Jul 12
Jul 12
During my lunch break yesterday, I decided to do a little multitasking and give the kind folks at PayPal a call regarding an ongoing issue I was having with my account. I figured, stupidly, that a company as big as PayPal would have more than three people working the whole of their customer service wing. As the call disconnected two hours and 15 minutes of hold time later—likely because even the automated system got bored talking to me—I realized how very wrong I was. Here’s a quick recap.
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Jul 12
LG announced today it’s adding two more 4K TVs to its Ultra HD lineup. 55-inch models are priced at
Posted in: Today's ChiliLG announced today it’s adding two more 4K TVs to its Ultra HD lineup. 55-inch models are priced at $6,000, with 65-inchers costing an additional $2,000.
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Jul 12
Bentley has taken the wraps off of its new Continental GT3 racer, aiming to prove that it’s not only Jaguar that can bring something beefy and British to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. Where Jaguar’s achingly appealing Project 7 is a design study, however – albeit one which will do 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds – the Bentley Continental GT3 is headed to the racetrack, aiming to bring its monstrous 600 HP power to FIA Blancpain Series races in 2014.
Although the external design shows the obvious relation to Bentley’s Continental GT road car, there have been some major changes to fettle it for the track. In total, Bentley has ditched more than 1,000 kg in weight, including the wood and leather interior trim, the electrical systems usually found in the production car, and most of the controls on the dashboard. That brings it under 1,300 kg, even with the addition of some carbon-fiber on the outside: a rear wing, a splitter at the front, and tweaks to the bonnet, bumpers, fenders, and sills to cut drag and increase passive cooling.
The biggest change, though, is probably to the engine. That’s a 4.0-liter V8, in the racer pushed back to the back of the engine bay and paired with a carbon-fiber propshaft to drive the rear wheels. A new gearbox – an Xtrac six-speed sequential, with a limited slip diff and pneumatic shifting – is controlled via steering wheel paddles.
Bentley Continental GT3 teaser:
Gone is the road car’s air suspension, replaced with double-wishbones front and rear, as well as four-way adjustable dampers. Ventilated iron disc brakes work with six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston at the back; the driver can independently adjust the braking balance themselves.
Bentley Continental GT3 racetrack testing:
Inside, it’s stripped out but still surprisingly luxurious for a racer, with the Continental GT3 getting the usual hand-trimmed and stitched wheel, door pulls, and seat. They share cabin space with a steel roll cage, six-point safety harness, integrated fire extinguisher system, and pneumatic jack system.
Bentley isn’t saying what sort of performance it expects from the 600 HP car, with the company planning to tune the car over the coming months before it takes place in development trials and FIA homologation.
Bentley Continental GT3 makes 600HP racer out of luxury barge is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 12
LaCie’s updated NAS OS 3 software boosts RAID write speeds, expands hybrid cloud capabilities
Posted in: Today's Chili
Rely heavily on a LaCie 5big NAS Pro or 2big NAS? If so, you’ll want to carve out a few minutes to inject a bit of new software (tap “Support” in the product’s Dashboard). The aforementioned outfit has updated its NAS OS 3 software today, increasing RAID 5 write speeds by 25 percent, expanding hybrid cloud capabilities and adding more professional features. With this update, the LaCie 5big NAS Pro now features RAID 5 write speeds up to 100MB/s on a single LAN, a 25 percent increase from the previous NAS OS version.
In addition to letting users sync data between a computer and the cloud, NAS OS 3.1 now lets users sync data between a computer and the NAS. For the pros in attendance, you’ll be pleased to know that the software now features hardware monitoring that alerts the admin in real time of potential issues with the fan, CPU and RAM. The new build (v3.1) is available today for the 5big NAS Pro and will be available in August for the 2big NAS; for more, peek the full presser after the break.
Filed under: Storage, Software
Source: LaCie
Jul 12
Jul 12
The problem with ping pong—as cool as it is—is its complete and utter lack of insane, borderline seizure-inducing visuals. We can all agree on that, right? Well you don’t have to worry anymore; the Pingtime augmented reality table has got that covered.
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Jul 12
Jul 12
As what first looked like a small tease for an update to Angry Birds Star Wars, Rovio seems to be teasing much more than that. Today, the Finnish game developing studio revealed that they will be announcing a “brand new game” on Monday that looks to Star Wars related, but seeing as it’s a “brand new game,” we could be looking forward to an Angry Birds Star Wars sequel, rather than just an update to the original movie-themed game.
Rovio didn’t say much about what to expect for Monday’s announcement, but they did mention the game would feature “the biggest character line-up ever,” along with “awesome new powers, and maybe even a few surprises!” They finished the update with an attempt to get the hashtag #July15 trending on Twitter.
As for the teaser image that the company posted, it looks like the this Star Wars sequel game will be taking on the prequels, as the image reveals a young Anakin Skywalker’s shadow revealing the silhouette of Darth Vader. The first Angry Birds Star Wars game focused on the first three movies in the Star Wars saga, so it would make sense that this “brand new game” focuses on the next three in the series.
However, as most of us know, the prequels weren’t really the high point of the Star Wars saga, so here’s hoping that Rovio can make a bearable game that depicts the three prequel films. Then again, Rovio is getting to the point where they need to do some innovation instead of churning out new Angry Birds game every year, or even worse, re-releasing old Angry Birds games.
Of course, though, as long as Rovio keeps seeing sales of new Angry Birds title go through the roof, then there’s no reason for them to fix something that isn’t broken, but it’s certainly exhausting to keep seeing new Angry Birds titles show up when I can’t even keep up with the previous installment.
SOURCE: Rovio
Angry Birds “brand new game” teased for Monday reveal is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Jul 12
When we first caught a glimpse of the ZTE Geek in Beijing, it was merely an awkwardly named prototype. Now, it looks like the smartphone with “Intel Inside” will soon be ready for primetime — in China, anyway. It boasts the same Clover Trail+ processor as the Lenovo K900, but with pared-down features that help it achieve a lower price point. The phone’s outfitted with Android (Jelly Bean), a 5-inch 1,080 x 720 pixel display, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1-megapixel front cam, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage space. Clearly, it’s not the most tricked-out phone there is, but its price might entice people to try it out. The ZTE Geek will make an exclusive arrival at Jingdong Mall on July 25th, where it’ll retail for ¥1,888 ($307). If you despise cables and your wallet can take a hit, you can also get one bundled with a wireless charging kit for ¥2,288 ($372).
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Engadget Chinese (translated)
Source: ZTE (Sina Weibo)
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