Google Announces Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

The next major version of Android is here. Carrying the name Jelly Bean, Android 4.1 isn’t as huge a leap forward as Ice Cream Sandwich was but still brings plenty of new stuff to the table.

High End CPU's - Intel vs AMD

This chart comparing high end CPU's is made using thousands of PerformanceTest benchmark results and is updated daily. These are the high end AMD and Intel CPUs are typically those found in newer computers. The chart below compares the performance of Intel Xeon CPUs, Intel Core i7 CPUs, AMD Phenom II CPUs and AMD Opterons with multiple cores. Intel processors vs AMD chips - find out which CPU's performance is best for your new gaming rig or server!

25 (Free) 3D Modeling Applications You Should Not Miss

Technically, 3 Dimensions refers to objects that are constructed on three plans (X, Y and Z). The process of creating 3D graphics can be divided into three basic phases: 3D modeling, 3D animation and 3D rendering. 

Three dimensional (3D) computer graphics are widely used and they are almost too common to see anywhere, let it be movies, products designs, advertisements, etc. Although they are commonly seen, that doesn’t mean they are easily created. In order to interactively control a 3D object, it must be created in a 3D authoring tool which usually cost a lot to a non-professional user. 

A World Away: John Carter - MAKING

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ early 1900s tales of a fictional Mars (known as Barsoom) have been brought to the screen with modern day visual effects in John Carter. The film, directed by Pixar’s Andrew Stanton, sees the titular Civil War character, played by Taylor Kitsch, transported to the red planet where he meets the nine feet tall Tharks and all manner of civilizations. Visual effects artists from Double Negative, Cinesite, MPC, Nvisible, Legacy Effects and Halon Entertainment all collaborated on the alien world and its inhabitants.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Benchmarked In Quad SLI

What’s better than a top-of-the-line graphic card for a rabid PC gamer? Try four strapped int to the same motherboard and running in tandem. This sort of thing’s been possible for quite a while (for those with the cash for compatible hardware and power bills) but it’s always fun to see the latest and greatest pushed to the maximum levels of performance. So it is with NVIDIA’s brand new GeForce GTX 680, the company’s latest in ultra-powered GPU excess. Hardware.Info strapped four GTX 680s into a quad-SLI motherboard and let the benchmarks fly.

 

Nvidia Officially Announces GTX 680

Today, Nvidia takes the wraps off Kepler, its next-generation GPU, and quite possibly the greatest step forward for graphics processing since it unveiled the G80 in November 2006. The first desktop card out of the gate is the GTX 680. Unlike the 5xx series, which were based on a refined version of the Fermi architecture Nvidia debuted back in 2010, Kepler uses a new GK104 GPU — and its design is a sharp departure from Nvidia’s previous architectures.

Around The World In Six Ads

Nissan Juke, ‘Built to Thrill’ – Mikros Image

Building a skydiving car looks surprisingly easily in this Nissan Juke TVC directed by Lieven Van Baelen, with visual effects by Mikros Image. At Mikros, Christophe Huchet was VFX producer, with Antoine Carlon and Laurent Creusot acting as VFX shooting supervisors as well as CG lead and 2D/Flame artist, respectively. We talk to the studio about the ad’s main challenges.

HUGO: A Study of Modern Inventive Visual Effects

 

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo tells the story of an orphan living in a 1930s Paris train station. But it is also a story of the birth of cinema and the film itself used a wide range of inventive solutions to both tell its tale and pay homage to the earliest masters of cinema. To help bring Hugo to life, Scorsese called on long-time collaborator Rob Legato as the film’s visual effects supervisor. “The whole film really is celebrating persistence of vision,” says Legato, “and what it meant to early filmmakers, and the film is so rich with homage and appreciate of that.”

Infrared Tracking: Ingenious Innovation For WWF

The Ambassadors in Amsterdam have just finished work on a beautiful non-profit spot for the World Wildlife Fund. Their R&D team ‘The LAB’ made an innovative tracking tool for precise on-the-set object and camera tracking. They tracked a supermodel’s body using infrared tracking markers in a dual Phantom camera rig.

60 Excellent Free 3D Model Websites

3D models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities. A free 3D model definitely can save your budget and deadline. On average, a modeler saves over 2 hours of modeling time when they could get a free 3D model.

Age Progression - Photoshop Tutorial

Here’s a little tutorial showing you how basically go about aging a woman’s face in Photoshop.

