Acer announce the redesigned All-in-One Acer Aspire 5600U

Andrew Edney
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0
Acer announce the redesigned All-in-One Acer Aspire 5600U

The Acer Aspire 5600U is a completely redesigned All-in-One with an elegant, extremely slim profile – less than 35 mm – adding a touch of sophisticated style wherever you place it.

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Despite the Aspire 5600U’s slimness, this desktop PC is packed with advanced features to deliver a premium performance, with a full HD touch-screen and the ability to recline to a 60 degree angle.

The semi-transparent enclosure accommodates the hard drive, Blu-ray player and screen. The floating design of the Aspire 5600U perfectly matches with its wireless keyboard and mouse that offer a simple yet stylish decoration on transparent material.

The impressive 23’’ edge-to-edge frameless screen lets you enjoy Full HD imagery for cinematic entertainment, graphics-intensive applications, games and TV enjoyment. The exclusive VESA mount kit allows you to view HDTV on the wall, for a cinema-like experience in the home.

It also offers an advanced 10 point touch technology to ensure a smooth and highly responsive multi-touch experience. The desktop can recline to a 60 degree angle, so the touch capability is enhanced ergonomically.  Plus, improved gesture recognition offers greater functionality, delivering a faster, more intuitive, and fun experience.

Acer Instant on and Acer Always connect technologies

Innovative “Acer Instant on” and “Acer Always Connect” technologies enable data upload and retrieval, when combined with a 20GB SSD.

“Acer Instant on” provides instant-resume functionality in 1.5 seconds. With the optional TV Tuner, this “Acer Instant on” makes the Acer Aspire 5600U competitive to traditional TV turn-on timing.

“Acer Always Connect” gets users online faster than conventional connections for better productivity and media enjoyment. With their Facebook, Twitter and Outlook email accounts open, users can see updates instantly upon resuming. Furthermore, Acer always connect can wake up the Acer Aspire 5600U via a remote device like a smartphone. Access to all documents, music, pictures and video files is fast and always available.

With top-quality visual and audio components, this desktop can make the most of your entertainment. Available in 58 cm (23”) the new Acer Aspire 5600U flaunts a high-brightness display with Full HD 1.920 x 1.080 resolution, fast 5 ms response and powerful graphics solutions to let you enjoy movies, games, and pictures with ultra-sharp and colorful imagery. Captivating and immersive audio is brought about by the integrated stereo speaker system and professionally tuned Dolby® Home Theater® v4, allowing maximized audio volume output with improved dialog quality and free of any distortion.

The Blu-ray Disc optical drive (optional), multi-in-one card reader and TV-tuner (optional) complete the stunning entertainment experience, combining together all aspects of your digital life, from movies to games, from TV to pictures. To take full advantage of digital entertainment the Acer Aspire 5600U also features one HDMI output and one HDMI input.

Acer Aspire 5600U specifications:

CPU New 3rd generation  Intel core i3 or i5 processor
GPU Nvidia  Geforce  GT630M graphics
RAM Up to 8GB DDR3 1333 MHz So-DIMM
HDD up to 1 TB, optional 20GB SSD
Display / Resolution 23” full HD resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 5ms response time250 nits, 1920×1080 0Hz
I/O Two USB 3.0 ports, three USB 2.0 ports on rear, multi-in-1 card reader, headphone and microphone jacks, optical audio (TOSLink) port, Ethernet (RJ-45) port, HDMI®-in/-out ports
Networking WLAN solution IOAC supported
TV Tuner Dual DVB-T, Hybrid DVB-T, Hybrid ATSC
Webcam 1080p FHD, 2MP
Accessories Acer keyboard and mouse

 

No word on pricing as yet, so watch this space.

The Walking Dead Episode 2 Starved For Help available now

Andrew Edney
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3
The Walking Dead Episode 2 Starved For Help available now

Back at E3 we were treated to a preview of Episode 2 of The Walking Dead game from TellTale Games – now it’s available!

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Based on Robert Kirkman’s award-winning comic book series, The Walking Dead is about a world devastated by an undead apocalypse and the horrifying choices you’re forced to make to survive.

Episode 2, called Starved For Help continues the story where we left it in Episode 1.

Here is a look at some of Episode 2:

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Have you played Episode 2 yet? If so, tell us what you think of it.

