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Thursday, March 22, 2012

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Canon EOS 5D Mark III field review

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Shoot in the dark. That's essentially what you can do with the Canon 5D Mark III -- with a top sensitivity of ISO 102,400, what was once unfathomable could soon become an acceptable standard. While point-and-shoot manufacturers are adding WiFi and GPS, and tweaking algorithms in an effort to boost sensitivity beyond the 6400 mark, Canon and Nikon are making clear cases for a DSLR upgrade, by drastically improving image quality. The 5D Mark II had an excellent three-year run, but with its 22.3-megapixel sensor, 1.04M-dot 3.2-inch LCD, improved autofocus and high-performance video capabilities, Canon's latest full-frame DSLR is an entirely different beast, and a very compelling successor.

We spent two glorious weeks with a pre-production 5D Mark III before reluctantly shipping it back to Canon. The biggest benefit (for us, at least) has been high-ISO shooting. While the former 5D could theoretically handle ISO 25,600 captures as well, its native range topped out at 6400 -- venturing beyond that territory meant taking a hit on image quality, making it a seldom-used feature that benefited the camera's spec sheet far more than our low-light snap collection. With this latest iteration, we were able to capture sharp images in environments where there was far too little light to make out details with the naked eye, just as we have with the larger (and pricier) Nikon D3S. Our resulting scenes look like they were lit with sophisticated rigs, or in an environment that allotted far more natural light than was actually available. Low-light shooting is but one benefit of the Mark III, however, so join us past the break for a closer look in our field review.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III review

Silent shooting

You made it past the break! As a gesture of our appreciation, we're going to let you in on a little Mark III secret -- in fact, if that high-ISO shooting wasn't in the picture, this could very well have been our favorite new feature. It's called Silent Single, and it literally allows you to capture an image without hearing that familiar shutter sound. Clunk. Clunk. Or clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk -- six times every second in high-speed mode. You can even do your rapid-fire snapping in Silent Continuous, though you're limited to three frames per second rather than the typical six, with an available workaround (more on that in a moment).

There's no question that silent shooting will impact your experience. Sure, you'll never be able to mask the fact that you're lugging around a full-size DSLR -- so good luck being discrete -- but you will be able to avoid attracting attention each time you snap a frame. The practical applications for this are endless -- wedding photographers won't have to worry about disrupting the ceremony, street shooters can avoid alerting their subjects and nature photogs won't have to worry about frightening wildlife and ruining their shots. The feature will also be more than welcome on film and television sets, where photographers are often required to use cumbersome (and pricey) noise suppression equipment. It's not silent, as its name suggests, but it's very very very quiet.

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So should you simply set Silent Single and forget it? For many photographers, there's really no reason not to. The mode uses a process called Pulse Width Modulation, which slows the speed of the mirror mechanism and the shutter charging motor. Because both operate at a slightly reduced speed, there's a longer delay between the time you hit the shutter release and when the camera begins an exposure, but unless you need every second-fraction you can get, you shouldn't have any issue here. There's also a "Silent Shooting" mode available when in Live View, though this operates by using the CMOS sensor to control the start of an exposure, rather than the first curtain of the mechanical shutter. This mode can be even more advantageous, since it's completely vibration-free. It's also compatible with the high-speed continuous drive mode, letting you capture six frames per second -- double the count available in Silent Continuous.

ISO 25,600 and beyond

Yes, you know the Mark III can capture usable images at ISO 25,600 -- the top sensitivity available on the 5D Mark II -- but there's a noticeable improvement with this year's model, even with our pre-production sample, as you can see in the 100-percent comparison below. There's also an option to jump even further -- to ISO 51,200 and 102,400 -- but you'll only want to venture that high if you're more concerned about freezing the action than snapping a printable image.

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On our first day with the 5D paired with a 24-105mm f/4 L lens, we spent some time exploring Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea, capturing sharp frames of building interiors from outside the barricades. If you're been to a similar complex in Asia -- The Forbidden City in Beijing, perhaps, or temples in Thailand -- you're entirely familiar with the scene of tourists forcing their way to the front of a group, point-and-shoot in hand with the flash engaged. After patiently waiting our turn, we were able to snap tack-sharp shots with natural light, holding the camera by hand. The same applied to night scenes, and other interior shots.

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But what really sealed the deal was an evening shoot around Lower Manhattan. We first came upon the World Trade Center construction site, with 4 WTC shining bright against the sky at dusk. There was more than enough light to snag crisp handheld shots at ISO 3200.

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Minutes later, with the sun far below the horizon, we walked through Battery Park City towards the Hudson. We flipped to 12,800 to snag ferries hovering above the river, layered afront the New Jersey skyline.

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Minutes later, ISO 25,600 became the norm, as we were able to capture daffodils at 1/40 second, and freeze cyclists and joggers mid-stride, lit by nothing but ordinary street lamps.

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Next, a stop at an elevated position just above a small pedestrial bridge, with blue street lamps and a view of Jersey City in the background.

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Just past the waterfront, we happened upon a view of a fog-covered 1 WTC, which you can see below as photographed from the southern tip of Manhattan.

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We then made our way over to Stone Street, to capture the happy hour excitement, lit by a variety of dim street and building fixtures.

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We've singled out these high-ISO shots, compiling them in the gallery below, though you'll want to download our original JPEGs to get a better feel.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III high-ISO sample images

Image quality

As you've probably already gathered, we're very impressed with the Mark III's performance, both while capturing images and when it came time to review them after a shoot. So much so, that we wouldn't hesitate to declare that image quality is absolutely spectacular. You can't pass judgement on a professional camera as easily as you can a tablet or smartphone. It's critical to test every setting, venture out into the field to experience every lighting scenario, and review your shots on a large high-res display, examining hundreds of images in great detail. Naturally, frames shot at ISO 800 and below were flawless -- tack-sharp, with excellent color reproduction and spot-on white balance. Jumping into the four-digit ISOs did add some noise to the equation, but it remained nearly indistinguishable through ISO 6400.

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At 12,800 and 25,600, noise became easily visible in brighter areas at a 25-percent view, but both settings are quite usable. In fact, if we're shooting strictly for the web, we wouldn't hesitate to leave the camera tuned to 12,800, or even 25,600 if absolutely necessary. ISO 51,200 and 102,400 are noisy as all hell, to be frank, and while you may find these settings to be usable, especially for the web, use extreme caution to avoid venturing this high whenever possible. Colors became more washed out as the ISO creeped up, so noise isn't the only concern here. Still, we were thrilled with the camera's performance at ISO 12,800 and below, and wouldn't hesitate to use those modes for all but the most critical of shoots. It's also important to note that the camera we used was a pre-production sample, so image quality could further improve, though Canon felt confident enough in this version to permit a review.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III sample images

Focusing

You can't really prioritize features when it comes to a professional camera -- everything needs to work, very well, and focusing performance is right up there with image quality in our book. When every shot counts, having a flawless focusing system is key, and thanks to the 61-point High Density Reticular Autofocus on board (the same system you'll find on the 1D X), we felt quite fulfilled in this department as well. Frame your subject, hit the shutter release, and the camera focuses -- with dead-on accuracy -- in what seems like an instant. You can select any one of the 61 focus points, and once you do, the Mark III will bring whatever falls directly in front into perfect focus incredibly quickly, even when your subject is in near darkness.

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For example, we were able to focus on our production assistant Jon Turi in a pitch-black room, lit by nothing more than a laptop near its lowest brightness setting at a distance of two feet. The camera took a second to find a lock, but was perfectly accurate once it did. Repeat the process outside, or even in a well-lit room, and that second delay never comes into play. The Mark III focuses just as soon as you hit the shutter release.

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Video

Like its predecessor, the 5D Mark III is an incredibly capable video shooter -- in fact, some of the camera's future owners may not use it to capture stills at all. We certainly don't fit within that elite category, though we did snap some homebrew motion pictures whenever still photos just couldn't do a justice. Video looked fantastic, just as it did on the Mark II. You'll need to focus manually (or before you start a clip), which we've always found to be a challenge, especially when attempting to film a hands-on solo without any cameraman support. But if you're fortunate enough to have a follow focus at your disposal, you should be in good shape here. There's also no mechanical zoom option, so if you're feeling confident enough to tweak it manually during a shot, you'll probably want to use the mic input to avoid picking up any associated noise. And finally, there's no option to capture stills while you're recording video, though if you're shooting in 1080p -- there's support for 1080 at 24/25/30p or 720 at 50/60p -- you'll probably have plenty of frame grabs to use.


Battery life

Battery life shouldn't be an issue on any recent DSLR. Period. This is also the case with the 5D Mark III -- you're likely to fill your memory card long before you exhaust the battery, unless you happen to be using SanDisk's 64GB Class-10 Extreme Pro SD card -- which works beautifully in this camera for both video and 6 fps stills, along with any high-performance CF flavor. We were able to fire off 1,000 stills and a few minutes of HD video before the 1800mAh LP-E6 battery even hit the 50-percent mark, and made it to a whopping 2,200 frames before that compact rectangular pack went kaput. We spent an uncharacteristic amount of time adjusting settings and using Live View, as well, so you'll probably see even more impressive figures. Considering that we're unlikely to push past the 500 mark on even the busiest of shooting days (liveblogs being the obvious exception), it's safe to say the Mark III will make it through an entire week on the CES show floor without requiring a recharge.

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Design


Did we save the best for last? Well, in a way, but you'll spend as much time thinking about the camera's design as we're going to spend on it here. We're really struggling to find any design flaws with the 5D Mark III -- it's a sharp looking camera, with a practical and familiar layout, an intuitive menu structure and a gorgeous optical viewfinder. The stellar 3.2-inch LCD doesn't tilt or swivel, but you can view it from above, below or to either side, if necessary. Some ports have seen some position tweaking, but they're all there: mic input, headphone, mini USB, HDMI, etc. There are SD and CF slots, as we've already covered, along with a slot for the same excellent battery used in the 5D Mark II. It's beautiful. It's familiar. It just works.

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Wrap-up

We honestly haven't been this in love with a camera since we reviewed the Sony NEX-7. And while there's little to compare from a price and design perspective, we're seriously questioning that affair, and completely ready to sacrifice the compact design in favor of this incredibly capable do-everything shooter. At $3,499 for the body only, Canon priced this latest 5D higher than its predecessor, which rang in at $2,699 at launch. Still, if you've been considering a 5D Mark III purchase, don't hesitate -- it's worth the investment, we promise. And if you've already placed your order or have one in the mail, get ready to have your world turned upside-down -- this thing is simply amazing, in every way.

Facebook updates photo viewer with hi-res images and full-screen mode

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:42 AM PDT

No more than 24 hours after introducing you to Acquaintances, Facebook is rolling out a couple of new features for its photo viewer. The social network's fresh bits will let you get a resolutionary look at all those images shared by your friends, boosting the max resolution size to a whopping 2048 x 2048 -- perhaps to pair up nicely with a certain Cupertino-born slate. Additionally, now you'll be able to check out those hi-res photos in full-screen mode, though you'll need to be on the most recent version of Firefox or Chrome to do so (sorry, Safari). Best of all, there's some extra Face-uh-oh-book goodies waiting for you after the break.

Nokia to Apple: don't cha wish your nano-SIM was hot like ours?

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:22 AM PDT

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Don't you hate it when the biggest wars can be started over the smallest things? This time around, we're referring to this in a very literal sense, as Apple has been putting the heat on (no, not that kind of heat) against an alliance formed by Nokia, Motorola and RIM regarding nano-SIM standards. With the ETSI gearing up for a vote on various proposals next week, the two sides are locking horns, determined to prove theirs is the best. Last we heard, concerns were flying left and right that Apple was planning to move ahead with its nano-SIM unilaterally, snatch up a smorgasbord of patents along its path and seize control of the governing body by registering six subsidiaries to vote. Considering Nokia is the current vote leader and claims its design has "significant technical advantages," we can understand why the Finnish giant would be worried. But how, exactly, is its design any better off?

A Nokia representative gave some more clarity to The Verge about the perks its version offers. The company claims Apple's standard doesn't meet the ETSI-approved requirements, which if true would make it incredibly difficult -- in theory, anyway -- to win over votes. Also, unlike Cupertino's version, Nokia's card doesn't require a tray or drawer, which equates to more space, allows for more design innovations and decreases the cost of manufacturing in comparison. Lastly, Espoo also argues that its competitor's proposal wouldn't be backwards-compatible with micro-SIM slots. Sounds legit, but we'd love to hear the opposing team offer its rebuttal before next week's vote. As it stands, we doubt this is the last round in the war of words before everything is settled. For now, head over to the source to see the explanation in its entirety.

US Cellular's first LTE device ships, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 claims the honor

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:04 AM PDT

Just under two months after being officially unveiled, US Cellular's first LTE device is now shipping. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's a tablet taking the first journey out on the carrier's 4G superhighway, with Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 on sale today online and in stores for... well, entirely too much. Despite being nearly a year old, USCC's Tab 10.1 will sell for a staggering $499.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, though customers residing in one of its LTE markets will be able to grab it for a Benjamin less. Oh, and did we mention that a two-year agreement (with data plan) is still required? Yeah. Pardon us while we fire up the gravedigger -- we've seen this one before.
Show full PR text
SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 10.1 AVAILABLE ON U.S. CELLULAR ONLINE AND IN STORES TODAY

Tablet Launches U.S. Cellular's Line-Up of 4G LTE Devices

CHICAGO (March 22, 2012) – U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) have announced that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1™ is available today, both in stores and online at uscellular.com. The Android™-powered tablet runs on the 4G LTE network, with speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G, and is the first device introduced in U.S. Cellular's 4G LTE device line-up. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available for $499.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate. For a limited time, the tablet will be available for $399.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate in markets currently covered by the 4G LTE network and in those scheduled to be covered by the end of 2012. Visit uscellular.com for detailed pricing.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 features a widescreen display and dual surround-sound speakers, ideal for streaming video or watching movies while keeping families entertained on-the-go. The 2 megapixel front camera's high-quality image is ideal for video chatting and the 3 megapixel rear-facing camera has HD video capabilities to ensure users will capture every memorable moment. Galaxy Tab 10.1 users have access to nearly half a million apps available through Google Play, formerly known as the Android™ Market, helping multi-taskers get more done throughout the day with calendars, email, news, weather and more. Google Play also features downloadable digital movies, books and music.

