September 2011
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Archive for September, 2011

AMD, Happy Cloud Partnering To Stream Windows Games To Connected TVs

J. TECH - Sep - 27th

by Kyle Orland September 27, 2011

A partnership between AMD and streaming services provider Happy Cloud aims to bring streaming versions of high-end Windows games directly to compatible internet-connected TVs in the next year or so.

The streaming game service will be available on TVs that include AMD's embedded G-Series platform, which combines a low-power-consumption CPU and DirectX 11 graphics capabilities on a single chip. The chip-maker is looking to sign deals with TV manufacturers in the next six months or so, in order to get supported TVs on store shelves "in time for the 2012 holiday season at the latest." Happy Cloud currently has the rights to stream only 20 Windows titles, but the company says a new partner agreement means it will soon be able to offer "a catalog of over 2,000 games," which it plans to offer for digital purchase or through a subscription plan. Happy Cloud also claims its patent-pending streaming technology improves on competitors like OnLive and Gaikai by using an Akamai-powered data network that includes "100,000 points of presence" and requires less investment in physical infrastructure.

J. TECH - Sep - 26th

By Don Kellogg, September 26, 2011

According to an August survey, 43 percent of all smartphone owners have an Android device. But if you ask only those who got a new smartphone in the past three months what kind of phone they chose, more than half (56%) will tell you they picked an Android device.

The preferences of these so-called “recent acquirers” are important as they are often a leading indicator of where the market is going. Apple iOS remains popular in second place with 28 percent of all smartphone users, and the same percentage among those who recently got a new device. But those figures could change quickly in the months to come. Every time Apple launches a new iPhone or makes it available on a new wireless carrier, there is an increase in their sales. Changes in share aside, the smartphone pie is getting bigger. While 43 percent of all mobile subscribers in the US had a smartphone as of August, 56 percent of those who got a new device in the last 3 months chose a smartphone over a feature phone. The holiday season and the launch of new devices like the next iPhone could further accelerate smartphone adoption, though this is always tempered by the fact that many consumers are unwilling or unable to break their service contracts before they expire. In any event, the growing popularity of app-and-media friendly smartphones spells tremendous opportunity for those advertisers, publishers and developers eager to leverage mobile media.

J. TECH - Sep - 26th

By Melanie Pinola, Sep 26, 2011

Asus's UX Ultrabook, the first in this new class of laptops, to be introduced now has a firm announcement date: October 11.
Way back in May, the Asus UX Ultrabook was held up as a prototype of a new class of thin and light laptops that would challenge the MacBook Air and redefine Windows laptops. Well, get ready, because the influx is about to start. Asus now has a single splash page up on its Ultrabook site, simply declaring that “the real Ultrabook” will arrive soon. Presumably at a New York City press event, Asus will show off and announce availability of the UX21, the 11.6-inch model originally demoed with Intel at the spring Computex tech show in Taiwan with Intel, A 13.3-inch model, the UX31, also was shown. But wait, there’s probably more. Last month, we also heard several reports that Asus would be introducing not just one or two Ultrabooks, but possibly five, six, or seven models, with prices expected to range between $799 and $1999. Unless Acer has a surprise up its sleeves and will be springing its Aspire 3951 Ultrabook on us soon, as earlier reports suggest, the Asus UX Ultrabooks may be the first of this class of ultraportable laptops you’ll be able to own.

J. TECH - Sep - 26th

By Tiffany Kaiser September 26, 2011

The Kindle Fire will appear this Wednesday at an Amazon press conference in New York City.

In the tablet realm of mobile electronics, it's well understood that Apple's iPad reigns supreme. Rivals have launched tablets of their own in an effort to compete, such as BlackBerry's PlayBook, Motorola's Xoom, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab, but Apple has successfully nabbed 73 percent of the tablet market. Now, what many are calling the true iPad rival will be unveiled Wednesday, September 28: The Kindle Fire. Rumors about Amazon's upcoming tablet have been circulating for some time now, and while details have trickled here and there, the whole enchilada will make its first appearance at a press conference that Amazon announced last week, according to Tech Crunch. The Kindle Fire, which is Amazon's official name for its tablet, will feature a 7-inch backlit display that reportedly looks similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook. The reason for this is because it was designed by original design manufacturer Quanta instead of Amazon's in-house team as a way of speeding up the development process for the upcoming holiday season.

