Hasta La Gadget!

The team at MAINGEAR have this week let it be known that they’ll be offering 4th generation Intel Core i7 “Haswell” processors in both desktop and laptop machines. Bringing this technology to the SHIFT, F1131, Potenza, and Vybe on the desktop end of the spectrum and the Nomad 15 and Nomad 17 in laptops, MAINGEAR is making it clear that they intend to remain on the cutting edge in custom gaming rigs. Intel’s 4th generation Core “Haswell” processors will be appearing first on the 4th of this month at Computex.

Where MAINGEAR’s business lives well within the bounds of the gaming universe, they’ve expressed their excitement this week over not just performance, but power efficiency, next-generation connectivity, and security features offered by the Haswell generation of Intel architecture.

Performance gets a boost in MAINGEAR machines with Haswell’s ability to work with overlocking independent of other system components. Power efficiency is a mainstay of the Haswell generation as Intel continues to emphasize the trend toward mobile machines – here offering 10 day battery life on MAINGEAR notebooks in connected standby (for example.) Compared to the first generation of MAINGEAR machines working with Intel Core technology (that’s 1st gen Intel Core, too, mind you), they say users will be working with 42% less power draw – not that you’re still using a system from several years ago, right?

But of course you are – which is exactly why you’ll see more than one comparison in the next few weeks to the first generation of Intel Core processor technology. Performance, says MAINGEAR and Intel, has increased 236% since the first generation – that’s a whopping bit of change – one you’ll likely notice if you are, indeed, switching from such an “old” system.

Intel’s Haswell generation of processors are bringing MAINGEAR systems up to speed with automatic connections to wireless hotspots as well as wireless streaming of HD and 3D video and games to your TV with Intel Wireless display. Security gets a boost with Intel’s new security features, enabling users to lock devices down and bring on aid with recovery – like freezing your partner and taking that Alien out of them when you get back to Earth.

You’ll want to have a peek at our MAINGEAR Potenza review from last year to get a peek at the hardware within. Here lies some heavy metal business on the outside, big-name gaming on the inside.

MAINGEAR brings Haswell to the custom-built gaming space is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today the Intel 4th Generation processor wave begins to creep up once again with ASUS letting it be known that they’ve got three machines that’ll run this “Haswell” generation initially. The first of these is a single black and standard-looking M51 desktop PC – standard looking on the outside, that is – inside it’s got a bit more of a punch. Then there’s the ET2301 and ET2702, slim form-factor all-in-one PCs as well.

The stark black floor-standing desktop PC you see before you is the ASUS M51, working with a matte finish combined with a textured fascia that makes for a fingerprint-less appearance. Up top is an ASUS Wireless Charger tray so your Qi-standard wireless charging smartphones (like the Nexus 4 or any of various Nokia Lumia devices) can charge with ease.

Inside is an ASUS Universal Storage Module using an industry-standard interface up in a front drive bay – USM compatible portable hard drives can be swapped in and out with native SATA connections. Inside is also ASUS Smart Cooling system working with automatic fan speed control – not unlike that which we’ve seen recently in NVIDIA’s 700-series graphics card releases. This machine is ready to roll with either NVIDIA or AMD discrete 3D graphics as well as ASUS SonicMaster audio technology.

The ET2301 and ET2702 work with 23-inch and 27-inch widescreen displays, the larger working with 10-point multi-touch touchscreen technology while the smaller works with 5-point multi-touch. The ASUS ET2702′s 27-inch display works with ultra-high 2560 x 1440 resolution, while the ET2301′s 23-inch display works with Full HD 1920 x 1080. Touchscreen abilities are optional on both of these models.

The ET2702 features the option of Intel Thunderbolt ports and can act as a second screen for your notebook computer. Connecting a notebook with HDMI and USB cables to the ET2702 allows access to display, speakers, and USB peripherals. The ET2301 and the ET2702 work with 178-degree viewing angles as well.

Both all-in-one models work with ASUS SonicMaster technology as the M51 does, while they’re both also available with an optional desktop subwoofer for bass performance as well. And of course, most important of all, each of these models will be available with 4th generation Intel Core processors. Pricing and release dates have not yet been made public.

ASUS Haswell launch begins with all-in-ones and an M51 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today NVIDIA let it be known that they’ve not just added the GeForce GTX 780 to their ranks, they’ve replaced the GTX 670 with the GTX 770 as well. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770′s design is based on the GK104 GPU, this being the same unit used in the 680, the card replaced by the 780 earlier this month. This unit works with a base clock speed of 1,046 MHz and can be boosted up to 1,085 MHz, bringing with it a fastest-ever GDDR5 memory speed at 7.0 Gbps.

Inside the GTX 770, users will find 8 SMX units bringing on a massive 1536 CUDA Cores, ready to keep the finest games on the market up to speed. While the typical Boost Clock speed will be 1085MHz, NVIDIA notes that many partners will be offering their 770 boards at higher clock speeds.

