AMD is really leading the pack this year with the release of its second 28nm based GPU. The Radeon HD 7950 offers gamers on a budget most of the processing power of its big brother, the Radeon HD 7970 ($550) but at a slightly more affordable price point of $450. The new GPU powerhouse has an 800MHz clock speed, 3GB of GDDR5 RAM, runs on the latest DirectX 11 standard and of course uses the new 28nm manufacturing process. With AMD Eyefinity technology up to six displays can be run off this card. Thanks to AMD App Acceleration, this card can perform faster video encoding, decoding, and transcoding. Of course this card also excels in its ability to playback HD content, whether its from a Blu-ray DVD or an MKV file. Unlike the 7970, this card only draws 200 watts of power as apposed to 250 watts!

The new card is available right now in Maingear’s Shift and F131 line of desktops. If used in conjunction with Maingear’s Epic 180 liquid cooling and Epic Audio Engine, users will get the maximum possible performance out of their high performance gaming computer.

VIA: Maingear

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

One of the big, bad issues with 3D has been the variety of technologies used by different vendors. At this stage in the game, with the HDTV market delineated by price tier, most companies have determined to stick to one particular format of 3D technology.  On the lower end of the price spectrum, companies offering “budget” 3D HDTV’s, use ‘passive’ glasses. On the higher end, companies use generally heavier and more power-hungry ‘active’ glasses. Each technology has its caveats and pitfalls. With passive (polarized) glasses you get the same image projected to both lenses at slightly different angles, thus resulting in a “3D effect”, while the image being viewed also tends to appear darker. Active Shutter glasses (using the “Eclipse” effect)  alternate the light using infrared (IR) to communicate with the TV/Projector to determine how quickly to flicker. This system allows for a wider array of viewing angles. With the already high premium being paid for 3D sets (and the price of active-shutter glasses starting around $100 and up!) four of the big players in the market are working together to insure consumers don’t find themselves stuck with obsolete technology when upgrading or replacing a 3D HDTV.

Together, these companies are working to develop the “Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative” to ensure cross compatibly among products.  In the words of an industry executive:

“The Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative license also includes multiple types of infrared (IR) system protocols between 3D active shutter glasses and 3D displays, ranging from the protocols jointly developed by Panasonic and XPAND 3D, to the proprietary protocols of Samsung and Sony, respectively.

The Full HD 3D Glasses Initiative brings together the world’s leading 3D TV manufacturers and 3D technology providers for the benefit of consumers. Glasses utilizing 3D active shutter technology benefits consumers in that they enable Full HD 3D picture quality to be displayed to each eye, depending on the 3D displays.

There are two types of licenses: one for TV/Projector/Emitter and one for 3D eyewear. Each license has three licensed technologies and several product categories to choose from. The license program includes verification procedure for licensee products before the product is sold in the market. The verification program ensures (that) the compliant products work seamlessly with other compliant products consumers own.”

Now if the other major players in the 3D market get on board with this project, the consumers will be the big winners. When the consumers win, the companies also win. So here is hoping that 2012 is the year of true 3D cross-compatibility!

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

Good morning true gamer’s, AMD has a surprise for you! AMD has finally released it’s long heralded, next generation Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to consumers. The Radeon HD 7970 picks up where the Radeon 6990 left off  last year and raises the bar for GPU performance. Although the next-generation, Southern Island family of  card’s have been in the hands of reviewers for some time now, they are finally available to consumers starting today.  So what exactly is new here? Well for starters this GPU, and all of its AMD Radeon GPU successors are produced using  the much awaited 28nm manufacturing process. In essence these GPU’s simply use less power yet offer more performance then their predecessors. Other features include DirectX 11 supprt, 3GB of GDDR5 RAM, and support for  TriFire and QuadFire multiple GPU setups thanks to AMD CrossFireX technology. As for video outputs this bad boy has 1 HDMI, 1 DVI and 2 mini-display port connectors. Kudos to AMD for beating Nvidia to the 28nm punch. No word on exact price but this is expected to retail for close to $600.

The new GPU is available for order now in the MAINGEAR SHIFT and F131 desktops. Special thanks to MAINGEAR for the heads up on the availability of the latest, cutting edge, graphics card on the market.

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

Technology news. Sony’s latest portable gaming console first launched in Japan on December 17th, the PS Vita, has received pretty much fantastic reviews across the board on mutliple technology blog’s over the last few months, however whilst in its first week of sale in Japan it did very well, since then it has had literally next to no market demand at all. In total, the second week of sales for the PS Vita totted up a sad sounding 72,479 units, which is even less than Sony’s PSP gaming console which shipped 101,121 units.

