Corsair Receives Four Industry Awards

Corsair was recently selected as the winner of four different awards from major European print publications and websites. The categories were voted on by the readers of the publications, and placed Corsair at the top of three different categories. The Obsidian 800D case grabbed the "Best Case" award from hardware.info, based in the Netherlands. The Vengeance series of DDR3 memory was awarded "Best Memory Modules" from the same site. Corsair received the Memory Manufacturer of the Year award from both PC Masters and Hardwareluxx magazine, both based in Germany. CEO Andy Paul was happy to hear the news of receiving awards that were voted on by the enthusiast community, "We're thrilled with the recognition from our customers around the world."

On the Way to More Efficient Processors

Traditionally software has been optimized for performance, so every cycle and resource is used to its fullest potential. Now researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and the Australian National University are suggesting programmers look toward more energy efficient practices, with the help of advanced power profiles.

In certain situations, the architecture of a piece of hardware can impact performance. For example, Intel CPUs have been known to outperform AMD’s counterparts for intensive video editing operations. Instead of performance though, these researchers are looking at power draw, and have already seen different classes of software use really different amounts of power. Though their measurements are the first of their kind they will likely not be the last, especially has Intel has released a chip with an exposed power meter. This will allow programmers to see just how much power their software needs.

Naturally, optimizing energy efficiency may come at the cost of performance, but in some circumstance, such as cell phones and other battery-powered devices, performance is of lesser importance. Already software developers and hardware manufacturers are working to improve their designs; this research shows the value of their efforts.

Mushkin Launches a New Website

Lost in all the commotion of CES last week was Mushkin's redesigned website. The website before was nice, but a little outdated and not exactly the friendliest in terms of finding what you want. Mushkin's new website, however, changes all of that, with easy access to the information you want for the products you need. Now you can easily see all of Mushkin's products, from RAM to SSDs and Flash memory. You can also read about Mushkin's different technologies for RAM, see how to install RAM if you are new to upgrading, and even grab some wallpapers to show your support. Head on over to the redesigned Mushkin.com for all your memory needs.

Boycott SOPA: There’s an App for That

Some may think this goes too far and others may think it does not go far enough. Regardless, it exists. The Boycott SOPA app in the Android Market, coupled with the Barcode Scanner app, allows any Android phone to identify if a product is linked to a company supporting SOPA. The app uses the barcode scanner to find out what product you are looking at, and then checks it against a list of companies and bands. The list can be viewed on the developer’s website and includes not only SOPA supporting companies, but companies strongly affiliated with those that do. There are currently 879 entries on the list, which will grow and diminish as companies change their stance on SOPA.

What will Windows 8 Need?

As with other operating systems, there are specific hardware requirements of Windows 8 certified devices. These requirements are so Microsoft can guarantee a certain level of experience for all those who use its coming flagship on tablets and convertible PCs. These requirements include 5-point multitouch, NFC “touch marks,” five specific hardware buttons, a new Ctrl+Alt+Del combination, two second resume, and more.

The NFC "touch marks" mean there is something marking where devices need to be in contact in order for NFC to work. The five required buttons are Power, Rotation Lock, Volume Up and Down, and the Windows Key, which must be at least 10.5 mm in diameter. Other requirements include there being a minimum 10 GB of free space after the out-of-box experience, a 1366x768 screen resolution, and a 720p camera. For ARM machines the bootloader is also to be locked, which will prevent such devices from having other OS’s installed (until someone figures out how to get around that).

Apple At It Again

It seems that Apple suing Samsung is a new universal constant as more suits have been filed in Germany. Time for a quick recap: Apple first sued Samsung claiming the Galaxy S phones and Galaxy Tab tablets are too similar to the iPhone and iPad. Even though Apple tampered with images to make the similarities more extreme than they are, the court ruled that the sale of certain Samsung products be blocked. This prompted the development of the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which is a variant that can be sold in Germany. Now Apple is claiming it and the Galaxy S II phones, amongst other devices, also infringe on Apple patents.

Worth noting is these new suits are actually separate from the original ones. This means the entire trial process will begin again for them, instead of just being added to the current proceedings. All told 10 smartphones and 5 tablets are being targeted by these new suits, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, the world is starting to wonder if the two companies are putting more money into these suits or product development.