"The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the first of many cutting-edge devices slated for use on the 4G LTE network," said Edward Perez, vice president of sales and marketing operations for U.S. Cellular. "This sleek and functional tablet makes it easier than ever for busy customers to simplify and organize their lives."

Highlighted features:

· 10.1-inch WXGA PLS TFT 1280x800 HD display
· Slim and lightweight at 1 pound, 3.9 ounces and .34-inch depth
· Battery life up to 12 hours of usage, with standby time of up to 400 hours
· 1 GHz dual-core NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 processor
· Powered by Android™ Honeycomb
· Front and rear camera: 3.2 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus, LED flash and HD (720p) video recording, 2 megapixel front camera
· 32 GB memory

The enhanced wireless experience on the 4G LTE network builds on the 3G data services U.S. Cellular customers already enjoy on the carrier's nationwide network that has the highest call quality and network satisfaction. U.S. Cellular, in partnership with King Street Wireless, currently offers 4G LTE service in select cities in Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. In the second half of this year, 4G LTE coverage will expand to cover select cities in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be available to all U.S. Cellular customers and will run on the 4G LTE network in markets where it is available and on U.S. Cellular's nationwide 3G network in all other areas. By the end of 2012, 54 percent of U.S. Cellular customers will enjoy faster 4G LTE speeds.

U.S. Cellular customers enjoy the only 4G LTE network with unique benefits, such as new devices faster without continuously signing contracts, free Overage Protection and free battery swap. U.S. Cellular also offers customers the only points-based rewards program in the industry, which rewards customers for simple things, such as paying bills on-time, adding a line or referring friends and family. Points may be used for faster phone upgrades, additional lines, devices, accessories and ringtones. It's one of the reasons U.S. Cellular has the happiest customers in wireless.

For more information about the 4G LTE experience, visit uscellular.com/4G. For information about all of U.S. Cellular's deals, plans and phones, and other restrictions on these offers, visit any U.S. Cellular store, go to uscellular.com or check out U.S. Cellular on Facebook.

TweetDeck gets updated with improved list management, inline media and more

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:39 AM PDT

You'll still have to wait a bit longer for a major update to the mobile apps, but Twitter has today rolled out some big changes to TweetDeck for Mac, Windows and Chrome. That includes some added options for lists (including the ability to create and edit lists from within the application), new activity and interactions columns, inline media previews, and a new "Edit & RT" feature in place of the previous "Quote" option. You can get a quick preview of all that in the video after the break, or simply try it out yourself by downloading or updating the application for your platform of choice (it of course remains completely free).

Android SDK updated with big improvements to emulator and build system

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:31 AM PDT

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We're not sure what anniversary the 17th is but, if we had to guess, we'd say its the x86 anniversary. Google has just released Revision 17 of the Android SDK and ADT and its packing an array of improvements, most notably to the Lint build system and the emulator. While the new build rules, which check performance and guard against errors, are certainly welcome, it's the emulator that's got the headline grabbing changes. First off is the ability to run x86 system images in a virtualized environment (on Windows and OS X), and at near native speeds no less. There is also added support for webcams and sensors, as well as the experimental ability to control the emulator through a tethered android device. For more details, and to download it yourself, hit up the source link.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 preview (video)

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT

Mobile World Congress, a debutante ball of sorts for the wireless industry, is an oddity; set against a landscape more famous for its modernist accents and marathon nightlife than propensity for forward-facing gadgetry. Yet every year, despite this cultural contrast, mobile's best, brightest and even little known descend upon Barcelona to showcase the incoming tide of next-gen wares. It's a wonder, then, that for all the bombast and spectacle, Samsung, a titan in the cluttered Android field, chose to occupy a sizable swathe of the event's booth real estate with a glut of mid-range and less-than-fresh devices. Save for one notable product.

Without the halo of its still secret unicorn, the Galaxy S III, to power the brand's visibility, the company turned the spotlight on its other flagship -- the Galaxy Note 10.1 -- as more of a rightful successor to its O.G. Galaxy Tab of the same size, not the recently debuted Tab 2 (10.1). Confused? That's understandable, but this broad-screened fella's outing marks a stark transition away from the Note as smartphone, established by its 5.3-inch forebear, to a concrete series of S-Pen equipped products. Its beefier dual-core 1.4GHz CPU and 1GB RAM notwithstanding, this is, for all intents and purposes, more of a gentle update than a full-on refresh, as most of the build, screen (1,280 x 800) and camera setup remains virtually unchanged.

Solidifying the unit's place atop the industry's top-shelf mantel, is its inclusion of Google's latest ICS OS (4.0.3), slathered here in a TouchWiz skin, and the addition of two pre-installed S-Pen apps: Adobe PS Touch and Ideas. So, software improvements aside, why should this tablet, an admitted work-in-progress that's lacking the finishing touches of a final production model, occupy a space on your finely tuned tech radar? Why should you devote a portion of your gadget-lusting heart to the promise of a killer device currently lacking any known pricing or availability? Well, to answer those questions, Samsung let us spend some brief, albeit quality time with the Note's in-development next of kin. So follow on after the break as we explore its digitizer-optimized nooks and crannies and whet your appetites for what's to come.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 preview

Hardware


With the Note 10.1, it appears Samsung's holding fast to the axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Except in this case (pun intended), the O.G. Tab 10.1's glossy, plastic back (a veritable forensics wet dream) has now been replaced by a matte finish. So you can safely say goodbye to that unsightly trail of fingerprint sludge. That's not the only surface change separating the two, however, as its color scheme has also taken a subdued turn, ditching the bright, metallic border for a darker gunmetal grey. The dual speaker setup gets a minor placement tweak, shifting over from its former landscape orientation along the device's left and right edges to the front face surrounding the bezel. And really, that's about as cosmetically altered as this tablet gets in this generational leap.

With the Note 10.1, it appears Samsung's holding fast to the axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

As you'll see in our side-by-side comparison shots, all of the ports have been relegated to the exact same alignments they occupied on the Tab 10.1, with the minor addition of a covered microSD slot. Yes, this Android slate leaps past the storage handicap of its elder with the ability to expand that capacity from its 16GB, 32GB or 64GB configurations -- especially handy given the library of images this multimedia tool is sure to harbor. The same dual 2MP front-facing / 3MP rear camera setup is present, as well as a proprietary charging dock at the device's base, with the power button, volume rocker, IR blaster and 3.5mm headphone jack sitting tidy up top.

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If you've spent any time with Samsung's original 10.1 slate, you'll definitely notice the Note 10.1's slight increase in thickness and heft. It's really rather a marginal swelling, and barely noticeable at that, but we would've preferred to see this tablet maintain the slimmer profile of its ancestor. The same goes for the encasement around the screen. Whereas the Tab 10.1 offered users an all-over round-edged design, the Note 10.1 strays right where it counts, transforming those curves into hard lines. Which, if you're holding this in landscape, contributes to a less-pleasing in-hand fit. Again, you shouldn't be bothered much unless you're a stickler for premium ergonomic fit.

When Apple unleashed its new iPad to the market, several OEMs with tablets waiting in the wings were left, undoubtedly, scratching their heads. Not content to join its rivals at the 1,920 x 1,200 highwater mark, Cupertino vaulted past with its 2,048 x 1,536 Retina display and set a new standard in the process. It goes without saying the Note 10.1's display tech isn't of that caliber, nor is it of the full-HD variety, either. Again, Samsung's stuck to its guns and left the 1,280 x 800 resolution spread across its 10.1-inches unchanged. No surprises here, as colors on the screen pop with brightness, stopping just short of being over-saturated, while viewing angles are similarly strong, although you'll have to contend with quite a bit of glare.

Performance and S-Pen

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Forget about the body of this beast for a moment. Aesthetics are not what the Note 10.1's about. Samsung crafted this tablet to be the harbinger of its S-Pen line, more so than its smartphone stablemate. So, the focus should be on the software inside, not its looks or samey specs. But before we dive in to parse through the various UI embellishments that make this less of a tablet and more of a tool, we have to again stress that performance and even the array of available apps could change. Samsung's still tinkering with this guy in its labs and the final model could look and function much differently when it finally hits retailers' shelves.

With those caveats addressed, let's turn our attention to the OS. From what we've seen so far, this is a slate that looks to the past for its inspiration, but thankfully, that memory-mining doesn't involve a resurrection of Honeycomb 3.2. Android fanpersons should be pleased that Samsung's keeping its eye on the future, loading the Note 10.1 up with a skinned version of 4.0.3 -- that skin being TouchWiz, naturally. It's not the pure vision of Ice Cream Sandwich set forth by Andy Rubin's team, so if you're not familiar with Sammy's range of devices, you'll be none too chuffed. For everyone else, this UX overlay shouldn't be much of a hindrance as it retains most of ICS's functionality and flourishes, speeding along respectably and even including a handy screenshot shortcut amongst the software navigation keys.

Samsung crafted this tablet to be the harbinger of its S-Pen line, more so than its smartphone stablemate.

Bolstered by a dual-core 1.4GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, you'd expect the Note 10.1 to dazzle with an immediacy of response and lightning-quick transitions. Unfortunately, that's not the case as it's obvious the slate could do with a heavy bit of optimization. While navigation through the various homescreens is smooth, it's the loading of applications that really highlights the tab's few rough edges. Indeed, there's a lag evident when accessing apps that could lead you to misinterpret this hesitancy as a lack of responsiveness and effect another tap. Happily, that's not the case. The screen does successfully read your gesture, but it will take up to five seconds, in some instances, for a selected program to load.

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A Note by any other name would simply be a Tab, which is why this slate comes bundled with a differentiator: the S-Pen. When Samsung first unveiled this tablet at MWC, it also outed an update to its digitizer pen tech. The stylus shown off at the company's booth simplifies workflow by adding an eraser function to the bottom end -- a feature easily enacted by a flip of the pen -- sidestepping the need to access the in-app menu. We weren't able to procure that particular S-Pen from Samsung, so we had to make do with a basic one borrowed from the Galaxy Note and sheathed in a luxe holder. While that adds a bit of girth and protection, transforming the S-Pen into a proper, elegant and easy-to-grip pen, the inclusion of a function button close to the tip can prove to be somewhat irksome. Truly, we wrestled with settling on an acceptable position so as to keep from accidentally triggering the screenshot function tied to that shortcut key. This nuisance can simply be avoided if you choose to forego the use of that casing.

We've already touched upon the disconnect between touch recognition and the loading of apps when using your fingertip. Switch over to the S-Pen, though, and you'll initially be convinced the problem has worsened. That's simply not the case, however, as the accurate use of the S-Pen requires careful attention and a bit of readjustment on the user's part. It works best when you find its happy medium: a tap that is neither too aggressive nor too light upon the screen. It can be a tad slippery to navigate precisely, a fact we'll revisit later, but to move the uninitiated along, Samsung's added a helpful setting to display an onscreen cursor which tracks your movements.

A Note by any other name would simply be a Tab, which is why this slate comes bundled with a differentiator: the S-Pen.

Bear in mind this isn't a review of the full-fledged product. That in-depth feature will hopefully come at a later date when Samsung manages to iron out the kinks and get this tablet to the market. So, in the interest of giving you a glimpse of the raw processing power fueling this iteration, we've done a side-by-side with the Tab 10.1 it's meant to outdo. Take a look at the chart below and you'll see the Note 10.1 benefits from that extra 400MHz, overtaking its aging and lower clocked predecessor in nearly every benchmark we tested. No doubt that ICS OS it runs had a hand in this performance leap, though Sammy's O.G. tab did take home the crown, albeit barely, in Sunspider 9.1 results. Given time for additional optimization and we're sure that final production model will see even further appreciable gains.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
Quadrant 3,239 2,446
Linpack single-thread (MFLOPS) 50.0 29.8
Linpack multi-thread (MFLOPS) 53.1 52.6
NenaMark1 60.0 fps 43.1 fps
NenaMark2 43.9 fps 20.8 fps
Vellamo 1,123 1,023
Sunspider 9.1 (ms, lower numbers are better) 2,287.5ms 2,212.8ms

Software and S-Pen apps

Remember that old iPhone meme, "You're holding it wrong." Well, the same could apply here if we swap out "holding" for "touching." The Note 10.1 is, after all, a digitizer and its various applications, even the non-stylus specific ones, all make ample use of the S-Pen. That includes Google's suite of apps, as well as any third party software (none of which are final) that Samsung chooses to pre-install, like Polaris Office, Zinio, Photo Editor and Crayon Physics Deluxe. Will you want to keep that stylus in hand throughout your use? The answer to that very question all depends on the mode you intend to slip into: creativity or productivity. For applications associated with the latter category, it'll be hard to resist the temptation to switch to your own digits, as depressing keys on the software keyboard or even relying on the inbuilt handwriting recognition software takes too long; makes the entire process inefficient. You won't encounter that issue if you happen to be simply selecting apps, links or menu settings, but for the purpose of text input, it's inadvisable. Don't take this a con, though, because the S-Pen does have lovely benefits -- you just have to know where and when to make use of them.

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Google's Play market doesn't yet offer users the ability to cut through the clutter and isolate the scattering of stylus-friendly apps, but Samsung's own storefront does. Separated by categories, prospective Note 10.1 owners will need to merely highlight 'S Choice' to browse the available selection of S-Pen compatible applications. Using this curated Android market, we were able to download a handful of complementary programs, like Animating Touch and Hello Color Pencil.

