HTC’s new wireless adapter for the Vive arrives in September for $300
Sick of tripping over the HTC Vive’s cord when moving blindly across physical space? HTC’s new wireless adapter is here to help. The good news is that you can eliminate that long tripwire and feel secure that you’ll remain on your two feet. The bad news is that it will cost an additional $300.
Asus gets ‘tough’ on gamers using two TUF Gaming FX laptops built for abuse
If you’re looking for a “tough” gaming laptop that won’t set your wallet on fire, Asus introduces two new solutions under its TUF Gaming FX banner. The FX505 dons a 15.6-inch screen while the FX705 sports a 17.3-inch screen, both of which support a Full HD resolution with up to a 144Hz refresh rate.
Here’s how to watch Nvidia’s GeForce event at Gamescom
Today is August 20, and that means Nvidia is getting ready to (possibly) showcase its GeForce RTX 20 Series of add-in graphics cards for gamers. We’re sticking with that name, rather than the previous GTX 11 Series brand, due to today’s date and the introduction of Nvidia’s “Turing” architecture.
New Apple MacBook may appear in September at $1,200
Apple may reveal new products in September including an entry-level 13-inch MacBook based on Intel’s seventh-generation processors. Industry sources claim Apple originally intended these units to rely on Intel’s upcoming 10nm “Cannon Lake” processors, but Intel delayed mass production of these chips.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 850 chip appears in benchmarks with improved performance
A benchmark for Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 850 processor show a less-than-stellar increase in multi-core performance over the previous 835 chip. Introduced in June, the Snapdragon 850 promises up to 30 percent better performance, yet benchmarks show that leap applies to single-core numbers.
Is your PC safe? Foreshadow is the security flaw Intel should have predicted
Three new processor vulnerabilities have appeared under the 'Foreshadow' banner. They're similar in nature to Meltdown and Spectre, only they steal data from different memory spaces. Here's everything you need to know about this dangerous new security flaw that just might exist on the computer you're using right now.
Australian student hacks into Apple, steals 90GB of data because he’s a ‘fan’
A 16-year-old private school student in Melbourne, Australia broke into Apple’s network multiple times for an entire year to download 90GB of “secure” data and access customer accounts. He did this because he was a "fan" and even admitted to the police that working for Apple was his “dream job.”
Arm’s future CPU designs may finally catch up with Intel in laptops by 2020
Arm publicly disclosed its CPU road map for the first time on Thursday, covering chip designs that will be released through 2020. Typically disclosed under an NDA, the company came forward with its plans to show how its CPU designs will advance the always-on, always-connected laptop experience.
Intel serves up ‘Bean Canyon’ NUCs revved with ‘Coffee Lake’ CPUs
Looking for a super-compact PC for streaming media that doesn’t break the bank? Intel updated its NUC family with its new “Bean Canyon” kits. Currently, there are five with a starting price of $300 packing eighth-generation Intel Core CPUs. But you’ll also still need memory, storage, and an operating system.
The Andromeda botnet still lingers as nations struggle to clean infected PCs
A report published by Fortinet suggests that although the FBI and European law enforcement ended the Andromeda botnet’s reign in late 2017, there are still systems infected with the malware. The process of cleaning up the infected PCs isn’t progressing at the same pace across various regions.
Steam survey shows PC gamers are still mostly playing in 1080p and lower
Valve Software’s latest hardware and software survey for July reveals that 63.72 percent of Steam’s registered members still play games with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. Even more, 13.33 percent of Steam’s gamers play at 1,366 x 768 while only 1.14 percent are playing at 3,840 x 2,160.
The browser-based Monero miner Coinhive generates around $250,000 each month
A report reveals that despite a dramatic fall in cryptocurrency mining, the Coinhive JavaScript-based miner is still highly active, generating around $250,000 worth of digital Monero coins each month. Coinhive also contributes 1.18 percent of the total mining power behind the Monero blockchain.
Nvidia’s Turing chip reinvents computer graphics (but not for gaming)
Nvidia introduced its latest graphics chip design called “Turing” during the SIGGRAPH 2018 conference. Rumored to be the foundation of Nvidia’s next family of GeForce cards, the company instead showcased its new design in Quadro RTX-branded cards: The Quadro RTX 8000, the RTX 6000 and the RTX 5000.
AMD’s new 32-core Ryzen Threadripper chip is out, and you can get one for free
AMD’s new 32-core Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX desktop CPU is now available for a hefty $1,800. It’s compatible with motherboards packing the TR4 socket and the X399 chipset. The only other new Threadripper chip arriving this month will be the 16-core Threadripper 2950X, which costs half the price.
