Archive for the ‘Hardware’ Category
- February 1, 2012 10:01 pm
Rumors of next-gen Apple gear are always floating around. But a new (alleged) prototype iPod Nano has something new — a camera.
From the leaked pictures, the only physical improvements appears to be the addition of a camera and a camera alone.
In other Nano news, a patent filing back in November eludes to an iPod Nano featuring a built-in speaker of some sort, possibly for future Siri integration. Bluetooth 4.0 has also been name dropped a few times. Maybe the iPod Nano will become the new “iPod Touch Nano/iPhone Nano” if Siri, internet capabilities, and a camera end up making an appearance, no?
It seems like it would be kind of weird taking a picture with something as tiny as the iPod Nano (with camera) would be. Of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum, taking pictures with an iPad isn’t exactly natural looking either.
If the rumors pan out, look for the new iPod Nano to hit stores sometime in March/April.
Remember that Super Bowl loving, “affordable” 21:9 HDTV by Vizio we showed you back in mid-January? Well, it now has a price: $3,499.
All things considered (in the TV world), that’s really not bad at all especially considering the stellar 2560 x 1080 resolution. But if the most talked about 58″ isn’t up to your liking, word has it there’s also a 50″ and 71″ in the cards too. Then again, now that we have ~$4,000-$5,000 OLEDs coming in the next several months we’re asking ourselves just how much we really want to do away with those black bars on widescreen movies we’ve come to know and love hate. In our eyes, the OLEDs we saw at CES were pretty much…awesome.
Finally. Movie watching sans black bars and without having to donate a human limb. Thanks, Vizio.
A high-end gaming rig is only as good as the power supply divvying up the juice to each and every component. Short changing yourself on a PSU not only causes you to spend more on electricity in the long run, it also puts you at a pretty high risk of losing your prized investment. Blowing out a PSU could be as minor as the PSU itself taking itself out, or, taking your entire system out.
Antec’s new Current Gamer M PSU series aims to succeed on multiple fronts. First and foremost: Your electric bill. The Gamer M series is rated 80 PLUS Bronze (up to 87% efficiency) thanks to the use of high-end components stretching across the 4x 12v rails and 100% Japanese capacitors. On top of that, Antec has designed the M series to run as quiet as possible with thanks to the use of a 135mm twin ball-bearing fan. Finally, in a bid to appease to the growing number of style conscious system builders, Antec has outfitted the M series with black sleeved cables. No gimmicks. No flashy lights. Just power and reliability.
Included Goodies:
Fixed
- 1x 24(20+4)-pin main connector
- 1x 8(4+4)-pin ATX 12V/EPS 12V
Modular
Get yours starting today in 400W ($89.95), 520W ($99.95) and 620W ($119.95) capacities. Pics after the break.
When we gazed upon the slew of gigantor 50″+ OLED tvs at CES, we instantly found ourselves awash in emotion. The most obvious and strongest one was awe. Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe them. But at the same time, we were also left with a feeling of sadness for even taking scale into account, there was no way we’d be able to afford one of the fancy new sets for at least a couple of years. Reminding us of this fact was Sony’s old 11″ OLED “TV” that they’ve had for a couple years now which sold for a staggering $2,500.
Thankfully we won’t have to weep at night. A “discussion” given by Samsung after CES said that their upcoming 55″ Super OLED TV, the KN55ES9600, should cost “well under” the rumored $8,000 price tag that was floated around at CES. According to Samsung, the aforementioned barely there TV should sell at prices “slightly” higher than current high-end LED TVs. For comparisons sake, such TVs are in the $3,000-$4,000 range (though can obviously go higher based on brand). $3-$4k is still a large chunk of change, though it is 50% less than the chunk we thought we’d have to part with.
TV junkies and pixel lovers are no doubt letting out a huge sigh of relief. No one likes to go broke gobbling up the latest tech but it’s something we as aficionados of technology must do.
Gadgets are becoming so multifunctional these days it’s almost as if we’re loosing borders between distinct product categories. While in some senses it can be seen as bad, we generally think it’s a good direction to go towards. Why carry 10 devices when 1 can do everything just as well? Unfortunately, that 1 miracle device has yet to arrive. Smartphones and tablets are a good start, but there’s something still missing.
