It's hard to be loyal when it comes to video games. Much loved series disappear without a trace sometimes, taking entire genres with them. The industry shifts towards a certain pattern and pins its future on mostly first person shooters and MMOs, leaving fans of other concepts looking to smaller developer. Franchises drop quality in favor of yearly releases.
But there are still developers, like Paradox Interactive, that understand there is a clear market for strong willed gamers with a lot of patience, some free time and an interest in things the electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the mechanics which gave England its huge colonial empire or the how Poland – Lithuania could have dominated Eastern Europe to get lost in something like Europa Universalis III.And, in an effort to deliver a number of general improvements to the entire game while also adding some more content to the Eastern half of the world, the company has released the Divine Wind expansion, the fourth for a game that has reallybenefited from the content it has received after the official 2007 launch date.
Gameplay
Divine Wind is trying to make more exotic nations interesting to play and shift the focus away a bit from central and western Europe, which might be a bit too much for a game called Europa Universalis. Fortunately, the added mechanics are interesting and well thought out even if in the long term they might not appeal to the entire audience of the series.
The Chinese get three government capable factors, with their rise and fall determined by the characteristics of the ruler and by the slider balance that the player creates. Each of the three factions gives access to some options for dealing with internal or external politics, putting some brakes on the development of China as an empire.
Initially in the game, when starting from the 1399 date, the Bureaucratic faction seems to quickly gain power and any outward looking players will be severely constrained by the fact they cannot actually start wars and they can send out colonists to get some of the nomad dominated areas to the West.
The Bureaucrats are a good idea once the country becomes a bit more advanced and buildings become available, but early on Divine Wind can make Europa Universalis a bit boring for those who aim to realize the power of the Middle Kingdom.
With China the key seems to work in bursts, starting wars when one can and keeping them going when another comes to power even if actual warfighting is not the main concern of the player just because it's not clear when another war starting window might come up.
Japan is more interesting and dynamic. The country has some more provinces and four competing Daymio's generals which fight for the title of Shogun, becoming the power behind the Imperial throne and directing the affairs of the country. There are also some diplomatic options and decisions linked to the other factions and the Japan game seems somewhat more dynamic and interesting than the China based one.
Here too the game aims to make the experience a bit more challenging in the early years and more interesting in the long term. It's a good idea for both Japan and China, countries that could have played a bigger role on the world stage if it was not for the internal divisions that plagued them. Divine Wind pretty much manages to replicate that process, at least for the first hundred years, although some gamers might feel that the move strips some of the “fun” from those who nations.
Another big change is linked to the horseback invaders of Central Asia, which are now set in a permanent state of war with civilized nations and play for money. To get rid of them a player needs to both conquer provinces and then protect them long enough to actually allow a colony to develop, which means my Lithuanian colonists finally have a reason to exist in the game. This makes the game more dynamic for the Eastern powers that need to defend from their constant invasions and finally delivers some uses for those extra colonists landlocked nations get.
New building mechanics lead to much more defensive focus no one wants to lose a College or something like that and only in the late game do players have the resources to quickly develop a new holding.
One potential issue is that wars seem to very quickly escalate because of the new Call allies’ options, meaning that gamers need to be very clear about their declarations of war. Unfortunately when two great powers controlled by the computer face off the result can be a sort of World War I type conflict with XVI century weapons and too ambitious players will also quickly face a big number of countries facing them.
Graphics and audio
The developers at Paradox managed to squeeze a bit more beauty out of the aging Europa Universalis III by bringing in the cloth map idea that was first applied in Victoria II, which means I now play most my games as far zoomed out as I can when the immediate surrounding are at peace, focusing on the messages that arrive daily with the zoomed in view only in use when I am fighting a war and directing troops stacks or when something interesting is happening in my immediate vicinity or somewhere near my allies.
Also from Victoria II the game gets a better message system and a list of all the modifiers that a player can get going is easily available. There's also a new peace negotiation view that allows for more intuitive drawing up of new borders between two warring factions.
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Sony Corp said on Thursday that it would launch a higher-capacity PlayStation 3 model in North America, as the company continues its effort to make its home console the digital hub of the living room.
