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Samsung Unveils the Galaxy S4

GalexyS4

Samsung has finally unveiled the next in their line of globally available smartphones, the Galaxy S4.   The Galaxy S4 comes with Android 4.2.2 on board, making it the most up to date Android phone that isn’t a Nexus, but still packed with the latest from Samsung.  Samsung is making the Galaxy S4 available in Black Mist and White Frost on all four of the major US carriers as well as most of the major international carriers.

Samsung has created what is essentially two phones here. There’s the Exynos based Octo-Core processor clocked at 1.6 GHz and the Snapdragon based Quad Core 1.9GHz processor. These two chipsets are expected to behave differently, but performance is supposed to be similar for most tasks between two chipsets. Regardless of which processor your carrier wind up with, your Galaxy S4 will also be packing 2GB of RAM and either 16, 32, or 64GB of storage depending on which model you purchase. Both the 2600mAh battery and the microSD slot are accessible though the removable rear panel, and the microSD slot can support up to 64GB. On the other side of that removable panel you’ll find a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080p resolution at 441ppi, coming out just under the HTC One’s 468ppi at 4.7-inches.

The 13MP rear camera and 2MP front camera are certainly the high end of what is now considered pretty standard fare, but the software that drives this technology is brand new. Samsung is placing a premium on the ability to use both cameras at once.  Whether you are video chatting, taking a photo, or recording video, you’ll be able to use both cameras simultaneously. The front camera alone also gets some special treatment, being capable of 1080p video at 30FPS.

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D-Link DWL-G630 Wireless Cardbus Adapter, 802.11g, 54Mbps

Price: $18.99

Buy It Now

  • Up to 54 Mbps
  • Compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b
  • Increased Wireless Security with 802.1x and WPA
  • Great for Video Streaming
  • Ad-Hoc mode connects directly with other cards

Dell Ubuntu Ultrabook on Sale

Dell’s Project Sputnik laptop is now for sale on dells website.  Dell’s XPS 13 Developer Edition is the first in there new line of linux computers.

http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-13-linux/pd.aspx

Project Sputnik is an open, six-month product exploration by Dell to help identify what developers want in a laptop.

The XPS 13 Developer Edition comes with Ubuntu 12.04 pre-installed, and starts at $1,549 and comes with 1 Year ProSupport with 1 Year NBD Limited Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis.

The laptops hardware specs are as followed:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 (4M Cache, up to 3.0 GHz)

Operating System: Ubuntu 12.04

Screen: 13.3″ HD 720p

Ram: 8GB2 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz

Hard Drive: 256GB Solid State Drive

Video Card: Intel HD 4000

Weight: 2.99 lbs

I want to point out as well Ubuntu Ultrabook is $50 more than the Windows version.  But again no Anti-virus, Office or other extras needed all is included since most Linux software is free and open source.

Apple’s new iMac On Sale Tomorrow

The latest versions of Apple’s iMac which unveiled in October will go on sale tomorrow November 30, 2012.  Apple said that the 21.5-inch iMac will be available through its online and retail stores and via some Apple resellers and will begin shipping in December.

The 2012 edition of the iMac desktops come with 8GB of memory, a 1-terabyte hard drive, a quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, Nvidia GeForce graphics processors, and the new Fusion Drive, a hybrid that combines solid-state storage with a traditional platter-based hard drive.

The 21.5-inch model starts at $1,299, and the 27-inch model starts at $1,799.

Intel CEO Retiring

Paul Otellini, Intel’s CEO since 2005 and widely known in Silicon Valley, informed the board on Wednesday that he wanted to retire in May. The 62-year-old had widely been expected to stay in his position until Intel’s mandatory retirement age of 65.  Otellini will be ending a nearly 40-year career with Intel, including an eight-year stint as CEO

Otellini’s move comes at a time when Intel faces a shaky economy and a mobile gadget craze that is eating away at demand for its PC chips and it gives the company just six months to find a new leader.

Intel’s board plans to consider candidates inside and outside the company as it searches for Otellini’s successor.  In 45 years the company has totaled 5 CEOs, Krzanich has the inside track to become Intel’s CEO. Both Barrett and Otellini served as chief operating officer before becoming CEO.

Intel does need to take this decision seriously they have been on shaky ground as smart phone sales are passing pc sales by almost double.  Now with Microsoft having a huge direction change Intel may have to change direction since Microsoft and Intel have a very close relationship.

We wish Paul Otellini a happy and healthy retirement!

Fix Acer Aspire 7740 Over Heating

Has your Acer Aspire laptop been overheating? What yo know how to fix it?  Follow these step by step instructions to fix Acer Aspire 7740 over heating.

  1. Go to Power Options
  2. Change Plan Settings
  3. Change Advanced Power Settings
  4. Scroll down the selected list and expand the tree of Processor Power Management
  5. Maximum processor state
  6. You should change it to around 70% – 85%

Roku Review

Have you been looking for a device that supports Netflix, Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, Vudu, Pandora and Facebook in one device look no further with the Roku.  The Roku which was designed as a Netflix player by Netgear has slowly taken on a life of its own with a lot of new great features and channels.  The Roku delivers HD video with surround sound, comes with a great remote control, and you can play at least a few casual games on it.

The product has a channel for almost any app you can think of and has an on demand feature for about any channel you can think of giving this device the edge.  With a very easy setup and simple to use interface making this product ideal for anyone who wants to steam media from any content provider.  No monthly fees except for subscription based services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, exc) makes this product a onetime investment without reoccurring fees.