S Memo

If you own the Galaxy Note, then this app should seem familiar. As one of the few programs Samsung's created to take full advantage of the S-Pen, you'll find most of your note-taking and handwriting recognition needs will be met here. After selecting one of a handful of themes (ranging from a memo to musical notation paper to graph paper), users are then given the option to choose from one of three function modes -- formula, shape or text match -- which all perform exactly as they sound. Select the math option and your screen will be divided into two, with the lower portion dedicated to input and the above a near final preview of your entry. Scrawl in an equation and the software will do its best to discern it, translating your arithmetic up above and presenting you with the option to go ahead and calculate. It's pretty simple stuff and, more often than not, the software was able to accurately determine which numbers and symbols we'd written down.

The shape function has a less obvious utility and was cause for a bit of trial and error to work properly. It won't correct your attempts at anthropomorphic sketches, but if the composition of basic circles and squares poses you great difficulty, this neat mode will redraw them for you in proper alignment.

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Sure enough, the addition of those two modes are an added bonus, giving users something to do with that S-Pen, but they're also superfluous at best. The real meat and potatoes of S-Memo is its plain 'ol ability to render your illegible print into readable type -- a feat it pulls of with an almost complete sense of ease. Trigger this function and an onscreen gesture guide will immediately fill up the screen. Overall, these shortcuts are a breeze to accomplish, with a swipe back used for deletion, swipe to the right or down used for spacing, as well as the ability to correct misspellings by overwriting on the faulty letter.

The real meat and potatoes of S-Memo is its plain 'ol ability to render your illegible print into readable type -- a feat it pulls of with an almost complete sense of ease.

Get down to the business of actually entering text and, at first, you'll feel as though you've re-entered primary school; adapting your print from its idiosyncratic scribble to the more staid and traditional forms of our alphabet. Once over that learning curve, however, your experience with the handwriting software should lend itself to a measured pace. Yes, it's necessary to intermittently interrupt your writing to manually enter the approved text into the appropriate field above, but that's really the only speed bump in an otherwise smooth ride. When you've finished whatever it is you set out do with the app, you can then share it to various social media, export, print or merely save for a rainy day.

S Note

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Abandon all hope for variation, ye who enter this app -- redundancy abounds. At first glance, S Note is nothing other than S Memo dressed up with templates as opposed to themes. Does this make any difference? If you happen to be in a cutesy mood and want to mock up a postcard with an image from your own gallery or even a magazine page with a video embed, then it's a resounding yes. Otherwise, it's more of an amusing diversion that makes use of the S-Pen than creative pro tool. For the sake of a cohesive user experience, Samsung could've simply rolled this app's feature set into S Memo, making for a more robust, stylus-friendly feature set.

Adobe Ideas

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Ideas is the first of the two Adobe apps that come pre-installed on the Note 10.1: a Photoshop-like application that significantly lowers the bar so non-creative types can doodle and play. Really, it's a dumbed-down version of PS Touch, offering a scaled down set of editing functions that amounts to nothing more than amateur hour for aspiring graphic designers. Pulling from a selection of images (be they pre-loaded, imported or snapped with the dual camera setup), users can add their creations in layers, adjusting brush size, opacity and color as they go. Professional types will likely want to steer clear of Ideas in favor of the fuller companion app. For the everyman, however, it's a welcome addition that could serve to gently ease newbies into the complex world of image manipulation that awaits them in PS Touch.

PS Touch

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Have a Wacom tablet at home? Then you'll be pleased to meet PS Touch -- the Note 10.1's undisputed S-Pen gem. Creative pros will find comfort in this tablet adaptation of Adobe's über-popular Photoshop program, as most of the features, though laid out differently, remain intact. While it's not a complete replacement for a desktop graphics workstation, the app does give pros some flexibility, letting them create on-the-go much the same way they'd do in the office or at home. While you wouldn't want to rely solely on this application for the majority of your workflow, it could come handy in pinch, offering up an outpost for moments of sudden inspiration outside of your traditional workspace.

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To its credit, Adobe's tossed in a variety of tutorials to walk users, both new and experienced, through the app's many functions. It's not a completely intuitive walkthrough, as the correct implementation of a step won't prompt you to move on; you'll have to be a bit self-reliant and trust in your own skill set for that. Follow through and you'll be rewarded with knowledge of PS Touch's image manipulation capabilities that can then be applied to your own projects. That's not to say you'll successfully complete every tutorial with precision -- or at all, for that matter. Some of the features require a deft hand and deep understanding of the more advanced principles of Photoshop. Without that prior experience, users will likely skim the surface or default to the simpler and less intimidating Ideas.

Wrap-up

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Samsung's still chiseling this S-Pen flagship into final form, so we'll avoid passing a verdict on its pros and cons. What we can speak to is its usefulness as more than a standard tablet; as a tool for creative professionals looking to extend their workflow beyond the confines of the traditional work environment. Seen in that vein, there's a strong argument for designers to hop on board and claim the Note 10.1 as their own. With an array of apps that lend themselves well to sketching, annotating and moderate-to-heavy image editing, pro users should find this a satisfying on-the-go crutch. Armed with the S-Pen and a generous 10.1-inches, those moments of sudden inspiration won't go wasted, as you'll be capable of whipping this slate out and translating those fleeting moments of genius into visible and safely contained ideas.

Move outside of this user base, however, and the tablet becomes more of a novelty, with its true power left untapped by the lowered demands of the casual consumer. It makes sense, then, why Samsung chose to branch out the category with a stable of slates dedicated to the precision of a stylus and general productivity to its Tab series. We can't say for sure if this is a must-have device -- that all hinges upon its unknown price point and production-ready performance -- but as it stands, the Note 10.1's future looks promising.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Roland's Wireless Connect lets your iPhone and electronic instruments play nice sans cords

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:43 AM PDT

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As if there weren't already enough devices out there for connecting musical instruments to iDevices, Roland's unveiled its latest entrant to the fray over at this year's Musikmesse. Combining a duo of iOS apps and a Netgear-sourced USB dongle, the company's created what's dubbed as the Wireless Connect system. Essentially, by plugging the USB stick into a select number of the company's electronic instruments, you'll be able to jam out using your iDevice as a cord-free aid. With its updated app version of V-Drums Friend Jam, drummers can work on their chops and share the results over the web (alternatively, the current computer variant requires a wired connection). Additionally, the Air Recorder app allows you to hook up with its Synths and V-Accordions to record your playing, jam along with songs from your iPhone or both at the same time. Notably, you likely won't get much use out of Wireless Connect at your next gig, though, as it requires a LAN connection with access to the internet for full functionality. While there's not word on a pricing just yet, Roland plans to have the system on store shelves by the end of spring. Interested musicians can glance at the press release and instrument compatibility details planted just past the break.
Show full PR text
ROLAND WIRELESS CONNECT DEBUTS

Los Angeles, CA, March 21, 2012 - Roland is pleased to introduce Roland Wireless Connect, a new system that allows electronic musical instruments to communicate with the iPhone®. Consisting of a wireless USB adapter and two new iOS apps, Roland Wireless Connect makes it easy for Roland users to enjoy their instruments with the popular mobile devices from Apple®.

With the Air Recorder app, audio can be recorded from a Roland synthesizer or V-Accordion® directly into the iPhone. Songs can be played from the iPhone and sent to the instrument, where users can jam along and record the result back in Air Recorder.

V-Drums® Friend Jam for iPhone is an iOS version of V-Drums® Friend Jam, the popular social practice tool for drummers. While the Mac/Windows version of V-Drums Friend Jam requires a USB or MIDI connection from a V-Drums sound module to a computer, Roland Wireless Connect provides a direct, convenient connection from the module to the iPhone. The app allows V-Drums users across the globe to interact with each other while improving their drumming skills with play-along audio songs and practice evaluation features.

The hardware portion of Roland Wireless Connect is a simple, compact wireless USB adapter WNA1100-RL (manufactured by NETGEAR® and distributed by Roland) that plugs into the USB port on a Roland instrument. In order for the mobile device to communicate with compatible musical instruments, you need a wireless LAN access point with internet connection.

Compatible instruments (with firmware update) include:

Synthesizers

JUNO-Di / JUNO-Gi / JUPITER-80 / JUPITER-50 / Lucina® AX-09

V-Drums Sound Modules

TD-30 / TD-15 / TD-11

V-Accordions

FR-7x / FR-3x / FR-1x

Roland Wireless Connect, Air Recorder, and V-Drums Friend Jam for iPhone will be available in late spring. For more information, visit www.RolandConnect.com.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 review round-up: see ya later, AMD

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:26 AM PDT

We've already been hands-on with NVIDIA's first Kepler GPU, but all those fancy features count for nuthin' if the benchmarks don't back them up. So do they? Huh? Do they? NVIDIA told us to expect a 10 to 40 percent performance boost from the $499 GTX 680, versus AMD's pricier Radeon HD 7970, and it appears that was no exaggeration. If you've bought yourself a high-end 28nm AMD card recently, try to hold back those tears until you've glanced over the reviews after the break. Let's just hope for a fairer fight when NVIDIA's mainstream and low-end cards come out to tackle AMD's 7800- and 7700-series -- and hey, some timely price drops could help to balance things too.

AnandTech -- gave the GTX 680 a clear 5-20 percent edge against the HD 7970 in most recent games, with "wholly unexpected and completely stunning" leads as high as 28 percent in games like Battlefield 3 and Portal 2. The card even kept pace with the Radeon HD 6990 and GTX 590 -- not bad when you consider that those dual-GPU cards burn around 30-50 percent more watts. Overall, AnandTech says "this is by far the easiest recommendation we've been able to make for an NVIDIA flagship video card."

HotHardware -- showed that the new NVIDIA could only be beaten by dual-GPU cards in 3DMark11, had lower power consumption under load (and similar consumption at idle) compared to the 7970, and concluded the GTX 680 was "the fastest single-GPU based graphics card we have tested" and "another win for the consumer".

The Tech Report -- put the GTX 680 "just a couple of ticks" below the HD 7970 in its particular "99th Percentile Frame Time" test, due to higher frame latencies in some titles, but indicated that the $50 price advantage, lower power and quieter operation more than make up for it.

Hexus -- gives props to the GTX 680's "super-funky" GPU Boost technology "that helps keep the card working at near-maximum potential at all times", and also points out that the card readily overclocks to deliver a 15 percent lift above stock performance in Crysis 2, leaving the GTX 590 in a cloud of dust and the 7970 in quicksand. On the other hand, "AMD's not far behind" and "we eagerly wait to see what happens to Radeon HD 7970 and HD 7950 pricing in the next few weeks."

Hungry for more? You'll find equally glowing verdicts at the More Coverage links.

[Thanks to everyone who sent these links in.]

Insert Coin: Tabber lights up your fretboard, shows you the way to rock

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT

The idea of a lighted fretboard isn't a new one by any stretch (how do you think the Fretlight got its compound name?), but there's something to be said for not having to buy a brand new guitar for that functionality. The folks behind Tabber are working to make that a reality, having tested a number of prototypes for a product that you can simply slip over the neck of your axe for a quick tutorial. The company is looking to create a slicker version of the concept that it can bring to the market. Tabber's creators need your help to "transform the guitar industry," so naturally they've taken to Kickstarter, with a little under a month to hit their $45,000 goal. The Arduino-powered LED guitar instructor will connect to a mobile device via Bluetooth, accessing information to let you play along with songs, figure out chords and bend your fingers around some scales. Click the source link to send some cash Tabber's way, or to find out a bit more about the project.

Update: As a number of commenters have pointed out, there's a similar project currently awaiting your donations on Kickstarter. Great minds, huh?


Previous project update: With 53 days to go, JuiceTank still has a ways to go before hitting its lofty $125,000. At present, the iPhone charger / case is at around $28,000 with 566 backers in all, most of whom opted in for that $40 price point, to score themselves an early unit.

Nokia drops another 1,000 employees, Finnish plant focusing on software

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 07:35 AM PDT

To say it's been a rough year for Nokia would be a huge understatement. And things are only going to get worse before they get better. Case in point: the company just finalized an agreement to cut up to another 1,000 jobs (which we knew was coming), all at its plant in Salo, Finland. The cuts will not happen all at once, instead positions will be phased out over the course of the year, with most layoffs coming before the end of June. For those in Western Europe it's another batch of manufacturing jobs heading to Asia, for Nokia it's simply part of a restructuring plan designed to help it stop the bleeding. The staff that remains will focus on installing software that caters to European customers. After several quarters of bad news and then a complete shift in smartphone platforms it only makes sense that Nokia would find itself in dire straights. Still, in a country where unemployment hovers at around eight percent, we're sure no amount of national pride will make people feel better about losing more jobs.

Update: In case it wasn't clear, we just wanted to clarify that these are cuts that Nokia had already announced. The company has simply struck a deal with its employees making the move official.

LaCie 2big Thunderbolt series external HDD review

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PDT

We've already seen what Thunderbolt's capable of when it's used in conjunction with a couple of high performance SSDs, but not everyone needs NAND to meet their external storage requirements. What many do deem essential, however, is a ton of room for system backups and multimedia, and Thunderbolt's ability to transfer bits and bytes in the blink of an eye makes it an alluring alternative to other connections. If you find yourself among those desiring such a solution, let us introduce you to LaCie's 2big Thunderbolt series external HDD. The 2big packs dual 3TB spinners on the inside for a grand total of 6TB, and comes from the factory in a software RAID 0 configuration to take full advantage of Thunderbolt's considerable capabilities. This aluminum desktop behemoth has a price to match its name and stature ($799), so we figured we'd put the 2big through its paces to let you know what kind of performance you'll be getting in return for all that cash. So, as the great Rod Roddy would say, come on down (after the break) and let's get to it.
LaCie 2big Thunderbolt series review

Hardware and setup

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Pull the 2big out of its packaging and you immediately notice just how heavy this thing is -- at a shade under six pounds, it easily outweighs the 15-inch MacBook Pro we were testing it with. This isn't an issue, just an observation, as the weight lends the drive a bombproof feel, and of course, the 2big's not meant to be portable storage. Even still, we were surprised at just how... substantial it is, even though a sizable chunk of that heft comes from its twin Seagate Barracuda 3TB, 7200RPM drives. Access to the twin HDDs is quite easy, as you simply turn the latch using pocket change or a large flathead screwdriver and pull out the drive sled should you need to get at them. The 2big also comes with multiple power plugs, so should you be inclined to lug it with you around the world, you'll be able to plug it in most places you go.