The new 250 gigabyte PS3 will be available Nov. 3 for $349.99, giving consumers two configurations to choose from. The company's 120 GB PS3 sells for $299.99 following a recent price cut. Sony is battling with Microsoft Corp , maker of the Xbox 360 console, to become the leader in the digital distribution of content, including games and movies, in the home. John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said the company was seeing "significant traction" over the past year in distributing content over its PlayStation Network and that many people need more room to store all of it. "Consumers that are coming into the market want to be able to download and own HD movies, large-scalegames, those types of things on a hard drive." The new larger-capacity PS3 will be the same size as the existing model, known as the PS3 Slim. The 250 GB PS3 has already been announced in Asia and European markets. Sony is currently the No. 3 home console maker in the United States, behind Microsoft and Japan's Nintendo, maker of the Wii. Microsoft and Nintendo have also recently cut prices. Koller said Sony was "really bullish" on PS3's prospects for the holiday season, with demand exceeding its expectations. "A lot of retailers are continuing to ask us for more, more, more, and that's a good problem to have," Koller said. "... The $299 price drop has really instigated a tidal wave of consumers that have maybe been sitting on the sidelines."
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Sapphire Technology Limited, the only partner of AMD workstation graphics (except Japan) today announced — ATI FireGL™ and ATI FirePro™ 3D workstation graphics cards have completely passed all Solidworks 2009 tests and gained global certifications. Meanwhile, two mid-range models — ATI FireGL™ V3600 and V5600 have been certified by the other two SolidWorks’tools — COSMOS 2008 and eDrawing 2008. COSMOS 2008 is designed for the SolidWorks models and predict how they will behave in the real situations. Whereas with eDrawings viewer, anyone with a PC can interpret and understand 2D and 3D design data. SolidWorks users can enjoy the most stable work and optimized performance by using AMD workstation graphics.Solidworks is outstanding for 3D mechanical CAD field, also offer a wide range of simulation products. They have innovative creativity and the biggest users’ community. The newest version “Solidworks 2009” speeds up to 65% over SolidWorks 2008. SolidWorks has added lots new features, such as SpeedPak Technology, apply filters and Sort BOM by Column, sensors monitor, electrical component library etc. By using AMD certified workstation graphics, you can spend more time on productivity, less time at work.
Here introducing a special feature in Solidworks2009-- Vertex Buffer Objects. VBO is activated by default in SolidWorks 2009 and ATI FireGL™ and ATI FirePro™ are completely support. It is a buffer which is stored on the GPU memory and when activated, the application stores vertex data for triangles and lines in this location. VBO is a way for an application to render data without repeatedly accessing the computer’s sub systems suchas the hard drive and therefore help achieve higher operational performance. Additionally, the other fantastic function “RealView Graphics” which was released in SolidWorks 2008, it is hardware support of advanced shading in real time. By applying appearances and scenes, your models come to life without going through rendering processes such as PhotoWorks. Your system must have a workstation class graphics card capable of supporting RealView. See the SolidWorks Hardware support web site for a complete list of supported graphics cards and drivers, and you will see ATI FireGL™ and ATI FirePro™ series are passed with all strict testing.
Why Choose ATI FireGL™ and ATI FirePro™:
http://workstation.sapphiretech.com/archive/newsletter/eng/0175/eng_8_20090211_9157.pdf
For more product information, please visit Sapphire and AMD website: http://workstation.sapphiretech.com/
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XFX seems to be ready with its initial lineup of graphics cards. Some European retailers have even begun listing their products and pricing. While there's nothing really interesting about the way XFX is pricing its cards, the way it's cards seem to be certainly interesting. Pictured below are its first two models based on the ATI Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870 graphics processors.Some surprises: Both use black coloured PCB, neither are 100% reference ATI design, and in fact, XFX designed its own cooler for the Radeon HD 4850 512 MB (model: XFX HD485X-YDFC). The Radeon HD 4870 in the picture is the 1 GB variant (model: HD487A-ZDFC). Bothaccelerators use AMD reference clock speeds. These cards will be released within the first two weeks of this month. More information as we come across.
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We have already got used to the way details on unreleased products keep leaking on the Internet, a good time before the official announcement from producers. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that, while browsing the Internet this morning, we stumbled upon an article talking of NVIDIA's 2009 GeForce GTX 295. More specifically, the aforementioned card appears to have already had its first photo session, thus partially showing itself to all technology enthusiasts and anyone else interested in it.The two graphic processors featured on the card have been built on NVIDIA's new 55nm process technology, which should ultimately provide support for a higher performance level. The card itself is expected to be showcased and launched at the Consumer Electronics Show next year, set to take place between the 8 and 11 of January in LasVegas, Nevada. Specific details regarding the technical specifications of the card aren't available at this time, but a single look at the picture posted on Vr-Zone will offer us some clues as to what to expect.
