Paul Taylor | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Tue, 16 May 2017 07:56:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Paul Taylor | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Netflix confirms plans to block rooted Android devices, users resort to 3rd-party installers https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/netflix-confirms-plans-to-block-rooted-android-devices-users-resort-to-3rd-party-installers/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/netflix-confirms-plans-to-block-rooted-android-devices-users-resort-to-3rd-party-installers/#comments Tue, 16 May 2017 07:28:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=334415 If you want to (re)watch *that* episode of Stranger Things, or are just Netflix and chilling with the bae, you might come across some trouble with using the Netflix app. Google Play might want to tell you your device is not compatible, even though it was working last week. After looking into the situation, AndroidPolice got a …

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If you want to (re)watch *that* episode of Stranger Things, or are just Netflix and chilling with the bae, you might come across some trouble with using the Netflix app. Google Play might want to tell you your device is not compatible, even though it was working last week.

After looking into the situation, AndroidPolice got a reply back from Netflix stating that it uses Google's own Widevine DRM system to rate devices and validate installation. Widevine classifies devices as Level 1 or Level 3, depending on their security status and whether the device is provisioned by the manufacturer (i.e. it's not illegitimately unlocked or otherwise rooted). But this does not seem to explain the reports of Level 1 devices (highest security rating on Widevine), being refused installation, they said.

(c) Android Police

While Netflix officially argues installation of the app is blocked on devices which are rooted or unlocked, it seems there is another aspect to Google Play validation: as a paid service, Netflix relies on SafetyNet, Google's payment API used on Google Pay. To put it plainly, if the device looks dodgy for making transactions, then it's a plain “no” on installation. But just on Google Play. Even stranger is that if you already had the Netflix app installed, you won't be barred from using it.

All is not lost, though. Until Netflix changes its mind on this level of security you can still install Netflix if you're using a 3rd party APK market (just be careful it's not from a dodgy source), or simply by using APKMirror to get the installation file, including Netflix 5.0.5 build 16199,  the latest one. You'll have to allow Android to install it by changing your system settings, though.

KitGuru Says: There are so many ways to circumvent this sort of blocking that it's not even funny. By blocking installation of the Netflix app, this will lead to users seeking out the app from other sources, some of which may be potentially harmful.

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Google Android Auto gets much-needed standard interface, still lacks CAN Bus integration https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/paul-taylor/google-android-auto-gets-much-needed-standard-interface-still-lacks-can-bus-integration/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/paul-taylor/google-android-auto-gets-much-needed-standard-interface-still-lacks-can-bus-integration/#comments Tue, 16 May 2017 06:56:51 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=334409 In the build-up to Google I/O, which starts on May 17, Google has come forward to announce a few wins for its automotive portfolio: It has released the Android Auto mobile app, and two big-name automakers, Audi and Volvo, have taken up the Android mantle for their newest vehicles. The company has announced the availability …

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In the build-up to Google I/O, which starts on May 17, Google has come forward to announce a few wins for its automotive portfolio: It has released the Android Auto mobile app, and two big-name automakers, Audi and Volvo, have taken up the Android mantle for their newest vehicles.

The company has announced the availability of its Android Auto mobile app on the Google Play store, which effectively turns your mobile device into an in-car infotainment system, gives you a pure(ish) Android experience in your brand new 2017 car or does it through aftermarket upgrades,with electronic companies such as Kenwood or Pioneer. The idea is that whether you’re using your mobile device or your in-car system, Android Auto is now standardised.

Google’s strategy for Android in your car is fairly simple: stick to what Android does right, clean up the interface, make it a little bigger, and then let the partners re-skin it, if they want to convey a stronger brand image. The interface restricts the use of certain more ‘distracting' apps, and presents information in a cleaner way so the driver is less inclined to start tapping away at the screen and stays focused on the road ahead. If you have a decent mic on the device, it'll also let you issue voice commands, à la OK Google. 3rd party apps are still very restricted, though, and feature mostly video/chat/messaging and some online music services.

Audi and Volvo, as part of the announcement, come in  to lend their name as early adopters of the new & improved Android Auto – and will be demoing the new system at Google I/O. It probably comes as no surprise that the high-end automakers are also renowned for their security and reliability, which Google might want to have rub off on its own brand.

The Android Auto project began at Google I/O 2014, but overall industry support had been slow to build. The software lacked standardisation throughout the industry, and many automakers were still locked into deals with infotainment system suppliers, who relied themselves on open-source licensing for their software. Now with Android Auto making it to the big leagues, we're about half the way there: true integration will only arrive with CAN Bus integration, something that automakers will likely develop as ad-hoc APKs for their own vehicles.

KitGuru Says: It has taken quite a long time for Google’s in-car computing option to mature, and it might’ve found renewed interest riding on the coat-tails of autonomous vehicle initiatives and “AI”. However, we're not convinced this is the final form of Android Auto as CAN Bus integration would bring a lot more to the table… and that is the real industry support Google would need to get a leg up on the competition.

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AMD 12-core and 16-core high-end desktop SKUs spotted https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/amd-12-and-16-core-server-skus-spotted/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/amd-12-and-16-core-server-skus-spotted/#comments Fri, 12 May 2017 17:40:11 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=334260 AMD has a huge hole in its portfolio, it spans the height above its Ryzen 7 HEDT CPUs all the way up to Naples, the 32-core, 64-thread behemoth it plans to release for datacenter-class computing, and while we'd heard reports it was reserved for lighter server SKUs, it seems that isn't exactly the case. This …

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AMD has a huge hole in its portfolio, it spans the height above its Ryzen 7 HEDT CPUs all the way up to Naples, the 32-core, 64-thread behemoth it plans to release for datacenter-class computing, and while we'd heard reports it was reserved for lighter server SKUs, it seems that isn't exactly the case.

This week some engineering samples of CPUs on the ‘Whitehaven' platform leaked onto the web. Whitehaven seems to be an HEDT implementation of Snowy Owl. Videocardz.com reports it has picked up the scent of these new 16-core/32-thread CPUs, as well as several other AMD processors for mobile platforms and provides some interesting details on them.

Image credit: Videocardz

Four things stand out when we look at the ID strings on the CPUs:

The first most glaring feature is that two of these samples are running at 3.1/3.6 GHz  (base/boost) speeds, which is quite an impressive feat for such a complex CPU, even if its is built on a multi-chip module, like its bigger brother, Naples.

The second fact is that Alienware, known for its gaming PC street cred, is running a 12-core / 24-thread rig. Alienware is not known for server kit, so it reinforces the idea that Whitehaven is an HEDT platform. This CPU is running at a more conservative 2.7 GHz / 3.1 GHz (base/boost) speeds.

The third fact is that they are listed as Desktop parts, rather than Server parts. Again, AMD listed Snowy Owl as being a server CPU, but seems to have found a place for the ultimately powerful workstation.

The fourth and final is that there are second generation samples, so nearing qualification/engineering sample status, which is one step closer to market.

What's more, it seems that this sampling procedure is spot on with the company's earlier announcements, dating back to February 2016, which is quite the testament to the company's delivery execution. Back in February 2016 AMD had held a presentation where it had forecast the sampling and general release of these server CPUs in Q2 2017.

While these only tell us that the samples are out here, we can expect AMD's late May event to shine some light on the company's plans for HEDT and Server, before things start to get muddled.

KitGuru Says: It seems AMD is quick on its toes to do some course corrections. A while back the 12- / 16-core CPUs were reserved for Server scenarios. Now, it seems, AMD has found a niche for the Powerusers.

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Overwatch League too big for eSports teams https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/paul-taylor/overwatch-league-too-big-for-esports-teams/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/paul-taylor/overwatch-league-too-big-for-esports-teams/#comments Thu, 11 May 2017 19:16:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=333967 Activision Blizzard's Major League Gaming (MLG) operation  netted, back in November 2016, what became known as the Overwatch League, a Premier League / NFL sports franchise of sorts for the namesake videogame. MLG already operates a number of CoD and GoW leagues. To fill in the new league's spots, teams would be selected across North …

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Activision Blizzard's Major League Gaming (MLG) operation  netted, back in November 2016, what became known as the Overwatch League, a Premier League / NFL sports franchise of sorts for the namesake videogame. MLG already operates a number of CoD and GoW leagues. To fill in the new league's spots, teams would be selected across North America, and those offering MLG the best prospects, would become franchises (in the sports sense).

According to Polygon, with the slots open things have gone downhill for would-be participant teams as they have been giving up on Overwatch League altogether, with four reputable teams removing their applications in the past few days – Denial Esports, SoloMid, Red Reserve and the latest, compLexity took leave.

The reason, however, spells bad news for eSports teams and puts Overwatch – for good or for bad – up there with Baseball, (American) Football, Ice Hockey and Basketball: quoting an unnamed ESPN source, Polygon claims the cost of running a regional eSports franchise in Overwatch League runs up a bill of $20 million (conservative estimate), far beyond the level of financing eSports is used to.