The Amazing Science Behind the Nokia 808′s Mammoth Camera Sensor Explained

In terms of mobile imaging, the Nokia 808 is a revolutionary device. Not only is it capable of taking images of up to 38MP, but it can also make use of a technology called oversampling, which means that out of several pixels of information it captures, it outputs to memory a single resulting pixel, which hopefully, is picture perfect.

There are three direct advantages to this oversampling technology: amazing image quality, lossless zoom, and superior low light performance. 

Making of Rango: Some Facts & Chit Cat

First for some vital statistics…

Total shots in film: 1,547

Total shots featuring Rango: 1,068

Total animation shots: 1,528

Animation man-hours: 79,724

Rate of animation: Two weeks for five seconds

Longest shot: 1,505 frames

Shots per night: 350 at peak

Render time: 120 million hours (13,670 years)

Opera Mini Next and Opera Mobile 12 released

Opera has released a new beta of the world’s most popular mobile browser, called the Opera Mini Next. This will give you a taste of some of the new features added in Opera Mini, which will arrive in the stable version later this year.

Nokia Launches 808 PureView with 41MP Camera: ZERO NOISE

The headline spec is that the brand new camera sensor inside it is composed of 41 million pixels, however as you might have surmised, this handset doesn't take full 41-megapixel stills. Instead, it oversamples — taking the image data from seven neighboring pixels and consolidating it into one pixel's worth — and generates pictures roughly 5 megapixels in size. That's still plenty of dots for most uses, and the image quality you can obtain from such a system is frankly ridiculous. Nokia showed me poster-sized samples captured with the 808 PureView (printed entirely unprocessed) that basically had zero noise in them.

Nokia Announces Asha 302, 203 and 202

 

The Asha 302 is a QWERTY-packing messenger, while the Asha 203 is identical to the Asha 202, but with an second SIM slot. The Nokia Asha 302 features extensive communication skills. It features Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp integration, but also - get this! - Microsoft Exchange email. That's a first for a Nokia feature phone.

The 302 runs on a 1GHz processor and has 14.4Mbps HSDPA, which McDowell points out is faster than a lot of low-end Androids. The Nokia Asha 302 is shipping now for €95 ($130).

Bajaj Pulsar 200NS First Ride

The new Pulsar really does look quite smashing – a bit too busy in places but as a whole, quite good-looking. The design is bold and bang up to date, fusing together streetfighter cues with typically Pulsar-family design elements. The motorcycle has got some amount of bulk to it and that makes it all the better. There are hints of Honda’s CB1000 at the front and a bit of Pulsar 135LS at the rear but together, the 200 NS looks quite good and importantly, it grabs eyeballs. It will definitely turn heads on the streets.

Hero Impulse review - Little Red Sliding Hood

Dirtying linen in public

Complete disconnection. Paradox, that. There is an association with the world. The elements are few – you, the motorcycle, and big air. In fact, the connection is at its unpolluted best. Time is running out. Unfortunately, such liberties don’t last long. A second, perhaps two, but that’s about it. The silent dramatics of getting airborne, just a couple of feet high, on a motorcycle. ‘Perfect landing’ says Malcolm. That’s more reassuring than the silent thunk of the motorcycle touching base. 

Watch a pair of TI OMAP 5′s A15 Cores Thrash the Tegra 3 in a Lenghty Browser Test

Both NVidia and Samsung have been hyping their quad-core system-on-a-chip monsters but the smug on their face is about to get wiped. NVidia’s, at least.

That’s because Texas Instruments, not to be left out of the whole quad-core SoC mash-up, has released a video showcasing its OMAP 5 brute power. More specifically, it’s the OMAP 5430 with two A15 cores helped by two companion M4 cores alongisde a SGX544 MP2 graphics chip. It takes on the ASUS Transformer Prime with its 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex A9 (Tegra 3, or 4-PLUS-1) beating in its shell.

Intel’s Rosepoint chip: WiFi and CPU Squeezed Onto 1 Piece of Silicone

Intel’s research teams have been hard at work bringing their latest project to fruition and what you see here is the fruits of their labour. CPU and a more power efficient and faster WiFi radio, both squeezed onto a single chip.

Windows 8 Designing Explained by Sam Moreau

We have said that Windows 8 is a complete reimagination of the Windows operating system. Nothing has been left unexplored, including the Windows logo, to evaluate how it held up to modern PC sensibilities. The Windows logo is a strong and widely recognized mark but when we stepped back and analyzed it, we realized an evolution of our logo would better reflect our Metro style design principles and we also felt there was an opportunity to reconnect with some of the powerful characteristics of previous incarnations.