As with NVIDIA's GeForce 9800GX2, the new GTXX 295 will be featured with two GPUs placed on two separate PCBs, a solution that differs from that of AMD, which builds its dual-GPU card by placing the two graphic processors onto the same PCB. The card displayed in the picture features 2 DVI ports and 1 Display Port, and will boast the same sandwich-like design as the earlier mentioned 9800GX2.
Given its impressive size, and the fact that it will have to power two of NVIDIA's latest GT200 GPUs, the card has been featured with a 8+6 pins power connector combo, which should be more than enough to offer you a general idea of how much power the card needs.
As with all officially unreleased products, pricing details for NVIDIA's GTX 295 are yet to emerge, but things should become clearer as we approach its debut date in January.
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If you've been thinking about upgrading to Nvidia's GeForce GTX 260 videocard, you may want to hold off for a few weeks. According to Chinese site Expreview, Nvidia will release a new 55nm-based GTX 260 along with a 55nm GTX 295 (GTX 260 GX2) in January 2009. And if history tells us anything, Nvidia tends to do well with core revisions (G92-based 8800GT, for example). Expreview posted several pics of the revised GTX 260, which it claims were sent in from Zotac.In addition to a die shrink, the new GTX 260, or at least Zotac's version, looks to be built with a 10-layer PCB design rather than 14 layers as foundon current GTX 260/280 videocards, Expreview says. The new revision also upgrades its 3+2 phase power modules to 4+2 phase.
Other specs look to remain the same, such as the number of stream processors (216) and core and memory frequencies. This means you might not see a leap in stock performance, but in theory, the power consumption, heat output, and overclocking potential should all be improved.
No word yet on projected pricing, which could either sweeten or spoil the whole deal.
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NIVIDIA has made yet another important contribution to the world of graphic cards by launching the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 graphics card featuring CUDA massively parallel processing architecture, for professionals.Adding to its features that make it’s a high-performance card is the 4 GB graphics memory.
The card is aimed at professionals dealing with oil and gas exploration, medical imaging, styling and design, and scientific visualization.
“The size and complexity of data is growing at an exponential rate. The challenge for today’s professional is to make sense of the mountain of data by distilling it into a form they can comprehend, analyze and use to make impactful decisions,” said Jeff Brown, general manager, Professional Solutions, NVIDIA. “At stake can be billions of investment dollars, or even people’s lives. The Quadro FX 5800 has advanced features to allow massive datasets to be viewed beyond traditional 3D enabling professionals to make fast and accurate decisions.”The advanced features NVIDIA Quadro FX 5800 Graphics Card incorporates interactive 4D modeling with time lapse capabilities, memory bandwidth of up to 102 GB per second. The fill rates exceed 52 billion texels per second and the geometry performance of 300 million triangles per second. The card also has support for next-generation OpenGL and Microsoft DirectX 10 applications, advanced multi-system and multi-device visualization environments with Quadro G-Sync II.
Priced at an MSRP of $3499 USD, the NVIDIA Quadro cards are available widely across leading PC manufacture, and workstation system integrators and NVIDIA channel partners PNY Technologies (US and EMEA), Leadtek (APAC) and Elsa (Japan). Further information on NVIDIA Quadro is available on the company’s official site.
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We still find it hard to get our minds off that graphics monster, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 card from Palit. However, it looks like users are bound to get the exact same graphics card from two of ATI's partners, namely Palit and the ex-NVIDIA exclusive Gainward. That's right, pictures of a tri-slot Gainward graphics card, looking strangely familiar to Palit's behemoth, have recently surfaced on the Internet.It could be that the tri-slot, dual-fan, heat-dissipating solution has become the latest in the design of high-end graphics cards, since we couldn't otherwise explain why Gainward decided to create a card that uses the same cooling solution as the one designed by its competitor Palit. In addition, the Gainward card is also said to have been featured with the same factory overclocked core and memory speed, so it's safe to say that it will deliver the same level of performance as Palit's proprietary design.Turning to the available technical specifications of the overclocked "Spartan," enthusiasts will be happy to hear that the card comes with no less than 2GB of GDDR5 memory, working at a speed of 3800MHz, while the two graphics processors have been set to work at a 750MHz core frequency. Expected to become part of the company's range of "Golden Sample" cards, the yet-to-be officially unveiled product also includes features such as D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity options, for users who want to connect it to different high-quality displays.
