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Submission + - NVIDIA Launches Maxwell-Based GeForce GTX 980 And GeForce GTX 970 GPUs (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: NVIDIA has launched two new high-end graphics cards based on their latest Maxwell architecture. The GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 are based on Maxwell and replace NVIDIA's current high-end offerings, the GeForce GTX 780 Ti, GTX 780, and GTX 770. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 980 and GTX 970 are somewhat similar as the cards share the same 4GB frame buffer and GM204 GPU, but the GTX 970's GPU is clocked a bit lower and features fewer active Streaming Multiprocessors and CUDA cores. The GeForce GTX 980's GM204 GPU has all of its functional blocks enabled. The fully-loaded GeForce GTX 980 GM204 GPU has a base clock of 1126MHz and a Boost clock of 1216MHz. The GTX 970 clocks in with a base clock of 1050MHz and Boost clock of 1178MHz. The 4GB of video memory on both cards is clocked at a blisteringly-fast 7GHz (effective GDDR5 data rate). NVIDIA was able to optimize the GM204's power efficiency, however, by tweaking virtually every part of the GPU. NVIDIA claims that Maxwell SMs (Streaming Multiprocessors) offer double the performance of GK104 and double the perf per watt as well. NVIDIA has also added support for new features, namely Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR), Multi-Frame Sampled Anti-Aliasing (MFAA), and Voxel Global Illumination (VXGI). Performance-wise, the GeForce GTX 980 is the fastest single-GPU powered graphics card ever tested. The GeForce GTX 970 isn't as dominant overall, but its performance was impressive nonetheless. The GeForce GTX 970 typically performed about on par with a GeForce GTX Titan and traded blows with the Radeon R9 290X.

Submission + - Latest Logitech Harmony Remotes Can Now Control Smart Home Devices Too (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: In an ongoing effort to put every device in your house under the control of a Harmony Remote, Logitech is also now claiming they're ready to take over other devices in addition to those that reside in your living room. The company stepped into the home control market, releasing two high-end home remotes and the Logitech Harmony Home Hub, which manages the traffic between the remotes and your home's door locks, garage door opener, thermostat, lights and window shades, among other devices. Interestingly, the most important part of the Logitech Harmony Home series is also one of the cheapest. The Logitech Harmony Home Hub, which will set you back $99.99, use a variety of connectivity options (including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) to send commands from your wireless remote to your thermostat and other devices. It's compatible with home automation tools from industry brands, including August, Honeywell, Kwikset, Schlage, and Sylvania (to name just a few). For controlling those devices, you have three options: an app for your smartphone, the Logitech Harmony Home Control ($149.99), or the Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home ($349.99).

Submission + - Netropolitan Is A Facebook For The Affluent, And It's Only $9000 To Join (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Facebook has become too crowded and too mundane. With around 1.3 billion Facebook users, it's understandable to be overwhelmed by everything and want to get away from it all. However, unlike Facebook which is looking to connect everyone to the internet, there is a new site called Netropolitan that focuses more on exclusivity and privacy. The site was founded by composer and former conductor of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra James Touchi-Peters who wanted to provide a social media site for affluent and accomplished individuals. People wishing to join need only pay a mere $9,000 to join. Of that amount, $6,000 is the initiation fee and the remaining $3,000 is for the annual membership fee which users will continue to pay. So what does the initiation and annual fee get you? For starters, Netropolitan will offer an ad-free experience and will not promote any kind of paid promotions to its members. However, it will allow the creation of groups by businesses in which members can advertise to each other under certain guidelines. $9K just to join? There must be another hook...

Submission + - Tables Turn: Samsung Disses Apple iPhone 6 As A Big Imitation (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, though Apple certainly wasn't flattered when it accused Samsung of copying the look and feel of the iPhone with its Galaxy line. Instead, the cranky Cupertino outfit took Samsung to court in several territories and at one point won a $1.05 billion verdict (it was later reduced in half). Well, turnabout is fair play, and now Apple's the one being called a copycat by its South Koren nemesis. Samsung's U.S. arm is taking swings at Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in a series of ads. Interestingly enough, Samsung is willing to dole out some collateral damage in the process by taking certain members of the press to task for not recognizing how forward-thinking Samsung might have been by jumping into the phablet category several years ago.