Check out our preview of Episode 1 for the iPad. Learn more from the TellTale Games website

Max Payne 3 Local Justice Pack now available

Andrew Edney
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0
Max Payne 3 Local Justice Pack now available

The first DLC release for Max Payne 3, called Local Justice pack has now been released.

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The Local Justice Pack, the first downloadable content pack for Max Payne 3 and is available now for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with the PC version launching on July 17th.

This pack includes three new maps for Max Payne 3 Multiplayer featuring areas from the game’s intense final chapters, plus a new weapon, a new item, a new multiplayer faction and associated new Achievements, Trophies or Social Club accomplishments.

• 55th Battalion HQ map for all game modes

• The Imperial Palace and Departure Lounge maps for Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Payne Killer

• Light Fingers Item for faster looting

• M4 Assault Rifle with attachments

• São Paulo Police Faction with related avatar customization options

It is available until July 9th for 480 MS Points / $5.99 PSN increasing to 640 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) or $7.99 on PSN and PC after the 9th. If you purchased the Max Payne 3 Rockstar Pass you’ll receive the pack free of charge. The Rockstar Pass is currently available for 2400 Microsoft Points (Xbox LIVE) or $29.99 on PSN and PC.

Have you got it yet? If so, let us know what you think of it.

Nokia release updates for the Lumia 900, 710 and 610 Windows Phones

Andrew Edney
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0
Nokia release updates for the Lumia 900, 710 and 610 Windows Phones

This week saw Nokia release updates for three of it’s Windows Phone handsets.

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Lumia 900 version 2175.2101.8779.12201: Enhanced sensitivity for proximity sensor performance and improvement to your phone’s screen colours in low light conditions

Lumia 710 version 1600.3031.8779.12180: Internet sharing (Wi-Fi Hotspot) — Share your phone’s internet connection over Wi-Fi with up to five other devices or computers and Flip to silence — Silence incoming calls by turning your phone face down.

Lumia 610 version 1066.0000.8779.12201: Enhanced sensitivity for proximity sensor performance and improved sound level for alarm tone during voice calls.

If you are already using Nokia Lumia 900, Nokia Lumia 710 or Nokia Lumia 610, you will get a notification pop-up on your phone screen as soon as the update is available for you and you can install it with Zune client.

It is odd that there are no updates for the Lumia 800 – perhaps Nokia plan on doing something for the 800 soon?

Have you got any of the updates? Let us know what you think of them.

Halo 4 Multiplayer Video debuts showing new footage and insights from 343 Industries

Andrew Edney
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0
Halo 4 Multiplayer Video debuts showing new footage and insights from 343 Industries

343 Industries has released a new “Halo 4” video on Halo Waypoint that offers a fresh look at new multiplayer footage and features insights from the development team on the game’s multiplayer features, including weapons, War Games maps / competitive modes and Spartan Ops.

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The video also includes commentary from fans and professional gamers at E3 2012 discussing their impressions of the game and is below:

Last month at E3 I was lucky enough to be invited to a private demo of Spartan Ops and a chance to chat with 343 Industries, and I have to say they are extremely passionate about Halo 4 and the gameplay was amazing. I can’t wait to get my hands on it – not long now!

Set almost five years after the events of “Halo 3,” “Halo 4” takes the series in a bold new direction and sets the stage for an epic new sci-fi saga, in which the Master Chief returns to confront his destiny and face an ancient evil that threatens the fate of the entire universe. In addition to a rich story and campaign, “Halo 4” introduces a groundbreaking new multiplayer offering, called “Halo Infinity Multiplayer,” that builds off of the “Halo” franchise’s rich multiplayer history and promises to continue to innovate and redefine the way people think about storytelling and multiplayer experiences.

New Forza Motorsport 4 July Car Expansion Pack available on Xbox LIVE

Andrew Edney
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0
New Forza Motorsport 4 July Car Expansion Pack available on Xbox LIVE

The newest Forza Motorsport 4 Car Pack is available to download on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, adding a new crop of cars for Forza players to collect, drive, and customize.

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Available for 560 Microsoft Points, the July Car Pack features a variety of new and old vehicles—with cars like the 1952 Hudson Hornet mixing it up with the latest Mercedes-Benz performance machines like the 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG. It’s the kind of variety car fans can only find in Forza Motorsport 4.