Unfortunately, it appears that a few other features are also similar to those of Palit's graphics monster, in that they both lack a specific release date and price point, at least for the time being. However, no matter which of the two cards will be released first on the market, users are bound to get the same level of performance from either one.
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If you are a heavy gamer and is planning to get a gaming laptop capable of running all the latest games at high configurations, then Toshiba has launched just the right thing for you - The Qosmio X305-Q708 gaming notebook. It is a 17 inch notebook and has a killer config that can run all the games at high settings.The notebook is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme Q9300 2.53 GHz processor and has 4 GB DDR3 1066 MHz RAM. It has a 128 GB SSD and 320 GB Hard Disk. Now coming the the graphics card, it has a Dual Nvidia Geforce 9800 M GTS 512 MB SLI GPUs which can run the games in high or ultra settings. Apart from that it has four Harmon Kardon speakers with sub woofer, 1.3 MP camera, Wifi, HDMI and display ports, USB slots. It comes pre loaded with Windows Vista.It weights around 9.04 lbs and uses8 cell battery. The design of the Laptop is pretty cool too. But you have to shell out a lot of money for this rig. It is available for a price of around $4199.
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Intel is going to update its Montevina notebook PC platform in April, 2009 with the introduction of the Montevina Refresh platform, according to a DIGITIMES report, which cites unnamed sources within Intel. The launch of the platform will be accompanied by two new processors, the Core 2 Duo T9900 and P8800.Intel also plans to unveil its GM47 chipset for high-end notebooks in first quarter of next year. Entry-level and small form factor (SFF) PC will also not be over looked, as Intel will launch the GL43 and GS40 chipsets in July or August.A deluge of new processors for the Centrino 2 platform are soon going to be made available by the world’s leading chip maker. Also, the GM55 chipset for Intel’s upcoming 6th generation Centrino platform, Calpella, will become available in July or August next year.
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When ASUS selected the NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280 GPU for its new CG6155 extreme gaming machine, it wasn’t simply because of its raw graphics horsepower. Creating the best gaming PC used to be a simple matter of using CPUs and GPUs with highest available raw power to deliver the fastest gaming experience. But while CPU performance and raw graphics rendering are still important, new advances in physics, multi-GPU technology, 3D stereo, and parallel computing have amplified the importance of the GPU, making the right GPU a critical component in consumers’ buying decisions.Featuring the award-winning GeForce GTX 280 GPU and a motherboard built around the NVIDIA nForce® 790i Ultra SLI MCP platform technology, the ASUS CG6155 gaming PC supports NVIDIA 3-way SLI® technology enabling ASUS customers to equip their PC with one, two or even three GeForce GTX 280 GPUs. The CG6155 is a true “extreme gaming” machine, designed for hardcore gaming aficionados who want the maximum visual and physics fidelity possible.
“Our goal for the ASUS CG6155 was to give gamers unprecedented performance and realism,” says Carroll Hsieh, ASUS desktop product management director. “With NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 280 GPUs and the nForce 790i Ultra SLI MCP we effortlessly achieved our performance goals. With GeForce GPUs and support for things like CUDA and PhysX™ technologies, we have redefined the entire gaming experience with new levels of realism. Gamers are not going to believe their eyes.”With NVIDIA PhysX technology, GeForce GPUs bring games come to life with explosions that cause dust and debris, characters that move with life-like motion, or cloth that drapes and tears naturally. PhysX technology harnesses the power of both the CPU and any NVIDIA GeForce® 8 Series or higher GPU, giving it the power to handle 10-20 times more visual complexity on screen. With NVIDIA GeForce GPUs and PhysX technology, ASUS customers can be assured of the ultimate, immersive experience.
In addition to processing graphics and physics for gaming, the new GeForce GTX 280 GPUs also support CUDA™ technology for accelerating non-gaming applications such as high-definition video playback and transcoding, to photo processing and editing.
