StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 has been updated to version 2.2.0.2706 BETA.
An advanced hard disk surface scanner, monitor and more.
Monitors all your hard drives and ensures that every bit holding your precious data is readable.
2.2.0.2706 BETA
The Kindle app for the Mac has been updated, brining Lion gesture support, amongst other things.
The Kindle app gives users the ability to read Kindle books on a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. You’ll have access to over 1,000,000* books in the Kindle Store, including best sellers and new releases. Amazon Whispersync automatically syncs your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across devices (including Kindle), so you can pick up where you left off on another device.
• Support for Lion gestures (panning and swiping).
• Support for Kindle Format 8 books, providing richer formatting.
• Improved support for larger libraries; Bug fixes and performance improvements.
• Improved performance for books that have a large number of notes and highlights.
• Support for Japanese.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes.
The guys over at the BYOB podcast have just released episode 98.
Here is what is included in this weeks show:
[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]Mike and Michael are joined by Josh Pollard from Entertainment 2.0 this week to discuss Media Center, HTPCs and where its all going on this weeks BYOB Podcast.[/box]
ICY DOCK recently released the Blizzard hard drive enclosure with 80mm fan. Here is our review!
ICY DOCK recently released a new hard drive enclosure, the Blizzard. The company wanted a hard drive enclosure that delivered USB 3.0/esata/FireWire 800 speeds, no-tool hard drive installation and switching, nearly silent operation and cool hard drive temperatures. Did they succeed? We find out.
First, here is how ICY DOCK describes the Blizzard.
Elegantly Designed Hardware
The Blizzard has a uniquely designed front panel integrated with a massive 80mm fan for an elegant and nonintrusive design for the best ventilation, all in a single 3.5” hard drive that is installed into the front of the enclosure. There are two important reasons for the particular fan placement and design. First, the MB080U3S-1SB will be able to cool all sides of the hard drive and create only one direction of airflow from the front to the back, where the air then exits. This extends the life of the cooling fan as it only intakes cool cold air and increases the overall cooling efficiency of the hard drive, in comparison to other enclosure cooling designs. Second, the 80mm fan is integrated into the detachable front panel which allows to easily swap your hard drive without any screws or tools to worry about. On the sides, includes two slightly concealed button ejectors that when pressed, will eject the front panel enabling the user to swap the hard drive as needed, similar to popular hard drive docking stations.
Smarter Cooling Functionality
The rear panel comprises of a multitude of defining features coming all together from only the best ideas of our previous external enclosure models. The enclosure has a single LED brightness dial to effortlessly adjust the ambient LED brightness to your preferred liking. To increase the level of functionality, the Blizzard’s LED color will turn red when the hard drive temperature is over 50°C. The built in fan controller allows you to select low, high, and auto to properly cool the hard drive to help if such a case appears. The auto mode properly adjusts accordingly to your hard drive’s requirements by increasing or decreasing the fan speed as needed.
Lighting Quick Speed
Taking advantage of the new ultra fast USB 3.0 interface, users will be able to transfer at high speeds at a maximum of 5 Gbps or perhaps use the similarly fast eSATA interface for system when there is a lack of USB 3.0. The USB 3.0 interface is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0 so using the MB080U3S-1SB on your legacy PC or Mac is not a problem. With tool-less drive installation, you can easily swap the drives in between systems. The Blizzard is perfect for users in the fields requiring the best cooling and performance on the market.
Key Features
* Unique & Elegant design.
* Massive 80mm fan for optimal cooling.
* Direct airflow design to completely cool all sides of the hard drive.
* Completely screw-less / tool-less design for any 3.5” SATA I/II/III HDD.
* USB 3.0 & eSATA interface for the fastest connections anywhere.
* Backward compatible with USB 2.0 for wide-ranging use.
* 3 Speed Adjustable Cooling Fan, including auto setting featuring.
* Smart Cooling technology. Smart Cooling Technology is active in auto mode
and accurately adjusts the fan speed according to your hard drive’s needs.
* Cool blue ambient LED with adjustable brightness control.
* Smart-Temp functionality – Front LED changes from blue to red when over 50° C.
* Supports SATA 6Gbit hard drive up to 3TB capacity.
* Great for Media and IT Professionals.
* Designed for PC & Mac systems.
Let’s look at each category.