New Rosewill Products Announced at CES

Rosewill produces many computer components and peripherals, from computer cases to wireless adapters to keyboards, and has announced several new items at CES 2012. Among the new products are the Ranger and Ranger-M computer cases. The Ranger is a mid-size tower with ATX motherboard support while the Ranger-M is a mini-size tower for MicroATX boards. The full-size brother to the Ranger cases is the Thor V2 and its White Edition. This case design can hold an XL-ATX board with 6 internal 3.5” drives. There is also support for three 230 mm fans; one on the front, top, and side. In case the Thor V2 is not big enough for you, there is the Blackhawk-Ultra Super Tower. At 25” tall and 25.99” deep, this tower supports motherboards ranging from ATX to HPTX. If you need 10 internal 3.5” drive slots, this may be the case for you.

Other products announced are the new Hive power supplies, with 80+ Bronze certification. The three PSUs are 550 W, 650 W and 750 W. The Capstone PSU series achieves 80+ Gold certification with its 450 W, 550 W, 650 W, and 750 W non-modular units, and 650 W and 750 W modular units. The RX-358 U3C is an external HDD enclosure with both USB 3 and eSATA external interfaces. Two wireless adapters, routers, and some laptop accessories have also been announced.

Cooler Master Celebrates 20th Anniversary With New Web Site and Giveaways

Cooler Master is a well-known manufacturer of computer chassis, cooling products and peripherals, many of which have been reviewed here at Overclockers Club. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Cooler Master is launching a totally revamped web site that features a look at its history as well as some impressive giveaways. I'll leave it up to you to check out the user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing design, but you need to check out the 20th Anniversary Timeline companion site where you can upload Cooler Master-related photos. Each approved picture upload enters users into monthly random prize giveaway drawings throughout 2012 with a final grand prize after the end of the year for a full system build. Head on over to the site to check out the rules and conditions then upload photos of your Cooler Master products for a chance to win.

AMD Sued by Quanta (Not Over Patents)

Here’s something you may not have seen for a while; a suit between two tech companies without patent infringement involved. The plaintiff in this case is Quanta Computer Inc, the largest contract maker of laptops in the world. Its claim is AMD sold it chips which did not meet heat tolerances. These chips were then used in the laptops ordered by NEC and later malfunctioned.

In the complaint Quanta says it has, "suffered significant injury to prospective revenue and profits." AMD disputes these claims and states it has never received a report of the chips involved failing. In fact, Quanta itself admits it used the same chips in a different large order for NEC without issue.

Additional allegations in the complaint include breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, civil fraud and interference with a contract.

GIGABYTE Announces ‘Xmas & New Year Contest’

GIGABYTE has announced its Xmas and New Year Contest, and it's not just another giveaway either, as you're going to have to work for this one because this is an overclocking competition. You can head over the HWBOT.org contest site for the full details but we can briefly explain what's involved. According to GIGABYTE, the Xmas and New Year Contest is open to all overclockers using any AMD APU on any GIGABYTE socket F1 A75 or A55 series motherboard, using any cooling solution. There are three stages involved:

1. Highest HyperTransport Bus (CPUz)
2. Highest Memory Speed (CPUz)
3. Lowest CPU Frequency (CPUz)

The contest starts today, December 15th 2011, and run through midnight January 31st, 2012. Good Luck and happy overclocking!

One of the Biggest Partnerships in PC History About to Happen

It appears that one of the biggest partnerships in PC history is about to happen. According to Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York, Intel, IBM, GlobalFoundries, TSMC and Samsung will be teaming up for a $4.4 billion investment in New York State, which intends to create 6,900 jobs, with 2,500 high-tech jobs in Albany, Utica, East Fishkill and Canandaigua. Intel is going to build its 450mm East Coast Headquarters in Albany. Intel's push toward the 450mm wafers is supported by TSMC, while IBM and GlobalFoundries are more hesitant. Paul Otellini, President and CEO of Intel Corp., explains that the move to 450mm is a crucial element to moving the semiconductor industry to the next generation wafer size. It will allow Intel to reduce the production costs, increase productivity, while becoming more environmentally clean. 

XFX WarPad Contest

Today marks the first day of a new contest being launched by XFX where it'll be giving away a new XFX WarPad each day for the entire month of September. The requirements are fairly simple:  users need to like XFX on Facebook and then post a picture of their old mouse pad. That's it! Unfortunately, the contest is open to U.S. residents only and complete rules can be found here. Good Luck!

