Archive

Thermaltake Luxa² LM300 Touch Pro | Posted on: 31/05/2009 @ 17:10

The Luxa² LM300 Touch Pro is a new HTPC enclosure for the discriminating home entertainment enthusiast. While Luxa² is a relatively new brand, they are a division of Thermaltake who are no strangers to HTPC cases and accessories. With features such as all aluminum construction, a touchscreen LCD and fully integrated media software, the LM300 Touch Pro seems to be the total package in terms ...

Nintendo Wii Fit Plus Leaked | Posted on: 31/05/2009 @ 16:40

News is out that Nintendo is expected to release the Wii Fit Plus at next week’s E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles. Just as Nintendo improved the Wiimote controller by launching the MotionPlus which tracks your movements in finer detail, the Wii Fit Balance Board will similarly be tweaked to make it more accurate. The Wii Fit [...]

FREE Battery Recycling: One more thing you can do to save the world | Posted on: 31/05/2009 @ 13:30

Hands up who recycles their batteries! No? Well I confess I’m guilty of throwing them out when the old ones in my remote control work as well as if I had put two pieces of baby corn into the compartment. At the moment less than 3 per cent of portable batteries in the UK are recycled [...]

Blender 2.49 Released With Great Changes | Posted on: 31/05/2009 @ 12:40

A new release of Blender, the immensely popular open-source 3D modeling software, is now available. This is not the much-anticipated Blender 2.5 release, but instead version 2.49, which brings forth several prominent changes and improvements while the developers continue work on the next major release...

Microsoft Removes Limitations From Windows 7 Starter Edition | Posted on: 30/05/2009 @ 14:50

In the past with Windows XP and Windows Vista, Microsoft had released a Windows "Starter" version of it's operating system but it was severely limited and was a stripped down version. It was only available to third world countries and it also contained application restrictions; only allowing you to have three third-party applications (Not native to the OS) running at any given time.With Windows 7 ...

Amazon Kindle 3 Color To Costly To Sell Now? | Posted on: 30/05/2009 @ 14:30

I wouldn't be holding out for the Amazon Kindle 3 or as we call the Kindle Color, the CEO of Amazon said Thursday that the color version of its E-Book reader is "multiple" years away.He went on and told shareholders at the annual shareholders meeting in Seattle that he did not want to disclose how many Kindles had been sold. He also went on to say that the Color Kindle was not imminent and said ...

Phoronix Thread Leads To New Linux Game Ports | Posted on: 30/05/2009 @ 1:00

Svartalf, a member of the Phoronix Forums and developer for Linux Game Publishing, recently asked our readers on the forums to provide a wish-list of games they wished to see ported to Linux. There ended up being an outpouring of interested Linux gamers with more than 1,120 replies! Svartalf shared that "[the] effort that actually did much more than I'd hoped for" and "as it stands, we've got one ...

Eye-Fi Explore Video 4GB | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 22:10

Most digital cameras sold today take beautiful pictures, but they also record digital video as well. All of the major camera manufacturers have added video shooting modes to their camera's feature set. The hassle comes when you have to pause to take the time to download the pictures and video from your camera to your computer. With the Eye-Fi Explore Video you can do it wirelessly to your ...

OpenSolaris 2009.06 Coming Out Monday | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 21:00

For those of you interested in the release of Sun's next OpenSolaris operating system, it is coming next Monday. OpenSolaris 2009.06 has many package updates and improvements to this desktop Solaris operating system since the release of OpenSolaris 2008,11 last year...

Rebit PC Backup Software | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 20:40

As a user of both PCs and Macs on a daily basis I have found each platform’s OS to have certain advantages over one another. One area where OS X Tiger beats Windows XP and Vista is in the backup software department. Apple’s Time Machine has become the gold standard against which all other backup solutions are measured. The true beauty of Time Machine is that a neophyte Mac user ...

Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology From Its Site | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 18:50

The world's largest online free encyclopedia has banned Church of Scientology from its web site. The San Fransisco based web site has blocked the organization's entire IP ranges from using its service because Wikipedia states that the Church is editing entries based on its own ideology and pushing their own agenda's.It's not unusual for the site to block individual people from editing content on ...

A new breed of Atomic Floyd headphones launches | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 17:20

We're a fan of the Floyd around here, and we're not talking Dark Side of the Moon Floyd either, so we thought it only right and proper that we share the UK based headphone company's newest set of TwistJax headphones with you.

Soyuz Docks With Space Station & Increases Crew to Six | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 16:00

The Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying three new crew members docked with the International Space Station on Friday morning at 8:34AM EDT. Today marks the first time in the space station's history that six crew members will be living on board as full time residents. Awaiting the the newest arrivals were the Expedition 19 crew members already on board the ISS. ISS crew members Commander Gennady ...

Bionic Commando PS3 Review | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 15:30

No Plymouth Coming To Ubuntu 9.10 | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 14:50

Plymouth, a project spawned by Red Hat to replace RHGB in Fedora with a much cleaner boot splash program that leverages newer technologies like kernel mode-setting, will not be finding its way into Ubuntu. Originally, it was considered that Plymouth could replace USplash in Ubuntu 9.04, but then Canonical and other developers decided to push that transition off to Ubuntu 9.10...

Palm Pre Shows As iPod Clone To Play Nice With iTunes? | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 14:30

Palm unveiled more of the Palm Pre's functionality at the D: All Things Digital Conference in California this week. One of the most interesting features is its ability to work with iTunes.The Palm Pre, as demonstrated by Palm's Jon Rubinestein, is presented to Windows as a DRM-free device so you can literally throw whatever music you want to on the device that doesn't include DRM. It also tells ...

Bionic Commando PS3 Review | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 12:30

Smokey the Anti-Smoke Alarm- for if you’re as bad as me in the kitchen | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 12:10

Don’t worry all you fire prone, safety conscious people out there- this is not some renegade ‘no to smoke alarms’ gadget (my Daddy was a Fireman- I’d be shot for publicising something like that!). No this gadget is designed for those of us who have a tendency to burn their food and arms too short to [...]

Lian Li PC-P50 Review | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 10:00

We're looking at another aluminium entry from the Taiwanese chassis builders of excellence, Lian Li. With two 140mm fans in the roof and an entirely tooless installation system, the PC-P50 has potential, but how does it compare with the likes of the Antec's Nine Hundred Two?

OpenSuSE 11.2 Milestone 2 Brings Changes | Posted on: 29/05/2009 @ 2:40

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Microsoft Bing Search Will You Use It? | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 19:30

It's official! Microsoft unveiled its new search engine, Bing, at the All Things Digital conference in California this morning. The new search engine, to be launched in the coming days, is a hope from Microsoft to bring back users to its search engine at a time when Microsoft's CEO said the Live Search was a failure. Bing, is as we predicted earlier this year a replacement for the miserable Live ...

Fedora 11 Plagued With Another Delay | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 19:00

Last week Red Hat had to announce that the release of Fedora 11 would be be faced by a last minute delay due to a number of show-stopping bugs that had to be resolved in time. Fedora 11 was then supposed to make it out in the first week of June, but we have now heard that there is another delay facing Fedora 11. Due to an Anaconda storage bug, Red Hat has pushed back the release of Fedora 11 by ...

PDC World Championship Darts 2009 - Wii | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 17:00

Pure pressure, pure passion, pure darts! Step up to the oche for the official PDC Darts game.

Spotify Mobile App For Google Android Might Hurt Apple | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 16:50

Spotify, an online music streaming service, has just released a video of its new mobile version of its software that runs on Google Android devices to utilize the mobile edition of its services. The video show's us the Spotify Mobile App running on a Google Android device and how easy it is to use the application. The demonstration further shows streaming music on the device, even if the device ...

NintendNO phone | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 15:40

Rumours of a potential mobile handset finding its way out of Nintendo R&D towers have been quashed in a statement from the 'casual gaming' giant....

Eaga Shower Smart: Free for UK Homes | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 14:30

Here’s a nifty device that will not only save the environment, but save you money too, by regulating the water you use ever time you smell bad. The eaga ShowerSmart regulates the flow rate of a non-electric shower to 7.8 litres per minute – the equivalent of a powerful electric shower. That by itself may not mean [...]

Windows 7 Build 7137 Leaked Download | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 14:10

Right on the heels of the Windows 7 Build 7127 leak, we have yet another leaked build and this time it's the 7137. From what we can tell, there are no visual changes to the build. We assume that the release only fixes bugs that have been reported.The Windows 7 Build 7137 ISO's are being represented as the following file names;32-Bit: ...

X Input 2.0 Hitting Master In Seven Days | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 12:30

X Input 2.0 is officially set to arrive in the X Server in just seven days. This input extension update for X.Org has been a longtime in the making and is needed for Multi-Pointer X and also improves other areas to enhance the input subsystem...

Linux 2.6.30 Kernel Benchmarks | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 12:10

With the Linux 2.6.30 kernel being prepped for release in early June, we have set out to provide a few benchmarks of this latest Linux kernel to see how it compares to its two earlier predecessors. While this new kernel may offer support for new file-systems (NILFS2, in particular), support for LZMA/BZIP2 kernel image compression, a new CPU architecture (Microblaze) and many other changes, are ...

New Fifth Gen iPod Nano: with Camera? | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 7:20

The Apple rumour mill is churning away again with the latest word speculating on a fifth generation iPod Nano featuring a camera. Next month sees the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, making Apple news hot stuff at the moment. The technology giant is also expected to release a new version iPhone that is expected to [...]

G.Skill 64GB Falcon | Posted on: 28/05/2009 @ 3:00

We've been seeing an influx in the number of SSD drives hitting the market but few have consistently provided steady performance over time. The introduction of the Indilinx controller and DRAM Cache sets high expectations on performance for the G.Skill Falcon.

SATA 3.0 Released Paving The Way To 6Gb/sec SATA Devices | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 20:00

The Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) has just released the new Serial ATA Revision 3.0 specification. With this new 3.0 specification, the path has been paved to enable future devices to transfer up to 6Gb/sec as well has provide enhancements to support multimedia applications.Like other SATA specifications, the 3.0 specification is backward compatible with earlier SATA products ...

Mozilla Firefox 3.5 RC1 Test Day Friday | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 19:40

Mozilla will be holding an official Mozilla Firefox 3.5 RC 1 test day this Friday May 30th, 2009. During the test day, Mozilla will have community representatives available to answer questions, help with problems, and willing to accept feedback from you. "I don't need to remind everyone of how important this phase is, so we're going to need your awesome testing skills to make sure its as polished ...

Skype Beta 4.1 Provides Official Screen Sharing Support | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 19:00

Skype, the most popular VoIP client in the world with over 443nmillion users, has released Skype Beta 4.1 which is the first Skype client to fully support screen sharing!Screen sharing for Skype is one of the most anticipated features and it's finally here. The latest Skype beta will also allow Mac users to share their screens with PC users - which wasn't possible in previous versions.Does Skype ...