And soon, with a compatible monitor and stereoscopic glasses, GeForce GPUs will be able to deliver stereoscopic gaming for over 350 existing games, for the ultimate in immersive gaming. The first 3D-stereoscopic-compatible monitors are coming onto the market now and the 3D glasses will be available in coming months.
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ASUS, a company that, as of late, has been concentrating mostly on its moneymaking product lineup with the Eee family, has just remembered that it is also among the world's leading motherboard makers. This is precisely why the Taiwanese manufacturer has decided to roll out two new products, with each being designed for a different market segment. The just introduced P5N7A-VM and P6T WS Professional motherboards have been built to deliver support for Intel's current and upcoming processor lineups, by integrating the new GeForce 9300 + nForce 730i chipset combo and the Intel X58 next-generation chipset.These motherboards are generations apart one from the other in terms of features and performance potential. While the P5N7A-VM has been designed with an integrated graphics processor, the X58-based P6T WS Professional motherboard is set to provide support for Intel's upcoming Core i7 processors for a high level of computing power in a workstation computer system.In terms of specifications, the new GeForce 9300-enabled motherboard from ASUS is rather a standard implementation of NVIDIA's latest Intel-supporting chipset. The board is equipped with four memory DIMMs that can support a maximum of 16GB of DDR2 memory. There's only a single PCI-Express X16 graphics slot with support for Hybrid SLI setup. Users will be able to benefit from up to five SATA 3GB/s for storage, one eSATA port with support for RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD, and an UltraDMA 133 connector. The backpanel features six USB 2.0 ports, out of a total of twelve that are available through the board's chipset.Things aren't as specific where the X58-based mobo is concerned, because Intel is yet to officially unveil all the details of its next-generation desktop platform. However, from what we can see in the product's image, users will get the usual six memory DIMMs with support for triple-channel DDR3 memory, along with two PCI-Express X16 graphics slots with support for both SLI and CrossFireX technologies, two PCI-X slots and one PCI.
Both boards also feature ASUS' proprietary ExpressGate utility, which allows users to boot into a non-Windows OS in just 5 seconds. This will make it possible for them to go online and benefit from a suite of entertainment options without having to wait for a full Windows boot.
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AMD today introduced the ATI Radeon™ HD 4830 graphics card, raising the performance bar for graphics cards priced at less than $150 (USD) and presenting gamers with even more affordable access to award-winning ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series performance. Like all ATI Radeon™ HD 4800 series products, the new offering delivers class-leading game performance and superior HD multimedia capabilities, as well support for the latest DirectX® 10.1 games soon to be released for the holiday season.“The ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card is another example of how AMD’s scalable design strategy is paying off,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “With a single chip we have been able to quickly and efficiently bring to market graphics card designs ranging from below $150 through $549 SEP, with leading performance in every segment. The ATI Radeon HD 4830 continues that great trend, providing tremendous value to gamers for less than $150.”
“The $100-$150 graphics card price band represents the ‘sweet spot’ of the desktop PC graphics market where the consumer gets the most graphics performance per dollar spent,” said Dean McCarron, founder and principal, Mercury Research. “This is where the latest graphics technologies reach the mainstream PC audience, and this is the level that most PC games target.”Resetting the performance bar below $150
The ATI Radeon™ HD 4830 graphics card delivers outstanding value to gamers. With the launch of this card, even the most intimidating games that were previously unplayable on a graphics card selling for less than $150 can now be enjoyed at playable frame rates, even when using image enhancements such as anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. For those gamers looking to get even more performance out of their gaming rigs, ATI Radeon™ HD 4830 cards support ATI CrossFireX™ technology allowing gamers to combine as many as four cards in one PC.
Phenomenal HD multimedia experience
More than just a gaming card, the ATI Radeon HD 4830 offers up exceptional HD multimedia performance as well. All ATI Radeon HD 4800 series cards allow users to enjoy HD digital content with uncompromising visual fidelity while helping to enhance the definition and clarity of lower resolution visual media. AMD’s second generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD 2.0) ensures users experience smooth HD video playback, and sharp, crisp images and vibrant colors through ATI Avivo™ HD technology. Combined with capabilities like picture-in-picture, and support for the latest HD audio technologies like 7.1 surround sound, the ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card serves up an impressive cinema-quality home entertainment experience.