While this will sound ludicrous to Europeans, in North America sports teams occupying slots in a league must provide the league organizer with assurances it is there to stay and keep up with the demanding calendar set by, in this case, MLG. The owner-operator also has an added responsibility, they must guarantee the team's viability and be approved by committee as a member of the franchise. So the amounts involved are usually very high.

If the trend continues, MLG may need to adopt a tiered system (Major/Minor League style) and broker/proxy a number of sponsorship deals – or lower the bar for the franchises – otherwise it will soon find itself playing Overwatch alone.
KitGuru Says: Yes. It is big business turning its ugly head on eSports. But won't this turn eSports ‘athletes' into ‘pro athletes' as they are signed-up for teams willing to pay for top mouse-fiddling talent?

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Qualcomm launches Snapdragon 630, 660 SoCs https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/paul-taylor/qualcomm-launches-snapdragon-630-660-socs/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/paul-taylor/qualcomm-launches-snapdragon-630-660-socs/#comments Wed, 10 May 2017 01:24:58 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=333552 Adding yet another layer of complexity to the company's already vast SoC offering, fabless chipmaker Qualcomm has released two new mid-tier SoCs to sate smartphone demand. The Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platforms which, the company claims, introduce a balanced cost, power and performance experience, are leveraging additional optimizations for advanced photography, enhanced gaming and …

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Adding yet another layer of complexity to the company's already vast SoC offering, fabless chipmaker Qualcomm has released two new mid-tier SoCs to sate smartphone demand. The Snapdragon 630 and Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platforms which, the company claims, introduce a balanced cost, power and performance experience, are leveraging additional optimizations for advanced photography, enhanced gaming and even throw in a bit of machine learning.

Performance on the 660 is said to be 20% higher than its predecessor, the 653, while the Snapdragon 630 offers 30% better performance than the 625. Other improvements turn up as LPDDR4 support, new imaging processors and the company's X12 LTE modem. The X12 LTE Modem doubles the downlink bandwidth, when compared to its predecessor X9 modem. The new SoCs also get Quick Charge 4.0 functionality, which the company claims to be 20% faster than the previous iteration.

The company added that both SoCs share pinouts and software/hardware compatibility, so that partners will find it easier to develop differentiated products with either chipset. For Machine Learning developers, the new chips will support Qualcomm's Neural Processing Engine SDK powered by Hexagon Vector Extensions.

Below you can see a comparison of the new SoCs and their predecessors.

Snapdragon 630 Snapdragon 625 Snapdragon 660 Snapdragon 653
CPU Cortex A53 Cortex A53 Kryo 260 Cortex A72 + A53
Process 14nm LPP 14nm LPP 14nm LPP 28nm HPm
Configuration up to 2.2GHz, 8x Cortex A53 8x Cortex A53 @ 2 GHz up to 2.2GHz, 8x Kryo 260 4x Cortex A72 @ 1.95 GHz + 4x Cortex A53 @ 1.4 GHz
RAM Dual-channel LPDDR4 1333 MHz,  8 GB Dual-channel LPDDR3 933 MHz,  8 GB Dual-channel LPDDR4 1866 MHz,  8 GB Dual-channel LPDDR3 1333 MHz,  8 GB
GPU Adreno 508 Adreno 506 Adreno 512 Adreno 510
Camera Sensor 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 160 ISP (24MP) Dual ISP (21MP) 14-bit Qualcomm Spectra 160 ISP (24MP) Dual ISP (21MP)
Modem X12 LTE Modem X9 LTE Modem X12 LTE Modem X9 LTE Modem
DSP Hexagon 642 Hexagon Hexagon 642 Hexagon
Video Capture 4K @30FPS 4K @30FPS 4K @30FPS 4K @30FPS
Charging Quick Charge 4.0 Quick Charge 3.0 Quick Charge 4.0 Quick Charge 3.0

Snapdragon 660 is already making its way to partners and new products should be turning up soon (this Quarter). The Snapdragon 630, on the other hand, will be made available to partners during the course of this month, but 630-powered smartphones should only turn up in the 3rd Quarter of the year.

KitGuru Says: Despite its legal woes, this year, Qualcomm seems to be sticking to the plan and releasing new SoCs, one after another. It is coming close to being the only top-to-bottom tier mobile chipmaker, and let's face it, these “mid-tier” SoCs are looking increasingly capable.

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Amazon fires volley at Microsoft, Google, unveils Echo Show https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/speakers/paul-taylor/amazon-fires-volley-at-microsoft-google-unveils-echo-show/ https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/speakers/paul-taylor/amazon-fires-volley-at-microsoft-google-unveils-echo-show/#comments Wed, 10 May 2017 00:18:00 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=333546 Following hot on the heels of the Cortana-powered Harman-Kardon Invoke soft launch, Amazon has announced the imminent release of the Echo Show, a digital home assistant-slash-display with integrated Dolby-certified speakers. Amazon's new device builds on the Alexa assistant and adds a number of new features. This will connect you with a number of online services …

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Following hot on the heels of the Cortana-powered Harman-Kardon Invoke soft launch, Amazon has announced the imminent release of the Echo Show, a digital home assistant-slash-display with integrated Dolby-certified speakers.

Amazon's new device builds on the Alexa assistant and adds a number of new features. This will connect you with a number of online services and leverages its video display. Amazon has also been particularly clever to sign up a number of digital services, home automation devices and “connected lifestyle” apps, so you can control your home, order a Uber, watch the news, view a Youtube video or get your digital music service playing on your Echo Show. If a contact has the Alexa app on their smartphone, or another Echo Show at hand, you can make video calls too.

Under the hood of the Echo Show is an Intel SoC, with an Intel Atom x5-z8350 Cherry Trail processor, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, 7-inch touchscreen, dual 2-inch speakers and 5MP webcam for video conferencing. It also features an array of 8 microphones with beam-forming technology to help voice recognition.

The Echo Show is on pre-order now for $229, in the US, with an estimated delivery date of June 28. Amazon has also cut prices on the original Amazon Echo by $30.

KitGuru Says: Amazon seems to have pulled a fast one on Microsoft and Harman-Kardon and the Invoke… with the added edge of getting the product faster to the market.

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Foxconn looking to build factory in the US, move closer to Apple https://www.kitguru.net/channel/paul-taylor/foxconn-looking-build-factory-in-the-us-move-closer-to-apple/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/paul-taylor/foxconn-looking-build-factory-in-the-us-move-closer-to-apple/#comments Tue, 09 May 2017 23:36:33 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=333542 Foxconn, the giant electronics manufacturing conglomerate and Apple's biggest OEM manufacturing partner, has begun talks with the US federal authorities to find a suitable place to set up a sixth-generation TFT-LCD panel factory, according to Digitimes. The display factory would cater to small-to-medium sized 6G panels and could be used in Apple's iPhone, iPad and MacBooks, it …

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Foxconn, the giant electronics manufacturing conglomerate and Apple's biggest OEM manufacturing partner, has begun talks with the US federal authorities to find a suitable place to set up a sixth-generation TFT-LCD panel factory, according to Digitimes.

The display factory would cater to small-to-medium sized 6G panels and could be used in Apple's iPhone, iPad and MacBooks, it is said. It would also move the busines a lot closer to the source of much of the autonomous driving system R&D going on in the States, which Foxconn could potentially supply with automotive displays. The likelihood of Foxconn investing in a large display panel factory is low, as the company cannot compete under its house brand – Sharp – after it had sold its US license to Chinese HiSense (until 2020).

At the moment, it seems, the company is still in talks with Federal and State authorities to find the best location and incentives for its investment, so no hard date has been set.

Foxconn, after the Sharp acquisition, and having a considerable stake in several other display companies, can tap into three different types of display technology: IGZO, a-Si and LTPS, which offer each different sets of Pros and Cons. IGZO is set to be a premium type of display, which is expensive to manufacture, while Amorphous Silicon and Polycrystalline Silicon offer much cheaper tooling and manufacturing costs.

Whether politically or economically driven, moving manufacturing to the US seems to play into the US President's official line, who has been making a case for the return of manufacturing jobs Stateside.

KitGuru Says: This is one of those cases where politics have a definite impact on the high-tech industry. After Silicon Valley, the Far East seems to be the next step in bringing high-tech manufacturing to the US. 

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Harman-Kardon taps Microsoft Cortana for Invoke home assistant https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/paul-taylor/harman-kardon-taps-microsoft-cortana-for-invoke-home-assistant/ https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/paul-taylor/harman-kardon-taps-microsoft-cortana-for-invoke-home-assistant/#respond Mon, 08 May 2017 18:18:16 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=333352 The Home Assistant connected device market seems to be massive in the United States, with an estimated 60.5 million users this year taking up the devices, according to a recent report from eMarketer (that's a little under 1-in-5 human beings in the country) . So it stands as no surprise that Harman Kardon has joined …

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The Home Assistant connected device market seems to be massive in the United States, with an estimated 60.5 million users this year taking up the devices, according to a recent report from eMarketer (that's a little under 1-in-5 human beings in the country) . So it stands as no surprise that Harman Kardon has joined forces with Microsoft to build a Cortana-powered speaker-assistant, competing with the likes of Google (Home) and Amazon (Echo).

