Movies, Music, Video Games, Social Networks and Lifestyle News And Reviews
Product reviews and news of digital entertainment products and services in movies, music, video games, game streaming, social networks and lifestyle products.
Quick, someone queue up Neil Sedaka's "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," because that song describes how LinkedIn must be feeling after Twitter decided it was time to end their two-and-a-half-year partnership and move on. "Consistent with Twitter’s evolving platform efforts, Tweets will no longer be displayed on LinkedIn starting later today," LinkedIn stated in a blog post. "We know many of you value Twitter as an additional way to broadcast professional content beyond your LinkedIn connections. Moving forward, you will still be able to share your updates with your Twitter audience by posting them on LinkedIn." Image Source: Flickr (Unlisted Sightings) The decision to part ways was all Twitter's....
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With the final item in the deluge of Apple posts, the company debuted iOS 6 and many of its over 200 new features. Predictably, Siri got plenty of attention in this OS update. She is now available in the iPad as well as the iPhone, and she speaks English, French, German, and Japanese, with new support for Spanish, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, and Cantonese. More than that, however, Siri’s been “learning” a lot since she was born 8 months ago; if the demo at WWDC is to be believed, she’s learned a lot about sports, films, places to eat, and how to launch apps. It’s essentially Google searching without any typing and with specific and uncluttered results, plus of course...
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One of the things we like about AVADirect is the extensive catalog of off-the-shelf parts to choose from. In fact, a major advantage of shopping from a boutique system builder as opposed to a bulk OEM is the availability of name brand hardware you'd otherwise buy from Newegg, or wherever it is you purchase your components, when rolling your own rig. But what's somewhat unique to AVADirect is the smorgasbord of brands and models to choose from. It's like being a kid-geek in a candy store. Just browsing AVADirect's selection of tower cases, for example, you'll find that nearly two dozen manufacturers are represented, each one offering several models. Antec alone accounts for 27 tower cases on AVADirect's...
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Another video chatting tool? Yep. As if Skype, Facetime and the other alternatives weren't enough, now one of the guys that had a hand in Facebook's development is launching a new video chatting platform that taps right into that network. Airtime is the project of Napster creator Shawn Fanning and tech overlord Sean Parker. On a simple level, the site launches a web-based video chat, which then taps into your Facebook friends in order to find folks to chat with. It's a little like Chatroulette, or it can be. You can load up your friend list and then select people from there to video / voice chat with, but if you're feeling crazy, you can just select a friend from a broader network and anonymously...
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AVADirect should include a bumper sticker with its Clevo P180HM notebook that says, "My desktop replacement beat up your Ultrabook and defiled your MacBook Air." Don't get transfixed on the notion that someone would be silly enough to own both of those ultraslim systems rather than choose one over the other. The point we're trying to make is that the P180HM is big, it's mean, and it makes a complete mockery of the mobile form factor. And you know what? We're totally cool with that. Let's talk a moment about portability versus mobility. These aren't one in the same, and if that has you scratching your head, follow along, it will make sense in a moment. A Zenbook is mobile. So is your typical 15.6-inch...
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Big, bad and unapologetic. These three words accurately describe the Alienware M18x. Unapologetic about its size, this is a desktop replacement notebook that almost defies the entire category of portable machines. Sure, it's portable, in the sense that you can move it from room to room or perhaps pack it up for a LAN, but you're not tossing this bad boy into a dainty backpack or laptop tote. No, the Alienware M18x steps into the ring weighing in at nearly 12lbs (11.935) and thumbs its nose at would-be competitors. Though mobile components are humming along inside its rugged metal frame, Dell's Alienware division gives gamers and performance enthusiasts the choice to configure...
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The Asus line of G73 Stealth notebooks proved to be all-around solid desktop replacements, equally ideal for gaming, multimedia, and productivity. In fact, the Asus G53 and G73 line, from Asus' Repulic of Gamers (ROG) family, has been very successful in the market, praised by press and end users alike. We took a look at the previous generation 17-inch G73SW not long ago and it earned high marks with team HH as well. This class of machine is definitely bulky however, though not that many gamers would mind. Now, the G73 is being phased out in favor of the Asus G74 series, the next step forward for the company’s family of desktop replacement notebooks. We took a long hard look at the Asus...