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As for the exterior, well, anyone in love with LaCie's design language will be similarly affected by the 2big. It's an aluminum block ribbed on the sides so the whole thing serves as a heat sink, while you'll find the familiar globe-shaped button on the front. It still radiates an azure glow and serves as both a power LED and power button (as it does on the Little Big Disk), but the 2big's orb is embossed with the LaCie company name and we found it wasn't seated as securely as we'd like -- there's some play in the button before it registers a press. Round the back, you'll find dual Thunderbolt ports (for daisy chaining drives or connecting DisplayPort or Thunderbolt monitors), the two drive bay drawers and the power plug. The Hal 9000 look has its detractors, but sorry, Dave, we're a fan of the LaCie's functional and clean aesthetics.

Connecting the thing couldn't be much easier, assuming you've got room for its 3.5 x 6.7 x 7.8-inch footprint and an appropriate cable on hand. That's right... you pay 800 bucks for a drive that only has Thunderbolt connections, but you're responsible for rustling up a compatible cable -- which will result in another $50 disappearing from your bank account. What's irritating about this isn't the extra $50, it's that LaCie didn't just up the 2big's price by half a hundred and include a cable to save its customers some trouble. Anyway, cable in hand, it's simply a matter of connecting it into your Mac, plugging it into a wall outlet and pressing the power button. Bingo, you've got action.

Speed tests

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LaCie claims that the 2big's transfer rates max out at an average of 327MB/s reads and 320MB/s writes, and we actually got better results using Blackmagic's Disk Speed Test. We routinely saw writes in excess of 350 MB/s and reads north of 370 MB/s. In our real-world testing, a 1GB file transfer took 12 seconds, 5GB took just under a minute, and a 10GB file flew from our desktop to the 2big in a little less than two minutes. We also put it through its paces using Xbench, and found the 2big did sequential 4KB writes at 295 MB/s and reads at 30 MB/s, while random 4KB writes were 2.71 MB/s and reads were 1.78 MB/s. Sequential 256KB writes were 243 MB/s and reads were 271 MB/s, while random 256KB writes were 228 MB/s and reads were 43.27 MB/s. To give those numbers some perspective, performance of the 7200RPM Hitachi Travelstar HDD in our MacBook Pro was much slower -- sequential writes topped out at 68 MB/s, as did reads at 70 MB/s, while random writes hit 28 MB/s and reads maxed at 19 MB/s.

Naturally, a drive this capacious is likely to be used as a repository for backups, and the 2big performed admirably in that respect. Using Time Machine, the 2big duplicated 117GB of data in 48 minutes, and we created a 143GB bootable backup in an hour and 21 minutes, with an average speed of 35 MB/s using the included Intego Backup Manager Pro software. During these backups, you can hear the drives and cooling fan whirring on occasion, but the 2big is awfully quiet most of the time -- a far cry from its diminutive cousin, the Little Big Disk, which was deafening by comparison. Additionally, we only felt the drive get slightly warm under load, so its finned skin and quiet fan clearly have no problems dissipating whatever heat the drive generates.

Wrap-up

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In summary, LaCie's latest offering for Thunderbolt users should prove to be a tempting option. Its robust build, massive capacity, quiet operation and, of course, blazing transfer rates all make for quite an attractive package for use as a media and backup repository. Despite those merits, the 2big's premium price is likely to be a turn-off for many. Plus, with Thunderbolt set to become ubiquitous once it starts showing up in PCs, cheaper Tbolt external drive options are sure to proliferate in the not-too-distant future. That said, if you're in need of external storage right now and have the means, you won't be disappointed having the 2big on your desk.

Lovefilm now streams more content than it mails

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:35 AM PDT

Lovefilm has announced that for the first time, more content was viewed via its instant service than its DVD, Blu-Ray and Games rental divisions combined. The Amazon-owned company surpassed two million members in January, making it the biggest of its kind in Europe. In just 12 months, internet-viewers have increased by a whopping 400 percent, but let's not take that as a sign of the death of physical media just yet. Whilst the company itself sees its future in the streaming realm, the postal-arm of the business also grew by 25 percent in the same period.
Show full PR text
STREAMING SERVICE OVERTAKES DVD AT LOVEFiLM FOR THE FIRST TIME

LOVEFiLM, an Amazon company and pioneer of internet film delivery in
Europe, announced today that in February, for the first time ever,
LOVEFiLM members streamed more films and TV series instantly over the
Internet via LOVEFiLM Instant than rented DVDs, Blu-rays and Games.

The number of films and TV episodes streamed online through
Internet-connected devices including games consoles and connected TVs
exceeded the number of DVDs, Blu-rays and Games rented by over 20%.
This represents an increase on the same month last year of over 400%,
while the rental of physical product is also growing, up over 25% over
the year.

Jim Buckle, Managing Director of AMAZON's LOVEFiLM, commented: "The
first quarter of 2012 has shown us two things: that LOVEFiLM members
are watching more films and TV series both on the Internet and on DVD
than ever before and; in less than three years, streaming through
LOVEFiLM Instant has become more popular than renting DVDs.

Our members crave instant on-demand access. With more world-class
digital content being added to LOVEFiLM Instant and a growing number
of Internet-connected devices delivering it to members' living rooms
we expect this trend to continue. At the same time, many of our
members continue to enjoy the combination of LOVEFiLM Instant and
LOVEFiLM By Post in one, great value for money, subscription, with
both services growing rapidly."

Amazon's LOVEFiLM surpassed two million members in January 2012,
cementing its position as Europe's largest subscription service for
streaming films and TV series over the Internet and sending DVDs and
games by post. LOVEFiLM pioneered Internet film delivery in the UK
through the world's first download-to-own service in 2006. By 2009
LOVEFiLM had launched the UK's first subscription film and TV series
streaming service which, in December 2011, became LOVEFiLM Instant, a
standalone service streaming on PCs and through over 175
internet-connected devices including Xbox, PS3, internet-connected TVs
(SONY, Samsung and LG) and iPad.

Amazon's LOVEFiLM is constantly adding to the range of film and TV
series on LOVEFiLM Instant having signed major content deals including
Sony, Warner Bros., Entertainment One, STUDIOCANAL, ITV, ABC, and BBC,
and offering exclusive titles including vampire phenomenon The
Twilight Saga: Eclipse, action-thriller Source Code and, coming soon,
critically-acclaimed Tinker Tailor Solider Spy.

Kepler comes of age: NVIDIA unveils GeForce GTX 680 desktop GPU, 600M series for laptops

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT

NVIDIA's next-gen GPUs sure took their sweet time arriving, but the first of the Kepler crew is finally available in stores and its 28nm silicon is just itching to show off what it can do. You may be wondering what the 2GB GeForce GTX 680 brings to the gaming table, and whether it'll put an end to AMD's free run at the top of the food chain. Well, NVIDIA now claims it has "the fastest GPU in the world", with both lower power consumption and a 10-40 percent performance advantage over AMD's single-GPU rival, the Radeon HD 7970, at 1920 x 1080. How can it back up such a boast? Ultimately, everything hinges on independent benchmarks (coming soon in our review round-up), but in the meantime we need to look at NVIDIA's new architecture for clues. Intrigued? Then head on past the break.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 and GTX 600M series GPUs


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First, the GTX 680 has a GPU Boost feature that automatically increases the clock speed when the GPU isn't fully taxed. You see, GPUs are designed with a thermal power limit (TPL), and they often operate well beneath that limit -- the new boost technology simply leverages that TPL headroom to increase the clock speed, while still keeping the card running within its tolerances.

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As explained in the video below, this is all done with real-time hardware monitoring and it means that NVIDIA no longer has to factory-set its cards to a fixed, 'safe' clock speed that will work even in poorly cooled environments. For example, the GTX 680 has a base clock speed of 1GHz, but GPU Boost can increase that by 10 percent when needed, while packaged overclocking utilities will let you notch up the clock / voltage curve even further to readily achieve 1.2GHz, so long as your over-sized fans or water pipes are doing their job.


Kepler also utilizes NVIDIA's new Adaptive VSync technology to keep your fragging sessions as smooth as possible. The tech enables the GPU to dynamically switch on VSync when frame rates are above 60fps -- to keep rendering in lock step with your monitor's refresh rate -- and switch VSync off when frame rates drop below 60fps in order to reduce the image stuttering that would normally occur were it left on. Lastly, Kepler can utilize an improved anti-aliasing algorithm, called TXAA, to smooth out onscreen polygons better than ever before without sacrificing gaming performance. See the results for yourself in the gallery below.
NVIDIA TXAA anti-aliasing technology


What does all that tech do in real world situations? Well, during GDC 2012, the company showed one GeForce GTX 680 card running a stunning demo of the game Samaritan that just a year ago demanded three GTX 580 cards just to play. With three times as many CUDA cores as the Fermi-based GTX 580 but greater efficiency due to the 28nm process, the Kepler hurtled through the demo with almost a quarter of the power and heat radiation.

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Now, we're talking about a top-level GPU here, with sufficient guts to power four displays at once (twice as many as Fermi) and a hefty price tag to match -- a £429 confirmed MSRP in the UK and likely in the same $500 ballpark as the GTX 580 in the States (Update: $499). But of course, it won't be the only card in the new stack. NVIDIA's got plenty of capable cousins in the Kepler family tree that include not only other desktop GPUs awaiting their own no-doubt imminent launches, but mobile models too.

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The company says we'll see Kepler in many laptops this year, and not just in purpose-built gaming rigs, either -- Jen-hsun's crew promises to put the 600 series in regular laptops and even Ultrabooks, and let us play Battlefield 3 on them. To that end, NVIDIA has been working with OEMs to design the most thermally efficient laptop chassis designs possible to best take advantage of Kepler's GPU boost capabilities. We're not convinced that a true Ultrabook can deliver a good gaming experience, but we're currently reviewing Acer's Timeline Ultra M3 with a GeForce GT 640M onboard, so we'll know soon enough if Kepler can keep that promise in a thin and light laptop. Stay tuned.

Show full PR text
NVIDIA Launches First GeForce GPUs Based on Next-Generation
Kepler Architecture

GeForce GTX 680 for PC Gamers is Fastest, Most Efficient GPU Ever Built; GeForce GT 640M for Notebooks Puts the "Ultra" in Ultrabooks

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-March 22, 2012-NVIDIA today launched the first GPUs based on its next-generation Kepler™ graphics architecture, which deliver dramatic gaming performance and exceptional levels of power efficiency.

The result of some 1.8 million man-hours of work over five years, the Kepler architecture's first offerings bring unprecedented technical capabilities to both gaming desktops and Ultrabooks.

For desktop gaming, the NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680 GPU provides a faster, smoother and richer experience. For notebooks, the new lineup of GeForce 600M GPUs puts the "ultra" in Ultrabooks, enabling smaller, more powerful designs than were previously possible. Both are available immediately.

"The Kepler architecture stands as NVIDIA's greatest technical achievement to date," said Brian Kelleher, senior vice president of GPU engineering at NVIDIA. "It brings enormous performance and exceptional efficiency. Gamers will love the GTX 680's performance, as well as the fact that it doesn't require loud fans or exotic power supplies. Ultrabook users will love the GT 600M family for its performance and power efficiency."

Kepler is based on 28-nanometer (nm) process technology and succeeds the 40-nm NVIDIA Fermi architecture, which was first introduced into the market in March 2010.

GeForce GTX 680: A Marriage of Speed and Extreme Efficiency
The GeForce GTX 680 GPU brings impressive performance and extreme efficiency to the desktop gaming market, delivering a quiet, smooth, extremely fast experience.

Compared with the closest competitive product, the GeForce GTX 680 GPU is more than 300 percent faster in DirectX 11 tessellation performance(1) and up to 43 percent faster in cutting-edge games such as Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim(2), yet consumes 28 percent less power(3). It also provides twice the performance per watt of the GeForce GTX 580, the flagship Fermi-based processor that it replaces.

Setting the standard for future enthusiast-class GPUs, the GeForce GTX 680 is built on an array of new technologies, including:

· A new streaming multiprocessor block, known as SMX, that delivers twice the performance per watt of previous-generation products
· Special board components, including acoustic dampeners, high-efficiency heat pipes and custom fins, that create a quiet gaming experience
· NVIDIA GPU Boost technology, which dynamically adjusts GPU speeds to maximize gaming performance
· New FXAA and TXAA antialiasing and Adaptive VSync technologies to enrich visual quality without compromising gaming performance
· Support for up to four separate displays – three of them in 3D – off a single card for a massive 3D gaming experience
· Manufactured on TSMC's new 28-nm process, with support for PCI-E Gen 3 and DX11.1

Kelt Reeves, president of Falcon Northwest, a leading producer of high-end gaming systems, said: "The GTX 680 lays down what should be whiplash-inducing speed at the sound of a whisper. Even at full throttle, it doesn't heat up. In the immortal words of Obi-Wan describing a lightsaber, it's 'an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.'"

Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, creators of the award-winning Unreal Engine and billion-dollar "Gears of War" franchise, said: "The GTX 680 is amazing and completely redefines what an enthusiast-class GPU is. We have already shown outstanding success with the GTX 680, recently presenting our real-time Samaritan demonstration running on it along with a special preview of Unreal Engine 4 for select developers."

GeForce 600M GPU Family: Putting the "Ultra" In Ultrabooks
The NVIDIA GeForce 600M family of GPUs, when paired with the latest processor technology from Intel, enables Ultrabook and notebook PC designs that are thin, light and fast. Technological advances that set them apart from the competition include:

· NVIDIA Optimus™ technology enables extra-long battery life by automatically switching the GPU on and off so it runs only when needed
· NVIDIA Verde™ notebook drivers provide frequent performance improvements and rock-solid stability
· NVIDIA PhysX® engine support brings games to life with realistic physics
· Optional NVIDIA 3D Vision™ technology automatically converts more than 650 titles into immersive 3D
· Optional NVIDIA 3DTV Play™ software connects 3D Vision-based notebooks to 3D TVs
· NVIDIA SLI® technology links two NVIDIA GTX GPUs up to double gaming performance
"The Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3 brings a superior level of performance to the Ultrabook category," said Sumit Agnihotry, vice president of product marketing at Acer America. "With a GeForce GPU onboard, our thin and light Ultrabook does everything our customers want it to do, with no compromises."