Whatever it is that is missing we’re not quite sure. But maybe, just maybe the camera/phone/tablet/laptop hybrid “Fujitsu Lifebook” concept by designer Prashant Chandr will finally usher into “that” era. Dreams aside, Chandr’s concept is based around “shared hardware”. For example: when docked to the laptop, the tablet becomes a full QWERTY keyboard. On top of becoming a keyboard, the tablet can either help assist the laptop either with hardware power or offloading processes as well as fully taking over should it need to. Pretty awesome, eh?
We’ll let your eyes do the real investigating. Check out the real (or not) life Laptabphone after the break…
- January 19, 2012 10:34 am
In the custom PC world, overclocking is the name of the game for the hardest of hardcore users. Wringing out extra performance from your hardware — for free — is one of the best feelings in the world. The only problem: increasing CPU speed and voltage means extra heat.
While the most extreme PC enthusiasts will immediately look towards custom water cooling loops as they offer the most options and performance. But, what if you’re just dipping your toes into this whole custom PC thing. That’s where high-end air coolers such as the NZXT Havik 140 come into play.
Step inside as we see if NZXT’s new air cooler has enough to keep up with the current champs, and just maybe see if it can nip a sealed water cooling kit in the butt while we’re at it…
Think you’ve seen it all when it comes to wireless mice; buttons, ever higher DPI settings, and crazy lights? Think again. Genius is about to rock your world thanks to their new DX-ECO which ditches the traditional battery and instead uses a gold capacitor. Said capacitor is said to last up to 100,000 re-charge cycles. Speaking of which, users can expect to go most of the typical work day on a single charge. Run-time sound worrisome? Stop. Re-charging this gift from the future takes a full 3 minutes. Insane. Other specs include 800/1600 DPI, BlueEye Optical tracking for use on virtually any surface and 2.4 GHz operation via the tiny pico receiver that can also be stored within the mouse itself.
$39.99 over at Geniusnet.com
The battle between console and PC gamers will probably never end, each side saying their hardware/method of gaming is inherently better. (For the record, we’re PC gamers.) But perhaps there is a common middle ground we could come together on, no?
Alienware is trying to bridge the gap between hulking gaming PC and tiny, under-TV console with their new X51 device. This “console-ified” PC is basically a microATX type of device crammed into a box that resembles a certain competing box that begins with “X”.
Specs for the X51 aren’t anything to scoff at: (high end model) Core i7 2600K processor, 8 GB of 1333MHz RAM, 1 GB Nvidia GTX 555 GPU, and a 1 TB 7200 RPM hard drive. 7.1 audio as well as a DVD +/- RW are also tucked inside. Pricing is of course higher than your average console at £948.99, but it’s also a much, much better piece of hardware. But if it’s too much, you’ll be able to opt in for a lower powered Core i3 processor and 4 GB of RAM.
When you think of it, your Xbox 360 and PS3 now have hardware in it pushing over 5 years. That is ancient in the technology world. Just look at cellphones five years ago and compare to today’s modern devices.
Toss in a good wireless keyboard and mouse and we think Alienware’s on to something here. You?
Shipping February 6th
We’ve mentioned the Phillips 21:9 cinema-sized TV a time or two before. And while we’ve pretty much gushed over said TV, the ~$5,000 price tag and difficulty to order in the U.S. haven’t been so well received. But where there’s an expensive TV there’s Vizio looking to price them out of relevance in the race to the bottom dollar.
At CES — Somehow we managed to miss this… — Vizio showed off their new CinemaWide HD TVs. At 2560 x 1080 with 120Hz refresh rate, 3D support, 400 nits of brightness and 5.5ms response time, we’re pretty impressed. Add to that every other feature today’s modern “smart” TV ships with and you’ve got a worth reason to pick up a Vizio CinemaWide TV over the competition. The only problem, of course, is also the 21:9 aspect ratio. While it’s great for movies, it’s terrible for actual TV — all of which is either 4:3 or 16:9.
Formatting issues aside, we’ll gladly offer up an organ (or two) once Vizio releases their 21:9 CinemaWide TV later this year for an as of now undisclosed price.
