Ark PC has come out with another gaming PC, the CROYDON CY-IH4H87A-C Sarnga. Adopting Cooler Master’s CM 690 II Plus Black & White PC case, the system is packed with a 3.40GHz Intel Core i5-4670 processor, an Intel H87 Express Chipset, a GeForce GTX 760 2GB graphics card, an 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a 550W 80PLUS PLATINUM power supply and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS. The CROYDON CY-IH4H87A-C Sarnga is priced at 124,980 Yen (about $1,263). [Product Page]
Buffalo has showed off another one of its upcoming Bluetooth 3.0 keyboard, the BSKBB22. Powered by 2x AAA batteries, this compact wireless keyboard features a 2.4GHz radio frequency (works up to 10 meters), 78 keys and is compatible with Bluetooth 3.0 enabled devices. The BSKBB22 will go on sale from mid-October for 5,617 Yen (about $56) in black and white color options. [Product Page]
ASK Inc. Japan has just added MSI’s latest quad-core Android 4.2 tablet ‘Primo 81′ to its product page. This thin and light tablet (7.82mm thick and 330g) sports a 7.85-inch 1024 x 768 IPS multi-touch display, a 1.0GHz Allwinner A31s quad-core processor, a PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU, a 1GB DDR3 RAM, a 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, dual cameras (0.3MP front & 2MP rear), 1080p Full HD video playback support, WiFi, a mini HDMI port, a built-in 0.5W speaker, a 3500mAh battery and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS. The MSI Primo 81 will be available from early November for 19,800 Yen (about $202). [Product Page]
Panasonic is preparing to release their newest outdoor Bluetooth speaker, the SC-NT10. Powered by a built-in 1500mAh battery, this drip-proof, dust-proof and shock-proof portable wireless speaker comes with a built-in microphone for hands-free calls, NFC pairing function, a passive radiator, a 3.5mm stereo mini jack, a maximum power output of 4W (2Wx2) and is compatible with Bluetooth 3.0 enabled devices. Available in orange and blue color options, the SC-NT10 will go on sale from October 18th for unannounced price yet. [Panasonic]
There have been rumors that TSMC would handle some of Apple’s future chip production, but details of the purported arrangement have been vague. The Korea Economic Daily may have just filled us in, however. It claims that Samsung will make 30 to 40 percent of Apple’s A8 processors next year, with TSMC presumably assembling the lion’s share. Apple wanted TSMC to be the sole manufacturer, but the challenge of building 20 nanometer-class chips led to a supplementary agreement with Samsung, according to the Daily‘s tipsters. Neither side has commented on the report, so take it with a large grain of salt. If the story is accurate, though, it suggests that Apple will have only modest success in excluding its arch-rival’s technology from next-generation iOS devices.
[Thanks, Byungjin]
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple, Samsung
Silicon Power has announced a new line of USB flash drives, the Touch T03. Coming in capacities ranging from 4GB to 64GB, these capless flash drives feature a sleek stainless steel case with stylish groove design at the end of the body, a USB 2.0 connection interface and make use of COB (Chip On Board) technology. Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing yet. [Silicon Power]
As Microsoft gears up for a rockstar-like world tour of its latest flagship gaming product Xbox One, Rockstar North has dropped a bombshell that has its doggedly loyal fan base foaming at the mouth. In a blog post last week, the game development giant confirmed that its highly anticipated blockbuster Grand Theft Auto Online will […]
iOS 7 was released to the public a couple of weeks ago and as expected with most releases, there will be a couple of teething problems that can be expected, especially since the software will be used by millions around the world, leading to various bugs that could have been missed during the beta. One of the bugs involved a lock screen vulnerability that has since been patched with iOS 7.0.2, although it turns out in the process of fixing the bug, a new bug was discovered which pretty much allowed a hacker to gain access to various aspects of your phone even if it is protected by a passcode.
The process is not one that will be known by most, and it’s probably one you might not have figured out, but if you check out the video above, it certainly looks like it can be done. In any case we expect Apple is probably well aware of this bug by now and is probably working on an update that will fix it, so if you’re an iPhone user, you can expect another minor update to address this bug in the near future. In the meantime you can check out the video above to see the bug in action.
iOS 7.0.2 Bug Fix Results In A New Bug original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Now that the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c have landed in the hands of consumers in major markets around the globe, all eyes shift towards Apple‘s next batch of devices, particular the much-awaited next iteration of the company’s tablet line, the iPad 5. Various leaks and rumors have already circulated around the Internet and now […]
There’s been plenty of buzz about iBeacons and Bluetooth Low Energy radios — they’re supposed to do wonders for in-venue positioning, and plenty of companies have already expressed interest in deploying them in the field. But what is it like to actually stroll through a beacon-laden area? Curiously enough, Major League Baseball took on that challenge and recently decided to show off its vision of a Bluetooth-enabled ballpark at Citi Field in Queens, NY.
