Archivi giornalieri: 08/06/2012
Canon 650D: nuova DLSR con sensore da 18 Mp e display touchscreen da 3″ (Video)
Canon ha da poco annunciato ufficialmente la nuova EOS 650D, una DLSR che va a riprendere fedelmente l’estetica del predecessore 600D portando con se numerosi miglioramenti delle caratteristiche e funzionalità. Da sottolineare che il “vecchio modello” dovrebbe rimanere comunque in vendita ad un prezzo più basso, permettendo un certo risparmio a chi non interessa questo upgrade della nuova reflex.
La 650D sfoggia il nuovo sensore CMOS APS-C da 18 Mp e processore DIGIC 5, capaci di scattare a 5 fps e raggiungere un livello di sensibilità ISO tra 100 e 12.800. Troviamo sulla nuova reflex sia la messa a fuoco a rilevamento di fase che la messa a fuoco continua del soggetto quando si è in modalità Live View o in registrazione video.
Hands-on Preview: dpreview.com
Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR3 Memory Unveiled (video)
At Computex this week Corsair has taken the opportunity to announce its new Dominator Platinum DDR3 memory. Which has been designed by Corsair to push the performance of both the latest Intel and AMD platforms. The design of the memory includes the patented DHX cooling, Corsair Link technology, and hand-screened, super-overclockable DRAM ICs.
Together with a user-swappable light pipe, which can be used to create lighting effects within your case. The memory is supplied with white but other colours are available. The Dominator Platinum DDR3 will also support the latest Ivy Bridge 3rd generation Intel Core processors, which launched recently.
Source: Toms Hardware
Far Cry 3: 4 Player Co-Op Trailer (video)
Gamers looking forward to the launch of the new Far Cry 3 game on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in early September 2012. Might be interested in this new trailer Ubisoft has released, providing a glimpse at what you can expect from the 4 player co-op within the game. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.
“When the captain of a seedy private cruise ship makes a deal with pirates to trade the ship in exchange for a safe full of cash — screwing over every crewmember in the process — four of the crew spring to action.
All four came to the cruise ship with no cash and little hope of salvation in their home countries and the money they’ve earned on the ship is all they have. Seeing the captain speed away from the ship as the take-over goes wrong, they decide to chase after him in order to get their money and their revenge.”
More information about the new title can be found over on the Far Cry 3 official website.
Source: Lazy Gamer
Wikipad Gaming Tablet Equipped With Tegra 3 Quad Core Chip
At E3 this week Wikipad has revealed they have chosen Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad-core SoC to power their gaming tablet, which will run Google’s latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system.
Other features of the new Wikipad are thought to include glasses-free 3D and 1080p playback including H.264, VC1, VOB, ISO, M2TS, and FLV support. As well as 8GB of storage with an SD card slot capable of increasing it to 64GB, together with optional 3G module.
The Wikipad gaming tablet was first unveiled back in CES at the beginning of the year, and is still currently in development. Fraser Townley, President of Sales for Wikipad explains:
“By adding Nvidia’s Tegra 3 processor to the Wikipad, we’ve combined the best of tablet and console gaming into one device that fits in the palms of your hands,”-”Tegra 3 opens up incredible content options including optimized mobile games and console-quality streaming games through new cloud gaming services.”
Unfortunately no information on pricing or worldwide availability has been released as yet, but as soon as information comes to light we will keep you updated as always.
Source: Toms Hardware
Apple’s 2012 Mac Pro To Feature 8 Core Xeon E5 Processors (Rumor)
Apple hasn’t released a new version of their Mac Pro for a couple of years, the last version was launched back in 2010, and we recently heard that Apple are expected to launch some new Mac Pros next week at their WWDC which starts next Monday the 11th of January.
According to a recent report Apple’s 2012 Mac Pro will come with Intel’s new Xeon E5 8 Core processor and will apparently feature 1600MHz memory with 8 channels.
Other rumored specification include USB 3.0 and of course Thunderbolt, plus the new Mac Pro is expect to be able to accept a total of 8 memory chips which would allow for a 25 percent more memory than the existing models.
As well as the new Mac Pro, Apple are also expected to launch a new range of MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops, hopefully we should have some more details next week.
Source Apple Insider
TI demos Windows RT on OMAP 4470, we go hands-on (video)
It seems like every ARM chip manufacturer wants a piece of Windows 8 here at Computex 2012 — and for good reason. Hot on the heels of Asus’ Tegra 3-equipped Tablet 600 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4-based development tablet, Texas Instruments is showing Windows RT on its very own OMAP 4470-based system. The 1.5GHz dual-core SoC features a PowerVR SGX544 GPU and leads the competition with a dual-channel memory interface. We chatted with Bill Crean, Product Manager of the OMAP Processor Business Unit who showed us Microsoft’s latest OS running on TI’s development tablet. The demo looked snappy enough, providing some insight about what to expect from some of Toshiba’s upcoming devices. No word yet on a quad-core version. Enjoy our hands-on gallery below and take a peek after the break for our demo video.
Sony PlayStation Pulse Wireless Stereo Headset Elite Edition hands-on
Aside from the PlayStation Move Racing Wheel and Wonderbook, Sony has one more accessory to show off at E3 — the Pulse Wireless Stereo Headset Elite Edition. Naturally, we hunted down this peripheral aimed at all-things audio to check it out for ourselves. The PWSHEE is the company’s second full-on PS3 headset to date, expanding on what it offered with its Wireless Stereo Headset from last year. As we’re told, the headset is also ushering in a new Pulse moniker for its PlayStation oriented ear-blasters, although there’s no word on what we can expect down the line. For now, this unit packs a lot on paper for its $150 price, touting key features like 7.1 virtual surround sound, PS Vita and cellphone compatibility (thanks to a detachable cable with inline remote / mic), BassImpact technology for massive low-end pulse (get it?), audio profiles, higher-fidelity drivers than the WSH and hidden noise-cancelling microphones for chatting. Does it have the potential to live up to its hype and one-up its $80 predecessor? Join us past the break for our initial impressions.