Ecosystem support
The ATI Radeon HD 4830 graphics card is supported by a dozen add-in-board companies offering custom designs of the products. Partners include ASUS, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, GECUBE, GIGABYTE, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), Jetway, MSI, Palit Multimedia, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE Technology and VisionTek. It is expected to be available immediately.
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Logitech is one of the best-known names in the computer peripherals, gaming and home entertainment industries, releasing a very large number of products each year, whether we're talking about wireless audio systems, mice and keyboards, gaming accessories, etc.Each year, they organize special events for the press, during which they present their latest innovations, in just about every country where one can find their products. We've recently attended such an event, where we've had the chance to get very close and personal with quite a few of the company's latest products. And within this article we'll give you a complete tour of the most interesting models we found on display, ranging from the Illuminated Keyboard to a wireless racing wheel designed especially for the PS3.
One of the most remarkable things worth mentioning about the event as a whole is its concept. Thus, the company's representatives had arranged the respective location in such a way so as to replicate the various rooms in a house, with every corner of this "home" being filled with the company's goodies.First of all, there was the "living room" area, where we could find some of the manufacturer's products designed especially to create a high-end home entertainment system. We were able to "feast" our eyes and ears on a Squeezebox Boom wireless audio system, the Z-5 omnidirectional stereo speakers for PC and the Z-5500 5.1 surround audio system. Of course, in order to control all of these products, there was also a Harmony One universal remote control thrown in the mix.
Plus, since there are quite a lot of people whose computers have become integral parts of their home entertainment systems, we could also find there some of the company's notebook stands, plus a few very attractive peripherals, such as the DiNovo mini keyboard or the very famous illuminated one.Within the same room, there was a secondary area, which represented the bedroom. There, we could find a special "Mac" area, with some of Logitech's products designed to work with Mac systems as well (such as the QuickCam Vision Pro, the Z-5 speakers for Mac and the DiNovo keyboard for Mac). However, since we were talking, after all, about a bedroom, there was also a Pure-Fi Anytime system, designed to dock iPods and also double as an alarm clock.
Then, there was the "kid's" room, although, to tell you the truth, it was more of a gaming area. There, I could find two systems, completed with some of the company's high-end webcams (like the QuickCam Pro for notebooks), as well as some of the latest peripherals, such as the Wave Keyboard and Mouse combo and the DiNovo keyboard.However, the main point of attraction in this particular area was represented by the racing zone, where we could find Logitech's Driving Force GT racing wheel and also took a very quick look at the Driving Force Wireless, designed especially for the PS3 racing games.
And in order to provide some musical "atmosphere", there was a Pure-Fi Express Plus, an omnidirectional stereo speaker system for iPod/iPhone with a built-in alarm clock. Moreover, in order to allow the other guests to keep an eye on what was going on within the gaming area, there was an Indoor Video Security Master System installed, which streamed a live feed (via the powerlines) directly to the HDTV installed in the "living room."
Caught your interest? Well, in that case, keep an eye out for our future posts in the Gadgets section, where you'll be able to read a lot more about each of the devices listed above (plus many more).
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Gateway made quite a splash in the mobile gaming community this past summer when it released its P-7811 FX notebook. Packed with gaming goodies usually reserved for high priced boutique OEM offerings, Gateway managed to cram a full blown desktop replacement into a sub-$1500 package (at one point, Best Buy was selling the FX notebook on sale for $1249 plus a free game). Having reintroduced itself back into the enthusiast sector, Gateway this time is focusing on the desktop market with a pair of new models, the FX6710 and LX6200.The copper color trimmed FX6710-01 ships with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 processor clocked at 2.66GHz with 6MB of L2 cache on a 1333MHz frontside bus. Not often seen on a value priced desktop (if ever), the new FX boasts 6GB of DDR2 memory. A 750GB SATA II hard drive rounds out the non-volatile storage duties, and an ATI HD 4850 videocard with a 512MB frame buffer provides pixel pushing power on the gaming front. Other specs include an 18x DVD burner, 15-in-1 media card reader, 6 USB 2.0 ports, eSATA port, 2 Firewire ports, 7.1 onboard sound, and Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.On the AMD side of the fence, Gateway's LX6200-01 comes configured with a Phenom X4 9500 quad core processor clocked at 2.2GHz with 2MB of L3 cache. The LX boasts a little more DDR2 RAM at 8GB, while the videocard gets downgraded an integrated ATI HD 3200 graphics.