Rory Read to be AMD's New CEO

At the beginning of this year, AMD announced that its CEO, Dirk Meyer, was stepping down from a role he had assumed only a few years before. It announced it would begin a search for a new CEO, while Tom Seifert, AMD's CFO, would be the interim CEO until a new one was found. Well, today AMD has announced that Rory Read will become the new CEO of AMD, with Seifert returning to his previous role of CFO. You may have heard of Read since he was the Chief Operating Officer and President of Lenovo, with 23 years of experience before that with IBM. Rory Read will now be AMD's CEO, President and member of the board of directors, and he seems to be pretty excited to be joining AMD. The company is getting ready to launch its Bulldozer platform, which should be a big step forward from the Phenom line. At Lenovo, Read was President and COO from 2009 on, and helped to make it the world's fastest growing PC manufacturer and achieve its largest worldwide market share ever. He sounds like the right man for the CEO job at AMD, so I wish both him and the company luck with all its future plans.

Acer Suffers Worse-than-Expected Q2 Results

The news is not always rosy when it comes to quarterly results, as Acer is finding out today. The Taiwanese computer manufacter may be the second largest computer manufacturer in the world, but that didn't stop it from suffering worse-than-expected results for the second quarter. Acer lost about $234.1 million for Q2, which is far worse than the $114.7 million it predicted to lose. Acer is planning to change a few things with relation to its products, namely by monitoring the market for a better inventory control. The company is planning for better results in the third quarter, with Acer predicting revenue growth and increased margin compared to the last quarter. Perhaps the possibility of HP having a smaller stake in the computer business could help turn Acer's profits up again, since HP is currently the number one computer manufacturer.

Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple

"I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee."

The Apple Board of Directors received a letter from Steve Jobs announcing his resignation from the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Though many would say Jobs is responsible for Apple’s success, he has been suffering health problems for some time, causing him to temporarily leave his position in 2004, 2009 and again at the beginning of this year, from which he had not returned. The letter he sent to the board does not state if the reasons for his change in position are medical in nature.

Tim Cook, previously the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Jobs' recommendation, has been named as his replacement. He served as interim CEO during Jobs' leave of absence.

Discussion thread in the forum.

Ultimate Gaming Rig Up For Grabs

Patriot Memory has teamed with some major players in the computer industry such as Sapphire, SandForce and NFC Systems to put together a one-of-a-kind machine built using the NFC ARK Chassis. Given the companies involved, you know that it has to have the latest video and solid state drive technology and you'd be correct. The system will feature Patriot Memory’s new SandForce Driven Wildfire SATA III drive along with a Sapphire Pure Black P67 motherboard. Sapphire has also contributed a pair of HD 6950 FleX GPUs running in Crossfire. The sweepstakes ends at 12:00:01 AM. EDT. on Thursday, September 1st, 2011, so be sure to get your entry in soon by checking out the entry page on Facebook.

HP Axes webOS Devices, May Plan to Spin-Off PC Business

Well, this news is certainly surprising. In April 2010, HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion in order to acquire webOS and Palm's various patents. We got a few devices running new versions of webOS, like the Pre 2, Veer 4G, TouchPad, and the upcoming Pre 3, but now it seems all of that will change. In a press release issued today by HP, it has announced that it will "discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS phones." HP will keep webOS around to explore future options that could utilize it, but the main reason HP acquired Palm, phones and tablets, is being axed. HP is also in talks to acquire Autonomy Corporation, which would mean that it would spin-off its Personal Systems group (PCs, mobile devices, and storage). What that would mean is the hardware side of HP would be separate from the services side. HP will hold a conference call later today to discuss the plans in full, but this is certainly unexpected news. HP is looking at a lower than expected revenue, so it seems a refocus is in order. It also means that we will never see the HP Pre 3 smartphone since that was scheduled to be released later this year.

Xbox 360 Consoles Get Matte Finish

Many customers when they think of the somewhat new and certainly redesigned Xbox 360 consoles think of the new design that has a glossy outer shell. Sadly, this will no longer be the case, as Microsoft has announced through a blog post from Major Nelson that the console will soon be offered only in the matte finish. Currently, the 4GB version is the only rendition of the Xbox 360 to come configured with this finish, but as Microsoft has stated, all Xbox 360 consoles will now be featuring this design in the near future. The company has said that there will probably be limited editions of the glossy console in the future, but that no date is planned out as of right now. Nelson has also stated that the stock in stores will take a bit to completely be exchanged, so for all of the customers wanting the glossy version of an Xbox 360, now is the time to go our and make that final purchase.