The device, now listed on the H/K website, is the vaunted Invoke personal digital assistant / intelligent speaker, which provides users with all sorts of Cortana-esque integration as welll as Skype calls, calendar management, traffic, home automation device control  and the ability for its user to utter commands and play back their favourite music.

The company has been cheap on technical details, but have disclosed that the speaker projects sound in a 360º arc around it. Inside, the Invoke sports 7 microphones that enable H/K's Sonique far-field voice recognition technology, to better pick up voice commands across the room. It also has a bit of mood lighting, depending on Cortana's activity, and what the company is calling a ‘touch to surprise' user interface. It will also require Microsoft latest version of Windows 10 (i.e. Creators Update) to configure correctly, including the Skype integration which the brand claims to be an industry first.

The Invoke will be available in the US only, according to the manufacturer – but we understand this, as a lot goes into localizing one of these things – and you'll have to wait until the Fall. Pricing was not disclosed.

KitGuru Says: As H/K is a premium manufacturer, don't expect it to be at the same price level as Echo or Home. Still, Cortana has proven to be a very capable ‘AI' assistant on mobile and desktop, and if Microsoft ported a fraction of its functionality, expect it to be a bit more versatile than its competitors.

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Core i7-7700K temperature spikes enrage users https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/core-i7-7700k-temperature-spikes-enrage-users/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/core-i7-7700k-temperature-spikes-enrage-users/#comments Thu, 04 May 2017 19:25:10 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332910 Reports are circulating that Kaby Lake Core i7-7700K CPUs are hitting temperature spikes of 90ºC (194ºF) for no apparent reason, even on non-overclocked builds. If micro-stuttering complaints weren't already widely known, according to a reader on The Register who goes by the name Bastard-Wizard, the flagship Intel chips will, for no reason at all, kick themselves into …

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Reports are circulating that Kaby Lake Core i7-7700K CPUs are hitting temperature spikes of 90ºC (194ºF) for no apparent reason, even on non-overclocked builds.

If micro-stuttering complaints weren't already widely known, according to a reader on The Register who goes by the name Bastard-Wizard, the flagship Intel chips will, for no reason at all, kick themselves into overdrive and start heating up like crazy, reaching a temperature well beyond what you'd accept for an internal component. The spikes are even affecting systems with more advanced cooling systems, like closed-circuit liquid coolers.

While Intel rates the Tjunction maximum temp of the Core i7-7700K as 100ºC (212ºF), users are livid with the thought their hard-earned cash is going towards global warming, while their radiator/fans rev up into an annoying whine, or simply feel cheated by the fact they feel there is no real reason for it to happen.

It seems users have also been begging Intel for a fix, ever since the issue was first detected shortly after its launch, but Intel has fallen short of a satisfactory answer. In a forum post, the chipmaker is attributing the temperature spikes to normal computing peaks, like when you load up an app on your PC, although, arguably, it would take a very heavy task to drive up the temperature like that.

KitGuru Says: What has been your experience with the Core i7-7700K? Have you tripped on the same issue, or is the prevalence ‘few and far between'? Do tell us in the comments…

 

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Germany finally takes Half-Life off the naughty list https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/paul-taylor/germany-finally-takes-half-life-off-the-naughty-list/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/paul-taylor/germany-finally-takes-half-life-off-the-naughty-list/#respond Thu, 04 May 2017 18:45:49 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332906 Almost two decades. That’s how long it took for German authorities to finally take Half-Life, the original and all its offspring, off its list of censored media content. Germany, a country known for its openness, political correctness and proactive federal authorities has always taken a very aggressive approach towards media content it feels inappropriate.  The …

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Almost two decades. That’s how long it took for German authorities to finally take Half-Life, the original and all its offspring, off its list of censored media content.

Germany, a country known for its openness, political correctness and proactive federal authorities has always taken a very aggressive approach towards media content it feels inappropriate.  The Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien, or BPjM for short – is a federal review board which analyses media content and their potential to damage the psyche of German youths. They even maintain what is nicknamed as the ‘Index’ (presumably after the Index the Catholic Church produced in the middle-ages), which is essentially a list of media content with objectionable content.

Apart from the usual age restriction, the BPjM dictates deep changes to game content. When Half-Life originally launched, in 1998, they were quick to pull out the red marker and, apart from assigning it an over-16 USK rating (their version of PG/PEGI), forced Gabe Newell’s developers to extensively change the game content. The main change was the replacement of most antagonists for robotic ones. Blood was now oil, bones were now springs and cogs. Those that remained humans were ‘unkillable’, they would take damage then sit on the floor with a look of apparent disappointment… then fade away. Even when the revamped Half Life: Source came out in 2004, it was promptly censored in identical fashion.

Now, 19 years on, German gamers will be able to enjoy the sheer joy of Half-Life’s gory, violent, original release. Valve was quick to release a DLC on Steam, Half-Life: Uncensored, and made it available for free to all comers.

KitGuru Says: There is a rather long list of the oft-hilarious changes the BPjM required game studios to make, to market their wares in Germany on Dorkly.

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Linux patch provides Radeon RX Vega specs, highlights DNA of Raven Ridge https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/linux-patch-provides-radeon-rx-vega-specs-highlights-dna-of-raven-ridge/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/linux-patch-provides-radeon-rx-vega-specs-highlights-dna-of-raven-ridge/#comments Wed, 03 May 2017 18:08:59 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332641 Following on from the first RX Vega benchmark leak earlier this week, a Linux graphics driver patch has released, in which traces of the GPUs specs have been found. Cracking open the driver and scrolling through its many, many lines of code reveals the number of shader engines, compute units, texture mapping units and ROPs …

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Following on from the first RX Vega benchmark leak earlier this week, a Linux graphics driver patch has released, in which traces of the GPUs specs have been found. Cracking open the driver and scrolling through its many, many lines of code reveals the number of shader engines, compute units, texture mapping units and ROPs embedded in Vega 10.

From the 64 compute units and 64 shader engines, you can reach the much-discussed 4096 stream processors Vega is said to have. There are still quite a few questions about the chip design, including a rumoured new direction in tile-based rendering which will save GPU processing power and make the chip more efficient than Fiji, AMD's last flagship GPU architecture.

AMD-Vega-10-Featured-e1474398784426.jpg

While Vega 10 was the highlight here, the folks over at ComputerBase.de spotted something we missed the first time around. There is a string of code found in the driver pertaining to Raven Ridge, AMD's next APU, based on Zen. It seems Raven Ridge may also feature a Vega-based iGPU, on top of Zen-based CPU cores.

While Vega still has no launch date, it is widely presumed to be launched at Computex 2017 right at the end of May.

KitGuru Says: It seems that AMD has taken quite a lot of what made Fury X a good GPU, and the Linux driver provides a more solid base for performance assumptions. However, there are still questions that need to be answered, especially if Vega is going to launch with multiple SKUs. 

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Intel stamps out nine year-old security bug https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/intel-stamps-out-nine-year-old-security-bug/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/intel-stamps-out-nine-year-old-security-bug/#comments Tue, 02 May 2017 23:02:32 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332533 In a classic case of “better late than never” Intel has informed customers it has finally eradicated its INTEL-SA-00075 bug and provided a set of tools to diagnose, mitigate and/or resolve the issue. From Nehalem to Kaby Lake, every Intel CPU built since the introduction of the Core microarchitecture has been plagued with a security …

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In a classic case of “better late than never” Intel has informed customers it has finally eradicated its INTEL-SA-00075 bug and provided a set of tools to diagnose, mitigate and/or resolve the issue.

From Nehalem to Kaby Lake, every Intel CPU built since the introduction of the Core microarchitecture has been plagued with a security bug which allowed unprivileged network attackers to remotely gain system privileges to computers operating under Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) and Intel Standard Manageability (ISM), usually used in corporate environments to remotely manage your IT assets. The bug relates to a flaw in the Management Engine and while one may think they are impervious because they have the latest patches on their PC, one should check again. Also, you needn't operate a PC provisioned with AMT or ISM in a business environment to be vulnerable, it seems, you are still vulnerable within a local network.

While most machines will be updated via the OEM's firmware patches, the bug goes back long enough for you to do your own patching as the computer may have reached its end of support. If that is the case, head on down to Intel's download center and follow the instructions. If you haven't found a specific patch for your PC, you can run Intel's vulnerability detection tool or simply nerf the necessary processes running in the background by following the instructions in Intel's Mitigation Guide.

The bug discovery was attributed to Maksim Malyutin from Embedi, although we are aware that Charlie Demerjian over at Semiaccurate has been raging about it for years now, and with good reason.

KitGuru Says: While there have been no notable public incidents attributed to this bug, it seems a would-be attacker would have full access to machines operating under the bug. That is downright scary, considering it affects every Intel Core-based machine built in the last 9 years.