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There's something about the allure of a gaming notebook. Even mainstream users, not necessarily hellbent on frame rates and decked-out designs, can relate to a powerful notebook with striking good looks. It's no wonder that products like Asus' G73 series of notebooks and Alienware's M series, have been some of the most viewed pages of our mobile computing section here at HotHardware.com. Similarly, Dell's recent announcement that they were expanding the Alienware M series line, to flesh out 14-inch and 18-inch versions, was met with a fair bit of buzz as well. The 14" model especially caught our eye, striking a nice size and weight compromise between the soon to arrive 18"...
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AT&T confirmed that it is getting the new HTC Status this summer. The HTC Status is a phone designed specifically with Facebook and social networking in mind. In fact, the phone has a dedicated button that lets you share pictures and other content with friends on Facebook quickly and easily. The button lets you share music, photos, location and status updates. The HTC Status also has a chat widget that lets you see when your friends are online. “HTC Status brings a Facebook experience to people who want to share their experiences with their friends faster and easier than ever before,” said Jason Mackenzie, President, HTC Americas. “With a dedicated Facebook...
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With the dust having settled on Intel's staggered Sandy Bridge launch and the early chipset issues having been ironed out, we're finally starting to see PC makers come out with builds based on the Santa Clara chip maker's second generation Core architecture. And if there's a platform ideally suited to showcase what Sandy Bridge is capable of, it's Asus' G73 series of gaming notebooks. We can say this with confidence because we got a chance to see firsthand what the G73 series was all about when we evaluated Asus' introductory model, the G73Jh. Now in its third generation, the G73SW represents an architectural upgrade to what was already a powerful mobile PC. The goal remains the same, which is...
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Rather than taking action against Sony that could affect end users, Anonymous is planning a public event that will target Sony stores in a 24-hour, in-store boycott around world on Saturday, April 16. The public Facebook event has more than 1,100 RSVPs at the time of this writing. The event is called Operation Sony and will begin at 12:00 AM April 16 and run until 12 AM April 17. On Monday, April 4, Anonymous launched a DDoS attack on Sony, rendering the PlayStation Network (PSN) inaccessible for much of the day. At the same time, an Anonymous offshoot group which called itself "SonyRecon" targeted individual Sony employees. However, end users complained that the attack on PSN was hurting gamers,...
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Do you recall a day when the Internet was first referred to as the "Intergalactic Network?" Perhaps you recall a little company called CompuServe? Okay, you're dating yourself now, so be careful. The sad truth is we recall CompuServe all too well and a few other milestones along the way in this interesting infographic sent over to us from MBA Online. Ahh, those dial-up modems chirping away at you upon connecting with that BBS you so loved to frequent. Or maybe you have fond memories of that blazing fast 14.4K modem from U.S. Robotics? Don't let the kids hear you strolling down memory lane like this or you might find yourself labeled an esteemed member of the...
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Earlier this year, we attended the Asus 2010 CES Event in Las Vegas. While there, we caught a glimpse of several upcoming notebooks the hardware giant had in store. One of the most anticipated products we saw was in the Republic of Gamers line up. Dubbed the G73JH, it possessed a list of impressive specifications and an aggressive, stealth fighter design that spoke directly to enthusiasts. Thankfully, this powerhouse of a notebook made it to our lab and we had a chance to put it through our own testing. Ever since CES, we've been waiting to find out if the G73JH performed as good as it looked. Equally important, we aimed to determine where it fits in a market bursting at the seams with...
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There are two main types of road warriors in this world. First, there are the ones who value portability over all else. These users are more concerned with battery life and ease of transportation than they are with raw performance, and it's because of them that netbooks -- the very epitome of portability -- have become such a popular market segment. At the other end of the spectrum sit the users who crave as much performance as they can get, and they're willing to trade battery life and lightweight designs to get it. At the extreme end, we call these mobile PCs 'desktop replacements,' which is exactly what they are. Boutique system builder AVADirect deals with PCs of all shapes and sizes,...
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