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.37 Released with 64-bit Support | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 16:50

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.37 download has been released. Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect. It even monitors every process and stops malware process before they even run on your system. I think it's a great tool to have in your anti-spyware toolkit.Below are the changes in the 1.37 release:

Worm aimed at overzealous Twitterers | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 15:40

Attention all Twitterers!! If you're of the impatient ilk and need more and more people following your every move on Twitter then you may be interested that a new scam is doing the tweeting rounds.

Albatron HD 4830 Green 512 MB | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 15:40

Linpus To Launch Moblin V2 OS Next Week | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 14:40

Back in February we were first to share the news that Linpus was going to launch a QuickOS Linux operating system. They did that, but we can now also tell you that next week Linpus Technologies will be launching a new version of their Linpus distribution that is based upon Moblin V2...

Apple Giving Away Free iPod Touch 8GB For Back To School | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 14:31

Apple has announced its Back To School program which gives a free iPod Touch to those that buy a Mac for college. Here's how it works; you choose a Mac and automatically save from $100 - $200, thanks to the education discount, then you buy an iPod Touch during the same checkout process, and finally you submit your rebate claim by October 8th, 2009 and you get the money back from the iPod Touch ...

X.Org 7.5 Release Schedule Slips Again | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 14:10

X.Org 7.5 with the X Server 1.7 update has been delayed, again. X.Org 7.5 was originally scheduled for release in early April but that ended up being an April Fool's Day joke...

Star Trek: The Final Frontier HD Movie Review | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 14:10

Soyuz Blasts Off To Expand ISS Crew To Six | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 13:50

The Russian Soyuz Rocket shook the ground Wednesday and left a fiery tail in the sky as it left to rendezvous with the International Space Station in a mission that has been long-awaited, to increase the space lab's crew from three to six full-time crew members.The Soyuz TMA-15 Spacecraft, which lifted off at 6:34AM EDT, holds commander Roman Romaneknko, Frank De Winne, and Robert Thirsk. The ...

Kiwis turn down Microsoft. | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 9:20

A key deal between New Zealand's State Services Commission, and Microsoft has fallen through, perhaps opening the door for open source software. Talks concerning a three year purchasing agreement ended with Microsoft coming away empty handed.

Flip Video UltraHD Pocket Digital Camcorder Review | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 5:40

The Final Update: Flash Video Performance on Ion | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 4:20

It must be because this thing is so darn tiny that I don’t mind testing it all the time, but today’s short update marks the third follow up to our original Zotac Ion review. The original article crowned the Zotac Ion as the best Atom based mini-ITX board I’d ever encountered. It wasn’t a hard feat to accomplish, after all, there are...

Hackintosh Maker Psystar Files For Bankruptcy | Posted on: 27/05/2009 @ 0:00

Psystar, the company probably best known for manufacturing Mac clones, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Psystar Corporation, based out of Miami Florida sells 'Open Computers' or their attempt at cloning the Mac. The Mac Clones were announced in April of 2008 with having the option to have Mac OS X leopard pre-installed on them, creating what the Mac community calls hackintoshes.Apple has ...

Too late for Microsoft’s Live.com search? | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 23:10

As Microsoft ramps up to launching a new improved version of it's search service we're wondering if it's efforts to recapture lost ground may be in vain.

Facebook Receives $200 Million From Russian Investment Group | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 20:40

Facebook announced today that it had received $200 million from Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian-based investment group, in exchange for a 2% stake in the most popular online social networking site. The 1.96% equity stake places a valuation of Facebook at $10 billion.In addition to the $200 million investment, Digital Sky Technologies (DST) also says they plan on purchasing at least $100 ...

Out With Kumo In With the Bing Microsoft Search! | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 17:01

Bada boom bada bing! This might just be what Microsoft is going to call it's latest search engine, Microsoft Bing. Catchy isn't it? What we originally thought was going to be called Kumo, is getting renamed according to many sources close to Microsoft.Advertising Age, an advertising trade magazine, said Microsoft will spend nearly $100 million in advertising dollars on print, online, and TV in ...

FCC Performs DTV Transition Test Many Unprepared | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 16:41

The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) performed a "soft test" this past Thursday to help encourage consumers to take action in preparation for the digital television (DTV) transition scheduled to take place on June 12th, 2009. The test on Thursday generated a record breaking daily call volume to the FCC's national DTV help line. They received 55,000 calls on the test day last week, with the ...

Windows Vista and Server 2008 SP2 RTM Released | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 16:01

After having launched the SP2 RC for Vista and Server 2008 back in February, Microsoft today has officially released SP2 (32-Bit) / (64-bit) for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

HTC Android Based oPhone Coming To China | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 15:10

Google Android has finally made its way to China and China Mobile will be the first carrier to provide the HTC with the Android based software in China. China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier at over half a billion users, has joined forces with HTC to deliver the oPhone, based on HTC's Magic Smartphone with the Android OS loaded with the Chinese language. Pricing of the new phone is ...

Microsoft restrict Windows 7 Starter edition | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 14:50

Microsoft has revealed that netbook manufacturers looking to ship the new Windows 7 operating system on their products will need to agree to some fairly hefty restrictions to keep the Redmond giant happy.

Nokia Ovi Store Opens For Mobile Apps | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 14:30

Nokia today announced its Ovi Store, its answer to the Apple App Store but for over 50 Nokia-based devices. With the Nokia Ovi Store opening today, there are over 20,000 different content that can be downloaded to your Nokia phone via your web browser at store.ovi.com or via an application on your Nokia phone. Content ranges from applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and ...

Zuckerberg puts price on Facebook | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 14:10

It would be surprising if anyone on Facebook has not seen the virtual gifts on sale. For actual moola you can send your friends any number of exotic-coloured gifts that they can’t actually touch or do anything with. Last November, Facebook introduced their micro-payment “credits” system, changed from US dollars for the global market. In the next [...]

Captains log, stardate 2009. Got new chair today… | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 12:10

If you're a proper Trekkie, and a fan of the former Kirk over any other, this is what by rights should be gracing your living room right now- a full scale replica of Captain James T Kirk's command chair from the original series. Based on the chair originally designed by set designer Matt Jefferies, 1701 of these babies are being reproduced for geeks across the globe.

Cresyn C750E Earphones | Posted on: 26/05/2009 @ 10:20

Cresyn C750E is the name of an interesting set of in-ears, from a relatively unknown manufacturer. The C750Es feature a sweet bundle and a well thought out design. With a price point of $100 they are positioned nicely for the average user who wants to get decent sound quality on the move without breaking the bank.

Ubuntu Picks Up X Input 2 Support In PPA | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 22:10

With the release of X Server 1.7 as part of X.Org 7.5 hopefully coming in July, X Input 2 will finally be entering the limelight after being long in development. This updated X Input Extension is critical in allowing Multi-Pointer X support in this next X Server release. As X Input 2 could potentially pose a few problems for applications that depend upon this server extension, Thomas Jaeger has ...

Velvet Assassin Review (PC) | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 18:40

I ask you people, is there anything sexier than a female killer wearing tight leather? The answer is no. There's not. In fact, it can be a little distraction having a booty that nice right in front of you when you're playing a first-person shooter. So I decided that instead of writing a review of the actual game, I would instead write about the main character's arse. I've compiled video of it in ...

FREE Games Rentals, or at least a great deal… | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 18:40

If you've already completed all of the laps possible on Gran Turismo 3 or you've reached the stage where you just can't stand to kill another manji in Resident Evil 5, then you need a new game. If you're one of the many on a new mission to cut-back on your spendings though, this may pose a problem. Luckily, we've scoured a range of different sites to bring you the latest deals in games rental, ...

Terminator Salvation Movie Review | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 18:00

Following up the legendary first two Terminator films was no easy task. Without series creator, James Cameron. many fans found “Terminator: Rise of the Machines” to be lacking the depth, action, and character of the earlier films. When Director McG was announced to continue the war between humanity and the machines in “Terminator Salvation” fans feared that the series ...

Zotac Ion: No Support for Wake on USB | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 16:10

In response to our first article on the first mini-ITX motherboard based on NVIDIA's Ion platform, many of you asked enough questions that warranted a follow up.  In said follow up I mentioned that wake-on-USB did not seem to work reliably on Zotac's Ion motherboard.  Today I've got confirmation, said feature does not work. Zotac says that...

Tech Fragments Now Offering iPhone Friendly Site | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 15:30

We've just finished up coding the iPhone-friendly site for Tech Fragments and are pleased for all of the iPhone users to check it out! The iPhone version of the site offers larger and crisper font sizes to enable easier reading it also strips away a lot of the less-needed features such as the category tabs at the top of the page, and the side bar to the right of the screen. This enables you to ...

SilverStone Precision PS02 | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 13:50

While at Phoronix we mostly focus on Linux hardware compatibility and hardware that can be stressed using our flagship testing software, we always enjoy taking a break from our usual Linux benchmarking routine to look at SilverStone cases. SilverStone has been around for just six years but they constantly drive innovation into their wide assortment of computer enclosures with many different ...

Our Love for Gadgets Sends Electricity Bills Soaring | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 13:20

The UK’s love of tech has the capacity to add an extra £100 per year to each household’s electricity bills according to a report in the Guardian. The particular culprits include plasma televisions, high-end PCs and mobile phones(which need to be constantly recharged). These three devices alone currently account for 25 per cent of the electricity we [...]

02 scoop next big gadget after iPhone | Posted on: 25/05/2009 @ 12:40

After its success with the Apple iPhone, O2 is to scoop the country’s next biggest gadget with an exclusive deal to stock the Palm Pre. Palm, the company behind the Palm Pilot and other PDAs, is looking to its new Pre device to launch itself back into popularity and into the smartphone market with competitors such [...]

Phoronix Test Suite Picks Up More Capabilities | Posted on: 24/05/2009 @ 23:20

Next week marks the five-year anniversary of the creation of Phoronix and also signals one year since Phoronix Test Suite 1.0 was released. With those celebrations ahead, the second alpha release for Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 "Sandtorg" has been released...

Circuit City Re-Opens Online But With Poor Return Policy | Posted on: 24/05/2009 @ 18:30

After officially closing all U.S. stores on March 8th, 2009, Circuit City has re-opened it's new online store at CircuitCity.com. The newly re-launched online retailer promises lower prices, wider selections, faster shipping, and 24/7 customer service. Circuit City today isn't the same Circuit City we knew before the bankruptcy. The company is now under new ownership, the same ownership that owns ...

Ryan Gordon On Linux UT3: "still on its way" | Posted on: 24/05/2009 @ 14:20

The Linux client for Unreal Tournament 3 should have been out over 550 days ago, but it appears to be dead with not even Epic Games being sure about its status. However, the independent developer that is responsible for porting this game's server and client over to Linux, Ryan Gordon, claims that the game is still on. Following our news post on Friday regarding this matter, Mr...