 

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Nokia 8 confirmed, available on pre-order… if you’re in India https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/paul-taylor/nokia-8-confirmed-available-on-pre-order-if-youre-in-india/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/paul-taylor/nokia-8-confirmed-available-on-pre-order-if-youre-in-india/#comments Tue, 02 May 2017 22:31:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332525 While Europe and the US are still twiddling thumbs waiting for the arrival of the first new Nokia phones – the 3, 5 and 6 – India is already having a go at pre-ordering Nokia's (thus-far rumoured) flagship, the Nokia 8, on Pricebaba.com. It seems the Nokia 8 is the latest of a number of …

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While Europe and the US are still twiddling thumbs waiting for the arrival of the first new Nokia phones – the 3, 5 and 6 – India is already having a go at pre-ordering Nokia's (thus-far rumoured) flagship, the Nokia 8, on Pricebaba.com.

It seems the Nokia 8 is the latest of a number of devices to feature the Snapdragon 835 SoC. The Snapdragon SoC is an octa-core 2.45GHz CPU with 6GB of 1866MHz LPDDR4, while the 2560×1440 5.7-inch device includes 128GB of storage capacity. The screen is rated as Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the sensors on the cameras are 24MP/12MP.  Additional features include a fingerprint reader, stereo speakers, a heart rate sensor, GPS and the handset seems to follow Apple's lead in doing away with the audio jack, replacing it by a USB type-C connector. Of course, Nokia also sells a nifty wireless headset which should go well together. As is customary in India, this is a dual-SIM handset. Nokia/HMD Global seem to remain true to the “pure Android experience” with this device, as you it comes with Android Nougat out of the box.

The Nokia 8 is available for pre-order in India for around (converted) £690, a pretty steep price, equal to that of the Samsung Galaxy S8, and very ambitious for a company which has as of yet fallen short of proving its mettle in the modern, cutthroat world of smartphones. While the company has remain notoriously quiet about product launches, they need to deliver on the goods soon.

KitGuru Says: Qualcomm seems to be racking up design wins for the Snapdragon 835, but just how many units are there to go around? 

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Alleged Skylake-EP on sale at eBay https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/alleged-skylake-ep-on-sale-at-ebay/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/alleged-skylake-ep-on-sale-at-ebay/#comments Tue, 02 May 2017 20:54:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332515 If you want to get your hands on some prime Intel server rib, then you can head along to eBay and check this matched pair of what the seller is claiming to be Skylake-EP processors, or as they describe it, an “Intel Xeon E5-2600 v5” CPU. The heatspreader is engraved with the markings “Intel Xeon …

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If you want to get your hands on some prime Intel server rib, then you can head along to eBay and check this matched pair of what the seller is claiming to be Skylake-EP processors, or as they describe it, an “Intel Xeon E5-2600 v5” CPU.

The heatspreader is engraved with the markings “Intel Xeon P 8136” as well as the sSpec and speed rating. The “P 8136” part sounds suspiciously like the recent naming change to Xeon server parts (now tiered as Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze). Although we hadn't heard of a P 8136, it does follow the Intel naming logic.

This matched Xeon pair, claims the seller, is for the 28-core model, 2 GHz CPUs, with 38.75 MB total cache (at least 28MB of which are part of the L2 cache), and a TDP of 165W each. They can be yours for a cool $3750, each.

The seller does offer full disclosure about the matched pair of CPUs, though. First off, they are not ES (engineering samples) nor QS (qualification samples) of the CPU, they are final release of a previously unreleased CPU, presumably OEM. Second, best of luck finding an LGA3647 motherboard for them. Third, the seller wants you to engage in some mild banter explaining what use you'll give them, before selling you the CPUs, legitimately arguing he doesn't want any returns by people who bought it and found they don't have a motherboard to fit it on.

KitGuru Says: While eBay itself shouldn't have any issues with the sale, Intel may find it questionable if there are some agreements in place. On the other hand, conspiracy theorists might think it's a cunning Intel ploy to gain attention.

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New Nokia smartphones available in the UK on June 30th https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/smartphone/paul-taylor/new-nokia-smartphones-available-in-the-uk-on-june-30th/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/smartphone/paul-taylor/new-nokia-smartphones-available-in-the-uk-on-june-30th/#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2017 19:42:25 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332126 When Nokia reformed its mobile handset division under the name HMD Global, and announced its Android-based Nokia 3, 5 and 6 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, it did not set a hard date on the release of its devices in local markets – except for China – leaving checking up regularly …

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When Nokia reformed its mobile handset division under the name HMD Global, and announced its Android-based Nokia 3, 5 and 6 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, it did not set a hard date on the release of its devices in local markets – except for China – leaving checking up regularly with distributors to find availability around the world.

In fact, the company has been amiss with providing any more information on when the phones will arrive in other markets, ever since the MWC event in late February. Despite the specs and pricing guidelines have been widely announced on the company website and the rumours continue to flourish on upcoming Nokia 8/9 high-end phones, the company has been notoriously quiet about delivery.

The Nokia 6 is carved out of a single block of 6000-grade aluminium.

It has now come to light that Nokia distributors plan to stock up on the Nokia 3 and 5 in the UK by the end of June, the literal end of the quarter. Unfortunately there is no news of the release of the Nokia 6, which seems to have taken a back seat on deliveries. UK distributor Clove is already taking pre-orders for some models, and it seems that it will be sticking to the pricing structure proposed by the manufacturer, with a delivery date of June 30th.

In this new range of smartphones, HMD Global seems to have gone back to basics and drawn on a number of inspirations for its Nokia-branded smartphones introducing pure Android handsets, allegedly without bloatware, with a focus on handset design and robustness – the latter was the main reason for which Nokia phones became ubiquitous. A bit of Apple product design, with some Nexus no-nonsense approach, and a spattering of old Nokia goodness – that's what the phones are shaping up to be.

Nokia, which is probably one of the most iconic mobile phone brands to ever have faded into obscurity, severely mismanaged the transition from feature phone to smartphone, betting everything on the success of Symbian OS and later Windows Mobile. The company failed to make a mark against the rising tide of iOS and Android, and ended up selling its mobile phone division to Microsoft, during Stephen Elop's tenure (himself having just jumped ship from Microsoft), and after a semi-successful romp with Windows Mobile-based handsets.

The Nokia 3, 5 and 6 are low-to-mainstream products, but should sell in good volume and deliver the company's message, we gather. If you want to see them in action, you can head on to the HMD Global website for some candid photos and vids.

KitGuru Says: If you're an old brand-loyal fool trying to relive Nokia's glory days, the time may be at hand. The handsets are a world apart from the old brick-phones, but so far that aluminium unibody is looking sleek, provided Nokia delivers on the final product. Otherwise, it'll be another flash in the pan.

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AMD Radeon RX Vega caught hiding in plain sight https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/__trashed/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/__trashed/#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2017 03:17:40 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332021 An eye-catching entry in the TechPowerUp GPU database caught our attention. The data shows the intimate details of none other than the AMD Radeon RX Vega, a card which, just a couple of days ago, AMD had said it would be launched sometime this quarter. If you remember, just last month we'd reported an AMD official …

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An eye-catching entry in the TechPowerUp GPU database caught our attention. The data shows the intimate details of none other than the AMD Radeon RX Vega, a card which, just a couple of days ago, AMD had said it would be launched sometime this quarter. If you remember, just last month we'd reported an AMD official saying the launch was “just around the corner”.

It seems it may be closer than you'd think. According to the database, the card has a release date of today (28th April 2017).

In addition to the release date, the database describes the Radeon RX Vega as having the following features: a 1 GHz core GPU clock, with a 1.2 GHz boost clock, and 8 GB of HBM2 memory running at 1 GHz (2 GHz effective). The Vega seems to carry a dual memory controller, doubling the memory bus width to 2048-bit, when compared to first generation HBM. The graphics engine contains 4096 shader units, as we'd already reported a month ago. It counts 256 TMUs, 64 ROPs and 64 compute units. The total computing power of Vega is 9.8 Tflops, shy of the GTX 1080 Ti's 10.6 Tflops.

In terms of power consumption, it's very much what you'd expect from a high-end card, but just enough so you don't splurge on a new power supply: 225W, which translates to one 6-pin + one 8-pin PEG connectors. The site further describes the card as having 267 mm in length in a dual-slot configuration.

As for performance, the GPU Database has little to offer that will be considered definitive, as a flagship card like Vega must be thoroughly measured, well beyond “1080p” games performance. If the information contained on the site is accurate, we would recommend that AMD fans wait with bated breath until full benchmarks are available because, according to TPU, AMD's best effort is lagging behind Nvidia's (non-Ti) GTX 1080 and is considerably slower than a GTX 1080 Ti, in 1080p gaming. It's been our experience that AMD fares better when you up the resolution and level the playing field. For a card of this caliber, 1080p is indeed not the resolution you'll be playing at.