Intel’s ninth-generation CPUs could launch on October 1
New rumors suggest that Intel could launch its new-generation CPUs as soon as October 1, bringing the 9900K, 9700K, and 9600K chips to consumers eager for more power and better multithreaded support. This rumor backs up slides seen earlier this year that suggested Intel's new chips would debut in late 2018.
Lenovo’s new mobile workstations pack a punch with Xeon CPUs, Quadro graphics
Lenovo introduced two new mobile workstations arriving at the end of August that are based on eighth-generation Intel Core and Xeon processors. The ThinkPad P1 is the thinnest of the two, measuring 0.7 inches while the bigger ThinkPad P72 is thicker at 1 inch. Both support huge amounts of system memory.
Intel’s ruler-shaped SSD packs 32TB of storage, aims to redesign servers
Intel now provides what it deems as the world’s densest and totally silent solid-state drive, but you’ll never install it in your desktop PC. Instead, it’s a long device resembling an old 12-inch ruler that’s designed to bring 32TB of speedy storage to data centers. It joins two other “ruler” SSDs.
Network routers with roaming enabled are likely susceptible to a new attack
Jens Steube discovered a new method to break into network routers. He was researching new ways to attack the WPA3 security standard but stumbled onto an attack technique capable of cracking hashed passwords based on the Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK) security standard.
Programmer trains artificial intelligence to draw faces from text descriptions
Programmer Animesh Karnewar wanted to know how characters described in books would appear in reality, so he turned to artificial intelligence to see if it could properly render these fictional people. He used machine learning to train the A.I. using 400 random images and their text descriptions.
AMD’s new 32-core Ryzen Threadripper desktop CPU rips into wallets at $1,800
AMD now provides a new batch of Ryzen Threadripper desktop processors for enthusiasts based on its refreshed Zen design. Leading this second wave is the 32-core chip AMD teased in June that uses the same TR4 motherboard socket seating the first Threadripper chips but consumes a bit more power.
Razer heads to Kickstarter to create its Naga Trinity gaming mouse for lefties
When it comes to computer mice, scissors, spiral notebooks and more, lefties are a neglected crowd. Peripherals and tools catering to southpaws are few and far in-between. Luckily Razer wants to help fix that -- at least for the left-handed MMO gamer -- by creating a left-handed Naga Trinity mouse.
‘Destiny 2’ players spent 25.6 years combined deleting their unwanted shaders
Bungie's latest Destiny 2 statistics reveal that players deleted 807,635,124 shaders in the 77 days spanning between the launch of Warmind and the final Season 3 Faction Rally. At a one-second-per-shader deletion rate, that number tallies up to a combined 25.6 years across all active Guardians.
Microsoft’s latest patent application hints to ‘page flipping’ on Andromeda
A patent application describes a two-screen pocket-sized device that's likely tied to Microsoft's Andromeda project. Labeled “Navigational Aid for a Hinged Device via Semantic Abstraction,” it describes how the hinge can be used to locate specific sections of content displayed on the screens.
Pictures of a blank GeForce GTX 1180 card reveal connectors and memory slots
Pictures of the upcoming GeForce GTX 1180 graphics card have supposedly surfaced on Baidu showcasing only the card’s printed circuit board. Based on the certification logos, it’s a final design and likely a reference board used by Nvidia’s hardware partners to create their own GTX 1180 cards.
Microsoft’s two-screen Andromeda may arrive in 2019 with Productivity Mode
A clue regarding Microsoft’s Andromeda device was recently discovered inside a Windows 10 driver, indicating that the device will have a productivity mode. It’s used in a class -- a set of attributes that Windows 10 uses to make a window -- called MultiTaskMode. The driver handles display settings.
Attacker stole user data from Reddit through employee accounts
An official update posted by Reddit reveals that an attacker broke into a few systems on the company’s network and stole user data. The theft consisted of a 2007 database backup containing salted hashed passwords along with “some” current email addresses. Reddit is currently working with law enforcement.
Earn up to $10,000 by squashing printer-based bugs in HP’s bounty program
HP is calling an “industry first” in launching a print security bug bounty program providing rewards up to $10,000. It’s backed by Bugcrowd, a crowdsourced security platform that manages bug bounties, vulnerability disclosures, and more. The program will focus on bugs related to printers.
SamSam ransomware has generated $5.9 million from victims since 2015
Sophos reports that the SamSam ransomware has done more financial damage than previously believed, generating $5.9 million from its victims since it appeared in December 2015. Hackers use SamSam in attacks about once per day, but the typical web surfer will likely never experience its devastation.