This is a really attractive design. The LED indicator lights are visible up front but are reserved, and the fan on the front makes for a striking presentation.
They also used LED’s inside the unit, visible from the front, that glow blue when the drives are under 50 C and red when they hit 50 C. This light’s brightness can be set to your liking.
The case is well-made plastic, and feels fairly heavy when empty. Drives are installed by taking the front off of the unit and sliding the hard drive into guides, seating into the SATA connector without tools. This unit should hold up well to switching out hard drives.
The visual design works well. The overall design is well-executed, and is one hard drive enclosure that will look good next to your PC out on your desk!
ICY DOCK installed an 80mm fan on the front of the unit. In addition, they included settings to control the fan speed; I left it on Auto to let the enclosure control the fan speed. Hard drive temps never were high enough to trip the LED’s red, and even after thrashing the hard drive with large file transfers, the drive was not overly warm to the touch once I pulled it out. Note that this unit also has a switch on the back so you can set the fan speed to high, low or auto and take control over the fan and cooling function. Nice touch!
I don’t usually expect too much from a BYOB hard drive enclosure as far as speeds go, as the performance of the unit will largely depend on the hard drive that you install in it. I had several Seagate 5900 RPM green drives in 2TB flavor laying around, so I used one of these to test. Using both the esata connector to my HP EX475 MSS and USB 3.0 connected to my desktop, speeds were very good.
If you are a Mac user, you’ll be happy to know that they also have a version that includes esata and FireWire 800, which is a pretty good feature set for Mac users.
Providing both esata and USB 3.0 connections, or esata and FireWire 800, ticks the right boxes from a speed perspective.
A few weeks ago at Gamescom 2012 in Cologne, I got to play a few rounds of the forthcoming XCOM: Enemy Unknown game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games, and it was good!
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a reimagining of X-COM, the classic strategy game from 1993, and developed by the award-winning creators of the Civilization franchise. XCOM: Enemy Unknown incorporates various elements that transcend genres, and expands on the legacy with an entirely new vision, story, enemies and technologies that will appeal to fans of the series and newcomers alike.
Threatened by an unknown enemy, the Earth’s governments unite to form a secret paramilitary organization, known as XCOM, to combat this extraterrestrial attack. As the commander of XCOM, you control the global defence team in a battle against a terrifying alien invasion by creating a fully operational base, researching alien technologies, planning combat missions, and controlling soldier movement in battle.
Here is a trailer for XCOM: Enemy Unknown:
At Gamescom we were given access to both the single player and multiplayer games.
With the single player game, what we got to do was play the game from the very beginning, so when the aliens first get to Earth and when XCOM is deployed. We then got to play several missions and make important and strategic decisions so that we got a feel for the actual game.
In each game you have to make decisions, for example, early on you need to decide whether to deploy your team to certain locations. Each location brings rewards and problems depending on what you choose, and you have to live with those decisions throughout the game.
I really enjoyed playing the single player, in fact, I was really surprised just how much I enjoyed it!
Multiplayer in XCOM: Enemy Unknown draws on the gameplay, tactics and strategy of the single player experience without making any direct ties to the narrative, offering a standalone opportunity for gamers to enjoy the XCOM universe. Players can mix and match both alien and soldier units to comprise their squad, outfitting soldiers with dozens of armours, weapons, items and class-based abilities for thousands of possible loadout combinations. These dream squads of up to six units are built using a point cap that can be scaled for players to fight in small skirmishes all the way up to epic battles. Matches can be modified by point limit or time limit per turn, and take place on one of five maps. Just like the single player experience, the fog of war will conceal your enemy’s units until you encounter them on the battlefield, creating the sense of tense anticipation that is the hallmark of the XCOM series.
I also enjoyed playing the multiplayer game, and to be honest it was almost a different game entirely, so I think there will be enough to keep everyone happy.
What can I say? Well, I really enjoyed playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a lot more than I thought I would. That’s not to say I wasn’t expecting a good game, I just didn’t think I would enjoy it this much!
I really liked the turn-by-turn gameplay, the suspense as to whether your players would actually survive to the next turn, and also the decision process. This really is a game where you need to think, as well as fight!
The gameplay was really good, as were the graphics and sounds. I really felt immersed in the game and didn’t notice how quick the time actually went by!
Frankly I could have stayed there all day playing it, and I can’t wait to get my review copy so that I can carry on!