KitGuru Says: We're more than happy to catch as much info on the Vega as we possibly can. The performance listed by TPU, however, is a little eyebrow-raising, to say the least. Let's wait for real-world benchmarks…

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Nvidia will release a GT 1030 graphics chip after all https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/nvidia-will-release-a-gt-1030-graphics-chip-after-all/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/nvidia-will-release-a-gt-1030-graphics-chip-after-all/#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2017 02:37:22 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=332015 Whether it is pressure from AMD, or just some revenue-mining tactic, it seems that Nvidia will indeed release a GT 1030 graphics card, the cheapest of the cheap in the Pascal family. Chinese website Expreview has grabbed some pics that reveal Nvidia has indeed developed a GP108 iteration of its Pascal microarchitecture, aimed at the …

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Whether it is pressure from AMD, or just some revenue-mining tactic, it seems that Nvidia will indeed release a GT 1030 graphics card, the cheapest of the cheap in the Pascal family.

Chinese website Expreview has grabbed some pics that reveal Nvidia has indeed developed a GP108 iteration of its Pascal microarchitecture, aimed at the sub-$100 segment, a segment where AMD, just last week, announced its own product offers in the form of the Radeon RX 550 graphics card. The card is the GT 1030, and there are some interesting details on the matter.

Source: Expreview

The image leaks show a GP108-300-A1 die shot, a fairly tiny core which is reported to have just 132mm2, built on TSMC's 14nm process, with 32 TMUs and 16 ROPs, but an anemic 64-bit memory bus connected to 2GB or 4GB GDDR5. The card is further reported to draw just 30W from the PCIe bus, which means it will be devoid of any power connectors. It is also reported to be a strictly digital video card, with no analogue (VGA) output.

Performance on these cards will be nothing to phone home about, of course, and should grant you reasonable casual gaming experiences, on par with eSports titles.

As we mentioned above, the GT 1030 will address the sub-$100 segment which is currently populated by the recently released Radeon RX 550. Expreview says that May 17th is the launch date for the GT 1030.

KitGuru Says: Nvidia will leave no market segment unturned to face off with AMD. Going into this market, where margins are tiny and success is measured by your competitor's loss, is clearly a tactical move on Nvidia's side to match, or undercut, AMD's offers.

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Intel announces second-generation Visual Compute Accelerator https://www.kitguru.net/professional/server/paul-taylor/intel-announces-second-generation-visual-compute-accelerator/ https://www.kitguru.net/professional/server/paul-taylor/intel-announces-second-generation-visual-compute-accelerator/#comments Wed, 26 Apr 2017 23:20:09 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331917 During the NAB 2017 event, Intel has announced a spruced-up Visual Computer Accelerator, the second of its kind, to take video-crunching to the cloud. With HD and UHD Video workloads in mind, the Visual Compute Accelerator 2  (VCA 2) has been designed with the purpose of creating smooth real-time UHD transcoding, live UHD VR experiences …

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During the NAB 2017 event, Intel has announced a spruced-up Visual Computer Accelerator, the second of its kind, to take video-crunching to the cloud.

With HD and UHD Video workloads in mind, the Visual Compute Accelerator 2  (VCA 2) has been designed with the purpose of creating smooth real-time UHD transcoding, live UHD VR experiences and reduce overall video footprint.

While it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, this is not a graphics card. Intel has equipped this single board computer with three Xeon E3 v5 processors (i.e. Skylake), containing P580 Iris Pro Graphics. The CPUs themselves operate at 3 GHz (3.7 GHz boost), and the board takes SO-DIMMs (2 channels per CPU, up to 64GB DDR4 per CPU). Power consumption figures were not disclosed, nor how the device is powered, but we estimate somewhere around the 200W mark. A single card also soaks up a full 16 lanes on a PCIe 3.0 bus, so the hardware really requires a high-end platform to be installed in. This being said, the VCA 2 will not be sold to the general public, but rather be integrated into hardware like Haivision's KB 4K encoder. Haivision is the first partner to announce such a product.

While the VCA 2 is touted as a solution for video encoding/transcoding on the fly, it is in essence a server-within-a-server, and can be used for just about any cloud-based service you'd be interested, anything from game servers to secure remote desktops. It's all about the horsepower.

Intel did not disclose pricing of the product, but availability is as of right now.

KitGuru Says: Video Streaming seems to be the engine driving the Internet this year, and so the marketing brains have all crafted their messages towards a “video-orientated” product. The VCA 2, however, is a lot more than a number-cruncher for video.

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Adidas is now the official sponsor of Spanish eSports team ASUS ROG Army https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/adidas-is-now-the-official-sponsor-of-spanish-esports-team-asus-rog-army/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/adidas-is-now-the-official-sponsor-of-spanish-esports-team-asus-rog-army/#comments Wed, 26 Apr 2017 22:45:50 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331909 It seems like one of Europe's best-sponsored eSports teams, ASUS ROG Army, has snapped up another major deal under the form of German sporting goods brand, Adidas. The company has announced it has signed a sponsorship with the Spaniards to supply them with custom-designed uniforms, bearing team and sponsor insignia, until 2020. Instead of throwing …

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It seems like one of Europe's best-sponsored eSports teams, ASUS ROG Army, has snapped up another major deal under the form of German sporting goods brand, Adidas. The company has announced it has signed a sponsorship with the Spaniards to supply them with custom-designed uniforms, bearing team and sponsor insignia, until 2020.

Instead of throwing copious amounts of money at yet another pro athlete or team, Adidas has thrown its weight in with Asus and Intel, and will be supplying the ASUS ROG Army with new threads for a three-year period (and probably an undisclosed amount of money). ASUS ROG Army kit will also be put on sale in the Spanish professional videogaming league's (LVP) official store, for team fans to snap up.

To put this in perspective, the team will join the ranks of Real Madrid and Manchester United, as Adidas-sponsored athletes.

A little over a year old, the ASUS ROG Army is one of the top Spanish League of Legends teams, but otherwise less-known outside Spain. Its team roster includes not only Spanish but also Serbian and Portuguese players.

Now, it's a matter of time until this type of sponsorship takes hold with Adidas rivals Puma, Reebok and Nike, and it sounds like a welcome boost to eSports in general.

KitGuru Says: We all knew this was coming – mainstream sporting goods brands moving in on the eSports phenomenon, but hopefully this will mean monetisation, more sponsorships, more teams and more competitions with bigger prizes. Other brands will follow suit.

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Uber plans trial fleet of flying vehicles by 2020 https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/uber-plans-trial-fleet-of-flying-vehicles-by-2020/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/paul-taylor/uber-plans-trial-fleet-of-flying-vehicles-by-2020/#comments Wed, 26 Apr 2017 22:08:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331902 Uber’s wants to take to the air after mastering autonomous driving and reveals how far it’s come along with plans for a fleet of flying taxis. During its Elevate Summit event, the company rolled out heavyweights and partner companies to promise the delivery of a “flying taxi” service by the beginning of the next decade. From …

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Uber’s wants to take to the air after mastering autonomous driving and reveals how far it’s come along with plans for a fleet of flying taxis.

During its Elevate Summit event, the company rolled out heavyweights and partner companies to promise the delivery of a “flying taxi” service by the beginning of the next decade. From ridesharing, to self-driving cars, to zooming across the city skyline in a smallish electric VTOL aircraft – that is where Uber wants to be in 5 to 10 years’ time. Without replacing commercial flights entirely, these vehicles would allow single passengers to hop across town in a matter of minutes instead of being stuck in long traffic jams.

Right now, the plan is to scout out locations with real-estate partners in Dallas, Texas and Dubai, UAE, so that by 2020 Uber can roll out a test fleet of flying vehicles in coopreation with a number of aircraft makers who seemingly have signed up for the effort. This is where the company rolled out the engineering partnerships, five aerospace companies of leisure aircraft, Embraer, Pipistrel, Aurora Flight Sciences, Bell Helicopter and Mooney, to give its initiative a bit more credibility. Chargepoint, the company behind the biggest electric charging network in the US, would be in charge of building ‘vertiports’ and keep the vehicles juiced up.

First flight of Aurora's eVTOL aircraft on April 20, 2017.

The only concern one may raise – apart from passengers dropping from the sky – is that Uber, disruptive as it is, will probably not be around in its current form in a couple of years' time. Uber is undoubtedly adept at spinning a business venture, but the truth of the matter is, it bleeds money by the billions. And there are billions more to be spent before billions are made.

On the other hand, so did Amazon, back in the day…

KitGuru Says: While technology may reach the testing stage by 2020, there are serious legal and security issues to address. Personal flying vehicles need a degree of avionics redundancy and security that might require years to perfect, and which we have not yet mastered on terra firma. But who *doesn't* want to see personal flight come into existence?

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New Intel 28-core, 56-thread Xeons imminent https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/new-intel-28-core-56-thread-xeons-imminent/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/paul-taylor/new-intel-28-core-56-thread-xeons-imminent/#comments Wed, 26 Apr 2017 19:09:43 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331894 Intel has released a Product Change Notification (PCN) document informing would-be customers of its new Xeon CPU models. Apart from announcing new server CPUs, the PCN also heralds a new tier system for the segment. The long list includes a listing of 45 Xeon processors, including 11 Xeon Phi MIC-architecture co-processing units. The Xeon CPUs …

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Intel has released a Product Change Notification (PCN) document informing would-be customers of its new Xeon CPU models. Apart from announcing new server CPUs, the PCN also heralds a new tier system for the segment.