Linux 2.6.30-rc7 Kernel Released | Posted on: 24/05/2009 @ 0:40

For those around the computer this holiday weekend in the United States, Linus Torvalds has announced the seventh release candidate for the Linux 2.6.30 kernel. Linux 2.6.30-rc7 kernel brings a late driver to the kernel for the Cisco PCI-Express FCoE HBA SCSI adapter and besides that the rest of the fixes are small changes. The Linux 2.6.30-rc7 kernel release announcement can be read at ...

Nexus WaveAir | Posted on: 23/05/2009 @ 22:50

Cooling our system is important, we want them to remain cool at all times no matter what we're doing. Sometimes though the included fans in our cases just aren't enough and we need a little extra help. Today for review I've got the Nexus WaveAir. This product attaches to a free PCI slot, mounted on the outside of your case and either blows cool air in or extracts hot air from inside of your case. ...

Space Shuttle Atlantis Landing To Take Place Sunday | Posted on: 23/05/2009 @ 14:20

After having six landing opportunities today for Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-125 Entry Flight Directory, Norm Knight has waved off the chances of the Shuttle returning home today.Capcom Greg Johnson explained to the crew of Atlantis that the weather did not permit a Kennedy Landing Toady. "There's a chance for a landing at Kennedy tomorrow (Sunday), and we're going to keep that option open. ...

Linux MMORPG Game Engine Sees Major Update | Posted on: 23/05/2009 @ 13:00

Regnum Online, a Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game that has a native Linux client offered by its developers (NGD Studios), has received a major overhaul. Regnum Online is one of the very few MMORPGs that has a native Linux client, but now its own game engine got a whole lot more powerful...

Star Trek: The Voyage Home HD Movie Review | Posted on: 23/05/2009 @ 8:00

Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player Review | Posted on: 23/05/2009 @ 2:10

Sapphire 4770 HD 512MB Video Card | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 23:00

Everyone wants to know how far their money can go these days and that you want to make sure that you get the most that you can for it. Sapphire and ATI knows this and they have come up with their own "stimulus" plan by bringing out the new HD 4770 PCI-e video card. Targeted toward the mid-level of video cards does this new and surprising card make it worth your hard earned money?

WINE 1.1.22 Brings Few Graphics Improvements | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 19:40

The developers behind WINE are out with their bi-weekly development update to this popular open-source project. Added in this latest WINE 1.1.22 release are improvements to OLE copy/paste functionality, the start of x86_64 exception handling support, Direct3D locking fixes, ARB shaders improvements, and better OpenGL pixel format support...

550 Days Later, UT3 Linux Appears Dead | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 16:10

If you follow Phoronix or the Linux gaming scene at all you will know the mess that has become to be known as Unreal Tournament 3. Last month when we asked Epic Games about the status of the Linux game client, they were not even sure. Back in March the developer responsible for porting the UT3 client and server to Linux, Ryan Gordon, claimed to be still working on it and was just optimizing and ...

Channel Expo 2009 Writeup | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 15:37

Channel Expo is the UK\'s largest technology trade show, and though in reality, most of it is usually based around the channel, with lots of software and industry focus, there\'s often a few nifty bits of gaming and enthusiast gear to keep you interested. So, despite several of our usual industry pals telling us they wouldn\'t be attending, we saddled up and headed off to Birmingham NEC to check ...

Google Releases Chrome 2.0 Download | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 15:10

Google has launched its new Google Chrome 2.0 web browser, which they say has a drastic speed improvement, is more stable, and includes several new features that have been requested by its users. Where you'll really see an improvement on speed is on web sites that rely heavily on JavaScript as Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine happens to be 30 percent faster than before."It's been about 8 months ...

Atlantis Landing No Go Will Attempt Saturday | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 14:40

The Space Shuttle Atlantis landing for this morning has been postponed until Saturday due to weather conditions at Kennedy Space Center in Florida being unfavorable. The STS-125 mission had two landing times available this morning and neither of the windows will work according to flight controllers.Norm Knight, STS-125 Entry Fight Director, said the weather conditions would not permit a safe ...

Microsoft blocks MSN access for selected countries | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 14:30

Reports are surfacing online confirming that Microsoft has removed access to its Windows Live MSN services for residents in several embargoed countries, the full list of those effected includes Syria, Cuba, Iran and North Korea. If, say, you’ve woken up in Cuba this morning and gone to log into your MSN account you would have seen [...]

ShotCarver: Drink Rum From an Apple | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 13:50

Here’s a good way to get one of your five serves of fruit and veggies a day- fill some with vodka. The ShotCarver is a device that will make its way into almost any fruit or veg to create a fruity take on a shot glass. To use it, you just need to simply twist and [...]

Vodafone Summer Deal: UK rates When Calling or Texting from Overseas | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 11:40

Well here’s a deal not to be sneezed at if you’re planning a Summer getaway. From June 1 until August 31, 2009 Vodafone are offering UK rates for calls and text made and received from most European and Australiasian countries. If you’re a big talker, this saving could even equate to budgeting for a extra [...]

Ikonik Zaria A20 SIM: the new kid on the block | Posted on: 22/05/2009 @ 9:40

We find out if a relative newcomer has what it takes to compete with some of the big names of the chassis market.

HTC Touch Diamond Verizon Cell Phone Review | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 23:30

Review of the HTC Touch Diamond cell phone that Verizon started offering this month in the US and is based on Windows Mobile 6.1 with TouchFLO 3D interface.

inFamous - PS3 | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 16:40

What happens when a real person suddenly starts developing super powers. Will they exact revenge, or protect the innocent?

MSI X-Slim X340 Ultra Portable Review | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 13:40

MSI's X-Slim X340 13.4 inch ultra portable laptop is one of the first to use Intel's new CULV processors. It's clear where the X340 got its inspiration from, but MSI has managed to hit an attractive and affordable price point - read our review find out how it gets on.

Talking To The Developers Of The Unigine Engine | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 13:10

While the Unigine game engine may not be as widely known or used as the Unreal or id Tech engines, its capabilities and features have been increasing at an incredible rate. Last year there were two tech demos released by Unigine Corp to demonstrate the capabilities of their proprietary engine -- both of which were very impressive -- but since then their software stack has picked up a slew of new ...

Apple Shocks Users Through iPod Earphones | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 13:00

If you’ve ever been dancing to a funky beat while listening to your iPod and felt that the music has literally reached out to grab you… maybe it has. Apple has released a consumer warning on its website saying that while using your iPod or iPhone, “it’s possible to receive a small and quick electrical (static) [...]

Poke Benedict XVI | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 12:20

Pope Benedict XVI is taking his religious message digital when today Pope2You.net is launched. Catholic owners of the iPhone, or users of Facebook, will be able to download and install applications that allow them to track Il Papa with videos of his travels and send Pope e-Cards with ‘the good news’ on them. In a month that has [...]

OCZ Technology Behemoth Gaming Mouse | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 11:40

I found the OCZ Technology Behemoth to not only respond well, but it also performed great on many different surfaces thanks to its double laser engine. Most importantly, while conducting the testing my hand was very comfortable and relaxed. Toss in the facts that the Behemoth looks great, is sturdy and well constructed, and you have a winning combination.

BFG MX Series 550W PSU | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 10:00

Made by popular graphics card company BFG, the MX550 might provide some modular competition to the OCZ ModXStream Pro, Corsair VX550W and HX520W power supplies. We dive in to find out if it's any good.

Patriot Extreme Performance DDR2 8GB (4 x 2GB) PC2-6400 Low Latency Quad Memory Kit Review | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 9:20

GNOME 2.26.2 Desktop Released | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 3:10

The second to the last planned maintenance update in the GNOME 2.26 series has been released. GNOME 2.26.2 just brings the usual assortment of bug fixes and translation updates, while all major work on this free software desktop environment is now focused on GNOME 2.28. The GNOME 2.26.2 release announcement can be read on the GNOME mailing list...

Google Says American Idol Winner: Adam Lambert | Posted on: 21/05/2009 @ 1:40

This season on American Idol it would appear as though we can't use the results from Dialidol because its too close to call. Dialidol works by measuring the busy signals to determine which Idols are getting the most votes. Based on these results the site is able to determine where everyone 'ranks' with some very good accuracy I might add. This year, with the final two there are less than 1 point ...

iCommerce: How Apple Changed the Game | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 23:40

Guess when you have $56 billion and change in the vault in today’s economic environment you must be doing something right. Just wish our kids would quit contributing to the stash Apple is using to buy GPU (graphics processor unit) technology and game designer talent. A few years ago Apple decided all smartphones sucked (they’re not too hot on netbooks either). So they announced the ...

Slackware 12.2 64-Bit Released Today | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 21:10

Slackware has been quiet as of late, with their latest announcement being back in December when they released Slackware 12.2. It looks like they're back at it again and they've been quite busy working on something special for us all, Slackware 64-bit!The Slackware team today announced Slackware64, an official x86_64 port which will now be maintained in-sync with their regular x86 development. The ...

Craigslist CEO Sues South Carolina AG | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 20:50

In a turn of events, Craigslist's CEO is suing South Carolina Attorney General, Henry McMaster, to seek relief from the legal threats that the SC AG has accused and threatened Craigslist of and continues to threaten Craigslist of.McMaster gave Craigslist a 10 day deadline a couple weeks ago to remove portions of the site that allows prostitution ads to be posted. If those South Carolina portions ...

Bitch fight between Microsoft and Apple hurting Mac sales! | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 20:40

Think back to my post on the bitch fight between Microsoft and Apple, I didn’t know what outcome would occur i.e. would it improve microsoft’s sales or would it improve Apple’s sales. Well I can now report that it has most probably improved Microsoft’s sales. A recent survey on value perception for ages 18-34 found that since the start of [...]

Microsoft Kumo Search Engine Coming Next Week | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 18:40

Next week at the D: All Things Digital conference, Microsoft will be debuting its Kumo search which is exceptional an upgraded Live Search. Microsoft have been testing Kumo internally since March of 2009. The new search engine will provide new tools like related searches, single-session search history - in case you want to go back quickly, search categories that help you narrow down your search ...

Sprint CEO Expecting Palm Pre Shortages From Day One | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 16:30

Sprint's CEO, Dan Hesse, believes that the new Palm Pre, which hits the market next month, will be a huge hit and believes that they will "have shortages for a while" during the launch of the new device. During a news conference on Tuesday Hesse also said that Sprint is not planning any large advertising campaigns for the Palm Pre, at least early on, because he believes the demand is already out ...

Games developers forced to offer 2 year warranty? | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 16:20

We've just heard that game developers may be forced to offer a 2 year warranty if the new EU proposals go ahead to bring video games in line with other items covered by the EU Sales and Guarantee's directive.

Digg Replaces Shouts with Sharing | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 15:10

Your mother has always told you that it’s rude to shout, and now you won’t even get the rebellious chance to do it online as Digg have opted to change its “shout” option to a “share” one. We’ll be one big happy online family! According to the Digg Townhall this new share function will “streamline your [...]