Canon touts EOS Rebel T4i with improved video focusing system, EF-S 18-135mm and EF 40mm silent lenses (hands-on)
There wasn’t much reason to upgrade with last year’s T3i, but that’s certainly not the case with the Canon EOS Rebel T4i. This new entry-level DSLR packs a redesigned 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with brand-new focus capabilities, enabling the camera to use both phase- and contrast-detection autofocus when paired with one of two new STM lenses. The center portion of the sensor uses traditional phase-detection technology, while points nearer to the perimeter aid by recognizing contrast in a scene, enabling a more accurate autofocus technique for both stills and video shooting. On the video front, the new lenses — an EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM for $550 or the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM “pancake” for $200 — allow for much more silent zoom and focusing during video capture, so you don’t need to worry about those sensitive stereo mics picking up mechanical noise. The camera still did a bit of focus hunting while recording video during our hands-on, but autofocus performance was quite impressive while capturing stills, even in low light.
Killer Wireless-N 1202 WiFi / Bluetooth cards in Alienware gaming laptops eyes-on
Last month, Dell announced that its Alienware gaming laptops would be outfitted with Qualcomm Atheros’ Killer Wireless-N 1202 WiFi cards. Aside from sporting low-latency capabilities, the add-on also sports some Bluetooth connectivity. Here at E3, we were able to spend some time with the tech to see just how the component and its accompanying software prioritizes your bandwidth and keeps your Call of Duty multi-player sessions in the #1 slot. The Killer application allows you to set different priority levels for anything that would claim a chunk of your internet connection. For example, if you keep your title of choice in the top spot, the tech will only download files or access websites whenever Skyrim isn’t trying to send hi-pri info across the interwebs. By default the rankings are as follows from high to low: games, real-time chat (Skype), buffer-tolerant programs (Netflix and iTunes) and file transfer or low-level systems utilities. Until the end of June, you’ll only be able to snag the tech in Dell’s gaming laptops. We laid our peepers on the interface at the Alienware booth, so hit up the gallery below to take a look at what you can expect with the UI.
Facebook App Center launches tonight on Android and iOS with access to over 600 apps
The next big thing for Facebook? Apparently, acting as a guide to which apps users may want to check out on their Android or iOS devices. Its App Center is launching tonight with a listing of over 600 curated apps and just as the leaks indicated, puts your friends recommendations of what to use front and center. The app center itself is available on the mobile device’s Facebook apps or the desktop website, where users can send apps to their phone and then get redirected to the App Store / Google Play to download it if necessary. Facebook also has guidelines for developers on how they can get their software in front of a few more eyeballs (we haven’t read them, but we’re guessing a tie-in with the Book of Face won’t be frowned upon).
While Google has gotten a bit of a head start on this functionality by showing what people in your circles have +’d on Google Play, the crossplatform nature of the Center and Facebook’s massive reach make this a pretty easy fit. Of course, with rumors of deeper integration between Facebook and iOS 6, it will be interesting to see if today’s developments are referenced at WWDC next week. Check after the break for a couple more pictures and a press release, or the source links for info from Facebook’s PR and developer blog.
MPAA may let Megaupload users retrieve non-infringing files, does it for the Armed Forces
Megaupload’s still immersed in hot water, but there are signs the legal temperature could be cooling… slightly. Don’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet though, as a significant portion of that confiscated cache of cloud-stored files remains somewhat indefinitely under lock and key. A minor reprieve may be on the way, however, owing to a much more “sympathetic” MPAA which has asked the court to consider releasing non-illegally obtained content to previous users. And lest your evil eye be trained too heavily upon the Hollywood group behind the shutdown, the association’s made it quite clear that, under the site’s TOS, users were never guaranteed continued access to uploaded content anyway.
The change of heart comes in response to a motion filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on behalf of a member of the U.S. military, petitioning the return of personal, non-IP infringing files. According to the now-defunct site’s founder Kim Dotcom, that group of “legitimate” users comprised nearly 16,000 accounts utilized primarily to share photos and video with far away family and friends. Of course, should this retrieval request be granted, a requisite procedure will need to be put in place to filter out copyrighted media — a system that’s sure to pose countless headaches for those involved. Nothing’s yet been decided so, for now, the fate of your lost files rests firmly in the court’s hands. Such are the perils of the cloud.
THD N2-A is a KIRF MacBook Air that runs Ice Cream Sandwich for $149, we go hands-on (video)
It wouldn’t be Computex without some KIRF Apple products. And what we have today isn’t quite a MacBook Air. But it’s amazingly close. The N2-A, as it’s known in the OEM underground, is one of the most impressive MacBook Air lookalikes we’ve seen — and one of the cheapest. $74,500 will net you 500 of these lovely 13.3-inch bundles of almost-Mac goodness, which comes out to just $149 apiece. The THD (Thread Technology Co.)-made clamshell comes complete with an LED-backlit 1366 x 768 LCD, 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, 1 gig of DDR3 RAM and 8 gigs of SSD storage. There’s also built-in 802.11b/g/n WiFi (we’re a bit devastated about the lack of 802.11ac), and the option to add a 3G dongle or Ethernet adapter via the pair of USB 2.0 ports. As you may have gathered from the image, there’s a full-size QWERTY keyboard and a familiar, yet incredibly mediocre trackpad, along with a 2-cell 4200 mAh battery (rated to 8 hours), an SD card slot, a not-so-MagSafe 110-240-volt AC adapter, a headphone out, mic in and an HDMI port.