The long list includes a listing of 45 Xeon processors, including 11 Xeon Phi MIC-architecture co-processing units. The Xeon CPUs proper, though, range from the high-end Xeon Platinum 8180 CPU (containing 28 CPU cores / 56 threads, running at 2.5 GHz and sporting a total cache of 38.5 MB), down to the Xeon Gold 5122, rumoured to have 12 cores and 24 threads. The new Skylake-SP (or EP, depending on who you ask), are reported to contain 1MB of L2 cache per core.

The new tier system, which Intel had been rumoured to be adopting, breaks Xeons into four segments: “Platinum”, “Gold”, “Silver” and “Bronze”. The Platinum tier identifies the 8-socket 8xxx-series, the Gold identifies the 4-socket 6xxx- and 5xxx-series CPUs, the Xeon Silver corresponds to the 4xxx-series dual-socket systems and Xeon Bronze is reported to be the 3xxx-series uniprocessors.

Purley, Intel's new server platform, which uses yet another socket (LGA 3647), has been scheduled for a Q2 release for a while, and taking into consideration the type of CPUs this PCN discloses, this is clearly aimed at the datacenter / HPC segment which AMD Naples will eventually come to, rather than Ryzen or any other HEDT SKU. No conspiracy theories there.

Unfortunately Intel has not provided any additional information about the 4xxx- and 3xxx- series Xeons.

While Intel has not yet officially announced the CPUs, some stores are already listing them – no technical details, but pricing available. The Xeon Platinum 8180 costs a whopping £9600, while the ‘M’ variant, costs north of £12500. The cheapest CPU on the list, the 3.6GHz Xeon Gold 5122 costs over £1150.

KitGuru Says: Skylake EP/SP is on the verge of hitting the market as planned. AMD has nothing yet to fight it off, and it has been notoriously quiet on the Naples front.

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ZX Spectrum Next kickstarts, gets funded https://www.kitguru.net/components/paul-taylor/zx-spectrum-next-kickstarts-gets-funded/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/paul-taylor/zx-spectrum-next-kickstarts-gets-funded/#comments Mon, 24 Apr 2017 20:09:07 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331661 In a show that proves the ZX Spectrum community is alive and well, an attempt to build the most legitimate successorto the ZX Spectrum computer – in spirit and in physical form – has met with great success on Kickstarter after being completely funded just 48 hours on-line. The project dubbed ZX Spectrum Next, beat …

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In a show that proves the ZX Spectrum community is alive and well, an attempt to build the most legitimate successorto the ZX Spectrum computer – in spirit and in physical form – has met with great success on Kickstarter after being completely funded just 48 hours on-line. The project dubbed ZX Spectrum Next, beat its £250,000 (approx. $320,000) goal and is on the way to becoming a reality.

The team behind the new project – which includes latecomer Rick Dickinson, the designer of the original Speccy – are a collective of ZX Spectrum enthusiasts, and got the go-ahead from Amstrad and Sinclair to use the IP in exchange for dedicating part of all the revenue to the Royal National Institute of the Blind.

The Spectrum Next goes a step further than merely emulating the device over modern hardware. It uses an FPGA to work exactly like the original Z80 processor – speed et al – although the RAM has been expanded to 512 KB, and the device is compatible with the ZX Spectrum's original hardware accessories. The system also includes onboard Wi-Fi and 256 (gasp!) colour mode. Video output can be RGB, VGA or HDMI, instead of the old RF connector.

To spice things up a bit, the team has also developed a casing which will allow you to slot in a Raspberry Pi Zero which will act as a co-processor (albeit a very powerful one) to the on-board hardware. Although, if you want a feel for the real thing, the PCB was designed to fit the ZX Spectrum's original casing (with ‘minor' changes).

The ZX Spectrum Next Kickstarter promises delivery of the goods in January 2018.

KitGuru Says: For an entire generation that grew up spoon-fed on ZX Spectrum home computers, it's been hard to recapture the spirit. We've already gone through emulators (so many), spiritual successors (RPi) and new incarnations (Vega) that – while endorsed by his Lordship, Sir Clive – have fallen short of the real thing. This new project promises to deliver on the original experience and still leave the door open for modern computing.

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Radeon Pro Duo gets a Polaris refresh https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/radeon-pro-duo-gets-a-polaris-refresh/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/radeon-pro-duo-gets-a-polaris-refresh/#comments Mon, 24 Apr 2017 19:39:33 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331654 A year, almost to the day, after launching the original Radeon Pro Duo dual-chip workstation-class graphics card, AMD has announced a refresh to its professional line-up. During the NAB 2017 show (an event for the broadcasting industry) in Las Vegas yesterday, AMD announced a new version of the Radeon Pro Duo now with a Polaris-based dual-GPU …

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A year, almost to the day, after launching the original Radeon Pro Duo dual-chip workstation-class graphics card, AMD has announced a refresh to its professional line-up.

During the NAB 2017 show (an event for the broadcasting industry) in Las Vegas yesterday, AMD announced a new version of the Radeon Pro Duo now with a Polaris-based dual-GPU at the core. The identically-named Radeon Pro Duo card comes with 32GB of GDDR5 (16GB per GPU) and 4608 stream processors delivering 11.45 Teraflops of compute power. It is also a bit cheaper, less power consuming and a whole lot cooler – to the point where AMD has done away with the integrated waterblock/fan/radiator combo.

AMD suggests the card will be a major asset in producing VR content, in particular at 4K resolutions, and at content-creation multitasking. The card will be available in May, and AMD has given it a $999 price tag – considerably lower than its predecessor.

Now, if you're thinking that Polaris is a different kettle of fish when compared to the dual Fiji XT cores in the original Radeon Pro Duo, then you are correct. The new Radeon Pro Duo promises to be a more suitable upgrade card for workstations that don't require replacing entire power systems or changing enclosures to accommodate the added heat. It is also considerably under-powered when compared to the original – it loses 30% compute performance when compared to its predecessor. It also costs 33% less, which should make it reasonably more competitive, if you're happy with the performance. The biggest advantage we've detected so far is the card's 16GB (x2) GDDR5, which will allow content creators to work with much bigger data sets/video buffers than the original. This might work out well for very hi-res content, but only time/benchmarking will tell.

Here's a non-comprehensive feature comparison of the new card and its predecessor (we've put in bold what we think are each card's assets).

Radeon Pro Duo 2016 Radeon Pro Duo 2017
GPU Fiji XT x2 Polaris x2
GPU ARCHITECTURE GCN 3rd Generation ​GCN 4th Generation
​STREAM PROCESSORS 4096 x2 ​2304 x2
​PEAK PERFORMANCE 16.38 TFLOPS ​11.45 TFLOPS
​PEAK ENGINE CLOCK 1000MHz ​1243 MHz
​MEMORY TYPE 2x4GB HBM 2x16GB GDDR5
​MEMORY INTERFACE 4096 bit (x2) ​256 bit (x2)
​MEMORY DATA RATE/ BANDWIDTH 1 Gb/s / 512GB/s ​7 Gb/s / 448 GB/s
​TYPICAL BOARD POWER 350 W ​​<250 W
FREESYNC Yes ​Yes
​DISPLAY OUTPUT CONNECTORS ​3x DP, 1x HDMI ​3x DP, 1x HDMI
​DISPLAY COLOR DEPTH 8-bit 10-bit Support
​FORM FACTOR Full-Height Dual Slot Full-Height Dual Slot
Fan/Radiator Unit 12” Length
3x 8-pin PEG  6-pin + 8-pin PEG
PRICE $1499 $999
ETA  available May 2017

The original Radeon Pro Duo was a monster of a card, with integrated watercooling and rated at a torrid 350W – to such an extent it required 3x 8-pin PEG connectors. It had a 4GB HBM framebuffer on each chip, derived from its dual Fiji XT design (the same as Radeon R9 Fury X). It also cost a cool $1500 at launch. The card was, for lack of a better word, powerful. The new card, however, will have to prove its mettle and rely on the GDDR5 to deliver what the original could not.

KitGuru Says: We can't help but think this is an odd move from AMD, and the message is far from easy to get across to AMD's professional audience this time. Maybe some craft technical marketing and benchmarks will prove the computer performance is made up by the framebuffer size… or not.

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AMD stealth-launches Radeon RX 550, partners make noise https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/amd-stealth-launches-radeon-rx-550-partners-make-noise/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/amd-stealth-launches-radeon-rx-550-partners-make-noise/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2017 19:37:42 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331400 While we've been on a steady flow of Polaris RX 580- and 570-series reviews this week, these have been stolen the attention from other entries in AMD's line-up. AMD did launch something else on the 18th of April, only it passed by very discreetly because it was overshadowed by AMD's mainstream offers, and this was …

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While we've been on a steady flow of Polaris RX 580- and 570-series reviews this week, these have been stolen the attention from other entries in AMD's line-up. AMD did launch something else on the 18th of April, only it passed by very discreetly because it was overshadowed by AMD's mainstream offers, and this was the Radeon RX 550. The card that is intended to sate the hunger of more lightweight gaming experiences like eSports (CS:GO, Rocket League, DOTA, LoL, etc…) or some triple-A titles in very low graphics settings.