Atlantis Astronauts Awaken to Star Trek Theme Song | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 14:50

The day of rest given to the astronauts on board Space Shuttle Atlantis is a much needed one after their five grueling spacewalks over the past week to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. When the crew woke up this morning, they were awaken by the 'Star Trek' theme song from the television series - and the song was played for the entire crew. Resting aside, the crew will talk to the media this ...

New iPhone to be released on July 17th? | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 14:50

AppleiPhoneApps.com reports that the new iPhone will go on sale on July 17th. AppleiPhoneApps have reported no sources to where the information came from but they do give many intriguing details, some of which have been previously unheard. Some details then have already surfaced on the rumor mill, but some are added to these and could cause quite [...]

Missing Link Found Could Show Human Ancestry Past | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 13:40

On Tuesday, researchers unveiled the missing link, a 47-million-year-old fossil that scientists believe could help understand how humans evolved during an event at the American Museum of Natural History. The fossil is the size of a small cat or dog, has four legs, and a very long tail. It resembles nothing of humans or even monkeys in my opinion and researches at the news conference indicated ...

TG Daily Offline - Down For Maintenance? | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 13:20

TGDaily has been offline this morning for the past several minutes. When attempting to go to the site you'll be presented with a message stating that its offline but what appears to be the issue is that its unable to connect to the backend database. From what we can see, it appears the web server is functioning fine its just the database where all of the data is stored is possible offline or ...

Take back reading time with ReallyEasyReader | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 12:40

In a time when it feels like we have decreasing amounts of time on our hands, one company has developed a gadget intended to make reading just that little bit quicker

Star Trek: The Search For Spock HD Movie Review | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 11:50

Fedora 11 Hits A Last Minute Delay, June Release | Posted on: 20/05/2009 @ 0:30

Red Hat's Jesse Keating has shared on the Fedora announcement list that Fedora 11 will not be released in May as originally intended. Due to 24 bugs at present on the Fedora 11 bug tracker, they have postponed the release from the 26th of May to the 2nd of June. This one week delay will hopefully allow Fedora / Red Hat developers to address the remaining critical bugs with this next Fedora ...

Zotac's Ion: The Follow Up | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 23:10

At your request I dove deeper into wake on USB issues, overclocking, Flash video performance and power consumption with Zotac's Ion....

The Moblin V2 User Interface Is Very Impressive | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 21:20

We first got excited for Moblin 2.0 back in January when seeing how fast this Linux distribution had booted on Atom-powered netbooks. This Fedora-derived distribution booted even faster with a newer development release that came out this past March. While Moblin 2.0 final is not yet released, there is now more to get excited over than just amazing boot times. Moblin 2.0 will introduce a ...

IPEVO Kaleido R7 Wireless Digital Frame Review | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 19:30

Atlantis Says Bye To Hubble and Hello To Heat Shield Issues | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 18:00

Astronauts on board Space Shuttle Atlantis waved goodbye to the Hubble Space Telescope this morning as they released the spacecraft from its robotic hands of the Shuttle. The crew has been working several days on the old telescope, attempting to breath new life into it.After the many long days of grueling hard work that the STS-125 has put into Hubble, the telescope is now in great shape to ...

LG HDTVs go on a diet…down to just 5.9mm now! | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 14:10

Samsung has revealed that its thinnest LCD screen to date is nearly ready for inclusion in its new upcoming HDTV range.

Apple Tests Push Notification Service With App Developers | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 13:30

It's finally here and currently being tested by Apple App Store developers, Apple's Push Notification Service. The notifications features will allow application developers for the iPhone to program apps so that they offer updates to the home-screen icons and display status messages and alerts without having the actual application running in the background, which is something Apple has never and ...

Palm Pre Release Date Made Official by Sprint | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 12:50

Sprint announced today that the Palm Pre will be released June 6th and will cost $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and a 2 year commitment. The Palm Pre will be available nationwide on the 6th from Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and some Wal-Mart stores."For those who juggle life circa 2009 bouncing from conference call to car pool schedule, from doctors numbers to doctoral thesis data, ...

Xen 3.4.0 Brings New Virtualization Features | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 12:50

While the Kernel-based Vitual Machine (KVM), VMware, and VirtualBox have been generating most of the attention as of late when it comes to Linux virtualization, Xen is still alive and kicking. In fact, the Xen development team just announced the release of Xen 3.4.0. The key features introduced in Xen 3.4.0 include device pass-through improvements (notably with client devices), RAS features via ...

Spy Gadgets Update: Move up to 008 with the Micro Clip Spy Cam | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 12:10

Ok, so now you’ve tried the SAS Spy Pen and The Mini Spy Video Camera so now you must be at that point in your spy training where you’ve caught the bad guy with his pants down (hopefully not literally, unless you’re using these gadgets for completely unethical opportunities) and now you’re asking- what next Agent [...]

quick update from the "Professional IT" lab | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 11:20

We promised you a new datapoint, a new independent virtualization benchmark in "a few days". Those "few days" have become a week in good "IT at Anandtech" tradition. :-) But this wednesday, unless Murphy strikes us hard, the article will be online. It will offer a refreshing look at the virtualization performance, the result of months of work.  Liz...

HP Pavilion dv2-1030ea | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 11:10

HP's Pavilion dv2-1030ea is based on AMD's Yukon platform, which launched back at CES in January. We check it out to see if it can fill the gap between a cheap and cheerful netbook and highly desirable but equally expensive ultraportable notebook.

ATI Catalyst 9.5 WHQL drivers released early! | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 11:00

The new ATI Catalyst 9.5 drivers are not officially scheduled for release until today (Tuesday 19th May 2009) but the guys over at Guru3D have had the drivers available for download since Sunday. These new drivers were originally delayed until Monday 18th May  2009, but a post on the AMD forums from an AMD forum moderator [...]

Mobiado Unveil Their New Luxury Phone | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 10:00

Mobiado have unveiled their new phone, the 105GCB Rose. The new 105GCB Rose from Mobiado Professional continues with tradition, and comes with a case bulit out of real sapphire crystals and is plated with 18K gold - rose gold. It’s keys are also the same sapphire crystal and are painted with the same rose gold. It also [...]

Samsung i200 Windows Mobile Smartphone | Posted on: 19/05/2009 @ 6:30

MacCleaner | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 21:50

On the PC there are many applications that you can run to "clean" up your computer and make it run faster, but not many for the Mac. As times goes on, computers tend to get bloated with temporary files, cookies, unused system logs, and other wasted space and you should be actively removing these items. The hard part comes in finding these unnecessary files, but the free MacCleaner program does it ...

10 Ways to Increase iPhone 3G's Battery Life | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 18:30

One of the biggest faults of the device is the inability to replace the battery. This decision is even more unbelievable when you realize how much power the iPhone can really suck down... an average user usually cannot last an entire day without being tethered to an electrical outlet of some kind. Regardless of the complaints, consumers still have to deal with what they have. Here are some ...

Fedora 12 Codenames: Perseidas, Orionid? | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 17:20

Fedora 11 will be out next week, but planning for Fedora 12 is already well underway. Some of the Fedora 12 features have already been laid out like a user-space LVM library, enhanced multi-seat support, and replacing nash/mkinitrd with Dracut...

Astronauts Begin Fifth and Final Spacewalk To Repair Hubble | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 14:40

Astronauts John Grunsfield and Andrew Feustel began the fifth and final spacewalk of their Hubble Space Telescope repair mission this morning at 8:20AM. During their spacewalk the two will install the second battery group replacement in an equipment bay above the Wide Field Camera 2 and next to the compartment where the first battery set was installed on the second spacewalk. Each of the battery ...

New iPod range coming camera equipped | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 14:40

The rumour on the grapevine is that the new range of iPod Touch and iPod Nano will both be coming equipped with a camera

ATI Catalyst 9.5 Vista Driver Analysis | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 14:20

Napsters $5 Per Month DRM-Free MP3's & Streaming Music Plan | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 13:50

Napster announced today its new music offering by going back to its roots to offer free MP3's and combing it with the benefits of high-quality streaming music all for one low price of $5 per month. At this price point Napster users will get five DRM-free MP3 downloads per month and unlimited access to Napster's on-demand music streaming service.By providing Napster users with free MP3's that they ...

Google Chrome gets add ons | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 12:40

The latest developer release of Google's new browser, Chrome, however, come with vastly improved APIs and developer tools that allow keen developers to create applications attached to the newly-released browser.

New Windows 7 Free Trial (Until June 2010) | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 10:20

Due to mixed emotions in regards to Windows Vista and the mass amount of discussions on the internet about bugs and problems with the operating system, people have been forced to stick with Windows XP and it’s mass array of service packs. I personally haven’t experienced many problems with Windows Vista and have been running it [...]

Darksector | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 10:00

Die eine Hälfte Mensch, die andere Hälfte mutierte Killermaschine. Klingt wie aus einem schlechten B-Movie, jedoch handelt es sich dabei um den vom Developer ATARI entwickelten 3rd Person Shooter Darksector. Digital Extremes und D3 als Publisher bringen nach Pariah einen weiteren Shooter auf den Markt, der an Resident Evil 4 erinnert. Ausgestattet mit der neuen Evolution Engine, versucht ...

Office 2010 in the wild. | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 9:10

Being the type of person that reads tech blogs and articles, you are know that the latest version of Microsoft Office is scheduled to ship in 2010. They have decided in the Microsoft imagination marketing department, to call it Office 2010. This will be the thirteenth version, but Microsoft have decided to miss the number thirteen out, and go straight to fourteen for superstitious reasons. ...

Corsair P256 256GB Solid State Drive: designed for performance junkies | Posted on: 18/05/2009 @ 5:00

High on capacity and performance, we examine the Corsair P256's credentials as a premium SSD.

Wolfram Alpha Search - Our Tests and Results | Posted on: 17/05/2009 @ 17:30

WolframAlpha Search, the computational search that was launched on Friday last week has been the talk of the Net for the past few days. The real question that everyone has, does it have a competitive edge over Google? After we've spent hours throwing everything we got against the new kid on the block, we've come up with our own conclusions and expectations of the search engine.

Alloy Shark RC Helicopter: Bring Out the Kid in You | Posted on: 17/05/2009 @ 12:40

If there’s one thing my other half constantly bemoans, it’s that kids these days have much cooler toys then the past excitement of GI Joe (look, his arms move!). One particular area that has grown in technological advancement, is the world of remote control fliers. The Alloy Shark RC Helicopter is testament to this. The Alloy [...]

Demigod Review (PC) | Posted on: 17/05/2009 @ 8:20

In Demigod, Stardock has deftly blending Real Time Strategy and Role Playing. The game tasks players to become a god through a series of challenges and battles. The two main player types are generals and assassins and each has their own style. While playing as an assassin, players control a character and earn money and experience as he defeats enemies and can earn weapons, new skills, and spells ...

Building a Media Center PC Part 1 | Posted on: 16/05/2009 @ 19:50

I can build a computer with no problem. I've been doing it for years. But a Media Center is a whole nother animal. It is, as the name implies, all about the media. Games are entirely possible, but why waste the drive space? I planned on ripping my DVDs of Rob & Big and hitting up Fancast.com on the regular. So obviously I had to make this thing WiFi enabled to access the web. It had to ...

