Items tagged with AC
A second wave of 802.11ac wireless routers have begun to appear, and the new must-have feature is MU-MIMO, short for Multiple User, Multiple Input, Multiple Output. We already reviewed the first two MU-MIMO routers we could get our hands on from Linksys and Netgear, and now Asus has entered the fray with a dual-band AC3100 router dubbed the RT-AC88U. This is a flagship router that has all the bells and whistles one would expect at a $300 price point, but it differentiates itself from the competition by offering Link Aggregation and eight LAN ports, which are uncommon features in a consumer-class router. The Netgear Nighthawk X8 also supports Link Aggregation and has six LAN ports, but is...
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Wireless routers are going through somewhat of a renaissance right now, thanks to the arrival of the 802.11ac standard that is "three times as fast as wireless-N" and the proliferation of Internet-connected devices in our homes and pockets. Whereas before we merely had a handful of laptops and PCs connected to the internet at various times, we now have homes with many devices connected all the time, including our phones, tablets, computers, smart televisions, game consoles, and smart home devices. Though wireless N wasn't bad at the time, it's simply not ideal when dozens of devices are connected at the same time, and certainly not in a larger home or office. That's where 802.11ac comes in, as...
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It’s router time, baby. D-Link has a new quartet of them, and they all sport 802.11ac technology, which is the next generation of WiFi speed, which will enable more flexible options for streaming movies, gaming online, and other activities. "Today's average home now has more than 15 devices, oftentimes with multiple iPads, iPhones, as well as Android phones and tablets," said Daniel Kelley, vice president of marketing, D-Link Systems, Inc. That’s a lot of devices fighting for bandwidth. D-Link's AC router family D-Link’s AC routers feature advanced remote network management and sharing capabilities, a USB port for streaming and sharing, dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) technology,...
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If space truly is the final frontier, then one company just took another small step toward the eventual giant leap toward reaching space. SpaceX, (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation), a privately-held space-transportation company, just conducted a successful test of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle's first-stage rocket booster. This comes less than two months after SpaceX successfully launched its two-stage, Falcon 1 rocket to become "the first privately-developed liquid fuel rocket to achieve Earth orbit." Where Falcon 1 is designed to launch small payloads into low-earth orbit, the Falcon 9 is designed to carry heavier payloads and travel further above the Earth, such as into geostationary...
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This one would make Vernon Reid proud -- or maybe not? Regardless, here's a little something for Sunday night kick-back and amusement. If you've ever played Guitar Hero and attempted Living Color's song, Cult of Personality on any setting but easy, you'll know why some axe-slinging musicians are called "heroes". With his stylings classified as a hybrid "Metal Funk" fusion, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Reid as one of top 100 greatest guitarists of all time. There's no question, in the game the song is a pretty steep challenge on the higher difficulty settings but not for Cyth Systems' Guitar Hero playing machine. ...
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It used be that if you wanted to watch a specific TV show, you had to make sure you were home in time to watch it. Those who were born in the sixties and seventies probably have memories of rushing home after school to catch their favorite cartoons. Not long after that, a major tipping point in how we consume television happened with the arrival of the affordable VCR. For the first time, we could watch our favorite TV shows when our schedules allowed it. Next came the DVR with its time-shifting capabilities--letting us watch and record different shows simultaneously, rewind and fast-forward without impacting the recording, and skipping through commercials (insert TiVo beep sound here). The next...
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There's a lot more to history and archeology than just uncovering the past. Sometimes recreating the past in our present time is the best way to understand how people lived thousands of years ago. One such project, the Rome Reborn project of the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, seeks to digitally rebuild the city of Rome "as it might have appeared at the height of its urban development in the time of Constantine the Great in A.D. 320."The first version of the Rome Reborn project was ten years in the making and was completed only last year. It included digital models of the terrain and over 7,000 structures--250 of which were highly detailed. The source...