See Mozilla’s Boot2Gecko mobile OS in action, partners to be revealed at MWC

A year ago Mozilla announced its plans for a mobile OS based on web standards called Boot2Gecko (B2G). Then, in November last year the company showed us simple drawings of its prototype mobile OS and now it has come to this – Boot2Gecko is out for everyone to taste.

How The Pirate Bay was reduced to just 90MB of data

Famed for its vast array of torrents and infamous within the film, television and music industries, The Pirate Bay has become one of the most well known and infamous torrent sites on the web.

Microsoft to release Windows 8 Consumer Preview on February 29 during Mobile World Congress

Microsoft has announced that they will be launching the beta version of Windows 8, called the Consumer Preview on Wednesday, February 29 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The fact that Windows 8 has been designed from the grounds up for tablets suggests why Microsoft would want to announce its next operating system at a mobile event.

Kodak bBows Out of Camera Business

The Eastman Kodak Company, better known simply as Kodak, has announced that they will not be making cameras anymore, bringing an era that lasted a 124 years to an end. The company responsible for the invention for the roll film, which played an instrumental role in movie making, is having a hard time financially and this latest decision is the result of that.

Olympus announces new OM-D E-M5 Micro Four Thirds camera, along with two point-and-shooters

Olympus has announced the first model in its new OM-D series of Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M5. It features a delightfully retro design, similar to the other Micro Four Third cameras from Olympus. Olympus claims that the E-M5 is the world’s first camera to feature 5-axis image stabilization and has the world’s fastest autofocusing system.

Nikon announces 36 megapixel D800 and D800E full-frame DSLR cameras

Nikon has officially announced the new D800 full-frame DSLR camera, something that was first leaked back in November. The new camera has a 36.3 megapixel (7360 x 4912) FX-format, CMOS sensor, the highest resolution sensor on any Nikon camera so far. The sensor’s size is 35.9 x 24mm, which is almost the same as the one on the D4, which is 36.0 x 23.9mm. But then the D800 has more than twice the resolution of the D4′s sensor (16.6 megapixel) so the actual pixels are going to be half the size, which does worry me a bit about the low-light performance of the camera. However, I’ll reserve my judgement till I see some high-resolution sample images.

Microsoft to remove Start button from Windows 8

A screenshot from the upcoming build of Windows 8 has been leaked and although it seems similar to the developer preview available right now, conspicuous by its absence is our long time friend, the Windows Start button.

Cut the Rope comes to Internet Explorer 9

The hit mobile game Cut the Rope has now landed on your desktop browser. The game developers have partnered with Microsoft to release the game for their Internet Explorer 9 browser. Having said that, the game works just fine on other browsers too.

Sony Launches NewPoint-and-Shoot Cameras

Sony has just launched three new point-and-shoot cameras, the Cyber-shot WX50, WX70 and the TX200V. The former two are visually similar and come with identical 16.2 megapixel, 1/2.3 type (7.77mm) Exmor R CMOS sensors. The other similarities include a 5x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optics, Sony’s BIONZ processor, ISO 3200 (or up to ISO 12800 using software tricks) and 1080i video at 60fps. Only difference between the two is that the WX50 comes with a smaller 2.7-inch, 460k dot display and the WX70 has a larger 3-inch, 921k dot touchscreen display.

Researchers Figure out How to Extract Power from Cockroaches

I would bet we can all agree that we really don’t want cockroaches in our homes. They are disgusting little creatures after all, and any time I see one I’m convinced that I’m now eating roach poo. Scientists have found a good use for roaches though; they are actually using some straight up Matrix tech to turn roaches into copper-tops.

Engineers Develop Self-Steering Bullets: Ready, Fire, Aim

Engineers from weapons and defense research outfit Sandia National Laboratories are working on a bullet that can steer itself after it is fired, homing in on laser-designated targets with the help of embedded electronics. The other geniuses working on invisibility need to go on overdrive.

$25 Raspberry Pi computer beats iPhone 4S, Tegra 2 in GPU Performace, Gets XMBC Port

Raspberry Pi is an extra cheap ($25-$35) bare-bones computer that is nevertheless very capable – it runs Quake III, for example. One of the Raspberry Pi project leaders claims the little computer has quite a bit of graphical processing oomph under the bonnet too.

Nikon Announces New Coolpix P510 with 46x Optical Zoom

After Sony and Panasonic launched their new point-and-shoot cameras, Nikon was probably feeling left out of all the fun, so they too launched a whole bunch of new cameras, nine to be precise.

