aspect that is gaming. Despite the fact that up to four people can compete in a hot-seat method, I can’t see anyone wanting this game for anything other than a Frisbee or pretty new coaster. Classified as a weak console port, Torino should be pushed to the back of shelves and left for dead, seeing how its nearly there on its own. Your $20 would be better spent gluing yourself to a chair to watch Battlefield Earth.

Head on over to GamePyre for the full review.

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"Fatal1ty" Interview

While other pro PC gamers have gone on to bigger things outside of gaming (such as Dennis “Thresh” Fong with his many enterprises, including Xfire) perhaps the most well known pro gamer is Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel. The winner of numerous major tournaments in a number of games, including Quake III, Painkiller and more, Wendel has uses his fame to help create and endorse a number of PC and gaming products, including motherboards, graphics card, sound cards and a newly released gaming mouse. Gamecloud got a chance to ask “Fatal1ty” some questions about his career and his plans for the future.

Check out the full interview at Game Cloud.

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AMD AM2: More than just a Memory Change

The new AMD technology refresh, now called AM2, will bring DDR2 memory to the Athlon64 on-processor memory controller. Many in the industry have speculated about the impact of this low latency memory controller on DDR2 performance, which to this point has suffered under the impact of the higher latency Intel Netburst architecture. We are looking forward to the opportunity to take a closer look at DDR2 performance on AM2 – which is everyone’s big question.

Although the chips don’t seem to differ that much from the current Venice/Sandy/Etc. the addition of DDR2 is what everyone is really waiting for. One important thing that AnandTech points out is that the new CPU bracket will require changes to our current cooling unless you simply use stock. Check out the full article at AnandTech.

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WD offers 120GB pocket external drive

Western Digital has upped the capacity of its Passport external hard disk drive to 120GB. The drives are based on WD’s own Scorpio line of 2.5in notebook-oriented HDDs, and since they too were recently upgraded to 120GB, it’s no surprise that the Passport series now offers that capacity in addition to the 40, 60, 80 and 100GB versions already shipping.

Just when I thought the Corsair 4GB Voyager was large! Being able to keep 120GB in your pocket is amazing! Check out the posting at The Reg for more info.

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LAPD’s Real Life Homing Beacon

The Los Angeles Police Department plans to install “dart-like” GPS devices from Starchase, LLC, that will be propelled from officers’ cars and attach to fleeing vehicles. Once attached, a GPS sensor kicks, from which officers can monitor the vehicle’s movements via a secure website, as the homing beacon transmits all pertinent data via a wireless transmitter.

Ok, this is cool! I wonder how exactly these will attach themselves to a car, and if they are difficult to remove. I mean, imagine your car being stolen then getting it back with a gaping hole in the bumper. Very cool either way. Check out the posting at Gizmodo.

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PayPal vs Google Buy

While Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt confirmed in press accounts that the company was building a payment service, Mr. Schmidt also denied it would directly compete with PayPal. Mr. Schmidt said Google didn’t intend to offer a “person-to-person, stored-value payments system,” which many people consider a description of PayPal’s service.

I can’t see how Google could create a payment service of any kind and not compete with PayPal. Check out the posting at Slashdot which links to the WSJ article.

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Google blacklists BMW.de

Google has blacklisted BMW.de after the carmaker violated the search giant’s guidelines by using a technique that could artificially boost its search engine rating, according to a Google engineer.

Oh BMW how could you do such a thing. Check out the read at News.com.

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Hardware Roundup for Feb. 6

Happy Monday for all those out there in work land. Luckily for you, there’s many reviews and such to help keep your mind off of your work.. you know you deserve a break! HDD Saver has an incredibly useful article up today, on retrieving data from flash memory. I recently noticed that my ‘good’ recovery software could not retrieve data of such devices, so check out the article to see which tools they recommend. Xtreme Computing is taking the SyncMax 800 DDR2 memory for a spin, and it managed to hit 1044 speeds with a little juice. Very nice performance from a company you may not have even heard of. If you are in the winning mood, check out the contests at both techFEAR and 3D Gameman!

Cases & Enclosures
• Silverstone SG01 Evolution Case – Pro-Clockers

Cooling
• Scythe Samurai Z – techPowerUp!
• Zalman Fatal1ty FS-V7 VGA Cooler – Techniz

Memory & Storage
• SyncMax 800 Express PC2-6400 DDR2 – Xtreme Computing
• Recovering Data from Flash Memory – HDD Saver

Motherboards & CPU’s
• Abit Fatatality AN8 Motherboard SLI – XS Reviews
• EPoX 8NPA SLI – TweakTown
• EPoX EP-5NVA+ SLI nForce4 Intel – PC Perspective

Peripherals & Power Supplies
• aquacomputer Multiswitch – Technic 3D
• Logitech G15 – Cool Tech Zone
• Logitech MX 5000 Cordless Desktop Bluetooth 2.0 Keyboard and Mouse Duo – Bona Fide Reviews
• Silverstone Strider ST56F PSU – Technic 3D

Video Cards & Monitor
• ATI Radeon X1900 All-in-Wonder – Byte Sector
• NVIDIA GeForce 6800GS – Legion Hardware
• PowerColor ATI Radeon X1300 – Think Computers

Etcetera & Contests
• $100 Best Buy Gift Card Contest – techFEAR
• Announcing the ARP-Scythe Survey Contest Winners!- Rojak Pot
• Cooler Master Centurion 532 Case Giveaway – 3D Gameman
• IPEVO Free-1 USB Phone – Everything USB
• Interview with Marcel Gagne, Author of “Moving to Linux” – XYZ Computing
• Pentoo Mini LiveCD v2006.0 – Phoronix
• Vizo Starlet USB Cable – Red and Blackness

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ATI + X2 The Threat

Linux Game Publishing’s port of Egosoft’s X2 – The Threat has
reached a new milestone with the fourth BETA release. Although there are
still bugs to be fixed in the game before it ships to gaming
distributors, this latest release available exclusively to the closed
LGP testing community finally features ATI commercial driver support.
Will this be another disappointment for the fans in red, or will this be
a crucial win? We have thoroughly tested X2 – The Threat BETA 4 with
various ATI Radeon cards as well as a NVIDIA GeForce 6 for comparative
numbers.