Submission + - Early iPhone 6 Benchmark Results Show Only Modest Gains For A8 (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Historically speaking, we typically see impressive performance gains each time Apple releases a new custom processor for its mobile products. Certainly that was true of the A7 SoC, the world's first 64-bit smartphone processor that Apple said offers "desktop-class" performance. So, can we expect the same kind of performance bump from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both of which sport the new custom A8 SoC? Maybe not. The iPhone 6 recently surfaced in results for the Basemark X benchmark and armed with a dual-core 1.4GHz Cyclone CPU and A8 GPU, the iPhone 6 scored 21,204.26 and a earned a place at the top of the chart, though not by much. By comparison, the iPhone 5s scored 20,253.80 in the same benchmark. In other words, the iPhone 6 is currently less than 5 percent faster than the iPhone 5s, at least as far as the Basemark X benchmark is concerned.

Submission + - First Intel 14nm Broadwell Core M Benchmarks Unveiled (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Intel Execs out at IDF this week in San Francisco have let slip some actual benchmark run results on Intel's just-released Broadwell Core M processor platform. Intel has gone into detail on Broadwell's architecture and features previously and has discussed power consumption and performance expectations. However, now we finally have some cold, hard numbers, rather than just percentage comparisons versus previous generation Intel platforms. Intel was demonstrating a 12.5-inch Broadwell-based, Core M 5Y70-powered Windows tablet live and the benchmark runs look promising, with 3DMark scores in the 50K range. The Cinebench results shown place the CPU on par with full-fledged Core i5 notebook variants in the 15 Watt power envelope, but powered by the new 4.5 Watt Broadwell Y Core M processor that will be employed mostly in 2-in-1 hybrid devices and high end tablets.

Submission + - Intel Demos Next-Gen Skylake Processor at IDF 2014 [Video] (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: This morning at the Intel Developers Conference in San Francisco, Intel PC Client Group Vice President Kirk Skaugen offered a live demo of "Skylake," the follow-on to the company's Broadwell processor platform. Set for launch before the end of 2015, the platform is claimed to offer significant battery life gains for 2-in-1 hybrids and tablets. Though they're built on the same 14nm process as Intel's Broadwell architecture, the design is reported to incorporate some significant advancements including, finally, the full realization of wireless charging and data streaming between devices in what Skaugen noted as a campaign to"ditch the brick" (meaning the power brick). There will of course be a number of variants of Skylake introduced for various devices and platforms but Skaugen no doubt demonstrated Skylake Y, which is the low power variant for tablets and 2-in-1 hybrids. Seen live here in action, Skylake is able to handle the 3DMark graphics performance benchmark with relative ease.

Submission + - Intel Launches Xeon E5 v3 Series Server CPUs With Up To 18 Cores (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Intel took the wraps off it's Xeon E5 v3 server line-up today and the chip, based on Intel's Haswell-EP architecture, is looking imrpessive. Intel's previous generation Xeon E5 V2 chips, which were based on Ivy Bridge, topped out at 12 cores per socket. The new Xeon E5 v3 processors, in contrast, are going to push as high as 18 cores per socket — a 50% improvement. The TDP range is pushing slightly outwards in both directions; the E5 V2 family ranged from 50W to 150W, whereas the E5 V3 family will span 55W — 160W in a single workstation configuration. The core technologies Intel is introducing to the E5 V3 family pull from the Haswell architecture, including increased cache bandwidth, improved overall IPC, and new features like AVX2, which offers a theoretical near-doubling of floating point performance over the original AVX instructions. Full support for DDR4 DRAM memory is now included as well.

Submission + - Intel Discloses Core M Broadwell Speeds, Feeds And Performance Expectations (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Intel's next-generation Broadwell Y (now known as the Core M processor) is set to ship on schedule for the end of the year. The company, occasionally flagged with criticism of its delays on the chip and with its IDF show ramping-up next week, is sharing more detail on the upcoming speeds, feeds, features and performance characteristics of its new 14nm mobile platform. Intel's Broadwell-Y lineup initially consists of three chips with apparently very little difference, except for clock speed. Base idle frequencies tip-toe along at 800MHz to 1.1GHz, with max turbo frequencies up to 2.6GHz for the dual-core chips that Intel is announcing today. All parts are able to hit a very low 4.5 Watt TDP (Thermal Design Power) power envelope. Intel is also claiming clock-for-clock gains at the CPU level but also a 40 percent gain in graphics performance, versus the previous generation low power Haswell architecture. Larger, premium tablets and 2-in-1 devices are expect to start shipping at a trickle in Q4, with a larger volume ramp in Q1.