You don’t have to have played the original UFO Defence game to enjoy this, in fact, I have to be honest, it was a game that originally passed me by. Not because it didn’t look good, but because I just never got around to starting it. In fact, I actually have it in a box somewhere and may have to dig it out to keep me going until next month.
I have to say that this is certainly one of my “Games of the Show” and for anyone who enjoys strategy games, this is a must have and I highly recommend it.
Here are some more screenshots to keep you going:
XCOM: Enemy Unknown will be available on the Xbox 360, PS 3 and PC on the 9th October in the US and 12th October in the UK and Europe. Click on the images below to pre-order the game now, and when you do you get an Elite Soldier Pack pre-order bonus.
What do you think about XCOM: Enemy Unknown? Is it something you would buy? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
DVBLogic has released the DVBLink v4.5.1 product suite and this version includes XBMC support.
This is what DVB Logic posted on their forums:
DVBLink product suit now includes official support for XBMC with the help of DVBLink XBMC addon. This addon features live and recorded TV, EPG support and timer recording management with the operations optimized for using a remote control. The addon screenshots are available on our website:
DVBLink XBMC Addon screenshots
The addon can be downloaded from our Wiki.
We are working on making the addon available in XBMC official repository.
What is also new/fixed:
General:
- Fixed: server hangs when going to standby with one of the clients streaming
DVBLink TVSource
- Fixed: incorrect Chinese characters in channel names and EPG
- Fixed: diseqc commands do not work and channel changes fail for TBS tuners when TBS CI dll is used
- Fixed: unicable channel changes work unreliably on Techontrend sat tuners
DVBLink Connect! Server
- Fixed: getting epg for a channel in web interface takes a long time
- Fixed: opening live stream when using indirect http streaming takes a long time
- Added: timer and recorded content management pages to web interface
- Fixed: incorrect EPG information for channels with a small amount of epg data when built-in recorder is used
- Fixed: unable to select drive, which is larger than 2TB as a recording path for built-in recorder
- Fixed: pre-record margin cannot be modified for built-in recorder
- Fixed: impossible to add a manual recording that crosses 00:00 time
- Added: return channel type (tv/radio) in get_channels API request
DVBLink v4.5.1 products can be downloaded from the main page of our website www.dvblogic.com
The installation instructions are described on our Wiki.
Have you tried version 4.5.1 yet? Let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment below.
More details of the Darksiders II patch for the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been published by THQ.
This is what was posted in the Darksiders II forums:
As most of you are aware, Vigil has been working hard to research and address each bug report in the forums – thank you for all the input! Thankfully, the first PC update is out the door, so now we are prepping Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 patches for submission along with second PC patch.
The team is working fast to address priority issues, this is what we hope to address in the updates to come.
Xbox 360:
– A few crashes in Blackstone, including at the 2nd lever and during the Lilith cut-scene.
– A crash occurring when proceeding back to the Cauldron after completing it.
– The Custodian falling through the bridge in the Foundry when back-tracking through the dungeon.
– Various fixes for the custodian issues in the Foundry and the Scar
– Progression blocker with the Chancellor, reported after crashing or doing the Crucible before going to the land of the dead.
– Turning in 3 Stones of resistance awards the player properly.
– Improved general stability
PlayStation 3:
– A few crashes in Blackstone, including at the 2nd lever and during the Lilith cut-scene.
– A crash occurring when proceeding back to the Cauldron after completing it.
– The Custodian falling through the bridge in the Foundry when back-tracking through the dungeon.
– Spanish sub titles will be added to the North America version of Darksiders II.
– Players will be able to back up their save without having to use an online save
– Various fixes for the custodian getting fixed in the Foundry and the Scar
– Progression blocker with the Chancellor, reported after crashing or doing the Crucible before going to the land of the dead.
– Turning in 3 Stones of resistance awards the player properly.
– Improved general stability
As always, thank you for your patience! Our team is working hard to address reports quickly & will keep you updated on the progress.
Please continue to post any bugs or issues you are experiencing within our Technical Help & Bug Reporting section of the forums.
Update 9/5/2012
As mentioned when making this post we are working to get the updates out as fast as possible for everyone. With that being said I have great news to report today.
Xbox Live Patch: Will be going live for all territories in the next 48 hours.
PlayStation 3 North America: Will be going live in the next 48 hours.