Rene Haas, general manager of notebook products at NVIDIA, said: "Customers are about to see notebook manufacturers unveil a host of Ultrabooks that are truly worthy of the 'ultra' moniker. The more efficient and powerful GeForce 600M GPUs will raise performance from the Ultrabook segment all the way up to gaming notebooks. And they will be the most popular discrete GPUs used with Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge processor."

Availability The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 GPU is available now from the world's leading add-in card suppliers, including ASUS, EVGA, Gainward, KFA2 (Galaxy), Gigabyte, Inno3D, MSI, Palit, Point of View, PNY, Sparkle and Zotac. Expected pricing is £429.

The following manufacturers will be shipping Ultrabooks and notebooks based on the GeForce 600M family of GPUs: Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.

For more information about the new GeForce GTX 680, please visit http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/introducing-the-geforce-gtx-680-gpu. For more information about GeForce 600M-Series GPUs, please visit: http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/geforce-600m-notebooks-efficient-and-powerful.

Sharif Sakr contriubted to this report.

U.S. Department of Defense preps cyber rules of engagement, plans to work more closely with ISPs

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:44 AM PDT

The Pentagon left no room for argument last year when it declared cyber attacks a potential act of war. "If you shut down our power grid, maybe we will put a missile down one of your smokestacks," a military official reportedly remarked. Yikes. Before we start bombing chimneys, however, the Department of Defense plans to draft up some relevant guidelines, noting in a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing that it will be delivering a set of cyberspace-specific rules of engagement in the coming months. "We are working closely with the joint staff on the implementation of a transitional command and control model for cyberspace operations," said Madelyn Creedon, assistant secretary of defense for Global Strategic Affairs. In addition to setting ground rules for cyber-engagements, the DOD also plans to expand efforts to share classified information on possible threats with internet service providers and defense contractors.

Sony Xperia's 'Made of Imagination' TV spot, directed by Wes Anderson (video)

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:28 AM PDT

Sony certainly has its fair share of legendary commercials, but its first major spot since taking over the smartphone torch from Sony Ericsson is a real gem. Dreamed up by an eight-year old longing for understanding of what happens within a pocketable computer and directed by the famed Wes Anderson (you know, the guy responsible for The Royal Tenenbaums and Fantastic Mr. Fox), the 'Made of Imagination' ad features a gaggle of robots powering Sony's Android family. The rest, of course, we'll leave to you to enjoy. Head on past the break for the clip, and have a peek at the TechCrunch via below for a bit of the backstory.

Acer Iconia Tab A510 with Tegra 3, Android 4.0 arriving in the US and Canada for $450

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PDT

The curious thing about the Acer Iconia Tab A510 is that it's been out in the open for months -- we've even handled it -- but for whatever reason, Acer's never publicly acknowledged it as the successor to last year's A500. When we got hands-on at CES, for example, it wasn't at Acer's suite, but NVIDIA's booth (this is Acer's first Tegra 3 tablet, don'tcha know). Well, the company's finally ready to come out and say, "Yes, we made this thing." The A510 is up for pre-order today in the US and Canada, with a price of $450. Though you can get it in black or white, it's available in one 32GB configuration for now. To recap, this is a quad-core slate with 1GB of RAM, a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) display, 5-megapixel auto-focusing rear camera and a single-megapixel shooter up front. And though it loses the USB 2.0 port that made the A500 fairly distinctive, it gains a battery rated for 12 hours of video playback -- a good thing, since it'll have stiff competition from ASUS, Apple and Samsung in the endurance department. Acer also confirmed the tablet will ship with Android 4.0, with the company's usual light OS tweaks in tow. Still no word on when, exactly, it'll ship, but if you want to get a feel for it in the meantime be sure to hit up our hands-on from CES if you missed it the first time around.
Acer Iconia Tab A510
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Acer Iconia Tab A510 Tablet Delivers Quad Core Performance for High-End Entertainment and Productivity

Editor's Summary:
* Acer first tablet with Quad Core Tegra 3 Processor
* Provides long battery life of up to 12 hours for video playback
* Pre-installed productivity solution: mobile office suite Polaris™ 3.5 and wireless printing app
* New tablet is first Acer Olympic Games Edition, exclusive design features Olympic rings
* Pre-sale starts now at $449.99 for 32GB Iconia Tab A510 in U.S. and Canada


SAN JOSE, Calif., March 22, 2012 – Acer America today debuts its first quad-core tablet in North America, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor. It is designed to deliver outstanding performance and a visually rich experience for mobile game playing and entertainment such as enjoying video and lifestyle apps.

In addition, the new 10.1-inch tablet Acer Iconia Tab A510 goes beyond what most people expect of their tablets to enable heightened productivity. The new tablet comes with the full suite of Polaris™ Office 3.5, which is compatible with Microsoft Office and allows reading and editing of various document formats for mobile access to important information. The new Acer tablet also includes Acer Print, so customers have a convenient and seamless way to print wirelessly from their tablet.

The first rate tablet experience is heightened with Android™ 4.0 OS (Ice Cream Sandwich) which features a more intuitive interface and improved overall performance for faster browsing, better multitasking, as well as enhanced app and folder management.

"The new Acer Iconia Tab A510 will exceed the expectations of customers who are ready to embrace using their tablets for more fun, entertainment and a first-rate mobile gaming experience," said Paul Tayar, director of product marketing for connected devices, Acer America. "Our second-generation Acer A510 builds on the success of its award-winning predecessor with notable improvements in performance, responsiveness and ease-of use, elevating it to the status of ultimate mobile companion. Plus, the tablet will really surprise people with its comprehensive suite of productivity apps that will enable them to remain productive and connected on-the-go."

Ultimate Performance with NVIDIA Tegra™ 3 Quad Core Processor, Extended Battery Life
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 provides blazing speed and responsiveness powered by the NVIDIA Tegra™ 3 Mobile Processor and high-performance 12-Core GeForce NVIDIA GPU. This processor provides a unique Super 4-PLUS-1™ Quad Core CPU design with a fifth Battery Saver Core that allows up to four cores to be dedicated to demanding tasks such as watching video and playing the next generation of graphics-intense mobile games.

These four cores provide up to 2.6 times the performance and up to three times the graphics performance compared to previous generation processors, making the tablet incredibly responsive with life-like and crisp visuals for mobile entertainment and console-quality gaming on-the-go. The processor also provides up to four times faster web-browsing, smooth navigation, and hardware-accelerated support for Adobe Flash 11, which comes pre-installed on the tablet.

When the tablet takes on everyday tasks, the fifth Battery Saver Core becomes engaged in place of the other four cores, ultimately using less power and improving battery life. The 9800mAh battery, one of the highest capacity models in the industry, further improves battery life, so customers can enjoy their tablet for up to 12 hours(1) of video playback.

Productivity Suite, Printing, Make A510 Tablet a Mobile Workstation
The Acer A510 tablet is packed with a full suite of productivity apps optimized for use on a tablet that will give any road warrior a much needed boost. The anchor of the suite is Polaris™ Office 3.5, which provides customers a premium way to read and edit various popular documents while providing enhanced integration with other tablet apps. It also features Evernote, the easy-to-use personal assistant that keeps customers organized by allowing them to capture and save web pages, photos, ideas and documents and then store them to the cloud for access from other devices.

With Acer Print, customers can print wirelessly from the convenience of their Acer tablet, unlike some tablets that require confusing or costly apps that don't support a wide range of printers. Acer Print is compatible with 87 percent of brand name printers on the current market. In addition to supporting a variety of printing formats (doc, pic and browsers), Acer Print also shows the exact print layout on the screen, no matter if it's a spreadsheet for work or coupons for grocery shopping.

Additionally, the Acer A510 can be taken to a meeting to deliver a presentation; it supports HDMI to VGA for quick connection to projector.

Thrilling Extras for Entertainment, Connectivity
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 highlights lifelike and compelling 720p visuals thanks to the gorgeous 10.1-inch WXGA (1280x800 resolution) HD display. The Acer A510's 16:10 aspect ratio and wide 85-degree viewing angle ensure an optimal viewing experience that is further improved by Dolby™ Mobile 3 audio. Plus, the display is a 10-point touch capacitive screen, so it delivers a remarkable degree of accuracy and responsiveness.

In addition, customers can share video stored on Acer Iconia Tab A510 with other devices via the tablet's built-in micro HDMI port. Blu-ray™ quality 1080p video in 30fps can be streamed from the tablet to an external display. Plus, the micro USB 2.0 port enables quick content transfers to and from the tablet. Plus, the new tablet has been enhanced with the ability to conveniently charge it from its USB 2.0 port via another USB 2.0 device.

The Acer A510 is packed with features customers want in a tablet. Its 1GB of RAM(2) contributes to its fast mobile performance. The new tablet comes with an integrated 32GB of flash storage(2) for ample storage of photos, music and videos. The Acer A510 also has a Micro-SD card reader that supports up to 32GB Micro-SD cards(2) that can access additional digital content.

The Acer Iconia Tab A510 keeps consumers connected to Wi-Fi networks with reliable Acer 802.11a/b/g/n wireless technology. Plus, the integrated Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (enhanced data rate) allows consumers to connect the tablet to a variety of other devices, such as headsets and printers.

The 1MP fixed-focused front-facing camera has an improved zoom, making it ideal for video conferencing. The 5MP rear-facing camera is auto-focusing, and provides the ability to take snapshots while recording HD video. Video clips and photos can be enhanced on the fly, stored and searched for based on various tags, and conveniently stored on Google+™.

The Acer Iconia Tab A510 is ready for hours of entertainment with popular pre-loaded apps such as Kindle™ for reading and Netflix™ for instant movie enjoyment. Google™ Music allows customers to create and enjoy their own personal playlists on their tablet. The preloaded Tegra Zone Android™ app brings customers direction to the best Android™ games that are optimized for NVIDIA Tegra powered tablets.

Intuitive Experience with Android™ 4.0 and Acer Ring, clear.fi
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 runs on Android™ 4.0 OS to deliver faster browsing, enhanced app and folder management options, more intuitive navigation, and a more polished design with enhanced holographic effects. Customers can easily customize their Acer tablet and will enjoy improved integration with Gmail™ email and calendar functions as well as improved multitasking and switching between tasks.

The Iconia Tab A510 features the unique interactive Acer Ring interface that can be customized to launch favorite apps, programs and websites. The Acer Ring one-touch button is always at the bottom of the display, so customers are always only a single touch away from what they care about most. It also features Screenshot, which can be used in any app to capture images of a web site, high score on a game, map and even a still from a video call.

Acer clear.fi is installed on the Acer Iconia Tab A510 to connect with any other DLNA-compliant device to quickly and easily share digital media. Clear.fi automatically connects all Acer devices on a network (smartphones, notebooks, desktops, HD media plays and storage devices) and gathers and organizes media files by type (video, music, photos, pre-recorded TV).

Olympic Edition Highlights Sleek, Usable Design
The Acer Iconia Tab A510 is a special Olympic Games Tablet Edition of the Acer Iconia Tab line. It features the Acer and Olympic logos on the chassis to celebrate the company's sponsorship of the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games. The new tablet was designed with on-the-go usability in mind. The chassis' soft-touch finish is comfortable to hold and buttons such as volume and screen lock are well-placed. It easily fits in a purse, briefcase or book bag, as it measures only 10.2(w) x 6.9(d) x 0.43(h) inches and weighs just over 24 ounces.

Available in U.S. and Canada Starting at $449.99
The new Acer Iconia Tab A510 is available for pre-sale starting today at national electronics retailers in the United States and Canada at a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $449.99 USD and CAD. The premiere models are the Acer A510-10s32 (silver) and Acer A510-10k32 (black).

Customers can purchase the sleek protective case to protect the Acer A510 tablet. The snug-fitting design prevents slipping on surfaces and props it up for improved access for game-playing and typing. It also allows convenient access to the connectors and ports. It is available through Acer at a price of $39.99.

Microsoft and TiVo agree to drop ongoing patent suits, we ask the world to follow

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 04:38 AM PDT

ImageAt last. A pair of companies decide that bickering (and spending) in the courtroom over patents just isn't worthwhile. In an era where it seems like every technology company under the sun is suing at least one other for nondescript "infringements," TiVo and Microsoft are laying aside their differences. Purportedly, both outfits have reached an agreement "under which both companies will dismiss pending litigation over patents." According to a regulatory filing, nary a patent right was granted to Microsoft by TiVo, but for whatever reason, the two have decided that both can continue operations without any more meddling. It all started early last year, when the folks in Redmond alleged that TiVo was infringing on four of its patents; predictably, TiVo slung one of its many patent-related suits in Microsoft's direction. Those looking to dive fully into the last chapter in this one can hit the links below; for the 99 percent, just scoot your eyes down to the next article and exhale in relief. So, Samsung, Apple -- you guys paying attention?

Panasonic Eluga gets official launch date in Japan and Europe

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 04:15 AM PDT

No, it's not the noise of an air-raid siren. It's Panasonic's bold return to the smartphone game. Eluga admittedly isn't the most attractive of appellations, but in the flesh it's drop dead gorgeous. It'll arrive as the P-04D in Japan on NTT DoCoMo on the 29th of this month, while Panasonic's European site now teases that it'll arrive in that continent in April. Oh, and if anyone gives you stick about the name, just remind 'em that its meatier older brother will be along shortly.
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Slim body with an organic EL display of waterproof and dustproof
Start the delivery of P-04D smartphone for NTT DOCOMO

Let's note also includes security features and collaboration features

Panasonic Mobile Communications (President: Toshinori star) has started the delivery of the smartphone "docomo NEXT series P-04D" to NTT DoCoMo, Inc..