Both the FX6710 and LX6200 are available now with an MSRP of $1200 and $780 respectively.
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XFX has announced the launch of its latest gaming peripheral, XFX nForce 750i SLI motherboard, in the Indian market.The motherboard offers exceptional game support and bar none the fastest multi-GPU gaming platform available in the performance category.
Furthermore, the XFX nForce 750i SLI motherboard offers PCI Express 2.0 support for twice the bandwidth, and is backward compatible with existing PCI Express 1.0 graphics card. The other features include full overclocking capabilities for Intel Yorkfield and Wolfdale CPUs.
It also comes with NVIDIA RAID and MediaShield Technology to protect digital media assets, NVIDIA FirstPacket Technology, NVIDIA DualNet technology, NVIDIA Control Panel for an intuitive and customizable 3D environment, NVIDIA System Monitor and up to four SATA 4GB/s drives.Powered by Intel LGA 775 Processors, the ESA-certified XFX nForce 750i SLI motherboard also installs Gigabit Ethernet Port, USB 2.0 ports, rear panel clear CMOS button, rear panel debug LED and 8-channel HAD high-definition audio.
Supporting Windows XP and Vista Ready operating systems, the latest motherboard also shows compatibility with an exclusive Silent But Deadly (SBD) Heatpipe cooling technology and optical S/PDIF output.
Priced at Rs. 8500, the XFX 750i SLI motherboard is available in the Indian market through Rashi Peripherals and its nationwide branches.
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Apple today officially unveiled an all new MacBook family that feature all-metal enclosures and pro-performance with prices starting from $700.The new MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro both have a precision unibody enclosure crafted from a single block of aluminum, resulting in thinner and more durable designs. In addition, every member of the new MacBook family includes NVIDIA graphics, instant-on LED-backlit displays and new large glass Multi-Touch trackpads that offer almost 40 percent more tracking area and support more Multi-Touch gestures.
"Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum. And, just as important, they are the industry?s greenest notebooks," said Steve Jobs, Apple?s CEO. "The new MacBooks offer incredible features our users will love ?like their stunning all-metal design, great 3D graphics and LED backlit displays?at prices up to $700 less than before."
The new MacBook line features the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, a new 3D integrated graphics processor that features 16 parallel processing cores and delivers up to five times the 3D graphics performance as previous MacBook and MacBook Air designs.The new smooth glass Multi-Touch trackpad on the MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro gives users almost 40 percent more tracking area than before, making it even easier to use Multi-Touch gestures like pinch, rotate and swipe. New gestures allow users to activate Expos? or switch between applications at the touch of a fingertip. The entire trackpad surface is also a button, allowing users to both track and click virtually anywhere on the trackpad. Users can easily enable multiple virtual buttons in software, such as right-clicking.
Every member of the new MacBook family features an LED-backlit display for instant-on performance that uses up to 30 percent less energy than its predecessor and eliminates the mercury found in industry standard fluorescent tube backlights. Every display in the new MacBook line uses completely arsenic-free glass.
The new MacBook delivers the top three features that MacBook customers have told us they want in a new MacBook?an all metal enclosure, high performance 3D graphics and LED-backlit displays?at an entry price that is $700 less than the $1,999 price of the MacBook Pro. At only 0.95-inches thin and weighing just 4.5 pounds, the new 13-inch full featured aluminum MacBook is a compact and durable notebook starting at just $1,299. Featuring the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor, MacBook delivers outstanding 3D game play on a consumer notebook, with up to five times faster graphics performance than the previous generation. The new MacBook is available in two models: the 2.0 GHz MacBook with a 160GB 5400 rpm hard drive, and the 2.4 GHz MacBook with a 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a backlit keyboard.
The new 15-inch MacBook Pro at only 0.95-inches thin and weighing just 5.5 pounds. Starting at $1,999, the MacBook Pro uses the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors available, running up to 2.8 GHz, and a new graphics architecture that allows users to switch between the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor for better battery life and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics processor for higher performance. The new MacBook Pro is available in two models: a 2.4 GHz model with a 250GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a 2.53 GHz model with a 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive.