Forza Motorsport 4 is the highest-rated racing game of this generation, available exclusively for Xbox 360. The Porsche Expansion Pack will be offered for download through Xbox LIVE for those who own the Forza Motorsport 4 game for 1600 Microsoft Points.

The July Car Pack features the following 10 cars:

· 2011 McLaren 59 McLaren GT MP4-12C GT3 — The MP4-12C GT3 is the race version of the latest McLaren supercar, and it takes no prisoners on the track. The 12C GT3 is designed to allow any driver to reach the cars performance limit. In conjunction with CRS Racing, development has been pursued with the level of detail equal to that of an F1 car.

· 1973 AMC Gremlin X — Described by AMC as “the first American-built import,” and based on a sketch by AMC’s chief stylist, the AMC Gremlin was a two-fold response to Japanese imports and the fuel crisis, and a classic of 1970s style.

1973_AMC_Gremlin_X_01 1973_AMC_Gremlin_X_02

· 2012 Ascari KZ1R — A track-tuned version of the race-bred supercar, the KZ1R is capable of a top speed of 200 mph and 0-60 acceleration of 3.0 seconds.

· 1998 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V600 — Take a luxury sportscar and then squeeze even more horsepower out of an already chest-pounding motor. That’s what Aston Martin did with the super-low production Vantage V600. Only 56 cars were built with this option package; not surprising, since only a select few can afford the V600’s stunning combination of power and luxury.

· 1952 Hudson Hornet — A historically profound leader in both automotive design and sports car racing, the 1952 Hudson Hornet set new standards in safety, interior space, and handling. The Hornet also set stock-car racing win records that would stand for decades.

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· 1954 Jaguar XK120 — The XK120 is not just slick sophistication; it also delivered refined performance and an exhilarating ride. With its curvy body and an engine capable of 210 hp, the XK120 is all dangerous curves and road-hugging performance.

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· 1956 Lotus Eleven — The Lotus Eleven was successful on the track and was piloted by drivers such as the great Stirling Moss. To this day, there are few cars that can match its beauty or feather-light package.

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· 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG — Whenever a Mercedes-Benz model gets the AMG treatment, you can expect slick refinement and a serious power boost. The SLK 55 is no exception. Dropping in a 5.5-liter V8 with 415 hp and 376 ft-lbs of torque is just the beginning. The SLK55 AMG is a dressy competitor in its class, with enough option packages to serve those in search of lavish luxury and pure thrills.

· 1995 RUF CTR2 — Following the release of the new 993-chassis, Alois Ruf went to work building a new CTR that would once again sit in the upper echelons of automotive performance. To prove the car’s dominance, Ruf entered two CTR2s in the legendary Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. They were both street legal and placed second and fourth, setting the overall top qualifying time with ease.

· 2012 Spyker C8 Aileron — After the demise of the Le Mans GT1 class, Spyker has focused its efforts on developing a car for the new GTE class. What they have produced in the C8 Aileron is an off-the-shelf race car that is ready to go head-to-head with the top competition.

More information is available online at http://www.forzamotorsport.net

Check out our review of Forza Motorshop 4 from last year

Fractal Introduces New Side Panel for Define R3 Cases

Jim McCarthy
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1
Fractal Introduces New Side Panel for Define R3 Cases

Fractal has announced a new side panel to allow visibility inside their Define R3 cases.  Read on for details!

Fractal Side Panel

Fractal has announced a new side panel for their cases to allow visibility inside the case.  First off, who is Fractal?  They make really high end nice cases….I love their stuff!

The concept of Fractal Design

The concept – Design

The concept of Fractal Design is to provide products with an extraordinary design level, without compromising the important factors of quality, functionality and pricing. The computer of today has come to play a central role in most people’s home, creating a demand for appealing design of the computer itself and its accessories. Our main product areas are computer enclosures, power supplies and related accessories

Designed and engineered in Sweden

All Fractal Design products have been thoroughly designed, tested and specified in our Swedish head quarter. The well known ideas of scandinavian design can be found through all of our products; a minimalistic but yet striking design – less is more.

Visions and goals

Our vision is to have a constant, healthy growth together with our partners worldwide. Our goal is to be widely recognized for our designed products and to have them available in all major market regions within EU and US and Asia. We should be a good alternative to the already established retail brands of today. It’s of great importance for us that our partners understand the values of Fractal Design, therefore we are putting great effort into choosing the right partners from the start. We will work actively to maintain sales territories and profitable business for our partners.