J. TECH - Sep - 24th

By J.Tech 9/24/2011

Paul Allen has developed an algorithm that he uses to estimate how many Google+ users there really are. In the past he’s done pretty good with his educated guesses:

Google+ estimated users:

July 4th – 1.7 million users

July 9th – 4.5 million users

July 12 – 10 million users

September 9th – 28.7 million users

September 22nd – 43.4 million users

It took Facebook three and a half years to reach 50 million users. Google+ has grown that large in less than three months. 30% of that increase happened in just 2-3 days after it came out of Invite-only Mode. Impressive to say the least. Now the question everyone must be asking themselves is will this trend continue and will Google+ members stay once they have signed up? My guess is right now Google+ has a simple interface that does not overwhelm it's users with too many ads or useless features, something Facebook is now going to increase with it's new Timeline facelift. So I feel new Google+ users will stay once they figure out how to use the current features but more so because of the Privacy factor. Google will eventually be adding more stuff to their service and page layout as time goes on, that is to be expected since they are now in the early stages of development with Google+. However in comparison to where Facebook is headed at the moment with their site, Google+ plans to keep it's UI Clean and simple for now, while Facebook is making their page UI layout more complicated and busy looking for most people, I'm sure many Facebook users will eventually switch over to Google+ just so they can take a deep breath and clear their head from the dizzyness they have obtained by visiting Facebook. But most will be held hostage by Facebook since they are nortorious for making account termination more difficult than it needs to be.

In truth, I believe most Facebook users will secretly open a Google+ account to see what it's all about then only jump ship when they feel it's the cool thing to do, in other words followers wait until they have a leader to follow. They will wait for the right person or ad campaign to says it's cool to be a Google+ user then they will come in masses. So to make it clear Google+ may have alot of catching up to do but at the rate of people signing up and with some luck in regard to Facebook shooting itself in the foot, Google+ future is looking brighter every day as millions more users sign up. Facebook on the other hand needs to have it's user numbers re-counted to find out how many of them represent actual humans and how many accounts were opened for someones Pet Dog or Cat. I'm sure their numbers will be alot lower than Facebook claims once it's correctly tallied. Nevertheless, it's good to have an another Social platform to choose from. Google needs to take notes and listen to their users who ultimately decide which Social platform is the best and learn from Facebooks mistakes and all should be fine.

J. TECH - Sep - 24th

by Nate Hoffelder September 23rd, 2011

I was handed some juicy insider info the other day and oh my, is it a surprise.

Barnes & Noble are rumored to be releasing a replacement NookColor some time in October. All the unsubstantiated rumors had come out of Asia, so I wasn’t sure that I should take them seriously. I did, but that was only because B&N have been clearing out the refurbished units at a decent discount. And until today the unsubstantiated rumors were all I had. According to my source, Barnes & Noble held a planning meeting last week. One of the topics discussed in the meeting was B&N’s marketing plans for their ebook readers and how they would be promoted next quarter. I have, in my hot little hands, a slide that may have been used in that planning meeting. It mentions that B&N will have 3 ebook readers next quarter, not 2. According to the slide, the NookColor will be getting a brother tablet. Now, I’ve been asked not to post the slide, unfortunately; it might be possible to trace it back to my source. Here’s what it says:

Nook EPD

Smart Touch $139

Nook Color

Encore $249

Acclaim $349

There’s also a notation that it has been approved by WL/JI, and I believe those are the initials of William Lynch (CEO of B&N) and James Iannone (head of B&N Digital Products). (Before I go further, let me confirm that Encore and Smart Touch are valid product names for the current 6″ Nook Touch and 7″ NookColor.) That part is legit. All I have right now are the names and prices of the tablets, but that alone tells me several details. First and foremost, B&N will keep the NookTouch at $139, and they will have the 2 NookColors at higher price points. The Encore and Acclaim tablets will be priced at $249 and $349. The Acclaim name is new.

Read more here –>the-digital-reader.com

The Grey – Movie Trailer

J. TECH - Sep - 23rd

Theatrical Release Date:
January 27, 2012

Cast:
Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Joe Anderson, James Badge Dale, Dallas Roberts, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, Ben Bray

Director:
Joe Carnahan

Synopsis:
A group of oil-rig roughnecks are left stranded on the sub-arctic tundra after their plane experiences a complete mechanical failure and crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness.