Check out the full look at Phoronix.

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The Movies Review

Overall, the movies game was one of the first games to have me looking at the time in shock – it’s been a while. The simple fun of making great movies, hiring nobodies and making great stars and the general experience make the immersion into this game seamless, leaving us to that point of “just another five minutes…” until 4AM… repeatedly. To that respect, the Gameplay is wonderful from the standpoint of a long standing fan of the Rollercoaster Tycoon and Sims franchises.

Check out the full review at GamePyre.

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OCZ EL DDR PC-4000 Gold GX XTC 2GB Review

The 2GB PC4000 Gold Edition that was developed with gamer’s
distinctive needs in mind. The kit performs very well as the temperatures of
the DIMMs are very low and you’ll be happy to know the low voltage
requirement makes this kit useable on most any motherboard.

Check out the full review at Overclockers Online.

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Novell SuSE v10.1 BETA 3

Sticking with Novell’s weekly BETA releases of SuSE/OpenSuSE
v10.1 up to its February 16 release candidate, this week we experienced
the launch of SuSE v10.1 OSS BETA 3 that is code-named Agama Lizard. In
the release announcement no changes are directly mentioned, however,
this latest BETA includes the Linux 2.6.16-rc1 kernel, X.Org v6.9.0,
GNOME v2.12.0.1, and KDE v3.5.1. Looking over this release, there are a
great deal of modifications in store from the present OpenSuSE v10.0
release.

Check out the full look at Phoronix.

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Bluetake BT450Tx Bluetooth Stereo Transmitter Review

A short time ago I reviewed the spectacular Bluetake i-PHONO mini
Bluetooth Stereo Headphone. Since its release, the i-PHONO mini has gone on
to win the Bluetooth SIG Best of CES Contest 2006 in two categories
(“Stereo Audio” and “Overall Bluetooth SIG Best of CES”). Though in my
review I only tested the headphone, I mentioned that Bluetake also plans to
release the i-PHONO mini in a combo pack, which includes an iPod optimized
stereo transmitter. That transmitter, the BT450Tx, will be the subject of
this review.

Check out the full review over at A True Reviews.

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Act-On ADM 0520 MicMouse Review

The Act-On ADM 0520 MicMouse is your standard 800dpi optical USB mouse. It is
extremely lightweight and comfortable to use. Pointing is precise and this
mouse can easily take over as your primary pointing device. What makes the
MicMouse unique is its onboard omni directional microphone. The microphone is
positioned on the top of the mouse just back of the scroll wheel.

Check out the full review over at Mod The Box.

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ASUS EAX X1800XT TOP Video Card Review

With a default core clock of 700MHz, and a memory clock of 1.6GHz. The ASUS EAX X1800XT TOP card is certainly among the best of the X1800XT crop. ASUS has done a wonderful job with a difficult situation. At the end of the day the ASUS EAX X1800XT TOP card is a good card that can hold its own in today’s ever changing market, and although the X1900 series has arrived, the TOP X1800XT still rocks in the gaming world.

Check out the full review over at Motherboards.org.

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ASUS Extreme N7300GS GeForce 7300 GS Graphics Card Review

While the focus is always on the sexy, high-end cards, the reality is that most cards being sold today are lower-end cards. Today, we will take a look at the latest entry-level card to come out of the ASUS factory – the ASUS Extreme N7300GS. Based on the new NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS GPU, this card will be simple and affordable. But just how fast is it? Will you be able to play 3D games even using this entry-level card? Read on and find out!

Check out the full review at Rojak Pot.

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CES Freebies: USB Drive Round Up

At CES the bigger companies give out their press kits on USB drives, and even on memory cards (got two of those!), and they also just give away USB drives to people who stop by to see them. In total I received 8 USB drives at CES, along with the 2 memory cards, one of the memory cards was a microSD from Sandisk with the adapter, it had their press kit and an album from The Rolling Stones on it, the other was a standard SD memory card from Simpletech.

Check out the full article at Think Computers.

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SLI: Myth and Reality: Part 2

Last week, we took a quick look at what NVIDIA’s SLI has to offer. In that
article, we concluded that while SLI does work, you should not expect
tremendous gains in frame rates. In average, SLI can only offer around 30 %
increase, occurring mostly when AA and AF are enabled. However, performance
is not the only feature of SLI.

Head over to Tech-Hounds for the second part to the article.

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Xinerama v. TwinView

When it comes to a multi-headed environment under Linux, there
are two popular options for consumers — Xinerama and TwinView. Although
TwinView was developed by NVIDIA for allowing multiple monitors to be
powered by a single GPU with their array of GeForce graphics cards,
Xinerama was originally developed by Digital Equipment Corporation under
the name of PanoramiX, and was later incorporated into the X Window
System. Today at Phoronix, we have studied the frame-rate gaming
performance under multi-headed NVIDIA TwinView and Xinerama
configurations as well as a traditional single-head design.

Check out the full article over at Phoronix.

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