P-04D, the forms stand out about the thinness of 7.8mm, QHD about 4.3 inch waterproof and dustproof with a organic EL display (540 × 960) of adopting "Android TM 2.3" (IPX5 / 7 · IP5X) ※ 1 smartphone.

Narrow frame display occupies about 66% of the surface width of about 62mm compact body is also clearly shows a small icon characters. In addition, Panasonic's unique ※ 2 contrast correction technique, you can play the video of the brighter and more vivid colors, such as YouTube TM.

In addition, equipped with a "Personal Protection" ※ 3 security features to help in the business scene. E-mail stored in the protected area, the document file, such as images, can be displayed only in an unlocked state. In combination with a secure UI unlock, you can enhance security.

In addition, strengthening cooperation with the computer equipment features · AV. Or can use the Wi-Fi ® communication communication and Bluetooth ®, to launch the Let's note ※ 4 of the sleep state from the P-04D, P-04D is a screen display of the Let's note, that you want to work with, and DIGA / Viera ※ It is also possible to play streaming is a P-04D in the program and broadcast program recorded at 5.

Supports and "Osaifu-Keitai ®" also like "handwriting" Quick "Ekonabi ®",.
The main features of the P-04D

Stand out in the form of 7.8mm thickness approximately corresponds to the waterproof and dustproof
Organic EL display is a bright & beautiful large screen about 4.3 inches
Useful in linking functions, such as security or computer business scene (Let's note)

Google Street View takes you to the Amazon, without all the pesky piranhas

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:27 AM PDT

So, before a company of the same name started making your e-readers, the Amazon was a river. And now, thanks to Google, you can take a boat ride down that body of water, without having to deal with all of those scary river monsters. In celebration of World Forest Day, Google has added a tour of the Amazon to the Street View functionality of Maps. Interested parties can travel down the river and hike along trails with 360 degree panoramic views, courtesy of some 50,000 photos nabbed with help from the Street View trike.

GroupM and Nielsen work to combine online and TV metrics

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 02:32 AM PDT

For too long Nielsen ratings have dealt with TV commercials and web ads as completely separate entities. Episodes of your favorite show streamed through a service like Hulu or from the channel's website often didn't get factored into the pricing and sales of television ads, and vice versa. That is about to change, however, as the media monitoring company has joined forces with GroupM to create Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings. The new product will combine its Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings, which measures internet advertising, with its traditional TV monitoring service to create a medium-agnostic tool for creating media metrics. Hopefully, with a unified pool of data and better monitoring services, content producers may be more likely to experiment with online distribution -- especially if they influence the flagship ratings. Check out the complete PR after the break.
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GroupM and Nielsen to Jointly Develop First-Ever Cross-Platform Advertising Measurement Tool

New Service Will Provide Metrics That Integrate Online and TV Viewing


March 19, 2012 - NEW YORK – GroupM and Nielsen today announced a pioneering collaboration to create a new measurement service that will integrate media planning and measurement across television and the Internet.

The goal is to overcome challenges posed by separate media planning, buying, and analysis processes for TV and the Internet, and to answer a growing demand by advertisers for cross-platform measurement tools that help them streamline their marketing strategies.

The new service, dubbed Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings, will leverage the Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings product, as well as its existing television audience measurement capabilities, to provide clients with total and overlapped reach and frequency of their marketing campaigns. Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings provides reach, frequency and GRP measures for Internet advertising.

The effort calls for GroupM, the world's leading media investment management company, and Nielsen, a leading global information and measurement company, each to contribute resources and expertise to create Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings and make it available to GroupM clients. The two companies will also work together to develop innovative new measurement tools that extend beyond TV and online to other platforms.

"Our advertiser clients increasingly recognize that traditional television advertising and online video advertising must work together," said Rino Scanzoni, GroupM's Chief Investment Officer. "It's vital that we have consistent measurement, and that's our goal in working with Nielsen."

Executives from both companies said consistent measurement across TV, the web and beyond is critical in order to calculate the total reach and frequency of a cross-platform campaign-a goal previously unattainable because TV and web measurement traditionally employ different metrics.

"Cross-platform metrics are essential to both buyers and sellers of advertising," said Steve Hasker, president of Media Products and Advertiser Solutions for Nielsen. "Every day, we're hearing from advertisers, online publishers, TV networks and agencies that a better system of measurement is required. Through working closely with GroupM and others in the industry we believe we can help create best practices that will benefit the entire ecosystem."

About GroupM
GroupM is the leading global media investment management operation. It serves as the parent company to WPP media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Mindshare. Our primary purpose is to maximize the performance of WPP's media communications agencies on behalf of our clients, our stakeholders and our people by operating as a parent and collaborator in performance-enhancing activities such as trading, content creation, sports, digital, finance, proprietary tool development and other business-critical capabilities. The agencies that comprise GroupM are all global operations in their own right with leading market positions. The focus of GroupM is the intelligent application of physical and intellectual scale to benefit trading, innovation, and new communication services, to bring competitive advantage to our clients and our companies.

About Nielsen
Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

Angry Birds Space now available for download, pigs will fly

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 01:25 AM PDT

Rejoice, casual gamers -- Angry Birds Space has landed! Rovio's latest game -- which we recently took for a spin on Samsung's Galaxy Note LTE at SXSW -- frees itself from the earth's gravitational pull to explore the final frontier. We've gathered download links to all the major platforms below for your epic birds vs. pigs entertainment. Aren't space physics fun?Update: Video and PR after the break.

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Angry Birds Space Now Available

Angry Birds Space marks the first integrated product launch for Rovio Entertainment

March 22, 2012 – Rovio Entertainment today announced the launch of Angry Birds Space, available now for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android devices, as well as the Mac and PC, with PC retail copies to follow shortly. Angry Birds Space marks the first integrated entertainment launch for Rovio, with merchandise, animation and books available in retail at the same time as the game.

From floating through space in zero gravity, to using the gravity of nearby planets to set up spectacular trick shots, Angry Birds Space takes the gameplay that fans already know and love to a totally new level. With brand new birds, brand new superpowers, and a whole galaxy to explore, the sky is no longer the limit!

"This is Rovio at its finest, and we are more than excited to bring Angry Birds Space to all our fans worldwide," said Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio. "This launch marks a huge step for us as a company, and our whole team and partners have really pulled together to bring out a fantastic array of exciting products and experiences. We hope that our fans will find all things Angry Birds Space as delightful as the Rovio family does."

Angry Birds Space features 60 interstellar levels, with regular free updates in the pipeline. Even more content is available through in-app purchase, starting first with the iOS version. Included in the game are many hidden goodies, secret levels and cool space content. Gameplay has been thoroughly optimized for all platforms, including full Retina display support on the new iPad.

To celebrate the launch of Angry Birds Space, Rovio and partners hosted a series of launch events for fans of the game in Beijing, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Seattle and Tokyo. Today, Earth is officially the epicenter of fun in our galaxy!

Angry Birds Space is available for $0.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch, and Angry Birds Space HD is available for $2.99 from the App Store on iPad. Both are also available at www.itunes.com/appstore.

Angry Birds Space for the Mac is available for $4.99 from the Mac App Store.

Angry Birds Space is available for Android devices for free with advertising. Ad-free versions of Angry Birds Space will also be available on Android for $0.99, and an HD version for Android tablets for $2.99.

Zync unveils budget-friendly Z990, says it's India's first ICS tablet

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 12:51 AM PDT

India's undoubtedly seen its fair share of cheap slabs, but if folks are willing to shell out a bit more than 2,000 or 2,900 rupees, they can end up snagging a better-specced piece of hardware. Priced at a modest 8,900 rupees (around $180), Zync's launching its Z990 7-inch slate, which claims to be the first to hit the Indian market with Android four-dot-oh on board. Alongside Big G's fresh treat are a TFT, 800 x 480 display, 1.2GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM, plus HDMI and microUSB ports. Naturally, and perhaps most importantly, the Z990 has the credentials to let you get all your favorite content via Google Play. Zync's got the tab up for grabs, and you can pop one in your cart now by heading over to the Letsbuy shop, linked down below to make it easier for you.

Galaxy Note ICS upgrade pushed back to Q2, adds exclusive set of stylus-ready apps (video)

Posted: 22 Mar 2012 12:11 AM PDT

Image
Unfortunately, Samsung's Galaxy Note won't join the Galaxy S II with its own upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich in Q1 as originally announced, since the company has now scheduled its arrival for Q2. It will however, arrive worldwide as part of a "Premium Suite" software upgrade packed with exclusive apps meant to highlight its S-Pen stylus. One of them is S Note, which combines notes and sketches with other apps like Shape Match and Formula Match which are also included to assist recognition of geometric shapes and hand drawn formulas. The final app packed in is My Story, designed to create personalized cards. We're not sure how much use you'll get out of those unless you're a math professor, project manager or just love sending e-cards, but there's one more treat in the form of an exclusive Angry Birds Space level and free access to 30 "Danger Zone" levels for a limited time. Press play on the video above for a peek at the apps -- and the Note's TouchWiz-styled flavor of Android 4.0 -- or check out the press release after the break.
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Samsung offers Premium Suite software upgrade for GALAXY Note users

March 22, 2012

Software package offers exclusive S Pen applications, enhanced multimedia features, and an Android 4.0 upgrade

SEOUL, Korea – March 22, 2012 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, today announced it will be offering a Premium Suite upgrade for GALAXY Note users worldwide from Q2. It includes extra multimedia features and a range of new S Pen optimized applications in addition to an OS upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

The Premium Suite offers new features and applications exclusive to GALAXY Note and its innovative S Pen, which includes S Note, a unique tool that lets you combine your notes or sketches with other digital content, giving you a new way to create your own stories. S Note comes in various ready-to-use templates for a range of tasks including meeting minutes, diary and others.

S Note also includes the innovative Shape Match and Formula Match applications that help correct and digitize geometric shapes and even solve numeric formulas hand-drawn with S Pen, increasing your on-the-go efficiency and productivity. You can draw tables and grids which are instantly digitized, saving time and effort. Moreover, by using the S Note's integrated knowledge search engines, users can quickly search, and obtain information.

For a touch of self-expression, the Premium Suite also includes My Story, another S Pen optimized application that allows you to create personalized digital cards for friends or family using any type of content including notes, video content, photos, text or voice.

In celebration of the Premium Suite upgrade announcement, Samsung will provide special offers to all GALAXY users as an official launch partner of Angry Birds Space, the newest Angry Birds game from Rovio Entertainment. For all Samsung GALAXY users, an exclusive GALAXY Note level will be provided for extra fun. Moreover, a special package of 30 challenging levels – 'Danger Zone' – will be available for free if unpacked within the three-month period. Visit http://samsung.angrybirds.com/galaxynote for more information.

"GALAXY Note continues to delight customers all over the world with its incredible versatility and unique user experience. With the Premium Suite upgrade, we wanted to add features that enrich users' Note experience even more, including the great advantages of Android 4.0 and innovative applications for S Pen," said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. "We are committed to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers, and we will continue to provide new features and upgrades to enrich our offering."

The Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade brings an entirely new look and feel to Android on GALAXY Note, with a more intuitive user interface that includes a redesigned App menu for easier multi-tasking. The upgrade also introduces innovations such as Face Unlock, Snapshot, Android Beam and others.

The availability and scheduling of the software upgrade will vary by market and wireless carriers' requirements.


About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 222,000 people in 205 offices across 71 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world's most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Sony Japan announces ICS for tablets in late April, WiFi-only Tablet P April 21st

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 10:30 PM PDT

Owners of Sony's Tablet S and Tablet P can look forward to receiving Android 4.0.3 next month, at least in Japan. Beyond the latest and greatest Google-provided underpinnings, the update will also expand their photo capabilities with activation from the lock screen and the ability to take panoramic pictures, plus a new "Recopla" app for viewing DVR'd TV programs from its Blu-ray recorders. They'll also have an enhanced "Small Apps" feature that lets users multitask more efficiently, pulling up a windowed web browser, calculator or remote control app. Finally, if the only thing keeping you from the dual-screen Tablet P was its 3G radio and associated data plans, Sony has also announced a WiFi-only version due April 21st with optional color panels for 50,000 yen ($600 US). There's no word yet on hardware or software availability over here, or further details on Ice Cream Sandwich for the Xperia line, but more details and pics can be found at the source links below.

Nokia Creative Studio brings panorama capture to Lumia handsets (hands-on)

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:23 PM PDT

Nokia recently launched a new photography app called Creative studio which is available in the Windows Phone Marketplace exclusively for its Lumia handsets. Part panorama stitcher, part photo filter and part image editor, the app lets you take new pictures or chose shots from existing albums and tweak them to your heart's content. It features ten Instagram-like effects (including vignette and auto-enhance) plus seven common adjustments (such as crop and sharpness). We took the app for a spin and the UI is pretty slick, with an optional side-by-side before and after view of the photo you are currently editing. Once done, you have the option to continue applying additional effects and making further adjustments, save the image or share it. Twitter, Flickr and Facebook are supported, but sadly there's no integration with Windows Phone's People Hub -- you'll have to login to each service in the app itself. Check out the screen shots in the gallery below and hit the break for more impressions and some samples.
Nokia Creative Studio screenshots

The built-in camera interface is very basic with nothing more than buttons to control the flash settings when taking standard pictures and four small boxes showing up to four images of your progress when using panorama mode. Speaking of which, panoramas default to landscape and only support left to right sweeps. The app snaps up to four photos and provides feedback via a large box-shaped outline on the viewfinder which shows the position of your next shot -- something you'll recognize from Samsung's TouchWiz camera UI. Capture is accomplished by tapping anywhere on the screen or by pressing the dedicated dual-stage shutter key (which lets you focus ahead of time by pressing halfway).