Linux 2.6.30-rc6 Kernel Released | Posted on: 16/05/2009 @ 18:00

Late last night the Linux 2.6.30-rc6 kernel was released by Linus Torvalds. With development work on the Linux 2.6.30 kernel slowing down, there are only about 300 commits that make up this new release candidate...

OpenCL, OpenGL 3.1 State Trackers "Hopefully Soon" | Posted on: 16/05/2009 @ 15:20

Yesterday afternoon there were two new Gallium3D state trackers released by VMware / Tungsten Graphics for OpenGL ES 1.1 and ES 2.0 support. With these new state trackers there is now OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 acceleration for any graphics hardware that has a Gallium3D driver...

WolframAlpha is now live! | Posted on: 16/05/2009 @ 12:40

The launch of WolframAlpha has been brought forward and the service is now live ahead of its predicted launch date of Monday 18th May

Chrome gives Microsoft the hebejebies. | Posted on: 16/05/2009 @ 10:10

Microsoft has been having a whinge at the EC regarding the decision it should bundle a competing browser with it's operating systems. The Google Chrome browser, that currently holds about 1% of the pie, would, Microsoft claim, give Google a monopoly. Black, call, black, kettle, and pot, I hear you say, and I agree. Though not entirely.

OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 State Trackers For Gallium3D | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 18:30

Just minutes after announcing Mesa 7.5 Release Candidate 2, Brian Paul has announced that he is in the process of pushing out Gallium3D state trackers for OpenGL ES 1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0. These two new state trackers for this forthcoming Linux graphics architecture are coming just two weeks after an OpenVG state tracker was released for accelerating this other Khronos API. The OpenGL ES 1.1 and ...

Interview with Randall Queen of Verbatim | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 18:20

Recently I had a chance to interview Randall F. Queen, President of Verbatim America. Queen is a 20-year veteran with Verbatim, and was promoted from vice president of operations in early 2002. Since then he has guided the growth and expansion of the company beyond optical storage to encompass four operating units - hard disk, flash memory, accessories, and optical products. Verbatim is ...

Mesa 7.5 Release Candidate 2 Brings Few Fixes | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 18:10

The second release candidate for the forthcoming release of Mesa 7.5 is now available. The first release candidate arrived merely a week ago, but RC2 brings a couple more fixes to the table...

NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller Review | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 17:50

A couple of decent fans to push the air through is more than sufficient on most systems. Some of us, however, require much more to keep things cool while we put our computers through the gauntlet. The only problem is that many motherboards only have one or two places to plug your typical 3-prong fan. Three at most. And then you are limited to a single speed or whatever the motherboard decides ...

Astronauts Perform Second Spacewalk For Hubble Repairs | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 15:00

After successfully installing a new camera on Hubble yesterday, astronauts have already begun their second spacewalk to perform more work on Hubble today.Today's activities will include replacing old gyroscopes, the devices to help keep Hubble in orbit, as well as batteries. Michael Massimino and Michael Good will be the two guys today performing the work. They will replace all six of the ...

Avsim.com Hacked - Total Data Loss | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 14:50

Avsim, one of the most popular online flight simulator sites, has been deleted by malicious hackers. During the attack on the site, the intruders apparently destroyed data on both of the two servers that runs Avsim. What's worse - the founder of the site Tom Allensworth, said they had no external backup - so he has called it a complete loss.According to Allensworth, they backed up their data ...

WolframAlpha Search Engine Live Launch Broadcast Today | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 14:30

Today will mark the day that the WolframAlpha Search Engine goes live. Beginning at 7PM CST on Friday May 15th, a live webcast will be conducted to bring the computational knowledge search engine online and functional for the entire public to use.WolframAlpha is unlike other search engine because WolframAlpha answers questions or provides results on things that may have never been queried before ...

The Linux VGA Arbiter Has Been Revived | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 14:10

Tiago Vignatti has announced he has revived work on the VGA Arbiter for Linux and will be attempting to push this code upstream in the Linux kernel, just four years after this arbitration code was first hashed out. The VGA Arbiter seeks to address an old problem where having multiple graphics cards that use the the legacy VGA interface with multiple X Servers could cause havoc with the same ...

TRENDNet TV-IP422W Wireless IP Camera Server with 2-way Audio | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 13:20

sWaP, the watch phone- now all you need is the spaceship or the talking car. | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 12:10

So with the recent release of the new Star Trek film, and a thousand repeats of classic sci-fi shows on UKTV Gold, my mind has recently been idly wandering to the future (understandable when its coinciding with writing my last ever student essay…). A future with space ships and talking cars and weapons made entirely [...]

Ubuntu 9.10 Off To A Great Performance Start | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 11:30

The first alpha release for Ubuntu 9.10 was made available yesterday and while it does net yet integrate Plymouth or any other new features, it has picked up a few new packages. Most prominently, Ubuntu 9.10 Alpha 1 features the Linux 2.6.30 kernel and GCC 4.4. There are also other updated packages from Debian like GNOME 2.27, but most notable are the kernel and compiler updates. We have tested ...

Samsung Story Station 1.5 TByte | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 10:40

Samsung präsentiert mit der Story Station eine externe Speicherlösung, die vor allem bezüglich dem Design eigene Wege einschlägt. Weiter sollen einige nützliche Tools den Alltag erleichtern und zudem solla auch die Performance der USB 2.0 Anbindung ensprechend gut sein.

BFG Phobos Q&A | Posted on: 15/05/2009 @ 8:40

We had an opportunity to chat with BFG concerning their plans in the computer industry. They recently announced their intention to begin selling complete systems with the Phobos line, and we wanted to get more details on their goals and approach to the pre-built system market. Below are the questions and answers we received during our conversation. BFG...

Finally, A Creative X-Fi Driver Going Into ALSA | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 21:10

Support for the Creative X-Fi sound cards on Linux has been a mess to say the least. These high-end audio processors were released by Creative Labs about four years ago and there still isn't pleasant support for the X-Fi series on Linux...

LG officially bust out a 12-megapixel monster | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 18:30

LG has officially confirmed that it will be releasing a 12-megapixel camera phone before the year's out

AZZA Fantom 900 | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 17:50

The AZZA Fantom 900 takes some cues from similar styled cases and gives its interpretation on how a budget minded mid-sized gaming case should be. With many cases that are out there for new builders and gamers wanting to save on money, we'll take a look at what sets the Fantom 900 apart from its competitors and why it's a solid choice for all.

Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" Alpha 1 Released | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 15:30

The Ubuntu release team has announced the first alpha release for Ubuntu 9.10 (a.k.a. The Karmic Koala)...

Astronauts Begin Spacewalk Work of Hubble | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 15:10

Repairs of the Hubble Space Telescope began this morning as two Shuttle Astronauts, John Grunsfeld and Drew Feustel, left the Atlantis Shuttle to begin their work for the day. The entire spacewalk today is expected to take nearly seven hours to complete. It's a long day of work but at least the two will have spectacular views of Earth while they are working. Part of their work includes removing ...

Call The Googleplex, Google News Is Down | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 14:30

It would appear as though Google News has been down for over 40 minutes for users, presenting them with a 502 server message and stating to try again in 30 seconds. The outage started around 7:40AM CST and continues to be down at 8:26AM.Some users are reporting from over seas that Google News is working fine for them. Here in the central US, it's still down. At least for us.After some ...

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan HD Movie Review | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 14:30

Sony Posts $1 Billion Loss, It's First in 14 Years | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 13:20

Sony today announced its first annual loss in 14 years. The company reported a $1 Billion annual loss for its fiscal year through March due to the lack of consumer demand for electronics.Despite the huge loss, it was less of a loss than they had actually expected back in January when it had announced it would be cutting its workforce by 8,000 and closing 10% of its factories.

Bagelpod: If slicing a bagel gives you RSI… | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 11:30

If you thought that owning an espresso machine, an electric knife and a stab mixer meant that your kitchen was mechanically equipped for anything, you’d be wrong. What you obviously need between your mini-counter grill and your lazy susan, is a device whose only function is to cut bagels. Seriously. Available from America (of course) this Bagelpod [...]

OpenSolaris vs. Linux Kernel Benchmarks | Posted on: 14/05/2009 @ 8:20

Earlier this week we delivered benchmarks of Ubuntu 9.04 versus Mac OS X 10.5.6 and found that the Leopard operating system had performed better than the Jaunty Jackalope in a majority of the tests, at least when it came to Ubuntu 32-bit. We are back with more operating system benchmarks today, but this time we are comparing the performance of the Linux and Sun OpenSolaris kernels. We had used ...

Top Ten Father’s Day Gift Ideas | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 23:30

It’s that time of the year again when you have to rack your brains to think of a present for the person who is traditionally the hardest person in your family to buy anything for- your dad. Father’s day is coming up on Sunday 21st June and while that may seem like a few weeks away [...]

Atlantis Links Up To Hubble For Repairs | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 20:50

Space Shuttle Atlantis has finally caught up with the Hubble Space Telescope after following it for several hours. The "link up" between the Space Shuttle and Hubble was a very delicate one as the two were flying through space at 17,200 MPH, 300 miles above the Earth's surface. The robotic arm of the shuttle grappled the telescope at 1:14 PM EDT today. The telescope will be latched to a ...

OCZ Behemoth Gaming Mouse | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 19:50

Mit der Behmoth hat OCZ eine weitere Laser Gaming Mouse im Sortiment, die über etwas üppigere Dimensionen verfügt. Weiter soll gerade deswegen die Ergonomie sehr gut sein und die Maus sehr gut in der Hand liegen. Zum Standardprogramm gehören natürlich programmierbare Tasten sowie eine hochauflösende Laserabtastung des Untergrundes.

Craigslist Gives In and Banishes Erotic Services Ads | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 18:30

According to the Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal, Craigslist has agreed to completed banish its "erotic services" advertising section on its web sites. The new plans to demolish this section of the site comes only weeks after South Carolina AG cracked down on Craigslist, giving them 10 days to remove such prostitution ads and illegal content.Under heavy pressure from attorney's ...

What Is Google Squared and How Do I Find it? | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 13:40

Google Squared extracts data from sites and displays the results as 'squares' in an online spreadsheet format to make it easier to find the data you want. For example, if you were to search for "Small Dogs" the columns in the spreadsheet would include; names, size, weight, colors, etc with the results in the rows beneath.This sounds a lot like WolframeAlpha that we spoke of earlier this week ...

Britain spends more time on Facebook than any other site | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 13:30

A report has just been published online revealing, surprise, surprise, that Britain spends more time on the social networking site Facebook, than any other page

KDE 4.3 Beta 1 Released, Many Improvements | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 13:20

The KDE project has announced the release of KDE 4.3 Beta 1. This first beta in the KDE 4.3 series, which is expected to be officially released by late July, brings numerous enhancements to this popular desktop environment. Some of the features found in KDE 4.3 Beta 1 include PolicyKit integration, new window animation effects, configurable keyboard shortcuts for Plasma, an SVG-themed desktop ...

Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis - Wii | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 13:20

Nina joins forces with a priest in France to investigate the connection between the secret society's sinister prophesies and the creepy leader of an ancient order.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic to join the Comes With Music club | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 12:00

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic handset will soon comprise part of the Comes With Music range of compatible mobiles

Enermax Revolution 85+ 950W PSU | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 10:50

Enermax's premium PSU, the Revolution, claims 85+ percent efficiency. With an enthusiastic and unique design, housing DC-DC innards, Enermax has designed something quite special.

Sennheiser IE8 Earphones | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 9:50

IE8 is the name of a brand new earphone solution from Sennheiser. The Sennheiser IE8 boast a dynamic driver and an innovative bass adjustment feature that allows the user to tweak the bass response on the move. With a price of $400 they don't come cheap, but for an audiophile who is looking for the best sound quality possible, these might still be a very viable choice.

A tour of XP Mode | Posted on: 13/05/2009 @ 9:20

In an article I wrote about XP Mode, I said at the bottom that as soon as I could get my hands on the various bits of software, I would post. Slightly later than anticipated here we go. For the people out there who have yet to hear of the miracle that is XP Mode, you can think of it as an extension of Microsofts Virtual PC. As well as being an update to Virtual PC, it also has the added benefit ...

Lian Li PC-B71 & Silent Force 650W | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 19:40

The Lian Li PC-B71 takes the same concept as the A7010 - which is already an excellent choice - and improves on it in many areas. You will get a whopping seven hot swappable SATA bays, with access to them from the front of the chassis, along with an incredible, sophisticated, metal locking mechanism for the mainboard expansion slots. This case may just be the one to inch closer to that perfect ...

Microsoft Confirms Windows 7 Holiday Launch | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 18:40

Microsoft confirmed in an interview on Monday that Windows 7, it's next desktop operating system, will be in stores by the holiday shopping season this year. "We are tracking well to a Windows 7 holiday," Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte said in the interview. This coincides with rumors from computer makers that Windows would ship in late October. Microsoft released Windows 7 RC to the ...

Zotac's Ion: The World's First mini-ITX Ion Board | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 17:40

NVIDIA finally delivered on its promise to release Ion products in 2009. It first started with Acer's Aspire Revo but now Zotac is taking care of the enthusiast community with the first mini-ITX motherboard based on the Ion platform. And it's pretty cool....

Houston We Have a Problem - I'm Stuck In The Mud | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 16:20

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, has been slipping around in soft osil for a few days in an attempt to drive the martian rover. The wheels are now sunk halfway into the ground, making every action NASA makes to free the rover from the loose soil, critical. The rover team of engineers and scientists has suspended driving Spirit temporarily while studying the ground around the rover and ...

Sony X Series Walkman In Stores Tomorrow. An iPod Touch Killer? | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 15:10

As of tomorrow, there will finally be another touchscreen MP3 device to choose from as Sony has announced it is due to release the X series Walkman. Initial comparisons with this device will immediately be with Apple’s iPod Touch. Similarly, the X Series Walkman offers the basic music, picture, video and internet functions that we’ve come [...]

Software Piracy Still On The Rise - $50 Billion Loss in 2008 | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 14:01

According to the BSA (Business Software Alliance), software piracy in 2008 dropped in half of the 110 countries that BSA studied. However, the worldwide piracy rate rose for the second year in the row, from 38% to 41%. In another sign of the scale of the problem, the monetary value of unlicensed software losses to software companies broke the $50 billion level for the first time. Worldwide ...

Apple's New 3rd Generation iPhone 3G | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 13:40

According to a Chinese forum, a user has gotten their hands on the new iPhone which is lacking some of the features that we originally thought would be included. The new iPhone will not be thinner like we had all hoped it would be. Instead, it uses the same body as the original iPhone 3G.Below are some of the 'confirmed' features by the user:3.2 Megapixel Digital Camera with Autofocus32GB of ...

Fedora 12 Features Get Laid Out | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 13:40

Fedora 11 with all of its Nouveau support, Btrfs capabilities, and kernel mode-setting support glory isn't being released until later this month, but the features for Fedora 12 are already being planned out. A tentative feature list for this next Fedora release can already be found on the Fedora Project Wiki. Some of these features like straightforward multi-seat support were originally targeted ...

Ubuntu 9.04 vs. Mac OS X 10.5.6 Benchmarks | Posted on: 12/05/2009 @ 10:10

Last year we provided benchmarks looking at Ubuntu versus Mac OS X when it came to using the latest releases for both software platforms at the time. Both operating systems had performed competitively -- in some tests, the Apple OS wound up on top while in other areas Canonical had the advantage. Since that article back in November, Apple has released a minor update to Leopard (v10.5.6) and ...

Red Alert 3: Uprising Review | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 23:10

Continuing the immensely enjoyable action and strategy of Red Alert 3, Electronic Arts has released Red Alert 3: Uprising for those clamoring for more. Uprising is a stand alone, solo play series of campaigns that combine a small number of missions for each faction with some commanders challenges which will test how good of a player you are. The game follows the events of Red Alert 3 as ...

Today Marks Postage Increase 2009 - The 44 Cent Stamp | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 19:40

Beginning today May 11th, 2009, it will cost yet another 2 cents more to send a letter, increasing from 42 to 44-cents. The price increase is due to rising operational costs according to the postal service.The Postal Service is not immune to rising costs which are affecting homes and businesses across America today, said Postmaster General John Potter in a press release. Even with the increases, ...

Tom Clancy's Hawx | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 18:00

Vor noch nicht allzu langer Zeit hat Ubisoft mit Endwar ein Spiel auf den Markt gebracht das fernab von Tom Clancy's bisherigen Spielen den Echtzeitstrategie Sektor erobern sollte. Dicht gefolgt, taucht nun Tom Clancy's Hawx in den Regalen auf. Eine Kampfjet-Simulation mit vielen Flugzeugmodellen und noch grösserer Action. Werfen wir doch einen näheren Blick darauf.

Astronauts Board Atlantis Preparing For Shuttle Launch | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 17:10

Just before 10AM CDT Astronauts began boarding Space Shuttle Atlantis at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STS-125 crew had arrived at the Launch Pad 39A and just started to board the shuttle to prepare for their launch.In about two hours at 2:01PM EDT, the Space Shuttle Atlantis will launch the STS-125 crew into space for their 11-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. ...

Amazon Launches iPhone Optimized Kindle Store | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 16:50

Amazon today announced its new optimized Kindle Store for the Apple iPhone. Now when users of the iPhone hit the Kindle store, the store will be for the size and shape of the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new format allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to quickly access the Kindle's store of 280,00 books for $9.99 or less. The Kindle for iPhone application was released on March 4th and quickly became ...

Qt Publishes Roadmap, Opens Up Git Repository | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 16:10

Back in March we witnessed the release of Qt 4.5 which was also met by an announcement that Qt Extended was to be discontinued and that was just weeks after the announcement came down that Qt Jambi would be discontinued. There have certainly been many changes since Nokia bought out Trolltech and then renamed it to Qt Software...

Microsoft Releasing Test Updates For Windows 7 | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 15:40

Microsoft Patch Tuesday is here tomorrow (May 12th) and Microsoft gives us word that they will be releasing ten 'test updates' for PC's running the Windows 7 RC. Microsoft will be doing so in order to test their ability to deliver and manage updates for Windows 7 in a sort of real-life scenario.The test updates, as the name implies, will not deliver any new features or fix to Windows 7. This is ...

Covington-Creations Earbud Yo-Yo Review | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 14:30

The Earbud Yo-Yo is a simple solution to tangled earbuds. If you are getting frustrated with trying to untangle earbuds every time you stuff you mp3 player in your pocket, this is the perfect solution for you. Read on to see how the Earbud Yo-Yo works!

UC Berkeley Hack Leaves 160,000 At Identity Theft Risk | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 14:10

On April 21st, 2009 UC Berkley officials found that hackers had broken into their campus databases and stole student information. They apparently had gone undetected for six months as the server breach had began on October 9th, 2008. System administrators immediately activated an emergency security incident team to investigate the scope and impact of the breach after finding messages left behind ...

LLVM/Clang Replacing GCC In FreeBSD Base | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 12:30

In the quarterly report for FreeBSD, we learned something interesting: the FreeBSD developers intend to replace GCC with LLVM/Clang. The FreeBSD project wants to replace the GNU Compiler Collection with the Apple-backed Clang front-end compiler from LLVM...

Gorillapod- a tripod, but bendier | Posted on: 11/05/2009 @ 12:10

Whats that in the trees? It looks like an alien from War of the Worlds, but no- it's a Gorillapod! The Gorillapod has flexible legs which wrap around poles, tree branches or even your arm, or can be posed at odd angles to make your camera stand level on uneven ground.

Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 Enters Alpha | Posted on: 10/05/2009 @ 23:30

Last month the plans for Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 "Sandtorg" were outlined with this next major release of our Linux (and Mac OS X, OpenSolaris, and BSD too) benchmarking software set to introduce many new features for the testing core, Phoromatic for providing remote benchmarking support, a performance and benchmarking oriented Linux distribution, and many other advancements. Phoronix Test Suite ...

Samsung BD-P1600 | Posted on: 10/05/2009 @ 16:50

>One of Samsung's latest Blu-ray DVD players, the P1600, is a media powerhouse that delivers good picture quality along side some excellent multimedia extras. It offers Netflix and Pandora streaming via the Internet as well as full 1080p resolution with BD 2.0 support and BD-Live ready. For a powerful and loaded Blu-ray player, its price is fairly cheap all things considered.

Twitter World! Trust Us, You Ain't That Interesting | Posted on: 10/05/2009 @ 8:50

We see the value in Earth Day. We recognize the importance of World Peace Day. In deference to our wife we think even Mother’s Day is OK. But Twitter Day? Somehow Oprah coming online and saying “Hello Twitter World.” (or whatever) is not quite up there with the wizard of Menlo Park (Edison) calling one of his assistants for help! For the most part, we don’t really ...

Google Chrome TV Ad's Running This Weekend | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 13:30

Google announced on Friday that it would be running TV ads over this weekend to promote its Google Chrome web browser. The video which was created by the Google Japan team produced a lot of positive feedback and comments from viewers - enough so that Google plans to air it on TV in order to get the word out of its new browser.The 30 second clip shows how to install the new browser as well as ...

An X Server 1.6.2 Pre-Release Made It Out | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 12:30

With the release of X.Org 7.5 with X Server 1.7 not coming until at least July, Keith Packard is readying a second update in the X Server 1.6 series. Early this morning Keith announced the release of an X Server 1.6.2 pre-release. This X Server 1.6.2 pre-release known as v1.6.1.901 contains just over a dozen fixes since the release of X Server 1.6.1 back in April...