Nintendo Responds To 3DS Price Drop

Even with Nintendo trying to make up the sudden price drop to early adopters by giving them twenty free console games, customers have been back lashing out against the news since the announcement. The CEO of Nintendo has heard many of these complaints and has now put out a public response for these comments and questions, stating that they are just for their emotions. Satoru Iwata goes on to talk about how customers have the right to feel betrayed and punished for early adoption due to the price drop, but also states how the early adopters are important to the company overall despite this. The Nintendo CEO spoke that the price drop was due to retailers being concerned that the company has not put out a worthy successor to the ever popular DS system that first came out years ago. Obviously this response does not fix too much between the company and customers, but Iwata is hoping that his formal apology makes up for the customer anger somewhat.

LG Plans For Larger OLED Screens

Last summer, LG showed off their own 31-inch television, which awed consumers, since most OLED screens are usually under the 20 inch mark or found in mobile devices such as cell phones. However, LG sees much potential in the OLED technology, which offers amazing color output, screen brightness, and power consumption ratings as well. By next year, the Korean manufacturer is planning on introducing a 55 inch OLED television screen to the public, offering the largest sized single OLED screen there is to date. The CEO of the company says that the IPS technology is much better suited for the mobile space, but as a whole, they are planning on switching to the larger side of the spectrum. Of course the price for this OLED television will be unheard of, but it will be a pure technological feat to see such a product produced, if LG comes through on their expectations.

Corsair Announces Limited Edition 8GB Kit

Corsair, a company known for its power supplies, cases, cooling systems, solid state drives, and most of all, its RAM has announced a new 8GB (2x4GB) kit of DDR3 RAM. Assembled by hand after individual components are screened, this RAM is meant to operate at 2133MHz and timings of 9-11-9-27 using only 1.5V. After assembly the sticks are tested on Intel P67 and P55 motherboards at up to 2400MHz, with a voltage of 1.65V. This Dominator GT kit uses Corsair’s DHX+ heatsinks and, as with all Dominator GT memory, has a lifetime limited warranty.

The memory may be purchased directly from Corsair for $499. There is a limited quantity of them.

Apple Tests The Display Waters

Recently, Apple has been refreshing much of its line offering better products are even better prices to its consumers. Leaked upon their website today as a mistake, though taken down shortly thereafter, were pictures of a possible dual display setup using the Thunderbolt connection. What was shown on the picture was a MacBook Pro connected to two Apple Cinema Displays through a notable Thunderbolt cord that had a splitter at one end, enabling users to have much more desktop space with their current Apple Cinema Display. It has not been confirmed however if this image is actually of something to come, or just a Photoshop teaser, though with the release of Lion coming in the next few weeks, it may actually be a reality once it hits the market. Only time will tell obviously, since Apple has made no official comment about this picture or if the technology to do this will be enabled in Lion.

OCZ Launches Next Generation RevoDrive

OCZ has launched its newest PCI-Express solid state drive product lines today, the RevoDrive 3 and RevoDrive 3 X2. By using an x4 PCIe slot instead of a SATA 3Gb/s or 6Gb/s port, these drives are capable of up to 1GB/s and 1.5GB/s read speed, for the RevoDrive 3 and RevoDrive 3 X2 respectively, and 925 MB/s and 1.25GB/s write, respectively. The drives feature the propriety Virtualized Controller Architecture (VCA) technology from OCZ, which allows for direct memory access (DMA) capabilities and data management functions, to give improved performance and reliability. VCA also gives these devices TRIM and SCSI unmap support for performance as well as consolidated SMART support for monitoring. The onboard hardware also includes a processing core, to reduce the use of system resources.

The RevoDrive 3 and Revodrive 3 X2 are available in 240 GB and 480 GB capacities, but only the X2 version is available at 960 GB as well.

HTC Tells Apple to Compete Instead of Suing

In case you haven't heard, Apple is currently suing Samsung for copying Apple's product designs. Apple says that many of Samsung's products bear a striking resemblance to its own products, and is suing because of that. HTC is, apparently, not very amused by Apple suing Samsung, and is telling Apple it should aim to compete instead. Yes, HTC is telling Apple it should compete instead of sue. HTC's general counsel Grace Lei says the company is tired of Apple constantly suing every other smartphone manufacturer and should seek to compete in the market. Apple is also still suing HTC and is seeking to block the import of its devices, so perhaps HTC has some reason to complain about Apple's recent practices. Who knows, maybe Apple will finally stop suing every other smartphone maker and bring some more innovation to the field. It would be nice to get through a month without hearing of some company suing another.