Finally, the face warps and live styles option allow you to see the filters being applied to the viewfinder in pseudo real-time (pseudo on account of the abysmal refresh rate). Each mode offers 6 different effects to distort your coworker's faces and turn your friend's pets into cartoons (as we aptly demonstrated in the gallery below). Panoramas consist of 4 pictures that are processed into a single 5525 x 1485-pixel image, and while the result is surprisingly high-res, the stitching process often reveals noticeable seams. While far from perfect, there's a lot to like about Nokia Creative Studio -- the panorama capture alone is worth the price of admission (which is free, unlike the alternative) since it's missing from the default Lumia camera app.
Nokia Creative Studio samples

Adobe unveils Photoshop CS6 beta with redesigned UI and 65 new features, download it for free today

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 09:01 PM PDT

It's been two years since Adobe unveiled a new version of Photoshop, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the company's engineers have been toiling away behind the scenes on a major update. The outfit's clearly ready to start showing off the fruits of its labor, though, as it just unveiled the beta version of CS6. All told, the outfit's added 65 user-feedback-inspired features, including a new crop tool, expanded video editing options, auto recovery and the ability to search for specific layers. Fans of the dotted lines in Illustrator now get the same vector tools in Photoshop. Additionally, every slider for the Camera Raw 7.0 plug-in (exposure, contrast, etc.) has a freshly tweaked algorithm. And for anyone who's ever looked on helplessly as Photoshop locked itself up during a long file save, projects can now save in the background while you work on other things. Looking for more info? A brief rundown of the beta and a full list of new features awaits just past the break.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 beta screenshots


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Adobe's also made some refinements to existing features. The liquify tool, for instance, now has a larger maximum brush size, and works in real time so you can see the effect in real time. Adobe's also added two features to complement Content-Aware Fill, which was first introduced with CS5. These include one for moving objects to different part of the image, and one for patching up a spot with content taken from another part of the picture.

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With change comes some potential readjusting, though. In addition to adding more functionality, Adobe's overhauled the UI so that it has a dark background by default (this is customizable, to an extent) with a generally cleaner smattering of icons and menus. Even the setup process has been overhauled: now, users must sign in with an Adobe ID before installing the software. Though there are contingencies for people without an internet connection, the idea is that people will enjoy more efficient support if they don't have to fumble around for a long-lost serial number.

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There's one thing that hasn't changed and that's pricing. When this goes on sale it'll cost $699 as a standalone product, and $999 for the extended version. For now, though, you can download the free beta (it's only available as an English- and Japanese-language program for now). If you only have two minutes, we've also got the full PR after the break, along with an official list of new features and tweaks.

Billy Steele contributed to this report.

New Features

Brushes
- HUD brush resize and hardness can now change opacity
- Increase brush size to 5000px
- Change color dynamics to per stroke instead of per tip (user option for old behavior)
- Brightness/contrast slider for textures when painting
- Brush projection for static tips
- Brush cursor reflects brush dynamics for round and captured tips

Eyedropper
- Show the sample size popup for the various eyedropper tools (black point, white point,
etc.)
- Add ignore adjustment layers options bar item for the eyedropper
- New mode for eyedropper to select layers current and below

File formats
- Read common stereo image pair formats (JPS, PNS) Allow for more bit depths in TIFF files
- Read BIGTIFF format
- Give the user choices regarding how they want transparency treated in OpenEXR on file open

Grammar
- Policed throughout app
- Use consistent grammar style in the title of dialog windows (no commands such as "Choose a color:")

Layers
- Add a contextual menu item that deletes a layer effect not just disables it
- Add dither options to Layer Styles for Gradient Overlay and Gradient Stroke
- Allow 00 or Shift 00 to work when setting layer/fill opacity (previously no way to get 0%)
- Add bicubic sharper & bicubic smoother options when free transforming layers
- Allow changing of blend modes for multiple layers at once
- Allow locking of multiple layers
- CMD+J to duplicate layers and layer group
- Allow changing color labels to multiple layers at once
- Layer tooltips to include layer name (if defined)
- Opt+click on toggle arrows (groups and effects) in layer panel should close all targets
- Show blend if/Blending Effects badge on layer
- Show correct opacity and blend mode values for hidden layers
- Tab goes to next layer on inline layer rename, SHIFT + TAB goes to previous
- New command to raster layer effect into layer, merging the selected layers into themselves
- Reorder effects in the layers palette to match the Z-­­order style/blend mode (bottom most effects in termsof blending order, drop shadow is below the other effects

Liquify
- Resize Liquify brush with shortcuts
- Increase maximum Liquify brush size Add option to load last mesh

Presets
- Add new document presets for common devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, etc.)
- Add new Gradient Map presets for toning and split-­­toning
- Sticky reorganization of tool presets (changes persist after re-launch) Add Contact Sheet II as an Automation option

SDK
- Add the ability to return an array of guides in a document from the scripting SDK
- Add ability to access tool name associated with the tool preset name via scripting
Selections
- Make the marquee, lasso, and mask panel feather values support decimal places like the feather dialog
- Remember feather radius when showing dialog for selection from a path

Transform
- Improve dragging of vector curves
- Don't hide smart object icon when transforming a layer
- Rotate 90 with even x odd pixel dimension to be smooth (bjango.com)
- Undo or disable auto -­­rotate on open

UI
- Remove the app bar and reduce the drag/app bar over 30%
- [Windows] New/open document to context click on a document tab (has always been on Mac, now Windows too)
- Add "Don't show again" checkbox to Purge warnings

Miscellaneous
- Enable Split Channels for documents with layers
- Select Hex field by default and allow clipboard pastes with # in contents (i.e. #fffffff)
- Increased GPU stability by prequalifying GPUs on the fly before use
- Auto-­­select the best resample method based on the type of resize
- Enable Invert and Threshold adjustments for masks in 32 -­­bit
- Hold SHIFT during startup to disable 3rd party plugins
- Add warning message that 16 -­­bit images cannot display their file size in the Save as JPEG dialog
- Add command to insert "lorem ipsum" for type

Show full PR text
Photoshop CS6 Beta Now Available on Adobe Labs
First Major Release Since April 2010 Packed with New Features and Huge Performance Enhancements
SAN JOSE, Calif., - March 22, 2012 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 beta, a preview of what's to come in the next release of the industry standard in digital imaging, is available as a free download from Adobe Labs. Customers can download the beta, try out the experience and provide feedback to the product team. Packed with groundbreaking new innovations, features and incredible performance enhancements, Photoshop CS6 beta is available for the Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms. The final release is expected in the first half of 2012.

"Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance," said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. "We couldn't wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows."

New Features in Photoshop CS6 Beta
Photoshop CS6 beta demonstrates Adobe's focus on huge performance enhancements, imaging magic and creativity tools that offer customers a new experience in digital imaging. Key features include new additions to the Content-Aware tools: Content-Aware Patch allows greater control by letting users select and duplicate an area of an image to fill in or "patch" another. Content-Aware Move lets users select and magically move an object to a new place in the image.

Customers will experience incredible performance, powered by the new Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine*, enabling near-instant results from popular editing tools including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects; and a refined, modern interface featuring dark UI options to make images pop. New and re-engineered design tools make creating designs faster and more efficient. Vector layers allow users to apply dashed lines and gradient strokes, searchable layers help quickly zero in on any layer you need, and new type styles let designers quickly apply type treatments to their designs.

In addition, the Photoshop CS6 beta offers all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, such as new 3D editing features and quantitative imaging analysis capabilities. These features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended when it becomes available.

Pricing and Availability
The Photoshop CS6 beta is available immediately as a free download in English and Japanese. At installation, users will be required to provide an Adobe ID to complete a one-time login and online product activation. For information on how to install Photoshop CS6 beta visit . Customers can submit feedback via the Photoshop CS6 beta forum: http://www.adobe.com/go/pscs6_forum. Users can also connect with the Photoshop team via the community-powered site: http://feedback.photoshop.com; on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Photoshop; YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/photoshop; Photoshop.com blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/; or via Twitter: http://twitter.com/photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop Family
Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Extended are at the heart of the Photoshop family, joined by solutions for users at every level who want to bring out the best in their digital images either at home, in the office or on the go. Coupled with Adobe Photoshop, the recently released Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 addresses the workflow needs of amateur and professional photographers, helping them create, manage and showcase images in impactful ways. Adobe Photoshop Elements provides consumers with powerful yet easy-to-use tools that organize, edit, create and share photos memories. For mobile devices, the Adobe Photoshop Touch app transforms images with core Photoshop features custom-built for tablets; and Photoshop Express is a free app for simple photo fixes and enhancements, and sharing to social networks.

Flurry: China's surpassed US in iOS and Android activations, but not smartphone install base (yet)

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:54 PM PDT

Color us unsurprised at the notion that the world's most populous country would one day be home to the greatest number of smartphones. That hasn't happened quite yet, but we're getting close per analytics firm, Flurry, who's measured China's surpassed the United States for the first time in combined iOS and Android activations in March. That's quite a difference from the beginning of 2011, when China held the 10th spot in the firm's rankings, before admittedly rising to an impressive second place by the end of that calendar year. And as you'd expect with growth trending in China's favor, it's now only a matter of when, not if, before it snatches the smartphone install-base crown from the current king, the US of A. But before jostling amongst yourselves on exactly when that'll happen, we'd recommend hitting that source link for a chart-filled run-down. Go on, it's fun for the whole family.

Dragon's Lair landing on XBLA with Kinect support, lets you act out your princess-saving fantasies

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:06 PM PDT

The 1983 laserdisc classic Dragon's Lair is coming to Xbox LIVE Arcade. That much we knew. What has us excited is that it'll come with a new control scheme, one that relies not on well-timed button mashing, but well-timed body flailing. That's right, whenever it does make its way to virtual shelves, the updated playable cartoon will sport Kinect support. Now, instead of making sure you press the button (yes, the one and only button) or flick the joystick in the right direction, you can mime sword swipes and swing from imaginary ropes. We can hardly wait. One more screen shot after the break.

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Synology outs DS412+, DS112 NAS drives, feeds the data hungry

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:24 PM PDT

If you're looking for somewhere to house all those high ISO shots you just took, then perhaps one of these new NAS drives from Synology will see you right. The DS412+ will be the one appealing to the big data hoarders, with four bays each capable of storing a 4TB drive (for a max total of 16). The box itself being is powered by a 2.13 GHz chip and 1GB RAM, which gives it top read / write speeds of 202.63 MB/s and 179.15 MB/s. A built-in redundancy mechanism comprising two 92 mm system fans should help prevent losing all your precious media. If you're not needing quite so much back-up, then the DS112 might be more your thing. A max capacity of 4TB ticks over with 1.6GHz processor and 256 RAM, and will take 3.5" or 2.5" drives. Both have USB 3.0 and eSata ports and run the firm's DSM4.0 operating system. You can start pouring your data inside them today, assuming you've got the $720 or $380, respectively, needed to pick one up.
Show full PR text
Synology® Presents DiskStation DS412+ and DS112
Bringing versatilities, immense values, and unmatched price-performance

Taipei, Taiwan-March 20, 2012-Synology® Inc. today launched DiskStation DS412+, the latest 4-bay NAS server addition to the Plus Series line-up, for small and medium businesses. Following the launch of the new DS412+ is the introduction of DiskStation DS112, an all-in-one 1-bay NAS server for office and workgroup environment.

"Synology has been offering users with high value choices for their data management infrastructure. The DS412+ and DS112 are no exception by inheriting the advanced reliability technology and high performance offered from Synology," said Peter Chen, a Synology's product manager. "Not to mention they are powered by the latest DSM 4.0 and offer SMB users with an optimal price/performance value."

The DS412+ is powered by a 2.13 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB RAM. The high performance upgrade yields read and write speed at 205.68 MB/sec and 182.66 MB/sec respectively under RAID 5 configuration with Link Aggregation enabled. An unprecedented 85% and 73% speed boost over its predecessor, DS411+II. Delivering high dependability with continuous service uptime, the DS412+ incorporates passive CPU cooling technology and built-in redundancy mechanism with two 92 mm system fans to prevent single point of failure. The DS412+ reinforces high data availability with the dual LAN failover support and hot-swappable drives to eliminate the potential of drive or network discontinuity.

The DS112 features a brand-new enclosure design that provides improved functionalities and aesthetic appeal to its users. It features two additional side ventilation openings and a 60 mm rear fan that enhance the overall airflow to keep the system running cool while minimizing the noise level to 18.4 dB(A). Continuing outstanding energy efficient design, the DS112 consumes only 13.2 watts when operating under load and reduces to 5.04 watts when hard drive enters hibernation mode.

Both Synology DiskStation DS412+ and DS112 feature the USB 3.0 interface, offering fast file transfers up to 10 times the speeds of USB 2.0 connection. Additionally, powered by DiskStation Manager 4.0 (DSM 4.0), the operating system of every Synology NAS, the DSM 4.0 provides rich features to boost users' productivity and simplify their tasks, all on a sleek user interface optimized for multitasking. Synology DS411+II, the predecessor of the DS412+, has received numerous media recognitions from worldwide that include the "2011 SME Best Choice" yearly award from Winmag Pro, Netherlands.

Visit http://www.synology.com/products/index.php?lang=enu for more product information.

Availability

Synology DiskStation DS412+ and DS112 are now shipping globally.

Satellite images reveal 8,000 years of civilization, rooftop pranks

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 05:42 PM PDT

When on the hunt for ancient civilizations, it's not all about Pyramids and monuments. Archaeologists have developed a method of spotting smaller human settlements using spy-satellite photos from the 60s, digital maps and modern multi-spectral images of the planet's surface. The Scientists are looking for "anthrosols" which are left by decayed organic matter and mud-brick buildings. Containing a higher levels of organic matter, anthrosols impart a different texture and appearance to untouched soil, giving it a distinct visual signature. Software is used to spot these visual fingerprints from images over a 50 year period. Data from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission is also used to determine the volume of the matter, and therefore the likely length of survival of the settlement. To give an idea of how prolific the system is, it's believed to have discovered 14,000 settlement sites in a 23,000 square kilometer area of Syria alone -- none of them Atlantis.