PlayStation 3 Europe: Coming Soon
Have you played Darksiders II yet? We have been playing it for a few weeks now and will have our review up shortly. Let us know what you think of the game by leaving a comment below.
We first told you about Snapseed back at Christmas when Apple gave it away free for a day as part of it’s 12 Days of Christmas campaign. Now it’s been updated again.
Snapseed is the only photo app you’ll want to use every day. It makes any photograph extraordinary with a fun, high-quality photo experience right at your fingertips.
Anyone can enhance, transform, and share their photos with ease using incredibly advanced features from the leader in digital photography software.
– Small bug fixes and optimizations
Download Snapseed now from the Apple App Store
Great news for us Brits – the Raspberry Pi is now officially made in the UK!
This is what Liz posted:
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll remember the time last year when we had to make the decision to manufacture the Raspberry Pi in China. The Raspberry Pi is a British enterprise, and as well as improving things in the computing industry’s future here by educating kids, we wanted to improve things in the present too, by actually doing our manufacture here in the UK.
Last year, when nobody had heard of the Raspberry Pi, we had been unable to find a British manufacturer whose prices per unit (especially at a point where we were thinking of sales in the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands you’re seeing now) would work for us, and who believed that the project would be enough of a success for them to risk line space for us. There was just no way to make the Raspberry Pi in the UK and keep the price at $25 for the Model A (which will be released before the end of the year at the promised price) and $35 for the Model B.
Happily, things change.
Back at the beginning of April, Eben and I paid a visit to Sony’s UK manufacturing plant in Pencoed, South Wales. Several meetings, a factory tour, a lot of phone calls, some PowerPoint and sandwiches, and an up-close-and-personal with a wave soldering machine later, we were able to introduce our manufacturing and distributing partners to Sony’s Welsh facility, where, as well as making Sony products, Sony’s team undertakes contract electronic manufacture (CEM). It’s an incredibly impressive affair; the quietest, pleasantest plant I’ve ever been in, all comfortable lighting, ergonomic workspaces, cool air and relaxed staff. Sony’s quality control system is legendary, their ability to manufacture fast and cleanly is superb, and they’ve already invested in adding PoP (Package on Package – the fiddly stuff where the Broadcom chip at the heart of the Raspberry Pi is stacked beneath the RAM chip) hardware manufacture ability and expansion capability just for us. They’re also able to take on the huge task (currently undertaken by RS and Farnell) of ensuring the parts used are sourced ethically and to the highest ecological standards – every component has to pass standard compliance via Sony’s Green Management programme.
The upshot of all this? Element14/Premier Farnell have made the decision to move the bulk of their Raspberry Pi manufacture to South Wales. Moving manufacture like this is an enormous undertaking; from the start of the process, it’s taken us (especially Pete), Farnell and Sony nearly six months to get all our respective ducks in a row. The initial contract will see the Pencoed plant producing 30,000 Raspberry Pis a month, and creating around 30 new jobs.
How do you know if you’ve got a UK-made board? Easy. Look next to the power jack; you’ll see the words “Made in the UK”. We couldn’t be prouder.
That is great news, and even better that it creates 30 new jobs in the UK – so well done guys!
Check out the videos we made with Eben Upton Check out our unboxing of our Raspberry PiHave you ordered one? Let us know if you get yours and what you do with it.
Last month we told you that Mad Catz Interactive had announced the shipping of the Tritton Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Headset, for use with the Xbox 360. Now we have our ears-on review!
The flagship in the Company’s exclusive range of Xbox 360 gaming headsets, the Warhead 7.1 is the first headset in the world to deliver two-way communication via the Xbox 360 console, negating the need for a chat cable or adapter to be connected to the gamers’ controller.
The Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Headset features 5.8GHz wireless technology and DolbyHeadphone 7.1 surround sound. In addition, the Warhead 7.1 offers gamers an array of features including twin ‘hot-swappable’ rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs, Selectable Voice Monitoring (SVM), EQ modes for movies, music and gaming and an on screen battery-indicator display.
From their website:
TRITTON is focused on developing, manufacturing, and bringing to market high-performance gaming headsets and audio peripherals. Striving to create innovative and reliable products with cutting edge technology, the Tritton is the brand of choice for professional and casual gamers world-wide.
TRITTON was founded in 2000 and has since evolved and transformed into a brand that is recognized worldwide. Best known for our critically acclaimed high performance gaming Headsets and USB External Video Card Technology. In 2010, Tritton was acquired by Mad Catz Interactive.