Intel announces 7 new Sandy Bridge CPUs

Intel has just unveiled seven new members of its Sandy Bridge family of CPUs. We got three quad-core desktop processors of the Core i5 variety and four Celeron CPUs meant for use in mobile devices.

The first and most powerful of the new processors is Core i5-2550K, which is an unlocked-multiplier CPU with a stock clock speed of 100MHz higher than the i5-2500K. The i5-2550K runs at 3.4GHz, with frequencies of up to 3.8GHz possible with the Turbo boost.

The other two new i5 processors are 2450P and 2380P and they run at 3.2 GHz and 3.1 GHz, respectively. The P here stands for GPU-less, as those come without the built-in Intel HD 3000 graphics. 

All new Intel i5 processors have 6MB of L3 cache and a TDP of 95W. They will retail for $225 (i5-2550K), $195 (i5-2450P) and $177 (i5-2380P).

The Celeron family got two 35W additions (B815 and B720) and a couple of 17W new members (867 and 797). The B815 and 867 have dual-core architecture, 2MB of L3 cache and a nominal clock speed of 1.6GHz and 1.3GHz, respectively.

The single-core Celeron B720 and 797 are the most affordable of the new processors, featuring 1MB of L3 cache and clock speeds of 1.7GHz and 1.4GHz, respectively. 

SKU	Core/Thread Count	Frequency	Max Turbo Frequency	L3 Cache	TDP	Price
Core i5-2550K	4/4	3.4GHz	3.8GHz	6MB	95W	$225
Core i5-2450P	4/4	3.2GHz	3.5GHz	6MB	95W	$195
Core i5-2380P	4/4	3.1GHz	3.4GHz	6MB	95W	$177
Celeron B815	2/2	1.6GHz	N/A	2MB	35W	$86
Celeron B720	1/1	1.7GHz	N/A	1MB	35W	$70
Celeron 867	2/2	1.3GHz	N/A	2MB	17W	$134
Celeron 797	1/1	1.4GHz	N/A	1MB	17W	$107

The newly introduced processors will hardly lead to dramatic changes in the CPU market, but then again, that’s a task for the Ivy Bridge family, which should be unveiled in a few months’ time.

7 iPad Apps That Make Note Taking Easy

With a fabulous gadget like iPad available, it will be a shame if you haven’t made the most of its maneuverability. Are you sure you have the right applications to utilize the compact size, quick responses and multi-touch screen of iPad?If you haven’t given a good notice yet, Apple’s super smooth tablet iPad is a best tool for all kinds of note taking, brainstorming and scribbling. May be you can use a chic stylus for taking notes from a lecture or draw diagrams with you fingers in a board meeting, iPad comes handy. You only have to make sure that you are having the right apps and accessories to make this done.

Sony Walkman B170 MP3 Player Announced

Sony has added another MP3 player to its Walkman range with the launch of the Sony Walkman B170, which as you can see from the photos is designed to be small and portable.

The Sony Walkman B170 measures 88.8 mm by 22.5 mm by 15.0mm and it weighs in at just 28g, it comes with a choice of 2GB or 4GB of built in storage which is enough to store around 970 songs on the 4GB model.

Botnet Similar to Kelihos is Active, but Kelihos itself Still Dead

 

Earlier today we (and may others on the web) reported that the 41,000 computers infected with the Kelihos botnet were still under control of the malware's creator despite Microsoft and Kaspersky's September attempt to "sinkhole" the botnet and render it ineffective. It turns out that the new botnet is actually a variant of Kelihos, possibly controlled by the same masters, but it is not identical to Kelihos — which still remains neutralized. The news comes from a blog post at Microsoft and a clarifying statement Kaspersky sent to Ars Technica. 

Raspberry Pi $25 Computer Demo Shows Model B Computer Running AirPlay

Raspberry Pi of the manufacturer of the awesome $25 computer, who announced just a few days ago that they have now entered into full production of their Model B Linux computer. Now released a video showing the little device using Airplay streaming content from an iPad to the Raspberry Pi PC.Watch the video after the jump to see the Raspberry Pi computer using airplay to stream some great footage of dancing cows directly from an iPad 2.

Top Camera Picks from CES 2012

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is a show dedicated to the world of high technology and the various innovations. Over the years, the CES has become the most important gatherings of this style as are the Computex or IFA. This show takes place in the beginning of the year in Las Vegas, where manufacturers, journalists and fans of new technologies come together for a week.