“What we’re moving toward is building a platform for any team to put their own custom Bluetooth beacons in their parks,” said MLB Mobile Product Dev SVP Chad Evans as he clutched his iPhone outside the venue.
Let’s be clear about something first: Very little about MLB’s big Bluetooth push is final at this point. It almost seemed that, with this experiment, MLB’s tech team was thinking out loud. A handsomely revamped version of the MLB At Bat app is perhaps the furthest along. Evans says the design language of the app, which now features a seemingly Googlean stream of cards that display your ticket barcode and seat locations (among other things) is near final and will roll out to consumers in the coming months. The visual polish of the software was balanced by the unfinished nature of the hardware that made all those whiz-bang features possible. At this stage it’s all prototype gear, small boards lashed together and housed in milky-white plastic cases to protect them from the elements.
With all that said, MLB’s little experiment shows plenty of promise. Walking across the threshold into the park proper prompted a notification on Evans’ demo iPhone welcoming us to the venue. Stopping in front of the old Shea Stadium Home Run Apple and holding that same phone to a demo stanchion kicked off a video that described the Mets’ home for 44 years. Once we passed into the park’s rotunda and paused in front of the escalator, the app recognized us as a first-time visitor and offered us $2 off a Nathan’s hot dog. Eventually, Evans said, the app and those Bluetooth beacons will be able to direct users to the closest route to their seats.
One has to wonder how much further MLB could take this concept. If you could track app users as they bounded from location to location in a ballpark, you could probably develop a pretty granular profile to help target for ads or other engagement opportunities. Repeat visitor to the Mets Team Store? You could get pushed a loyalty discount. Were you spotted making more than a few trips to the bathroom? Maybe you shouldn’t be pushed any more drink specials. Granted, the second example is pretty extreme, but Evans didn’t completely rule out the possibility of more fine-grained location sniffing… if the organization can figure out how to accomplish that sort of thing without creeping out the fans.
Once you start seeing what MLB (and plenty of other organizations like it) can do with iBeacons, it makes sense why Bluetooth Low Energy is suddenly so in vogue. The level of targeting and reach that a smartly assembled array of Bluetooth beacons provides could profoundly change how companies try to interact with us for better or worse. It certainly doesn’t hurt that support for Bluetooth LE is something both Apple and Google have committed to either — iDevices as old as the 4S can take advantage of these features if they’re running iOS 7, and Google confirmed that Bluetooth LE support would be one of the main additions to Android 4.3. That means a huge swath of the devices out there and in the pipeline will be ready to, well, play ball with this newfangled approach to interaction.
Evans admitted that MLB has explored a few other location-based content delivery systems in the past, but solutions like NFC’s stop-and-tap-and-wait approach never reached the level of ubiquity and reliability to make it worth a major rollout. Even platform-agnostic modes of interaction like scanning QR codes and AR applications apparently just weren’t elegant enough to get the job done. But with iBeacons, MLB may have finally found exactly what it’s looking for.
For now, though, the name of the game is fine-tuning. Evans noted these Bluetooth-powered experiences will start rolling out sometime in 2014, but it’ll be some time before the functionality spreads to the rest of the nation’s major league ballparks. After all, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to crafting a smart location-centric experience like the one demoed on that warm September afternoon. Part of the plan, naturally, has to encompass the sorts of content that users are given access to, but there are plenty of technical concerns to tackle, too.
Consider the issue of range, for one. MLB doesn’t want to accidentally trigger a response within the app if you’re too far away from an attraction or a point of interest. Even the materials used in the construction of the park can affect these radios’ reach, so each one has to have its power output and transmission rate tweaked so they can collectively hit the right spots. You can bet that Fenway Park — opened in 1912 and festooned with architectural holdovers from years past — is going to require a significantly different layout of Bluetooth transmitters than my native Citizens Bank Park (go Phils!).
If this sounds like a painstaking process, you’d be right, but Evans is convinced that taking the time to meticulously hone the hardware is well worth it.
“We’re baseball, we’re not a small startup,” Evans conceded. “We want to be nimble and quick and take new opportunities, but we also don’t want to roll something out that’s going to confuse fans.”
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