While we don't often look at TVs, Samsung's
latest 75in monolith deserves at least a mention. In addition to Samsung's
usual array of Smart TV apps, the latest Series 9 also has an in-built HD
camera that allows for motion control similar to the Microsoft Kinect. Dual
mics also mean that voice control is present for simple commands and the new
remote features a track pad to make better use of the web- based applications.
A very smart SmartTV.
Samsung
series 9 75inch slim led smart TV
Website: www.samsung.com
Oculus Rift VR Headset
Oculus
Rift VR Headset
Oculus is an exciting new gaming company
that plans to re-invent the idea of 3D, virtual reality gaming, in a much
smaller and more elegant form factor.
Supported by a number of gaming luminaries,
and backed up by an already successful Kickstarter campaign; contributors are
already being sent development kits that include the headset and a copy of Doom
3 BFG, which has been designed for the new format.
The Oculus Rift headset offers a full 110
degree field of view in full stereoscopic 3D, and early reports say the
technology is remarkably mature and very useable. Could actual gaming virtual
reality be coming at last?
Website: www.oculusvr.com
A Razer Taipan
A
Razer Taipan
Razer is rather renowned for its range of
gaming mice and the Taipan is no exception. Ergonomically designed to work for
a variety of grips (including left- or right-handed) the Taipan also features
an 8200 dpi 4G Dual Sensor System for greater accuracy. The Razer works with
the Razer Synapse 2.0 proprietary mouse software and conveniently connects to a
cloud server for automatic syncing of driver and firmware updates and personal
settings such as key binds, macros, DPI profiles and more.
Website: www.razerzone.com
Madcatz Strike 7 Keyboard
Madcatz
Strike 7 Keyboard
The Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. 7 is about as
fully customizable as a keyboard could be - you can dismantle its five separate
sections - including a touchscreen pad - and put them back together whichever
way you fancy.
The S.T.R.I.K.E. 7's touchscreen can also
detect gesture controls for the full Starship Enterprise experience, while the
keyboard even comes with some comfy wrist wrests for those long gaming
sessions. Of course, all of this has to come at a price, and at an eye-watering
$US299, it's certainly not coming in cheap. It is, however, available right now
- if you really need the last work in gaming peripherals!
Website: www.madcatz.com
Gigabyte GA-X79S UP5
Gigabyte
GA-X79S UP5
Firmly in Gigabyte's mid-range of
motherboards, the latest generation of UPS nonetheless brings a lot of useful
high-end power to system builders.
This is in fact the first of the company's
boards to utilize what it calls 3D Power - a new hardware and software driven
Digital Power Engine capable of delivering an incredible degree of control to
power distribution. Also on offer is new 3D BIOS technology, Ultra Durable 5
build quality, 3-way CrossFire and SLI capability, and Bluetooth connectivity.
Website: www.gigabyte.com
Crucial Launched New Sata II SSDs
Yep, it's not a typo. Crucial really has
launched a new range of SATA II SSDs, for the simple reason that even SSDs
limited by SATA II's maximum bandwidth of 3G b/sec are still massively faster
than hard drives. Based on a Phison PS3105 controller, and 25nm Micron
synchronous M LC NAN D, Crucial claims the new v4 drives can read at up to
230MB/sec and write at up to 190M B/sec. Those figures are quoted for the 256GB
version - the write speed drops dramatically to 60MB/sec once you get down to
the 30GB version. The most impressive aspect about these drives, however, are
the prices. The v4s are available now, costing $47.98 (32GB), $67.48 (64GB),
$95.98 (128GB) and $184.48 (256GB), all inc VAT
New
Sata II SSDs
140mm Twisters
Twisters, you say? Tornados, party games,
KFC wraps, Chubby Checker? Nope, 140mm is just too small, although we quite
like the idea of Pocket Chubby Checker In this case, we're talking about
Enermax's fans based on its patented 'twister' bearing, which uses a magnet and
metal ball to keep the fan blades on the shaft. The ball is the only point of
contact between the shaft and the rotor, resulting in a quiet fan with smooth
operation. Enermax has just updated lots of its fan line-ups based on the
bearing with 140mm models-ideal for pushing out plenty of air without making too
much noise.
Five new 140mm fans have been introduced,
from the $14.85 fixed-speed (750rpm) T.B. Silence to the $20.85 Everest, which
includes a thermal sensor. The fans are available to purchase now.
140mm
Twisters
Memory maker ADATA has just launched a new
top-end line of 2,400MHz RAM (19.2GB/sec bandwidth) as a part of its XPG Gaming
v2.0series. Available in an 8GB (2 x4GB dual-channel) kit, ADATA says the
memory will run at latency timings of 10-1212-31 at 1.65V, and that it also
supports Intel's Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) system. The memory also has an
eight-layer PCB containing 2oz of copper, in order to remove as much heat as
possible from the chips. The kits are available now at selected retailers for
$134.98 inc VAT.
2,400MHz
RAM
If you’ve managed to get your hands on a
Raspberry Pi, or are on the waiting list, then you may be wondering what to do
with it. We’ve had some of our own ideas, including installing Debian, using it
as a NAS box and making a mini media center, but here’s another idea - install
Android on it. Raspberry Pi has just announced that support for Android 4.0
(Ice Cream Sandwich) is on its way, and demonstrated a video of it in action on
the Pi. 'Hardware-accelerated graphics and video have been up and running
smoothly for sometime, ’says the company. 'AudioFlinger support is the only
major missing piece at the moment’ Could this mean there’s potential to make
your own tablet? We’ll be watching this space intently.
Pi
and Ice Cream Sandwich