Scary kids toy of the week- The Gloomy Bear Arm Pillow | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 12:10

Teddy bears. Say it and it conjures up cute fuzzy things that some women receive from their men on Valentines Day (I say some- I got 'Lost Odyssey' for the Xbox 360!). They normally have big eyes and an innate hugability. Except this one. Follow the link to the funny pulse website product page, and you'll see the only product I can think of publicised with a cartoon of a pink bear savagely ...

iPlayer at 7 petabyte/month peak | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 9:20

When BBC's iPlayer was announced in 2004, it was expected that trials of the software would completed by December 2005. By July 2007, Windows-only users were able to use the complicated iPlayer from a download.

Blackberry Storm 9530 Review | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 8:10

With the Storm, you certainly get a lot of functionality that Apple either ignored or decided we weren't ready for – some “push” functions and copy/paste most notably. Windows Mobile devices have included most of the capabilities of the Storm for a long while, but minus the tremendous connectedness of a Blackberry. Going from a WinMo phone to a Storm is pretty simple once you ...

Star Trek: The Motion Picture HD Movie Review | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 7:10

Linux 2.6.30-rc5 Kernel Released | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 3:10

Development work on the forthcoming Linux 2.6.30 kernel is slowly winding down as is indicated by this afternoon's release of the Linux 2.6.30-rc5 kernel. This latest 2.6.30 build has a few driver and architecture updates small file-system updates, and other regression fixes scattered throughout. The release announcement for the Linux 2.6.30-rc5 kernel that was pushed out in time for some ...

Space Shuttle Atlantis Ready for Hubble Repair Mission | Posted on: 09/05/2009 @ 0:20

NASA said all systems are a go for the final Shuttle Mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day mission astronauts will perform five spacewalks to install two new instruments, repair two inactive ones, and perform component replacements that should keep the telescope operational until 2014 at least.Scott Altman will take command of the mission and retired Navy Captain ...

Mesa 7.5 Release Candidate 1 Now Available | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 23:20

Mesa 7.5 was supposed to be released in early April, but just a few days before that release the plans had changed. David Airlie really wanted to get his Radeon driver rewrite merged sooner rather than later, and some other changes were pending that also held up the Mesa 7.5 release. A change to the version numbering convention for the Mesa releases was proposed and accepted as well...

WINE 1.1.21 Starts On Shader Model 4 Support | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 19:20

The release two weeks ago of WINE 1.1.20 brought some cleaner Direct3D code, but there really was not much to get overly excited about. The release of WINE 1.1.21, however, is different...

Star Trek (2009) Movie Review | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 19:10

While many fans were thrilled with the choice of Abrams, some of the casting choices of its beloved characters were met with doubt and skepticism. Thankfully, the man behind such motion picture hits as “Cloverfield”, “Mission Impossible 3”, and television series LOST, Alias and Fringe, was more than up to the task and has crafted a visually spectacular action film that ...

First leaked shots of the Nokia 5900 XpressMusic | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 17:30

Images of what is purported to be a Nokia 5900 XpressMusic handset are now causing a stir online

Sponsored: New Volkswagen Golf GTI: Race One to Win One | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 17:10

If you ever find your right foot twitching every time you come to a set of red traffic lights, as your desperation to to get on the gas overwhelms you, this competition may be of interest. Ahead of the UK launch of the new Golf GTI on 22 May, Volkswagen is giving you the opportunity to [...]

Mozilla Firefox throws its toys out of the pram over Windows 7 | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 14:50

Reports are surfacing online that Mozilla, amongst others, is complaining that the upcoming Windows 7 OS is anti-competitive – Hmm, haven't we been here before?

Running Ubuntu 9.04 With Older Hardware | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 14:20

At Phoronix we have tested out Ubuntu 9.04 quite extensively with a variety of different hardware and have delivered numerous benchmarks, but we had not looked closely at running the Jaunty Jackalope with older hardware. In this article though we have done just that and carried out a number of Ubuntu 9.04 tests using an older VIA-based PC.

Google Mail goes down again – time to find an alternative? | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 11:50

It's not the biggest shock in the world but it is becoming a bit of a regular annoyance; Google Mail has gone down again

Carphone Warehouse buy Tiscali at knock-down price | Posted on: 08/05/2009 @ 11:00

Carphone Warehouse have today announced that subject to regulatory approval its purchase of Tiscali will be complete by June 09

Sony Cyber-shot W290 Digital Camera Review | Posted on: 07/05/2009 @ 19:20

Review of the Sony Cyber-shot W290 digital camera a 12.1-megapixel point-and-shoot USD 249 model.

OpenOffice.org 3.1 Released w/ New Features | Posted on: 07/05/2009 @ 19:00

OpenOffice.org 3.0 was release last October, but today the OpenOffice.org community has announced the release of its first major update. OpenOffice.org 3.1 brings a major revamp of the program's on-screen graphics, further grammar check integration, performance improvements, improved support for bi-directional scripts, easier deployment of macro applications, and many other features. More on the ...

Kindle DX hits the Internet – Better, not best | Posted on: 07/05/2009 @ 18:40

The Internet is awash with word of a new Kindle on the block, and it comes with the cunning moniker of the Kindle DX

LGP Prepares For Massive 24-Hour Linux Sale | Posted on: 07/05/2009 @ 18:20

Our friends at Linux Game Publishing are preparing for a massive 24-hour sale with their web-store of games they have ported to Linux. This sale begins at midnight (UK time) and during that time each game will be priced at just 9 pounds! For the Americans, that is about $13~14 USD per native Linux title. The announcement of this major sale can be read about in their news archives and their ...

New Mac worm more a damp squib | Posted on: 07/05/2009 @ 17:10

Do you know a Mac fan? I'm sure you do, and if you don't they are easy to spot. They tend to be the ones who extol the virtues of their OS rather thanempathize with you when you think your PC is a conduit for nob pill emails, and DDoS attacks.

Sponsored: Shell Ecomarathon: The Green Challenge | Posted on: 07/05/2009 @ 11:20

With global warming and other environmental issues being brought to our attention in the mainstream media after years of our industrial polluting ways, we’re now called to action to turn off lights and keep the heater on low to do our bit to save the planet. While these combined efforts will help to make a difference, [...]

XBMC 9.04 w/ VDPAU, Updated Codecs, Etc | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 19:50

The XBMC media player (formerly known as X-Box Media Center) has reached a new milestone with its 9.04 "Babylon" release. This updated open-source media player integrates VDPAU support for offloading video decoding to supported NVIDIA GPUs (as our benchmarks show it improved HD video playback), UPnP MediaServer compliant with DLNA standard, PulseAudio sound server support, there are new karaoke ...

25,000 music & video downloads coming to PS3 this summer | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 19:30

VidZone has just announced that ever-patient PS3 owners will soon be able to access its database of 25,000 music and videos directly from the PS3's XMB

PhysX: What Readers Think | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 17:00

We spend a lot of time giving our readers our opinions about different features, but this time we're asking for your input as well....

ALSA 1.0.20 Released, Many Fixes & Improvements | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 16:40

With three months having passed since the release of ALSA 1.0.19, it is now time for an update to the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture. ALSA 1.0.20 was announced this morning and it brings forth a slew of bug-fixes and other audio driver updates for Linux. There are far too many changes in ALSA 1.0.20 to talk about them all, but some of the prominent ones that caught our attention affect the ...

Apple to Buy Twitter? | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 16:00

With Twitter becoming the hottest thing on the web as of late, it should be no surprise that it’s attracted the likes of a giant in the tech world. According to a TechCrunch source, “Apple is in late stage negotiations to buy Twitter and is hoping to announce it at WWDC in June.” So how much does [...]

European Union Asks Obama To Free ICANN | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 13:30

Viviane Reding, Information Society Commissioner of the European Union, is calling for the United States to hand over control of ICANN (Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers). She said that the organization running ICANN needs be one free of control by one single nation but controlled by a private entity and governed by multiple nations. ICANN headquartered in Marina Del Rey, ...

Flubber: A reality? | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 12:50

A gel has been developed by Tokyo scientists at Shuji Hashimoto Applied Physics Laboratory which could change the future of robotics in amazing ways. Flubber has nothing on this little critter...

South Carolina Attorney General Cracks Down on Craigslist | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 12:30

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster sent CraigsList.com, the popular online classified site, a letter to the site leaders giving them 10 days to remove all illegal content and prostitution ads and if they don't comply they will face prosecution. McMaster claims the people that run the site knowingly allowed the site to be used for illegal and unlawful activity after warnings from law ...

Sponsored: New PSP ‘You’ve got the whole world’ viral lands online | Posted on: 06/05/2009 @ 11:10

It seems that the time has come for Sony to try and up the ante (and European sales of the PSP!) by once again invading our consciousness with another of its 'You've got the whole world in your hands' themed viral marketing videos.

A Few Of The Changes For GNOME 2.27.1 | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 22:40

The first development release of GNOME 2.28 was supposed to be out at the end of April per its release schedule, but it's now slowly coming together. There are many bug-fixes and translation updates in the packages checked in so far for this first GNOME 2.28 development release (a.k.a...

That's IT, I Am Buying Twitter | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 19:50

First, it was Google - they wanted to buy Twitter and the media had the rumor mills just a flowing. They almost had many readers convinced Google was going to indeed purchase Twitter. Now in the latest round of rumors it appears Apple is going to buy Twitter. Why on Earth would Apple be interested in Twitter? It's beyond me how rumors like these get started - Google buying Twitter almost made ...

Microsoft Sends Layoff Notices To 3,000, With More To Come | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 19:30

Over 3,000 workers at Microsoft were notified today that their postilion was being eliminated. The move to layoff additional workers comes only month after Microsoft said it would layoff 5,000 employees over the next year and a half. Back in January when they announced the layoffs, they cut 1,400 jobs and now 3,000 are without work.Below is an email that was sent out to all of the Microsoft ...

Windows 7 release candidate available now & the future of Windows Vista | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 19:20

Reports online have outlined the future plans Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system just as the company's newest offering, Windows 7, has gone into full-on release candidate mode

New Amazon Kindle DX Information Leaked | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 18:40

We've found some leaked information over at Engadget on the new Amazon Kindle DX and here's the low down on it;Will Come With 9.7-inch Screen (Compared to 6-inch on Kindle 2)Contains a more functional web browserPDF Reader to be more robust and have more features including highlightingNew York Times Subscription will lower from $13.99 to $9.99There are also rumors that Amazon has a project with ...

100 Tests & Counting For Linux Benchmarking | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 18:40

I am pleased to announce that the Phoronix Test Suite has just incorporated its 100th test profile. With now having 100 different tests and over 50 test suites, there are plenty of tests to suit your needs whether you are interested in graphics / video, server, CPU, memory, disk, or system benchmarking...

Google Android HTC Hero outed online | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 17:50

Images of the third Google Android powered handset to come out of HTC's capable doors are now doing the rounds online. Hit the link for full pictures and story.