The way to reach our goals

In the competitive market of today, it’s not enough to just provide excellent products. Regular and well planned marketing activities in close cooperation with the channel and the available media, are key points to succeed. We are well experienced in marketing brands in the IT business, and we will use this to create efficient marketing tools – to gain a bigger market share and good earning possibilities for our channel.

And here is what they announced:

Define R3 Window Side Panel

Fractal Design’s new side panel features a large fully transparent window allowing you to display your setup in style.
The acrylic window side panel features the same clean, Scandinavian design as the case itself, and has a completely flat outer surface without any plastic bezel or rivets.
Installing the Fractal Design side panel could not be easier – simply remove and replace the standard panel!

Key features

* Completely flat outer surface, no plastic bezel and no visible rivets
* Clean, stylish Scandinavian design that matches the case
* Easy installation -simply replace the standard panel, no modification necessary
* Window size (W x H): 270 x 290 mm, positioned 45mm from both the top and the back edge
* Available in Pearl Black and Arctic White

 

StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 updated to version 2.0.1.2467

Andrew Edney
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0
StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 updated to version 2.0.1.2467

StableBit Scanner 2.0 for Windows Home Server 2011 has been updated to version 2.0.0.2467.

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.

2.0.1.2467

* Notifications were coming up for disks that were disconnected.

You can try it free for a month, and if you like it you can buy it.

Download the latest version from here

Archos introduces the Elements range beginning with the Archos 97 Carbon tablet

Andrew Edney
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0
Archos introduces the Elements range beginning with the Archos 97 Carbon tablet

Archos today introduced the ARCHOS 97 carbon, the first of its new tablet range called “ELEMENTS”, an entry-level line up of 7, 8, and 9.7 inch tablets that combine ARCHOS design and engineering with full access to Google Play and a full suite of Google apps at an affordable price.

Google-Play

Equipped with the latest mobile technology and an elegant aluminum finish, the ARCHOS 97 Carbon is only 618 grams and 11.4mm thick. Its sharp and clear IPS multi-touch screen delivers amazing vivid colours and impressive wide viewing angles. For the smoothest interface experience, ARCHOS has powered this tablet with a fast 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM while running AndroidTM 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich”.

Combining very high performance hardware, intuitive software and affordability, this Google Play supported device will be available starting in July 2012 for £219.99 SRP.

“We wanted to introduce a new series that not only combines affordability with a new slim design, but features the best that Google has to offer,” says Henri Crohas, ARCHOS Founder and CEO. “With the ELEMENTS series we have done just that. It’s the perfect balance of hardware, software optimization and content through the Google PlayTM ecosystem.”

Key features:

· 9.7”  5x Multi-Touch Screen with IPS technology

· Optimized for Google Play: Over 600,000 apps apps and games, the world’s largest collection of eBooks and thousands of movies.

· A complete media device, the ARCHOS 97 carbon can decode full 1080p HD  video and can send a 1080p HD video to an HDTV via the HDMI-out port

· Stylish design with  premium aluminum finish and a 11.4mm thickness

· Front and back camera

· Includes 16GB of internal flash memory, expandable both via the microSD slot (supporting SDHC cards up to 32GB) or via a USB flash drive in its full-sized USB host port

· Includes  access  to Android apps from Google, including Gmail, Google Talk,Google+ , Google Maps, YouTube and 5GB of free cloud storage with Google Drive.

· Pre-loaded  with Office Suite Viewer for reading office documents, a demo of World of Goo – the critically acclaimed puzzle game, as well as News Republic and Brief Me to manage your world news and customized social media feeds

For more information about the ARCHOS Elements line visit www.ARCHOS.com

Sky Go app for Android updated to version 2.0

Andrew Edney
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0
Sky Go app for Android updated to version 2.0

Only a few days after the iOS update, the Sky Go app for Android has been updated.

sky go android

TV from Sky on a range of Android smartphones available at no extra cost for Sky TV customers
Enjoy great entertainment from Sky live and now on demand on your Android smartphone wherever you are in the UK or Ireland with a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. Watch up to 24 live channels in line with your subscription including:

All 6 Sky Sports channels including Sky Sports F1 plus Sky Sports News, British Eurosport and ESPN
All 11 Sky Movies channels
Sky Atlantic
Sky 1
Sky Living
Sky Arts 1
Sky News

Release 2.0:

– Sky Anytime+ with on demand Movies and Entertainment
– Search the Anytime+ catalogue
– Manage your Sky Account from the app
– Move the app to SD Card
– Bug fixes and improved stability

Download now from Google Play

Microsoft announces Windows Server 2012 line up and Windows Home Server is gone

Andrew Edney
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16
Microsoft announces Windows Server 2012 line up and Windows Home Server is gone

Today Microsoft announced their Windows Server 2012 line up, and one server noticeably missing is Windows Home Server!