The GTX 770 works with the same vapor cooling chamber cooler that works with the GTX 780 and the GTX TITAN introduced earlier this year. Though on the GTX 770 reference boards this technology will be in play, retail GeForce GTX 770 cards work with their own unique board design, cooling, and OC clock speeds – the 4dB sound drop seen in the in-house test results here are from reference board designs only: the final product could be ever-so-slightly different.

This is the second card to be released with the NVIDIA GeForce Experience packaged and pushed to manufacturers – that’s the company’s game optimization suite, now in version 1.5 and available to the public. This user experience has replaced “NVIDIA Update” as the group’s graphic driver standard.

NVIDIA has made clear once again that the GeForce Experience is their jumping off point, a place where gamers can optimize the newest in high-powered games for the GeForce GTX graphics cards they’ve so gratefully purchased and installed. As it was made clear earlier this year at CES 2013, the cross-section of people who own high-powered graphics cards and those that take the time to set their games up to make the most of them is pitifully small: the GeForce Experience aims to put an end to that.

The GeForce GTX 770′s hardware certainly makes for a convincing case for necessary optimization. What good is a single precision of 3.2 Teraflops and either 2GB or 4GB GDDR5 memory capacities at 7.0 Gbps when you’re not making full use of it? There’s a lovely memory subsystem you might want to make use of as well, that consisting of four 64-bit memory controllers (256-bit).

This unit’s TDP (Thermal Design Power or Thermal Design Point) is 230W. TDP represents the maximum amount of power the cooling system will require to dissipate – and it’s important to note that this is the maximum “average” power the chip will draw, not the most power it’s capable of drawing in strange circumstances (there, now you learned something today.)

Meanwhile the recommended power supply for the GTX 770 has been suggested by NVIDIA to be 600 Watts. You’ll need to hook up one 6-pin power connector and one 8-pin power connector, each with PCI Express 3.0 design in play.

Output includes 2x Dual-Link DVI connectors, one full-sized HDMI connector, and one DisplayPort 1.2 connector. Kepler features of note include support for up to four displays, GPU Boost 2.0, and TXAA. NVIDIA’s standard GeForce GTX 770 2GB card is coming in at a suggested etail price point of $399.00 USD, with individual manufacturer prices incoming sooner than later.

GeForce GTX 770 joins 780 for two-tier gaming graphics sweep is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There’s no denying that cats like technology. Whether they’re playing Fruit Ninja, stepping all over your keyboard, or playing the synthesizer, cats and tech go together like peanut butter and chocolate. So why fight this natural phenomenon? Instead, get your cat a computer of its own.

Okay, this former iMac isn’t exactly a functional computer anymore, but it is a lovely place for kitty to hang out and catch a cat nap. It’s been decked out with a cozy cushion for your pet, then bolted onto a colorful base assembled from an old chair to help give kitty the kind of elevated view you know he demands.

The guys at Atomic Attic upcycle these old iMacs into comfy and stylish pet beds, presumably because your cat wouldn’t be comfortable inside of an original 128k Macintosh, let alone today’s razor-thin iMacs.

Each one is fitted with a custom cushion with a removable slip cover. Prices for these iMac pet beds range from $129 to $229(USD) and can be found over on Atomic Attic’s Etsy shop.

Today Windows Phone 8 grabs the cross-platform app by the name of Splashtop, specifically the edition called “Splashtop 2″ for remote PC control. What you’ll be doing with this app – and what Android and iOS users have been doing for some time now – is gaining a live, interactive mirror of your PC’s screen on your smartphone. While features for this app are limited in comparison with the Android and iPhone iterations, this release is certainly a good start.

Before the release of Splashtop 2 for Windows Phone 8, there were a few less-than-perfect alternatives on the market. The importance of this release once again marks the slow-but-steady rise of the Windows Phone Marketplace for apps, and the continued (but again, slow), rise in popularity of the operating system itself.

With Splashtop 2 you’ll need the app Splashtop Streamer running on your Mac or Windows computer, both apps being entirely free so long as you’re working within your own local network. This means that both your smartphone and your PC are connected to the same wifi network. If you want to control your computer from your Windows Phone 8 device with mobile data – out of your home – you’ll have to pay a bit of a fee.

At $1.99 USD a month, control from anywhere you can access data is allowed. Functionality includes the ability to touch the display as you would on a touchscreen monitor, typing on a pop-up keyboard, and clicking with a virtual mouse.

This is just the beginning for development on this app for Windows Phone 8, we must assume: there’s still a lot the team will be able to add given the abilities of the Android and iOS apps on the market today. We’re waiting for Gamepad action, specifically: go for it!

Splashtop 2 released for Windows Phone 8: remote PC access at last is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.