The survivors, battling mortal injuries, biting cold and ravenous hunger, are relentlessly hunted and pursued by a vicious pack of rogue wolves.

Read more at the Official website here –>thegreythemovie.com

J. TECH - Sep - 23rd

Sep. 23, 2011

Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH recently spent time not only putting finishing touches to their new album, "Imaginaerum", but also planning a movie of the same name. "Imaginaerum" is one of the projects which recently received grants from the Finnish government institution called the Finnish Film Foundation. The movie, directed by Stobe Harju, about an old man on his deathbed who glimpses a childhood dream in which he refuses to grow old, and fights aging with his imagination, will get $575,000 toward its $3.7 million budget.During a September 8 interview with Petri Silas of Finland's Soundi magazine, NIGHTWISH mainman/keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen revealed that all the filming for the "Imaginaerum" movie will be done in Canada with mostly Canadian actors/actresses. Post-production will take place in Canada and Finland. He aso revealed the names of the actors who have two of the main roles in the film: Marianne Farley and Quinn Lord.
The "Imaginaerum" album will be released in the U.S. on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records; in Finland on Wednesday, November 30 and the rest of Europe on Friday, December 2 via Nuclear Blast Records.

"Imaginaerum" track listing:

01. Taikatalvi

02. Storytime

03. Ghost River

04. Slow, Love, Slow

05. I Want My Tears Back

06. Scaretale

07. Arabesque

08. Turn Loose The Mermaids

09. Rest Calm

10. The Crow, The Owl And The Dove

11. Last Ride Of The Day

12. Song Of Myself

13. Imaginaerum

A track-by-track breakdown of the album by NIGHTWISH keyboardist/mainman Tuomas Holopainen can be found at Metalhammer.co.uk.

J. TECH - Sep - 23rd

Sept. 23, 2011

"Need To Kill", a brand new song from Danish thrashers HATESPHERE, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the band's new album, "The Great Bludgeoning", which will be released via Napalm Records on the following dates:

* Spain, Finland, Sweden: September 21 * Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy: September 23 * Rest Of Europe: September 26 * USA, Canada: September 27

"The Great Bludgeoning" was produced, mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, SICK OF IT ALL, MOONSPELL, DARK TRANQUILLITY) at the Antfarm Studios in Aarhus, Denmark. The cover artwork as created by Mircea Gabriel Eftemie, who has previously worked with SOILWORK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD and MNEMIC (for which he also plays the guitar).

"The Great Bludgeoning" track listing:

01. The Killer

02. Venom

03. Smell Of Death

04. Decayer

05. The Wail Of My Threnode

06. Resurrect With A Vengeance

07. The Great Bludgeoning

08. Need To Kill

09. Devil In Your Own Hell

Commented the band: "We have aimed the new album in a more old-school direction than its predecessor.

J. TECH - Sep - 23rd

Sept. 23, 2011

MEGADETH's brand new song "Never Dead" can be streamed in the YouTube clip to the right . Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.'s customized soundtrack for the company's action-adventure franchise NeverDead will appear on MEGADETH's 13th album, "TH1RT3EN", which will be released on November 1 via Roadrunner Records. MEGADETH filmed a video on Saturday (September 17) in Santa Clarita, California for the band's the new single,

"Public Enemy No. 1". The clip was shot on a movie set where old Westerns are filmed. Bassist David Ellefson states in a video message (see below), "We have never shot a video like this before; there’s actually animals in the movie and that's all we can say.""Public Enemy No. 1" was released last week digitally via iTunes. The song comes off MEGADETH's new album, "TH1RT3EN", which is scheduled for release on November 1 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine's Vic's Garage studio in San Marcos, California with producer Johnny K (full name: John Karkazis), who has previously worked with DISTURBED, SEVENDUST, MACHINE HEAD and STAIND, among others. The artwork was once again created by artist John Lorenzi, who worked on the last two MEGADETH studio albums, 2007's "United Abominations" and 2009's "Endgame", as well as the band's 2007 box set, "Warchest". "TH1RT3EN" marks the recorded return of bassist David Ellefson who was part of the band's classic lineup from 1983 to 2002. In a move that delighted the band's legion of diehards, Ellefson returned to performing live with MEGADETH in early 2010 and has remained a fixture on the stage ever since. This is the first time Ellefson has played on a MEGADETH record since 2002's "Rude Awakening".

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Archive for September, 2011