The Radeon RX 550 is the budget-minded Radeon, with a $80/£80 (starting) price tag, and all the features of its more expensive brethren, but lacking the overall performance. The Radeon RX 550 is built on the same 14nm FinFET process, tiny in size (just 101mm2) and sports just 8 compute units/32 TMUs. It has 512 stream processors with a base/boost clock of 1GHz/1183MHz, which translate into 1.2 Tflops of compute power. Its 2/4 GB GDDR5 RAM is rated 1750 MHz (7000 MHz effective) but strapped to a 128-bit memory bus. It's so power-thrifty that it sips just 50W directly from the PCIe slot without the need for additional PEG connectors for power.

As you can imagine, this will not break any world records, but today we've received word from several of AMD's AIB partners that they have released their own (non-reference?) designs for the runt of the litter.

PowerColor announced what sounds like a little overkill for a budget card: the PowerColor Red Dragon RX 550 2GB, which clocks a rather “tame” 1190 MHz boost clock. It's plain plastic shroud and fan don't really live up to the Red Dragon branding.

MSI launched the AERO ITX 4G OC and the AERO ITX 2G OC, differing only in the RAM capacity. Both come with plastic shroud and single fan for cooling, and have a 1203 MHz boost clock. You'll be interested in the HTPC potential of thse cards, as both have a fairly small footprint.

Gigabyte has launched its Aorus RX 550 D5 and RX 550 Gaming OC 2G. The latter comes with a 1206 MHz “Gaming Mode” clock, compared to the other's 1183 MHz setting. The Gaming OC also uses 2 fans for the extra cooling requirements.

HIS, which was unheard of at the RX 580/570 launch, joined the party with the announcement of its HIS RX 550 GREEN iCooler OC 2GB and 4GB SKUs. They are identical in specs to the RX 550 reference designs, unfortunately.

Sapphire, known for its innovative cooling and affordable pricing released the Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 550 2GD5 and 4GD5, and yes, you guessed correctly, a 2GB and 4GB version. These come with stock plastic shroud and cooling, and boost clock of 1206 MHz.

While none of the partner launches (except maybe MSI's ITX design), are going to convince hardcore gamers or turn modders' heads, they are substantially better than your typical iGPU or APU, suggests AMD. It will also deliver the latest set of hardware features like DirectX 12 or X.265 Decode/Encode, which has become a staple of HTPC systems. On the other hand, for the price tag, you might as well be considering going to the RX 460 which is much more powerful and costs about the same.

KitGuru Says: It seems to us, that these designs are closer to the reference than you'd expect to see, with only MSI innovating in terms of form factor. Clearly there is little in terms of leeway for AIB partners to improve on this. If you're on a tight budget and are happy with casual gaming, the RX 550 will do right by you, but we're quite confused as to the pricing on these cards, as the only competitor they'll find is AMD's own (and more powerful) Radeon RX 460.

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Samsung begins assault on Microsoft Surface, begins pre-orders for Galaxy Book https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/paul-taylor/samsung-begins-assault-on-microsoft-surface-begins-pre-orders-for-galaxy-book/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/paul-taylor/samsung-begins-assault-on-microsoft-surface-begins-pre-orders-for-galaxy-book/#respond Fri, 21 Apr 2017 18:13:19 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331374 A couple of months have passed since Samsung announced its intent to field a lightweight laptop under the Galaxy brand, the Samsung Galaxy Book, and the company has begun delivering on its promise. If you are in the US, April 21st is the first day the devices are available for Pre-order. The Galaxy Book is …

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A couple of months have passed since Samsung announced its intent to field a lightweight laptop under the Galaxy brand, the Samsung Galaxy Book, and the company has begun delivering on its promise. If you are in the US, April 21st is the first day the devices are available for Pre-order.

The Galaxy Book is a 2-in-1 device, similar to the Microsoft Surface in design, but with a lower price tag. It is not, however, powered by any ARM processor nor does it use anything other OS than your standard Windows 10 Home edition (Windows 10 Cloud is reportedly exclusive to Qualcomm Snapdragon) and Samsung seems to be left out in the rain by the Qualcomm-Microsoft partnership, restricting it to using Intel's Core m3 or low-power Core i5 processors. The device comes in 10.6″ (1920×1080) or 12″ (2560×1440) form factors. LTE connectivity is available on the 12″ model only. The Galaxy Book also comes with the Note-famous S Pen, and contains a nice bit of software which will sync up your Galaxy smartphone with your Galaxy Book, Samsung Flow. You can find full specs for the devices, below.

Samsung Galaxy Book 10.6” Samsung Galaxy Book 12”
DISPLAY 10.6″ TFT FHD (1920×1280) 12″ Super AMOLED FHD (2160×1440)
CHIPSET 7th Gen Intel® Core™ m3 processor, Dual Core 2.6GHz 7th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 7200 U processor, Dual Core 3.1GHz
LTE SUPPORT N/A LTE Cat.6 (300Mbps)
MEMORY 4GB + 64GB/128GB eMMC LTE: 4GB + 128GB SSD
microSD up to 256GB Wi-Fi: 4GB+128GB SSD/ 8GB+256GB SSD
CAMERA 5MP FF 13MP AF + 5MP
PORT USB 3.1(Type-C), Micro SD USB 3.1(Type-C) x 2ports, Micro SD
SENSORS Accelerometer, Hall, Light Accelerometer, Hall, Light
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2X2 MIMO, Bluetooth® 4.1 BLE Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2X2 MIMO, Bluetooth® 4.1 BLE
GPS GPS + GLONASS GPS + GLONASS
DIMENSION, WEIGHT 261.2 x 179.1 x 8.9 mm, 648g(Wi-Fi) 291.3×199.8×7.4mm, 754g(Wi-Fi / LTE)
BATTERY CAPACITY 30.4W / up to 9hrs, Fast Charging 39.04W / up to 11hrs, Fast Charging
OS/UPGRADE Windows 10 Windows 10
SAMSUNG SERVICES & APPLICATIONS Samsung Notes, Air Command, Samsung Flow Samsung Notes, Air Command, Samsung Flow
VIDEO Recording: FHD(1920X1080) @30fps Recording: 4K(3840X2160) @30fps
Playback: 4K(3840X2160) @60fps Playback: 4K(3840X2160) @60fps

Configurations will cost between $630 and $1130, and deliveries will begin in late May. Samsung, however, did not announce telco partnerships for its devices – something that in Europe would be considered somewhat of a deal-breaker for the LTE version of the device, due to mobile data costs.

KitGuru Says: Samsung looks like it's piggybacking on the momentum created by Surface and Microsoft's own initiatives in developing lightweight computing devices with Windows compatibility. However, this family of devices doesn't seem to harbour anything particularly Galaxy-y to support the name.

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Retail licenses of Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 can still upgrade to Windows 10 https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/paul-taylor/retail-licenses-of-windows-7-8-and-8-1-can-still-upgrade-to-windows-10/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/operating-systems/paul-taylor/retail-licenses-of-windows-7-8-and-8-1-can-still-upgrade-to-windows-10/#comments Fri, 21 Apr 2017 18:12:34 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331368 If you purposely missed the upgrade window for Windows 10, on your totally legit Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 machine, and now you are regretting the decision because Windows 10 is really the only way to go to keep your PC up-to-date, then there might be a little light at the end of the tunnel. …

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If you purposely missed the upgrade window for Windows 10, on your totally legit Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 machine, and now you are regretting the decision because Windows 10 is really the only way to go to keep your PC up-to-date, then there might be a little light at the end of the tunnel. It turns out, Microsoft is still accepting Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 keys when installing Windows 10.

Back in January, we learned that there are still a few ways to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Now this week thanks to some investigating by the folks over at Bleeping Computer, we now know that retail Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 licenses can still be used to activate Windows 10 when performing a fresh install, even after the recent Creators Update.

While Microsoft had been annoyingly adamant about the exclusion of users who missed out on the original update window for Windows 10 (up to mid-2016), it seems it is continuing to accept free upgraders, albeit in an underhanded way.

This, obviously, does not mean that in the future Microsoft won't bar this kind of use of the license keys, but so far it's working and enabling users to move on to Windows 10.

KitGuru Says: Now that Windows 10 has matured a bit, and you have had a taste of what it does (and doesn't) do, you can easily pick up a cheap Windows 7+ license and do a fresh install on that creaking PC. What's been your experience with this kind of loopholes? Have you found some of your own?