Today Apple also updated MacBook Air and the 17-inch MacBook Pro. MacBook Air, measuring only 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, 0.76-inches at its maximum height and weighing just three pounds, now includes new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a faster architecture. Starting at $1,799, MacBook Air is available with a 120GB 4200 rpm hard drive, a 50 percent increase from the previous generation, or a new 128GB solid state drive. The updated 17-inch MacBook Pro keeps its original aluminum design, and now comes standard with a high resolution 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320GB hard drive or an optional 128GB solid state drive.
The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air include a next generation Mini DisplayPort to connect with the new Apple LED Cinema Display featuring a 24-inch LED-backlit widescreen display with a built-in iSight video camera, mic and speakers in a thin aluminum and glass enclosure. Part of the next-generation DisplayPort industry standard, the new Mini DisplayPort delivers a pure digital signal that can drive up to a 30-inch widescreen display. The Mini DisplayPort is ultra-compact at just 10 percent the size of a full DVI connector, perfect for the sleek design of the new MacBook family. Adapters are available for using the MacBook?s Mini DisplayPort with older generation VGA, DVI/HDMI and Dual-Link DVI displays.
The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and 17-inch MacBook Pro are now shipping and the new MacBook Air will be available in early November through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple?s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. An updated 13-inch white MacBook featuring 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a slot-load 8X SuperDrive is now available for $999 (US).
For more information visit Apple
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Here's a formula to help boost sales: Take something popular - for example, The Dark Knight - and then apply it to something completely unrelated, like videocards. Of course, copyright concerns could come into play, so be sure and design a character or logo that resembles nothing from which it was borrowed (in this case, steer clear of Batman).Perhaps we're being too cynical and maybe Asus isn't a fan of DC's comic hero gone big screen. In any event, Asus' new Dark Knight series of videocards will inevitably conjure up thoughts of Christian Bale in his most recent role as Batman, but the new GPUs have no association to arguably the best super hero movie to date. Instead, the "self-designed" Dark Knight branded cards will come with a special heatsink the company claims ups the cooling performance ante while keeping noise levels down.
"The ASUS designed EAH4870 DK and EN9800GTX+ DK Series come equipped with the specially designed Dark Knight Fansink," Asus wrote in a press release. "This innovative fansink is equipped with 4 heatpipes and a large heatsink surface area; and is made of aluminum alloy to deliver extreme cooling while retaining operating levels at only 32dB—almost imperceptible in a quiet room—catering to users who require maximum cooling without excessive fan rotation noise."The new cards also come with a handful of technologies and buzzwords aimed at attracting the overclocking crowd. These include an EMI shield, DIP spring chokes, LF PAK MOS, and all-solid Japanese capacitors. Put together, Asus claims end users can expect a 9 percent performance improvement while gaming. Utility belt not included.
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One of the high points with the technology used in Sony's Playstation 3 console is the Cell processor technology. A similar concept could be coming to the PC, and you'll have Toshiba to thank, not Sony.Toshiba's SpursEngine is based on the same Cell processor technology as found in the PS3 and is used to process HD video with its four Cell cores. The technology makes easy work out of encoding and decoding HD content and can upscale standard-definition video to high-definition video without bogging down the CPU. Toshiba is already using the technology in its Qosmio G50 and F40 notebooks and hopes to expand to the desktop market via add-in cards by the end of the years.LeadTek and Thomson are already on board with plans to release a SpursEngine card within the next few weeks. LeadTek's version is expected to debut this month at about $286 and its Winfast PxVC 1100 card has already been shown at the Ceatec Exhibition in Japan. Thomson is targeting a November release in the $375 to $400 range.
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If you just unloaded your original DS on Ebay and replaced it with a DS Lite, you'll soon be outdated again. During their Fall Press Conference in Japan, Nintendo announced its new DSi, the "third platform" in the DS handheld gaming hardware series.The new version comes a little thinner than the model it's replacing while offering 17 percent larger screens at 3.25 inches each. Certain "audio enhancements" have been made, but arguably the biggest addition is the inclusion of a .3 megapixel camera capable of 640x480 resolution.Old school gamers won't have any place to put their Gameboy Advance cartridges, as the GBA slot has been removed. Instead the DSi comes with an SD memory card slot. The DSi also features a built-in browser, and gamers will be able to download games and other DSiWare from Nintendo's DSi Shop. As is sadly the trend, pricing is based on a points scale, and customers will start off with 1,000 free points that must be used by March 2010.
Japan will get first crack at the DSi this November for roughly $180 USD, with other markets to follow sometime next year.
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