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It’s been rumored for a while, but Verizon Wireless just made the official announcement that the BlackBerry Storm (model 9530) from Research In Motion will be available beginning November 21 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online. The first ever BlackBerry smartphone with a “clickable” touch screen will run $199.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a new two-year customer agreement. The Storm has a SurePress touch screen with tactile feedback so the soft buttons feel more like hardware keys when pressed. Since the BlackBerry Storm is a touch screen device, many people have pegged it as a competitor for the iPhone. In fact, if you watch any of the commercials or demos of the Storm,...
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You may recall the "Off the Air" Apple ad, which reminded consumers that if necessary, a Mac Genius at an Apple store could transfer their files from their PC to a Mac for them. After all, the ad said, "fear of switching is the foundation of customer loyalty for PCs." Well, now Belkin is adding fuel to the fire with a cable that purportedly eases the transfer of files and settings from XP or Vista to a Mac. Ironically, in 2006, Microsoft touted a cable from Belkin that helped move from XP to Vista, and even gave away the cables as part of its CES press kits. The new cable, the Belkin Switch-to-Mac Cable has an MSRP of $49.99 and reportedly: ... provides a simple way to transfer files, settings,...
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It should be common sense that electronic devices can cause interference with other electronic devices (remember the old pacemaker / microwave problem?). After all, an earlier study about RFID tags interfering with medical devices has been released, and a new study released on Sunday shows that headphones might throw off pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) when placed within an inch of the medical devices. The presentation, titled Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) of Implanted Cardiac Devices by MP3 Player Headphones was shown at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions in New Orleans on Sunday. It took a look at the possible interaction between the...
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Vudu, a Video On Demand (VOD) service with a claimed over 1,100 HD titles available, supposedly leads Apple TV, Netflix, and Xbox Live for the broadest selection of HD movie content. We just like the looks of their player on its own but there's more to like here.As a Vudu user you have the option of viewing your selections streamed to their Vudu Box ($299.00) available for purchase online and at Best Buy, or the high end Vudu XL ($999.00), available through authorized installers. A stream to computer option is not available. Movie rentals cost from $0.99 to to $3.99, and select movies may be purchased from $4.99 to $19.99 "Indeed, a quick examination of competing services seems to bear...
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Social-networking giant Facebook is continuing to grow like mad. In fact, the company grew its active membership total from 90 million users in early July to 120 million now, according to Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer. While speaking at Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference, Sandberg also noted, “We got more (members) in the last three months than in the first three years of our existence.”If you consider the current population of the world is estimated to be about 6.7 billion, then almost 2% of the world’s population has a Facebook account. Facebook isn’t calling it quits, either. The company is hoping to continue to grow, and is adding partnerships in the process.Facebook...
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There's been talk recently over private browsing features in upcoming browsers such as Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.1 (Safari already has this feature). Privacy, of course, is an important subject for many end users (despite the somewhat pejorative term "porn mode" frequently used for it). Well, a new browser has been recently released that --- rather than making this feature an afterthought, focuses directly on privacy as the base of its capabilities. Level 9 Technology, Inc. has launched the ArmorSurf Private Browser - a free web browser & downloader that lets users surf in complete privacy while keeping their files secure. In addition to privacy features, the software...
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ZOTAC Announces Far Cry 2 Game BundleZOTAC GeForce GTX 200 series ship with Far Cry 2HONG KONG – Nov. 07, 2008 – ZOTAC International, a leading manufacturer of NVIDIA-based graphics cards and motherboards, today kicks off the Christmas season with a new premium software bundle featuring Ubisoft’s Far Cry 2. It’ll be available with the award-winning ZOTAC GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 280 AMP! Edition, GeForce GTX 2602 and GeForce GTX 260 AMP2! Edition for a limited period.ZOTAC is pleased to provide gamers with Ubisoft’s highly anticipated Far Cry 2 game. With Far Cry 2, users can take advantage of the 3D power available with their new ZOTAC GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 280 AMP! Edition, GeForce...
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When traveling, it can be a bit of a nuisance to boot one’s laptop and wait for it to load the OS and connect to the Internet, just to check a quick email or two before a flight. Soon, we may be able to have this same functionality, but without the wait: Phoenix Technologies and Opera Software have partnered to bring the Opera Browser to the HyperSpace platform as a way of delivering instant-on access to the Internet.Hyperspace is a compact Linux environment that runs independently beside a system's core OS. Like Asus' Express Gate, Hyperspace provides access to instant-on applications. Because it is independent, HyperSpace can run while the OS is booting, running, or shuts down.The result of...