2012 Server Line up

This little piece of news is something that we MVP’s have known about for some time but because of NDA’s haven’t been able to say anything.

This is one of a few reasons why we changed the name of this site from Using Windows Home Server to Connected Digital World!

So if you want similar functionality to Windows Home Server in a 2012 Server product then you will be looking for Windows Server 2012 Essentials, which will cost you around $425! So that’s quite a price hike from Windows Home Server 2011!

Some additional information could be found in the Windows Server 2012 Essentials FAQ:

Q: Will there be a next version of Windows Home Server?
A: No. Windows Home Server has seen its greatest success in small office/home office (SOHO) environments and among the technology enthusiast community. For this reason, Microsoft is combining the features that were previously only found in Windows Home Server, such as support for DLNA-compliant devices and media streaming, into Windows Server 2012 Essentials and focusing our efforts into making Windows Server 2012 Essentials the ideal first server operating system for both small business and home use—offering an intuitive administration experience, elastic and resilient storage features with Storage Spaces, and robust data protection for the server and client computers.

Q: How long will customers be able to purchase Windows Home Server 2011?
A: Windows Home Server 2011 will remain available as an OEM embedded product until December 31, 2025, and will remain available in all other current channels until December 31, 2013.

So what do you think of this news? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

If you want to read the full line-up of Windows Server 2012 products, click here.

The Digital Lifestyle Show 361 In a Jam

Andrew Edney
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0
The Digital Lifestyle Show 361 In a Jam

This weeks Digital Lifestyle Show has just been released – and it’s show 361.

DLS Show

Here’s what Ian says about this week show:

Welcome to this weeks podcast where Garry and I talk over the weeks news. Garry is back from TechEd and I am back from Detroit, we talk Windows 8 upgrade cost at $40 and Media Center coming free, Google annoucing the Q Media Streamer, Nexus 7 tablet and the Glasses. We discus if OEMs are being pushed out the tablet market by Google and Microsoft. We also talk wifi routers, Sky updates and thoughts on the new YouView boxes plus lots more.

You can listen to or download the show from here.

Sky Sports for iPad updated to version 3.0

Andrew Edney
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0
Sky Sports for iPad updated to version 3.0

Sky have just updated its dedicated Sky Sports app for the iPad, bringing with it Split screen within Formula 1 Race Control if you are an F1 fan.

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What’s New in Version 3.0

– Split screen within Formula 1 Race Control
– Sky Sports Channel listings
– Remote Record and set programme reminders on your iPad
– Cricket team pages
– Cricket teams as favorites

It’s free for customers who have access to the Sky Sports News channel as part of their monthly subscription, otherwise it will cost you £4.99 a month.

Download the app from the Apple App Store

Microsoft talks about readying Metro style apps for the launch of Windows 8

Andrew Edney
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0
Microsoft talks about readying Metro style apps for the launch of Windows 8

In the next of their Building Windows 8 series, Microsoft talks about readying Metro style apps for the launch.

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This is how the new article begins:

We know many folks are looking forward to RTM. Developers currently working on apps in the Store are especially excited. We have hundreds of apps in the Windows Store now and many more on the way. There’s a broad set of developers around the world that we have been working closely with since the first Developer Preview. The WinRT platform is evolving rapidly during development based on feedback, and we have the dual task of keeping the Store up and running so we can supply apps to the millions of Preview users, while also getting ready for the next build. It means that if we change or add APIs or improve the tools, the apps will change and require an updated OS to test and verify the app. That’s why we have been providing updated builds to developers who have or are committed to having apps in the Store through strong partnerships.

This post explains the work we’ve been doing since September to keep developers updated with APIs and tools so that apps can stay up to date. We’re doing this even after the Release Preview, just to make sure new apps are ready to go once we get to broad availability.

To continue reading, click here.

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