The Tritton brand has focused extensively on developing industry leading headsets for all gaming platforms including an exclusive range for the Xbox 360. Tritton performance headsets are available globally.
Last week at IFA, Sony announced their new Xperia phones. After the press conference we got to see them a little more (but not much).
Four new models were announced at IFA, all under the Xperia range – the V, J, T and TX. All of the new phones will be running Ice Cream Sandwich.
The Xperia T is considered the flagship of the four new phones, and this is the phone that James Bond will be using in the new Skyfall movie out new month.
Sony even had a splash-proof demo going with an Xperia being sprayed with water, and still working.
We hope to have a lot more information and some hands-on very soon!
So what do you think of the new Sony phones? Are you likely to get one? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Last week at IFA, Sony announced their updated Xperia Tablet S. After the press conference we got some hands-on time with one.
The new Sony Xperia Tablet S, running Android 4.0.3, works rather well – it seemed very responsive, and the screen was very clear and bright.
There are a number of new covers coming out.
And even covers with a built-in keyboard, which work really well.
There were also a number of new accessories on display, including a new dock speaker.
One of the things Sony said about a number of their new products was there they are water resistant (not waterproof – so don’t dunk it in water to test the theory), and to prove it Sony had the Xperia Tablet S under an occasional stream of water. And it was still working afterwards!
We don’t have any specifics on release date or price as yet, but we should know more very soon.
So what do you think of the new Sony Xperia Tablet S? Are you likely to get one? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Ubisoft announced the first content expansion for the premium online free-to-play shooter, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online at Digital Days 2012 and we spoke to Theo Sanders about it.
Set in a nuclear reprocessing complex deep within Russia’s Arctic circle, Tomsk-9 is Ghost Recon Online’s largest map. Featuring both indoor and outdoor environments as well as a symmetrical map design, Tomsk-9 will offer players a balanced competitive game play flow.
Theo – or temasek (level 27 specialist) and squirk (level 18 recon) for those who meet him online – manages the Ghost Recon Online game development, platform and service team from the tropical island of Singapore. He defines the service strategy and is the champion of player experience management.
The combination of his professional background in product and strategy development spanning diverse industries and his appetite for learning about the exotic subjects – from Asian antiques to the researching the most insane dictators in history – has helped him to inspire the team to bring Ghost Recon to the digital age.
A Dutch citizen (which explains his healthy appetite for lager beers), Theo moved to the United States in 1996 to pursue a Bachelor’s of Business at Gonzaga University.
Over to Theo:
The Arctic Pack will be available for Ghost Recon Online players on September 12th. All items are available for purchase in-game via both game (Requisition Points) and premium currencies (Ghost Coins). The Arctic weapon variants will be available for a 2 week period, while the Arctic headgear and body armour variants will be available on a permanent basis in the in-game Store.
Do you play Ghost Recon Online? Are you going to try the new Tomsk-9 map? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
For more news and information, please visit the game’s official website at www.ghostrecononline.com.
Ubisoft announced the first content expansion for the premium online free-to-play shooter, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online at Digital Days 2012. The Arctic Pack will be available on September 12th and features a host of new content including a new Conquest mode map, Tomsk-9, as well as six new weapon variants, three new headgear variants and 2 new body armour variants.
Set in a nuclear reprocessing complex deep within Russia’s Arctic circle, Tomsk-9 is Ghost Recon Online’s largest map. Featuring both indoor and outdoor environments as well as a symmetrical map design, Tomsk-9 will offer players a balanced competitive game play flow.
The GRO community has played a major role in shaping the development of this update, by helping identify the over 300 balance changes, improvements, and bug fixes that have gone into the Arctic Pack along with the new content.
Content includes:
The Arctic Pack will be available for Ghost Recon Online players on September 12th. All items are available for purchase in-game via both game (Requisition Points) and premium currencies (Ghost Coins). The Arctic weapon variants will be available for a 2 week period, while the Arctic headgear and body armour variants will be available on a permanent basis in the in-game Store.
And here are some screenshots of the new Tomsk-9 map to keep you going until the 12th:
Do you play Ghost Recon Online? Are you going to try the new Tomsk-9 map? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
For more news and information, please visit the game’s official website at www.ghostrecononline.com.