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We've always been warned to be vigilant about what information we provide when online. Between phishing, malware, and DNS spoofing it's difficult to blindly trust any online entity these days. But if we have a secure connection to a known site, we're okay then, right? Not always... Someone might still be listening in. Just because you think your connection is secure, doesn't mean that it is. In fact, as we reported a few weeks ago, researchers have found a way to wirelessly listen in on your keyboard activity--sort of a passive, non-intrusive keylogger. Perhaps a bit more common is the act of listening in on wireless networking communications. Even such efforts as disabling router SSIDs and using...
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Thecus Announces N8800 Rackmount NAS ServerUnbeatable performance, security and capacity in a 2U form factor 11/05/2008 – The 1U4500 from Thecus shook the world of rackmount storage by bringing fast and affordable SATA storage to a 1U form factor. Today, Thecus is pleased to release its latest rackmount NAS device, the N8800. Offering massive storage capacity, advanced features, and blazingly-fast performance in a 2U unit, the N8800 is poised to be the favorite NAS device for IT departments everywhere. The N8800 delivers the performance and capacity that businesses demand. Under the hood is an Intel® Celeron™ processor and 1GB of DDR2 memory for snappy performance, faster response,...
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In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the FCC late Tuesday approved public access to the "white spaces" of the wireless spectrum. "White space" in telecommunications refers to unused frequencies in the radio waves portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the FCC's decision followed months of lobbying by Google, Microsoft, and other Wireless Innovation Alliance (WIA) members for the measure and by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) against it. The NAB has stated that using "white space" will cause interference with wireless devices of many types, such as wireless microphones and the like.We certainly can see that possibility; one need only look at interference between devices we currently...
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Media corporations have been fighting the battle to regain control of their content for years. They’ve sent out countless DMCA notices, but it seems as soon as they succeed in taking down one video clip, five more have already appeared. A quick glance at sites like YouTube or MySpace reveals countless videos that were published without proper authorization. Now, instead of sending removal requests, MTV can earn money from its online videos thanks to Auditude. Auditude will identify video clips that are uploaded to MySpace from a number of shows produced by MTV, and will display an overlay when the clip is played that shows which episode the clip originally came from, its original air-date, and...
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OMG, finally! We're glad to see a retailer as large as Amazon.com has taken some initiative. How many of you are frustrated by blister or clamshell style packaging such as above? The dang things are so annoying that "how-tos" have been written about them. It's easy to get a cut from their sharp edges, so we're not surprised that articles about "safely" opening them has been written. Custom openers have even been developed. Amazon.com is, with its "Frustration-Free Packaging" project, taking a step toward eliminating not just those packs but also things like tiny SD cards packed in large boxes. The project is starting small, with only 19 products from manufacturers including Fisher-Price, Mattel,...
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The Department of Justice approved Verizon Wireless’ $28 billion purchase of Alltel, but the deal is subject to a few stipulations. More specifically, Verizon Wireless will be required to divest wireless assets in 100 markets encompassing 22 states. The sale of assets doesn’t mean Verizon Wireless will lose service in the areas affected by the order. Instead, it means Verizon Wireless will sell licenses where the merger with Alltel would give the company duplicate licenses. The entire states of North Dakota and South Dakota; major portions of Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Montana, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming; and sections of Alabama, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska,...
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VIA Unveils First Pico-ITXe Board with Stackable I/O Expansion at ESC BostonVIA EPIA-P710 utilizes new SUMIT connectors for the modular addition of advanced serial connectivity including PCI Express, offering developers more flexible and cost effective design options for compact embedded systems Taipei, Taiwan, October 29 2008 - VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA EPIA-P710, the world's first single board computer based on the new Pico-ITXe specification of the Small Form Factor Special Interest Group (SFF-SIG), providing a more rational approach to system design.Supporting up to four customizable I/O expansion modules,...
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