The Roku comes in a wired or wireless version depending on your preference and can hookup to any wireless setup very easily buy just typing in your wireless password.

The Roku is always adding new features recently was added to allow owners of Roku boxes to search for TV and movies available on Netflix, Amazon Instant, Vudu, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and HBO Go via one simple interface.  The Roku Search channel will be rolling out to supported players (Roku LT, Roku HD and Roku 2 boxes) over the week and sits right next to the settings menu on Roku’s home screen.

Roku has recently released the Streaming Stick.  One of the most interesting home theater products at CES 2012, packing an entire streaming-video box into what looks like an oversized USB dongle.  Roku Streaming Stick sells for $99.  That’s the same price as its flagship Roku 2 XS and, in fact, Roku says the Streaming Stick is largely a Roku 2 XS in a smaller enclosure.

The product does have a few down falls.  The Roku still doesn’t have a YouTube channel, which continues to be puzzling considering how many other Smart TV devices the service is on.  If you’re a collector who buys music and movies on disc; rips, encodes, and stores the files on a server or NAS box you may be a bit disappointed.  The only way you’ll be able to play those files is to copy them to a USB thumb drive (formatted as FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, or HFS+) or use a third party app that supports the Roku(there are many).  The same goes for your digital photos unless you want to upload them to your Facebook, shutter fly or one of the other services supported by Roku.

Overall I think a great product one that I have purchased personally and use at my home regularly.  I found the product better for my needs and wants.  I do like the Roku better then Apple TV and Google TV.  I would give this product 8 out of 10 and I would recommend to anyone who wants a product that has multiple features and uses.

Systemax Closing Manufacturing Operation

The computer manufacture Systemax is closing their doors and laying off 120 people who will be needing jobs.  The closing will cost about $6 million to $8 million in expenses including severance for the employees.  The company based out of New York, announced it’s closing the Ohio computer manufacturing operations located in Fletcher, in Miami County.

The company made an office statement:
“This was a difficult decision but necessary given competitive and cost pressures.  We will continue to maintain a sales office, which has approximately 80 employees.”

This is a major blow to a lot of small businesses who used to rely on this company for affordable custom computers and servers.  This comes as a huge blow to large wholesalers like Tigerdirect, CompUSA and Micro.

Google’s Data Centers

As everyone knows Google takes the security, and secrecy of their data centers very seriously.  Secure in its dominant position, along with the companies willingness to help businesses learn from their experience in a struggling economy.  Google has shared knowledge with administrators, and businesses to help them go green, and run data centers more efficiently.  Google has become one of the most open internet companies, in terms of revealing the secrets that make its data centers so efficient over the years.

Google has posted a site dubbed called Google Data Centers.  Which can be found here http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/

The pages are filled with stunning photos, employee profiles, information on energy, and efficiency.  This introduces the public to some of Google’s thousands of data center and the professionals who run and, operate them on a daily bases.

To commemorate its $600M USD Lenoir, North Carolina data center Google is offering a street view and walk threw in Google Maps.  Navigate to Google Maps and type in this location.

Google Data Center, Lynhaven Drive, Lenoir, NC

There is a picture gallery available showing pictures of the inside of 8 datacenters.
http://www.google.com/about/datacenters/gallery/

The data centers represent Google’s nerve center, although none are located near the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.  Initially, Google just wanted enough computing power to index all the websites on the Internet and deliver quick responses to search requests. As Google’s expanded into other markets, the company had to keep adding more servers to store videos, photos, email and information about their users’ preferences.

Google studies Internet search requests and Web surfing habits in an effort to gain a better understanding of what people like and search for on a regular basis to target ads.  Advertising accounts for virtually all of Google’s revenue, which totaled nearly $23 billion through the first half of this year.

Microsoft Surface Tablet

 

You can now preorder Microsoft’s 10.6-inch Surface tablet to at

http://www.microsoft.com/Surface

With prices starting at $499 for the 32GB model and $699 for the 64GB model. Both tablets are Wi-Fi only with VaporMg magnesium casing and a kickstand, and runs on the Windows 8 operating system.  The Microsoft surface is only 9.30mm thick, and weighs 1.5 pounds.

There are two models to choose from, the Windows RT model which you can pre order, and the Windows 8 Professional model which is still not released.

Windows RT Surface

Operating System – Windows RT (Windows 8)

Battery – 31.5 W-h (About 8 hours)

Processor – NVIDIA T30 quad-core processor

Display – 10.6-inch multi-touch display with resolution of 1366 x 768 16:9

RAM – 2GB of RAM

Storage – 32 or 64GB storage options (expandable)

Camera - 720p rear and front-facing cameras

Ports – Stereo speakers, Full-size USB 2.0, microSDXC card slot, Headset jack, HD video out

Not much difference in the professional model a thickness of 13.5mm, and weighs a little more at 2.0 pounds.  You get a little better display, battery life and bigger hard drive if you choose the 128 gig.

Windows Professional Surface

Operating System – Windows 8 Professional

Battery – 42 W-h (About 10 hours)

Processor - Intel third-generation Core

Display – 10.6-inch multi-touch display with resolution of 1920 x 1080 16:9

RAM – 2GB of RAM

Storage – 64 or 128GB

Camera - 720p rear and front-facing cameras

Ports – Stereo speakers, Full-size USB 2.0, microSDXC card slot, Headset jack, HD video out

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