Submission + - Moto 360 Reviews Arrive (theverge.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Reviews for the Moto 360 smartwatch have started to roll in. The Verge praises the design: the circular display is framed by an unadorned, stainless steel shell, and fastened to your wrist with a simple leather strap. They criticize the battery, saying they were averaging around 12 hours of life before it needed to be charged. They add, "The Moto 360 isn’t meant to be used all the time. It’s meant to be a delightful and occasional source of useful information, reminding you at the perfect moment of the thing you forgot. You’re not supposed to ask Android Wear what’s next on your calendar; you’re supposed to trust that it’ll tell you when you need to know." AnandTech takes a deeper dive into the phone's hardware. The Wall Street Journal says it's easy to get used to speaking into your watch for basic functions, but says the software — and thus, the Moto 360 — still isn't quite ready for primetime. However, almost all the reviews agree that the smartwatch's time is coming.

Submission + - NVIDIA sues Qualcomm and Samsung seeking to ban import of Samsung phones 2

Submitted by Calibax
Calibax writes: NVIDIA has filed complaints against Samsung and Qualcomm at the ITC and in Delaware, alleging that the companies are both infringing NVIDIA GPU patents covering technology including programmable shading, unified shaders and multithreaded parallel processing. NVIDIA is seeking damages and a ban on US import of a raft of devices with Snapdragon and Exynos processors until there is an agreement on licensing.

Submission + - Intel Unveils MICA "My Intelligent Communication Accessory" Smart Bracelet (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: With a few companies introducing smartwatch products at IFA in Berlin, Intel's taking a slightly different approach. The chip-maker's wearable debut in Berlin is far different than those being issued by LG, Samsung, and Motorola, focusing on fashion instead of nuts-and-bolts. It's called MICA, which is short for "My Intelligent Communication Accessory," and Intel's calling it a "feminine accessory blending seamlessly into everyday life." While it handles text messages, push alerts, and other notifications like most other smartwatches, it's also snazzed up on the design front. Details are murky in terms of operating system, etc., but make no mistake: Intel's entry into the wearables arena is a piece like no other.

Submission + - AMD Launches Radeon R9 285 'Tonga' GPU And FX-8370E, FX-8370, FX-8320 Processors (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: AMD has launched two new products today for DIY enthusiasts and system integrators. The AMD Radeon R9 285 is a new mainstream GPU from AMD that is the first product built around AMD's new Tonga GPU, dubbed the Radeon R9 285. As its name suggests, this card falls into AMD's current line-up in between the Radeon R9 270X and R9 280X. It's essentially a tweak of the company's Hawaii architecture that actually drops in at a lower power envelope versus the Radeon R9 280X but with better performance and the latest features in AMD's architecture, like TrueAudio and FreeSync monitor sychronization technology. AMD has also launched the FX-8370E, FX-8370 and FX-8320E line of performance mainstream CPUs today as well, The new FX-8370, FX-8370E, and FX-8320E are familiar in many ways. These cores are still based on the older Piledriver architecture that debuted in 2012, they can still process two threads per module and four modules total for eight CPU cores, and they still rely on AMD's Socket AM3+. What these new chips do offer is an opportunity for enthusiasts in the mid-range category with 95W motherboards to step up to better processors. Before today, AMD didn't really have an eight-core option in the 95W range, which means a 95W motherboard topped out with a six-core FX-6300 with a 3.5GHz base clock and a 4.1GHz Turbo. Now, enthusiasts can step up to the FX-8370E with its 3.3GHz / 4.3GHz spread and eight cores, rather than just six.

Submission + - Apple reveals the most common reasons that it rejects apps

Submitted by mrspoonsi
mrspoonsi writes: One of the great mysteries of the App Store is why certain apps get rejected and why others don’t. Apple has let a surprising number of ripoffs and clones through the store’s iron gates, yet some developers face rejection for seemingly innocent apps. “Before you develop your app, it’s important to become familiar with the technical, content, and design criteria that we use to review all apps,” explains Apple on a new webpage called “Common App Rejections.” Rejections include: Apple and our customers place a high value on simple, refined, creative, well thought through interfaces. They take more work but are worth it. Apple sets a high bar. If your user interface is complex or less than very good, it may be rejected; Apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations or use names or icons similar to other Apps will be rejected.

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