Samsung Drops One Suit with Apple, has Another

Bloomberg is reporting that Samsung has dropped its patent infringement counter-suit against Apple, filed on April 21. This suit was in response to Apple's own patent infringement suit from April 15. Bloomberg explains that Samsung has done this to "steamline the legal proceedings." While this suit has been dropped Samsung will still defend the patents mentioned in the suit via its counter-claim to Apple's suit.

On June 28 Samsung filed another suit in the U.S. against Apple, claiming technology used in the iPhone and iPad are infringing patents. A similar suit was also filed by Samsung in the U.K. making it at least five countries with on-going litigation between the two companies. Samsung also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, requesting all imports of the allegedly infringing devices be blocked.

Intel Upgrading Its Plant in Israel

Intel is planning on expanding its south Israeli chip plant for a second time and is therefore seeking a government grant, according to Israel’s Industry and Trade Ministry this Sunday. Intel plans an expansion worth $4.8 billion. The expansion will increase the workforce by 1,300 employees to a total of 4,400, and shall make the plant ready to produce wafers with 15-nanometer technology. An Intel spokesman confirmed that Intel requested a grant but that doesn't necessarily mean that Intel will go ahead with the expansion. Industry and Trade Minister Shalom Simhon explained that the ministry will review Intel's request and that he sees the request as a vote of confidence in Israel's operations. Intel opened its Fab 28 chip plant in 2008 to make its 45-nanometer circuitry. Intel is already upgrading its Kiryat Gat plant, which produces its next-gen 22-nanometer chip costing $2.7 billion.

RSA Security Announces Overhaul

RSA Security has announced the complete overhaul of its line of security products after it was discovered that a breach in RSA's security was to partially to blame for the recent cyber attack on Lockheed Martin, not to mention the attack on RSA itself back in March. Because the perpetrators of the Lockheed break-in were able to duplicate RSA's password keychains, the company has announced a full replacement of the devices. Not only is RSA offering the aforementioned replacement of its SecurID tokens, it is also offering additional security monitoring. Due to the massive amount of companies that use the tokens as well as the possibility of another high-profile attack, the company has pledged to make this shoring-up of its defenses top priority.

Bulldozer Pushed Back

For those of you waiting for your next AMD upgrade, you’re going to be waiting a bit longer. It is being reported at several outlets (Bright Side of News, X-bit labs, and AnandTech articles) that due to performance issues, the new processor architecture is being delayed. The B0 and B1 steppings have not satisfied AMD, and probably wouldn’t satisfy customers either, so effort is being focused on the B2 stepping to get the chip going. From the X-bit labs item the CPUs were only functioning at 2.5GHz normal clock and 3.5GHz turbo. While a full 1GHz jump in performance when needed would be nice to have, 3.5GHz is achievable as a stable overclock on several of the current Phenom II processors, and matched or bested at the stock speeds of three of them (the 970, 975, and 980).

The current expected launch dates have it in late July (AnandTech prediction) or September (X-bit labs). Maybe it will help if you think of it as more time to save up for it instead of more time to wait.

University of Arizona Named a CUDA Teaching Center

For those of you interested in becoming an electrical or computer engineer, NVIDIA has recently named the University of Arizona Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering a CUDA Teaching Center. There are not quite fifty so named centers in the world that teach the techniques used to compute with a GPU utilizing CUDA. Formerly the techniques were accessible only to senior-level students, but now it will be incorporated throughout the curriculum.

Benefits to the university include funding for a new teaching assistant and NVIDIA provided high-performance CUDA-enabled GPUs. Benefits to NVIDIA include feedback on the education process for parallel computing techniques, which could lead to changes to the techniques in the future. Obviously the forthcoming CUDA-trained professionals will be another benefit to NVIDIA along with all of their research while still students.

Chromebook Adds More Features

With the uprising of news concerning the new Google Chromebook, it is beginning to get interesting with all of the new information coming out day by day. Google is now stating that the Chromebook will be provided by both SAMSUNG and Acer, and will feature support right out of the box for Netflix and Hulu. Also with the announcement has come a new improvement to the file management system in the Chrome Operating System, along with offline versions with full support of Google Docs, Google Calender, and Gmail. The Chromebook with also be a hit with business users and school students alike, with rates coming in at $28 and $20, respectively, which both include regular software and hardware updates.