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Qualcomm confirms release of Windows 10 devices by year’s end https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/paul-taylor/qualcomm-confirms-release-of-windows-10-devices-by-years-end/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/paul-taylor/qualcomm-confirms-release-of-windows-10-devices-by-years-end/#comments Thu, 20 Apr 2017 22:30:45 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331262 During its quarterly earnings call, held last night, Qualcomm revealed its plans to deliver a Windows 10 on ARM-based PC by the end of the year. While Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf was short on details about the device, he did state it would be a mobile PC – the “Cellular PC” coinde Microsoft and Qualcomm …

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During its quarterly earnings call, held last night, Qualcomm revealed its plans to deliver a Windows 10 on ARM-based PC by the end of the year.

While Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf was short on details about the device, he did state it would be a mobile PC – the “Cellular PC” coinde Microsoft and Qualcomm last year – fusing portability with everything you get from a Snapdragon SoC, like Adreno graphics and all sorts of wireless connectivity (advanced LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) – all of this running Windows 10 on ARM, to boot.

This development could breathe new life into the classic “Netbook” design as the SoC offers good CPU and GPU performance (as previously demonstrated by Qualcomm), and by breaking the x86 chokehold on Windows, lightweight and long-lasting devices can finally come to fruition, as none of the x86 operates in the same power envelope as Snapdragon… so far. The last piece of the puzzle resided in the app ecosystem, but Microsoft has already been busy demonstrating emulated x86 apps running smoothly on Windows 10, much to the chagrin of skeptics, as well as the Universal Windows Platform app format, which will avoid issues like those faced years ago by Windows RT.

Qualcomm is in talks with PC vendors to market this device, but has not yet announced who the lucky suitor will be.

The Qualcomm ensemble also ellaborated on their collaboration with Microsoft in the datacenter and the Cloud-orientated Windows Server on ARM which has been said to run on the company's 10nm 48-core Centriq 2400 SoC, which the Qualcomm claims will be the first 10nm server CPUs on the market.

KitGuru Says: While the news is welcome to a stagnated “netbook” class of devices, the clincher will still be the “Killer App” that leads to mass adoption. That will ultimately depend on Microsoft's software ecosystem, and not on Qualcomm.

 

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The Radeon RX 480 can be flashed to RX 580 https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/radeon-rx-480-can-be-flashed-to-rx-580/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/radeon-rx-480-can-be-flashed-to-rx-580/#comments Wed, 19 Apr 2017 21:47:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331035 After many weeks of sifting through early/leaked information, the RX 500 series has officially landed and as we have known for a while, the new range is a Polaris refresh. Given that the chips under the hood are so similar, it looks like some are experimenting with flashing their older RX 400-series cards. In fact, …

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After many weeks of sifting through early/leaked information, the RX 500 series has officially landed and as we have known for a while, the new range is a Polaris refresh. Given that the chips under the hood are so similar, it looks like some are experimenting with flashing their older RX 400-series cards. In fact, someone has already managed to flash their XFX RX 480 with a Sapphire RX 580 BIOS.

The clever tinkerer in this case popped up on the TechPowerUp forums and goes by the name ‘Tonybonjoby'. In his post, he went over the process of flashing his XFX RX 480 with a Sapphire RX 580 BIOS.

Using TPU's handy BIOS archive, he decided to flash the BIOS on his XFX RX 480 to a Nitro+ Limited Edition RX 580 from Sapphire. This new BIOS comes with slightly higher clocks for both the GPU and RAM. The flashed card now performs at 1411 MHz GPU and 8400 MHz GDDR5, or a 123 MHz / 400 MHz boost, respectively.  As his original XFX graphics card comes equipped with dual BIOS, he's been able to come and go from the new settings at will, reducing his risk. His experience is continuing as we speak.

GPU-Z Screenshot after the BIOS flash

The report goes on to say that after a gruelling session of Witcher 3, his card got a little hotter than pre-mod, but still at a fairly reasonable 75~80ºC, while the voltage reached 1.188v. In exchange for the trade-off, he eked out approximately 9% of free extra perfomance. Some forum members have warned of increased wear on the VRMs, but if proven of the same quality as a “legitimate” RX 580, this point should be relatively moot.

Now that one person has successfully achieved it, we'll likely see more attempting to reflash their RX 480s with the 580 BIOS to take advantage of the free performance bump.

KitGuru Says: While we don't endorse voiding your GPU warranty, the 480 to 580 BIOS switch does seem fairly simple. 

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Here are the most affordable RX 580 and RX 570 cards in the US at launch https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/here-are-the-most-affordable-rx-580-and-rx-570-cards-in-the-us-at-launch/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/paul-taylor/here-are-the-most-affordable-rx-580-and-rx-570-cards-in-the-us-at-launch/#comments Wed, 19 Apr 2017 20:41:05 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331055 With the official announcement of AMD's Radeon 500-Series GPUs yesterday, its partner ecosystem has followed suit and delivered on the goods. But there's more to the cards than meets the eye, if we consider that AMD is already putting them on sale. If you are a follower of graphics cards news, you'll have heard about the …

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With the official announcement of AMD's Radeon 500-Series GPUs yesterday, its partner ecosystem has followed suit and delivered on the goods. But there's more to the cards than meets the eye, if we consider that AMD is already putting them on sale.

If you are a follower of graphics cards news, you'll have heard about the credentials on PowerColor's Red Devil series, Sapphire's NITRO+ Limited Editions, Gigabyte's Aorus series, MSI's Gaming X series or the hands-down most-expensive ASUS STRIX series. The thing is, they all carry price tags far exceeding the RSP that AMD put out for them. And why is that? Because partners also have not-so-glam RX 580s and RX 570s galore, on sale right now. This, of course, also implies they are clocked ever-so-slightly lower than their brethren. But don't discard them just yet, the price may be right.

If you're in the US, you're quite lucky to be able to pick up these cards. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we can only keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

SAPPHIRE PULSE ITX Radeon™ RX 570 4GD5, the ITX card, is selling for $169.99 right now.

Here's a non-comprehensive list of RX 580 and RX 570 cards that are currently selling on the “cheap” on NewEgg:

In the RX 570 field you can also find the PowerColor Red Dragon RX 570 4GB or even the Sapphire PULSE RX 570 ITX-version for just $169.99, that's $20~$25 cheaper than their non-discounted counterparts. The Sapphire PULSE RX 570 ITX-version seems particularly interesting for those looking for a small form-factor card.

Just a word to the wise, most of these deals expire Monday the 24th of April.

KitGuru Says: It seems AMD has been providing buyers a little incentive by discounting the RX 580 and RX 570 right out of the gate, and not by mail-in rebates! Shame we don't see the same level of discounted hardware extended to Europe.

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Microsoft ‘Cloudbook’ is looking increasingly real https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/paul-taylor/microsoft-cloudbook-is-looking-increasingly-real/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/paul-taylor/microsoft-cloudbook-is-looking-increasingly-real/#comments Wed, 19 Apr 2017 19:38:44 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=331040 It seems more and more likely that Microsoft will release a new cheap, portable, device running a Cloud-based version of Windows, in time for the next back-to-school shopping season. It's been a busy 12 months for Microsoft. Early on we heard Windows running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon hardware. Even a trial test at Xiaomi that allowed users …

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It seems more and more likely that Microsoft will release a new cheap, portable, device running a Cloud-based version of Windows, in time for the next back-to-school shopping season.

It's been a busy 12 months for Microsoft. Early on we heard Windows running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon hardware. Even a trial test at Xiaomi that allowed users to install Windows on their Android phones. Then we heard mumblings of an upcoming Cloud-based version of Windows. More recently we've been hit with rumours of new Microsoft hardware such as the Surface Pro 5 and a major education event booked for May 2nd.

It turns out that all of it might be just about one major device launch, a Chromebook-killer tentatively monikered the ‘Cloudbook' (although we doubt this is a real name, as Cloudbook is already a series of Acer devices).

According to the latest reports, the ‘Cloudbook' will be using a Snapdragon 835 SoC from Qualcomm, like the one used on the Xiaomi 6 or Xperia XZ Premium. The tiny Snapdragon 835 includes an Adreno 540 GPU (claimed to be 25% faster than its predecessors), octa-core Kryo 280 big.LITTLE CPU at up to 2.45 GHz, Snapdragon X16 LTE modem (1 Gbps peak download) for wireless communications and possibly more important for head-in-the-cloud teens… Quick Charge 4.0, which Qualcomm claims to deliver 5 hours of power for 5 mins of charging.

Qualcomm 835 side-by-side with a penny.

Apparently, Microsoft may have clued-up to the fact that there is money to be made by releasing its own version of a lightweight, inexpensive laptop device, which will stave off the Chrome OS juggernaut. Recent research from Futuresource Consulting, shows that Chromebooks have massively eroded Apple's share of K12 sales in the US, rising from 38% market share in 2014 to 58% market share in 2016, almost exclusively at the cost of Apple's iOS (i.e. iPads) and OS X (i.e. MacBooks). If Microsoft does nothing, it'll be next.

KitGuru Says: We've grown accustomed to seeing Microsoft as the “OS company”, but that picture has been changing in recent years with the Surface family of devices. There is no reason Microsoft cannot pull this off, if it really fields such a device.

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