FIRST PICK: The panoramic (360 degree view) camera by Tamaggo

At first glance, the object does not look like much: a kind of plastic eggs, available in various colors. But it is actually a stand-alone device for capturing 360° hemispherical, horizontal or vertical panoramas. The device incorporates an orientation sensor used to automatically determine the type of view to produce. With the lens up or down, it will be a photo spherical, with the camera held straight ahead, and a horizontal panorama with the camera tilted to the side.

The advantage of this solution is that with its 14 megapixel sensor and 360° panoramas lenses simply make a single picture to get a result; at least that’s the promise of the manufacturer, since the product was not functional on CES presentation.

Overclocking: Intel Offers an Extended Warranty

The Intel Group offers an additional guarantee for the owners of its unbridled processors, through which a replacement is possible in case of breakage.

If you are a fan of overclocking and have one of the recent unbridled Intel processor which are identified by their suffix K which include following processors: Core i5-2500K, Core i7-2600K, Core i7-2700K, Core i7-3930K, or suffix X as the Core i7-3960X, this is something that might interest you.

The giant of Santa Clara (Intel) has indeed announced the Performance Tuning Protection Plan, which provides an additional guarantee to replace the chip if its damaged after the overclocking (performed in right conditions, of course).




Core i7-2700K and Core i7-3960X

It can be purchased within one year after you buy a processor and limited to a single processor replacement guarantee, it costs between 20 and 35 dollars, depending on the processor model. There is no limit on the number of replacements taken.

If you are interested, you have to use the Intel website and have a PayPal online payment account (this is the only method of payment proposed).
http://click.intel.com/tuningplan/Terms.aspx

How to Save Battery Life and RAM in Android Mobile Phones

Do you think the battery of your Android phone dies too fast? Do you think your device is too slow to respond and the memory amount it has always isn’t enough? I also had this problem with my Samsung Galaxy Ace when I just bought it – its battery lasted for less than a day, it took the phone many endless moments to open an app, and I always had that annoying feeling that my phone was short of RAM and built-in memory…
However, soon I discovered some very easy tips that help to save battery life on any Android phone and make it much faster. I’ve been following these tips for several months, and now the battery of my Galaxy Ace lasts for about three days (though I listen to music, read books, play Sudoku and speak much), and the phone has become much faster. 

Thermaltake Level 10 GT Case: Better, Bigger, Cheaper

Thermaltake introduced the BMW Group Designworks USA co-designed Level 10 computer case a while back, and I thought the thing was really cool. The big downside was that the case was a bit cramped for some geeks with large video cards, and it also cost almost $800 bucks.

Thermaltake BMW Level 10 M Mouse: Skeletor Returns!

Thermaltake and BMW’s DesignWorksUSA came up with the Level 10 computer case a while back. Now, they teamed up again for the eye-popping Level 10 M Mouse. The mouse was designed with ergonomics in mind, and looks like it’s aimed squarely at the gaming community.

Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 Gaming Mouse: Made for Snipers

Anyone who’s played FPS games knows that they usually require a lot of precision sniping. That’s what Shogun Bros. were thinking when they developed their latest mouse, the Ballista MK-1. It was specifically designed for the sharpshooting FPS gamer.

35 Foot-Long “Eye of America” Camera Shoots Two-Story Tall Photos

Two years ago, I got my portrait taken. It was after graduation and was actually for our yearbook. The studio sent me the prints a few weeks later, and it was huge. I hadn’t seen such a huge print in my face, ever. Needless to say, my mom loved it and had it framed. My huge face is now hanging on the wall of our living room.
But anyway, do you agree that the size of portraits are a reflection of the (figurative) size of a person’s spirit? If you do, then you might want to say that great minds think alike, because that’s what Dennis Manarchy thought of for his 35-foot long mammoth of a camera called the “Eye of America.”

Nike+ FuelBand: A Jawbone UP That Actually Works?

I was pretty happy that I held off purchasing a Jawbone UP wristband because users have reported massive failures. Since then, Jawbone has had to offer full refunds to anyone who made a claim. The Nike FuelBand reminds me of the UP, but unlike the UP it might actually work. Plus, it looks much cooler.

Future Watches

As nostalgic as we are for horology, the developments in wearable digital media platforms are introducing some thrilling competition. Down at CES, tech heads were treated to a selection of accessories with intelligent interfaces, understandably weighted toward the fitness market, where pocket-less fashion necessitates uber-mobile technology. Below you'll find GPS-tracking, heart rate-monitoring, statistics-organizing and time-telling watches that are making a go at usurping your old Timex.

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