Swine Flu Tracker coming to an iPhone near you | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 17:20

As if there weren't enough sensationalist headlines around already, the whole world now appears to have gone Swine Flu kerrazzy so it's little surprise to hear that quick thinking app development company IntuApps should have its Swine Flu Tracker on the iTunes marketplace in two shakes of a...pigs tail.

The Polaroid Two: An instant printing digi camera | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 15:20

Polaroid knew they were onto a good thing with the concept of instant picture gratification, and they’ve now brought their claim to fame into the 21st century with a digital camera that will instantly print out your pictures. This is the perfect gadget for the upcoming summer trip to Spain with your mates or for the [...]

Windows 7 RC Download Comes Early From Microsoft | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 5:40

It would appear as though Microsoft has released the RC1 of Windows 7 a tad ahead of schedule as you can now download the operating system from Microsoft.com. After registering you will be presented a key for your Windows 7 installation and directed to a web-based download manager where it will download either the 32-bit or 64-bit of Windows 7 RC that you chose.If your download is going slowly, ...

Jetway IPC Board NF94-270-LF | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 5:10

  Modders-Inc is taking a look at another fine motherboard from Jetway. Currently they are offering some of the best all-in-one mini ITX motherboards. Jetway is packing all sorts of goodies into a very small form factor that is highly suitable for a Home Theater PC or for a space saving desktop.

Sauerbraten 2009 Trooper Edition Released | Posted on: 05/05/2009 @ 3:50

As we shared last week, a new release of Sauerbraten (a.k.a. Cube 2) has been in the making for quite some time, but today an update for this popular first person shooter has been released...

Where To Download Windows 7 RC1 | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 20:30

We've received a lot of emails on this question in response to the article this morning that we wrote on about Windows 7 RC's download availability. The Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 is NOT avaliable today. It will be avaliable beginning tomorrow from Microsoft.com/Windows/Windows-7 as was the Public Beta release back in January.

SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Mouse Review | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 20:00

I think it's pretty cool when a game designer hooks up with a hardware designer to create a device whose sole purpose is a single game. Blizzard and SteelSeries have gotten together to create a mouse dedicated for MMORPGs, namely World of Warcraft. But what could a simple mouse offer the hardcore WoW gamer? Not a damned thing. Good thing this is no ordinary mouse. It's a button-hoarding ...

AVG Ventures Into Linux Malware Protection | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 20:00

While anti-virus and anti-malware is not much of a problem on Linux at this time, AVG has added this anti-malware protection to their Linux security software. AVG has supported Linux for sometime when it comes to virus and spam protection, but with version 8.5 they have expanded their anti-malware support...

Zerotherm FZ120 Towerkühler | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 18:50

Mit dem FZ120 präsentiert Zerotherm einen Towerkühler, der zu einem Kampfpreis über die Ladentheke geht, aber trotzdem einiges an Leistung verspricht. Schliesslich werden auch vier Heatpipes verbaut, die von speziell geformten Lamellen umgeben ihre Leistung voll entfalten sollen.

DirecTV and Liberty Media Merge | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 18:00

DirecTV and Liberty Media Corporation today announced that they have entered a definitive agreement to combine the two companies. "We are pleased to announce this transaction as it will rightly put the control of DIRECTV in the hands of DIRECTV shareholders," said Chase Carey, President and CEO of DIRECTV. "Our existing equity structure was less than ideal. The transaction will improve our ...

ATT Announces BlackBerry Curve 8900 Early Summer Release | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 16:50

AT&T has announced the early summer availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8900 cell phone. The new BlackBerry Curve sports a new thinner and a more refined design than any other full QERTY Blackberry smartphone to date. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 packs a 480x360 high-resolution display to deliver smooth video playback and vivid images. Consumers will also enjoy sharing photos and recording video ...

Flashing Your BIOS From The Linux Desktop | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 16:20

Linux hardware support has improved a great deal over the past few years, but there are still a few troubled spots. With computer motherboards, for instance, the core functionality is generally there and most consumer motherboards will "just work" with the latest desktop Linux distributions out there. Where users though can run into problems are with the ancillary features. Motherboard ...

Swine Flu Searches Jump 20 Fold From A Week Ago | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 15:30

In the last week of April, Swine Flu searches jumped more than 1,900 percent versus the previous week. Data compiled by comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, revealed that 501,000 people conducted 929,000 searches related to the swine flu during the week ending April 26th, 2009. ComScore also observed 271 different advertiser with paid search inventory against these search terms, up ...

Samsung's Full HD 850 PAVV 1-Inch Thick Plasma TV | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 14:40

Samsung unveiled its new full HD 850 PAVV 50" Plasma television on Sunday which features a thickness of only 29mm or 1-inch. The new plasam is nearly 20% lighter and 40% more power efficient than previous generation Samsung plasma (PDP) televisions.The new 1-inch plasma's come in both 50" and 58" models and come with DLNA support, USB 2.0 for images and video, and DivX compatibility. There's no ...

Seagate FreeAgent Theater Media Player | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 14:30

I see the Seagate FreeAgent Theater media player as a great option for someone looking to get their digital media on to their home theater without much stress. A simple setup process, a variety of audio/video connections, a useful wireless remote control, and intuitive on-screen controls are just a few features that will make the device enjoyable for users of any tech ability.

Windows 7 Retail Ship Date Slated For October 23rd? | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 14:10

According to Acer's Bobby Watkins, the managing director of Acer UK, Microsoft's new operating system Windows 7 is scheduled to ship October 23rd of this year. This confirms earlier reports that we've heard stating that Windows 7 would ship ahead of the 2010 target date that Microsoft originally said.Watkins said that "23 October is the date Windows 7 will be available" during an interview with ...

Razer Arctosa Keyboard | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 13:50

Razer is a company that began by producing high-end gaming mice like the Copperhead and since that point they have ventured into other gaming products like high-end sound cards, headphones, and mouse pads. Back in 2006 we looked at the Razer Tarantula, but the Arctosa has now succeeded that gaming keyboard. The Razer Arctosa is a moderately priced gaming keyboard that offers macro keys, media ...

Amazon To Launch Larger-Screen Kindle Wednesday | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 13:31

According to sources close to Amazon (AMZN), the company plans to unveil a new larger screened Kindle this Wednesday, May 6th 2009. A news conference was recently scheduled by Amazon for Wednesday at 10:30 AM in NYC at Pace University, which coincides with the launch date. The Kindle 2, currently avaliable from Amazon.com, is great for reading novels but a larger screen could prove to be ...

Spire SP331CB CombiPod USB Hub/Card Reader Review @ Tweaknews | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 9:20

If you are in need of an external card reader/USB hub combo and don\'t want to spend a lot of money, Spire\'s CombiPod fits the bill perfectly. It is small, durable, compatible with just about any memory card, and best of all it works exactly as it should.

GIGABYTE GOOC 2009 North American Regional Finals - Tips and Advice From The Overclocking Pros | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 7:10

Samsung YP-P3 MP3 Player | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 3:40

The Samsung YP-P3 is the successor last year's P2 and it does not disappointed. Everything from the body to the software of the YP-P3 has improved and it'll be good competition against Apple iTouch. How Samsung improves on this design will be exciting.

Samsung YP-P3JCB MP3 Player | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 3:30

The Samsung YP-P3JCB is the successor last year's P2 and it does not disappointed. Everything from the body to the software of the YP-P3JCB has improved and it'll be good competition against Apple iTouch. How Samsung improves on this design will be exciting.

Microsoft Windows 7 RC Download Now Available For Everyone | Posted on: 04/05/2009 @ 3:00

Wanting to know where to get the Windows 7 RC download? On Tuesday May 5th, 2009 the public will have access to Microsoft's latest and greatest operating system, Windows 7 RC1 for free at Microsoft.com! You will have full access to this Release Candidate for over a year as this release will not expire until June 1st, 2010. The Release Candidate will be the latest release of the operating system ...

Pandas new cloud AV | Posted on: 03/05/2009 @ 6:10

I have often recommended Pandas security suite, among others, to those who may ask my opinion. However, Panda seems to have been slipping down the AV rankings as of late, with Norton, McAfee, and Kaspersky heading things up. In an interesting, and perhaps enlightened move, Panda has released a cloud AV that is free to download and use. A similar tactic to AVG, hoping you will buy their full ...

A Weekend Look At OpenSolaris 2009.06 | Posted on: 03/05/2009 @ 2:00

It has been a while since last talking about OpenSolaris 2009.06 at Phoronix, but this weekend we decided to fire up Sun's latest build based upon the SXCE 111a build available from Genunix. Enclosed are a few screenshots and other information about this Sun community operating system that should be officially released within a month.

OpenVG 1.0 State Tracker Is Here! | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 19:10

Yesterday we shared the exciting news that an OpenVG state tracker was coming quite quickly to the Gallium3D architecture for providing hardware-acceleration to this 2D vector graphics drawing API commonly used with mobile devices. This hour the OpenVG 1.0 state tracker was committed to the Mesa code-base. Zack Rusin has pushed the OpenVG state tracker into a branch called openvg-1.0, while it ...

Shadowgrounds: Survivor Is Still M.I.A. | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 17:50

Well over a year ago we shared that two new PC action games were being ported to Linux. These games were Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor, but throughout 2008 updates on the Linux clients status were bleak...

Resistance Retribution PSP Review | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 15:50

Resistance Retribution PSP Review | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 15:30

Hulu and Disney Join Forces to Bring ABC Content To Users | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 14:01

The Hulu Team and The Walt Disney Company today announced that Disney would be joining forces with Hulu to be a part owner of the popular online video content provider. Upon closing, the agreement will enhance Hulu's programming line-up through the expanded online distribution of Disney's most popular current and library primetime series and library feature films. In particular, full-length ...

Honda's Musical Highway in Lancaster California | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 14:01

If you live near Lancaster California then you've probably driven on the "The Honda Civic Musical Road" that actually plays "The William Tell Overture" or the Lone Ranger theme. No, you won't be hearing the song over your speaker system, nor will you have to roll down your windows to hear the music play. Instead, the road has been marked with special grooves that actually plays out the tune as ...

Silverstone SG05 | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 10:30

Love the idea of a full fat gaming system in a slim and trim chassis? Then the Silverstone SG05 could be just ticket, with support for the latest line of fully featured Mini-ITX motherboards, including room for a 9" dual slot graphics card. Do good things come in small packages? We find out!

New Sauerbraten Release Is Imminent | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 6:20

It has been nearly a year since the last update to Sauerbraten, the 2008 CTF edition, but the open-source developers behind this game and its engine of the same name have been preparing for a new release. Within the next few days we should see the first 2009 release of Sauerbraten and it brings a host of new features. In this article is a rundown on some of the key features along with screenshots ...

Partition Master 3.5 Professional Edition | Posted on: 01/05/2009 @ 0:38

Hard disks in our PCs and partitions created on them sometimes can get damaged, so they need to be fixed, resized, deleted or copied from time to time. Windows has its tool that can do some of these tasks but not all of them. There are many applications that are out there and this time we are presenting to you Partition Master. Authors of this application are declaring that this is alternative to ...