Spotify welcomes new apps from Warner, Def Jam, Matador, more

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 05:01 PM PDT

So, now that Rdio's got itself a fancy redesign, it's time for Spotify to fire back, right? The Swedish streaming service announced a new round of third-party apps, including selections from some big industry names, like Warner, Def Jam, Domino and Matador Records. The list also includes Classify, an app designed to help users discover classical music on the service, The Complete Collection, which offers up supplementary images, lyrics and liner notes and Fitr, which lets you build playlists based on Facebook friends. Also new is Hot or Not, which offers a song-based take on the internet voting site and [PIAS], which provides some curated playlists. In all, the site is rolling out a dozen new apps. Check the press release after the break for more info.
Show full PR text
Spotify launches next generation of music apps

Today Spotify is proud to present the latest, greatest batch of hot new apps - set to take your music enjoyment to a whole new level.

A total of 12 fantastic new apps, brought to you from record labels and distributors including Universal, Sony, Warner, EMI, Def Jam, Domino, Matador, [PIAS] and X5, are being unveiled today.

Want to check out complete album booklets in Spotify? Personalise playlists based on your Facebook likes? Delve more deeply into the history of legendary artists? Listen to the most popular Spotify songs on Twitter? All this and much, much more is coming to Spotify...

Incoming Spotify Apps include:

Classify: Classify opens Spotify's doors to the world of classical music. Browse by composers, eras, moods, instruments or genres. A vast library of classical music is now intelligently organised for your listening pleasure.

The Complete Collection: Browse rich images, lyrics, and liner notes to learn more about iconic artists while listening to their music. Always wanted to know who wrote that Eminem song? Looking for the producer of your favourite beat? Use The Complete Collection to immerse yourself in music history while listening to legends you love! Subscribe to your favourite artists to learn more about their music. With the Complete Collection, you won't miss a detail. 150 album booklets available at launch with many more coming soon.

Def Jam: For over 26 years, Def Jam Recordings has shaped culture and lifestyles by creating the very best in hip-hop, rap, R&B, and pop music. Def Jam's new Spotify app will give you new experiences in music discovery and curation.

Digster: Digster has fresh playlists updated weekly. You can browse playlists by category, find playlists made by artists and match Digster playlists to your listening history and Facebook likes. When you find something you like you can play it in full screen mode. Perfect for a party or when you need to see what's playing across the room while preparing dinner.

Domino: The Domino Spotify app is a discovery and listening destination for fans of Domino artists, the Domino label and the larger independent music community. Through the app, Domino leads the listener through its 20-year history by highlighting artist playlists, custom catalogue exclusives and commentary from their friends and neighbours in the world of indie.

Filtr: Filtr is a playlist app, which allows you to build playlists based on the music tastes of your Facebook friends, people who've accepted invitations to Facebook events, music genres, your Spotify playlists and favourite artists. On top of generating awesome playlists, Filtr also recommends existing and live updated editorial playlists based on what you like.

Hot or Not: Hot or not? You decide. Cast your vote on one of the two songs in the battle, either based on what you think is the most popular or what you wish to make popular. You'll be rewarded with points and can earn badges as well as track your progress. Your voting will also contribute to the 'Taste Maker' top list based on users with the highest points score.

The Legacy Of: A visual feast. Dig deeper into some of the world's most acclaimed artists with hi-res photos, curated playlists, handpicked albums, biographies and more. Delve into the catalogue of artists like Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Daryl Hall & John Oates and Stevie Ray Vaughan. New artists highlighted every week.

Matador Records: Matador's app gives you the ultimate experience in new releases, tour dates, playlists and more. As well as keeping you clued up on Matador's latest releases and tour dates, you can browse through the history of releases from Matador since 1992 - an interactive guide to music from the New York indie label.

[PIAS]: The [PIAS] app helps you discover the very best new albums and expertly curated playlists from the indie label. Updated weekly, you can now rely on trusted voices to introduce and recommend great music from both past and present.

TweetVine: TweetVine is a perfectly formed little app that listens to all the tweets on Twitter with the hashtag #NowPlaying and creates Spotify charts from the results! The idea was developed at a London Music Hack Day by brilliant coders Matt Larsen and Matt Schofield from Universal Music.

the warner sound: the warner sound features songs, albums, and playlists from Warner Music Group's outstanding roster of artists including Green Day, Bruno Mars, Linkin Park, and Cee Lo Green, hot and emerging artists like Wiz Khalifa, Ed Sheeran, Kimbra, Birdy, and Fun, as well as legendary acts like The Doors, Grateful Dead, and Aretha Franklin. Additional features include genre-specific playlists, album of the day, family tree (where current artists are traced back to the classic roots), and artist-curated playlists from today's hottest acts.

Sten Garmark, Director of Platform at Spotify, says: "This is going to take music enjoyment to a whole new level. These Spotify Apps offer something for everyone, from ways to discover music both old and new, to amazing imagery and apps simply there to entertain!"

He adds: "The potential for Spotify Apps is just massive and we can't wait to see what people are going to blow us away with next."

Netflix iPad app upgraded with Retina quality icons and images now, HD video soon

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 04:40 PM PDT

Now that the third generation iPad has hit the streets even more apps are pushing out upgrades for its high-res display, and among the latest is Netflix. Version 2.1.1 adds not only high-res artwork but also fixes for VoiceOver, improved playback on external displays and other more minor tweaks. Better yet, for when you're actually watching your movies and old TV shows, the official Twitter account promises HD video streaming is on the way. Not rocking one of the fruit logo-branded tablets yet? You still may notice some changes, as HackingNetflix points out the homepage has been revamped once again recently, with a design that feels smoother and faster, featuring a floating red bar that follows as you scroll down. However, as Netflix giveth, Netflix taketh away, and streaming-only customers have lost the ability to even view or rate DVD-only titles in this new version. Take a peek at the latest changes for yourself and let us know in the comments below how they strike you.

Crux360 keyboard case for the new iPad ships May 12th, preorder now for $150

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 04:21 PM PDT

Looking to grab a keyboard case for those heavy typing duties on your new iPad? CruxCase has revealed the latest version of its Crux360 built for the most recent Apple slate with some new features to boot. First, the clamshell now features a snap in front design that allows for quick access when the case isn't needed. There is also a "window cover" that now fully protects the rear panel of the iPad; however, if you really want to show off that Apple logo, the cover can easily be removed to do so. Connecting should be quick and easy too, as this model's power and Bluetooth buttons are one touch instead of the usual press-and-hold type deal. Magnets keep the folding kit shut -- preventing the case from opening up and exposing that precious Retina display to potential hazards. Keep in mind: the Crux360 features a hinge that allows you to rotate your slate all the way back on the keyboard for regular ol' tablet mode and everything in between. Need a bit more info before dropping your $150 on one? Hit the source link below, where you can preorder a unit for before the May 12th ship date.
Crux360 for the new iPad



[Thanks, Brian]

ZTE's Tango-running Mimosa gets pictured, benchmarked (update: nope)

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 03:52 PM PDT

If you thought ZTE's insatiable lust for Windows Phone handsets ended with the Tania and the Orbit, then you haven't been keeping up with the company's plan for global domination. WPDang has revealed that the ZTE Mimosa is going to occupy the same Tango-ified strata of the market as the Lumia 610. While it shares a name with Android-powered Mimosa X, it won't share specs. Apparently it's only packing an 800MHz Qualcomm CPU -- confirmed when the handset appeared in WPBench. Unfortunately our choice will remain binary: the Mimosa isn't likely to be released outside of China.

Update: Dang! Turns out there's been some misunderstanding. WPDang didn't clarify that the phone pictured is just the good old Tania; and this article was based on its sources rather than on what was displayed at the Windows Phone launch event in Beijing (we were there, too). Bearing in mind that this website's missed a few of its own "exclusives" (WP devices from Sony at CES and MWC, and new WP device from ZTE at MWC), we're inclined to not put too much hope into WPDang's latest report.

Facebook helps you see less from mere 'Acquaintances,' Valentina Monetta approves (video)

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 03:30 PM PDT

Let's say you're trying to have a gander at Facebook, but given that you've well over twenty thousand friends and associates, keeping up with your news feed has become something of a challenge. Today, The Social Network is introducing a tool that'll make it easier to add friends to your Acquaintances list, and moreover, see fewer of their mundane posts without having to unfriend (read: embarrass) them. When asked for comment, San Marino's own Valentina Monetta (shown above) quipped: "Facebook, uh, oh, oh... everybody loves you so." If you're confused, head on past the break and press play. Please. Seriously.

Gogo WiFi lands in more US Airways Airbuses and Embraers, intros Gogo Vision

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 03:02 PM PDT

Gogo isn't just tossing its mid-air wireless goodies toward Virgin and American, with US Airways being the latest to join the extra perks party. Per today's announcement, the airline is stuffing Gogo WiFi in a few more planes, including the Airbus A319 and A320. Other shorter (and much smaller) aircraft, the Embraer 170, 175 and 190, are also getting the in-flight WiFi treatment. Meanwhile, a quick peek at the PR below reveals Gogo is quietly launching its Vision service, allowing passengers to watch movies, shows and have access to "exclusive" shopping deals -- though, you'll have to shell out $1 to $6 more for the privilege. Maybe now you'll actually want to seek out Express flights rather than avoid them, since you'll have far fewer passengers to fight for bandwidth.
Show full PR text
Inflight Wi-Fi Takes Off On More US Airways Flights

Gogo Wi-Fi expands to Airbus A319, A320, Embraer 190, 170 and 175 aircraft

US Airways adds inflight entertainment allowing customers to command their flight experience with Gogo Vision

TEMPE, Ariz., March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- US Airways (NYSE: LCC) is expanding its Gogo® Wi-Fi inflight Internet service to its fleet of Airbus A319, A320 and Embraer 190 aircraft. With the expansion of inflight Internet across the Airbus A320 (A319, A320 and A321) family and Embraer 190 fleet, US Airways will have 90 percent of its mainline domestic fleet equipped with Wi-Fi Internet access. The service will also be expanded to US Airways Express Embraer 170 and 175 aircraft operated by Republic Airlines. In addition to extending inflight Wi-Fi on more flights, the airline announced that it will launch Gogo Vision™, a streaming video product that will allow passengers to watch movies and television shows on their own Wi-Fi enabled device.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120103/LA28814LOGO)

"US Airways is excited to bring entertainment to the skies and enhance our inflight experience for both business and leisure travelers," said Andrew Nocella, US Airways' senior vice president of marketing and planning. "Not only are we ensuring customers stay connected on more of our flights with the expansion of Gogo Wi-Fi, but we are placing customers in the pilot's seat of their entertainment experience with Gogo Vision."

Gogo Vision will be available through a new multimedia platform that will give passengers access to movies, TV shows, games, destination content, news and exclusive shopping deals. Movies and TV shows will remain accessible for viewing even after the customer has landed – movies for 24 hours and TV shows for 72 hours. Unexpired rentals will be available for playback on the ground using the same device and browser used onboard. Gogo Vision entertainment will range from $0.99 to $5.99, separate from the cost of Wi-Fi service.

"We are excited at the opportunity to connect more US Airways passengers through the expansion of Gogo and look forward to offering them access to Gogo Vision through the new multimedia platform," added Michael Small, Gogo's president and CEO. "The new platform will give US Airways passengers access to myriad online entertainment options, all of which will be available by opening the browser on their Wi-Fi enabled device."

US Airways is scheduled to begin the expansion of Gogo Wi-Fi on Embraer aircraft this summer and Airbus A320 family aircraft in the fall of 2012, and expects to complete installation by the end of 2013. Currently US Airways' Airbus A321 aircraft are equipped with Gogo's air-to-ground (ATG) technology. During the expansion process, these aircraft will be retrofitted with Gogo's ATG-4 technology. The upgraded technology will enhance Wi-Fi capacity to the plane and significantly increase the data rate for customers as compared with the current technology. All Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft will be equipped with ATG-4 technology during installation. Customers will have access to Gogo Vision on Airbus A319, A320 and A321 aircraft following the installation of ATG-4 technology.

Visit www.usairways.com/wifi to learn more and track the airline's Wi-Fi installation progress.

HTC Sensation ICS camera mod allows 20Mbps 1080p video, adds 'experimental' 1250 ISO

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 02:31 PM PDT

It looks as if yesterday's Tango isn't the only thing being delivered from the XDA forums, as user NODO-GT is hooking some of you up with a sensational hack. That is, if you're rocking an HTC Sensation coated with a tasty (albeit unofficial) Ice Cream Sandwich ROM. The handset's shooter mod allows for 20Mbps 1080p video recording (double the stock 10Mbps) while also boosting quality in the process, as well as bumping the 2MB size cap of images. In addition, XDA member krogoth chipped in with an "experimental" 1250 ISO mode -- you know, for times when you feel like shooting a starry night. Those looking to take HQ Sensation for a snap can do so by heading over to the source below.

World's first two-megajoule ultraviolet laser fired in California: no, you can't buy one

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 02:13 PM PDT

The Wolverines may have concocted the "most intense" laser in the universe back in '08, but it's a group of grinners at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California that can now lay claim to firing the planet's first two-megajoule ultraviolet laser. Earlier this week, a 1.875-megajoule shot was fired into the target chamber, but it broke the two-dot-oh barrier after passing through the final focusing lens. Reportedly, this matters for more than just bragging rights, as scientists have long since sought to get past 'ignition' in order to "coax fusion energy from a tiny frozen fuel pellet." If we had to guess, we'd say both Nerf and Mattel are somehow trying to commercialize this thing prior to the holidays. (And yeah, we hope they're successful.)

Dell issues BIOS update A03 for XPS 13 Ultrabook, gets a handle on fiesty fans

Posted: 21 Mar 2012 01:50 PM PDT

Can't say we noticed an extraordinary amount of blowing from our XPS 13 Ultrabook review unit, but for those with an optioned Core i7 model, you may want to give the source link a look. Down there, you'll find a download link to the A03 BIOS update, which delivers "an updated thermal table which dictates fan speeds and trigger temperatures." Evidently, these machines have a tendency to kick the fans into high gear prematurely (it's okay Dell, we all get excited sometimes), but thankfully, a 4MB package is all that's required to remedy it. 'Preciate it, technology.
at 11:53 AM

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