It makes large sense to us then that sellers/retailers of the portable gaming console in Japan have been forced to slash their prices of the PS Vita, in a move clearly aimed at giving the kiss of the life to Sony’s latest product.

Of course, all products need to be priced perfectly in the market they are moving in to, so we shall have to see exactly how Sony prices the PS Vita when it is officially launched in the UK on February 22nd this year. Hopefully, they won’t price themselves out of the market straight away, but if you want our two cents we reckon’ the UK sales for the PS Vita will follow that of Japans.

Via: T3

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

If you were ever in the market for a Mophie Juice Pack Air or even Urbanista Las Vegas iPhone 4/4S case due to their ability to recharge your smartphone, then the i.Fuzen HP-1 makes a good case for itself as an alternative to these due to it having one extra and rather significant feature on top of recharging; it’s a headphone amplifier. Essentially, this is two products in one, but can it live up to it’s claimed promises of +44 hours of audio playback from a single charge and more importantly to the die hard Apple fan keep the iPhone’s neat design in check? Read on.

In the box

The box itself for the i.Fuzen HP-1 is white and orange due to the model we have right here being white in colour, however there is a black variant available and the box for that model is black and red. Inside the box you’ll find your i.Fuzen HP-1 case, a mini-USB cable to charge it up and all the manual / warranty paperwork you’d expect from any product in this day and age.

Overall, the box is well designed and the outer packaging is recyclable with thanks to it being cardboard. The internal plastic shelving however isn’t, unfortunately.

Case design

After reviewing the Urbanista Las Vegas iPhone 4/4S case not long back, and that product being really rather gorgeous to set eyes on, the i.Fuzen can’t match it in build quality nor looks however is well designed nether-the-less. Towards the bottom of the case you have your micro-USB port which is covered for protection against dust / grime  and your two headphone amplifier sockets of the 3.5mm variety (which is a good thing, bearing in mind that’s what all consumer headphones rock). On the right bottom hand side of the case is a ‘sound button’ which toggles the headphone amplifier feature on and off and towards the back of the case there is a power button and status light. Pressing the power button will light up your status light to let you know just how much charge your i.Fuzen has left.

All in all the buttons are well laid out and easy to access whilst having a quality feel to them. Moving on to build quality and materials and the i.Fuzen is okay. It’s made from plastic, much like 99.9% of charger cases, but it rattles a little bit if you give it a shake which is the by-product of the opening mechanism the case utilizes to allow you to slip your smartphone in. Essentially, you slide your iPhone in to the case by simply lifting of the top section which is handily attached at all times to the rest of the case by two flexible rubber strips (the culprits of that rattle). Once your iPhone is in, the rattle subdues, eliminating the small problem above.

The plastics used to make the case feel pretty durable all in all, and I’d expect the shell of the case would survive a drop or two not that I recommend that. There are cutouts on the case for the camera and flash, as well as volume rocker, 3.5mm jack and power buttons.

Carrying the case around is easy enough too thanks to the i.Fuzen HP-1 weighing in at a fairly respectable 70g, which is 50% of what the iPhone 4S weighs. Naturally, you can tell the case is on when in your pocket, however it isn’t unbearable and after a while you get used to the case being on. Overall, the added functionality it brings outweighs the extra bulk.

In use

Lets get the charging part of this case out of the way; in all my tests, the i.Fuzen met its claims. +44 hours of audio playback? Check. +11 hours of video playback? Check. +8 hours of talk time? Check. +6 hours of 3G internet browsing? Check. +11 hours of WiFi? You bet. If you are purchasing the i.Fuzen mostly for the recharging feature alone, then the i.Fuzen does live up to its promises.

Moving on to perhaps the most significant feature of this case, its headphone amplifier feature, and the i.Fuzen again lives up to its promises. Indeed, the case does boost the iPhone 4S’s sound output to 180mW with a 113dB signal to noise ratio (and in human terms a decent amount) allowing you to listen to music at a better quality than it was before with less distortion. The inclusion of the extra 3.5mm headphone jack means that your friend can also listen to your tunes from their own headphones, a very neat feature which I’m sure a lot of people would kill for. If I could give anybody a tip with the amp, convert your tunes to FLAC format, it makes for some great clarity.

One strange and notable part of this case is that one can not change the volume of their song or video when using the headphone amplifier feature, as the iPhone seemingly gets rid of the touch input options to change volume and the hardware volume buttons do not respond. It’s a very frustrating feature and I’m not sure why it happens.

Pricing

You can pick up an i.Fuzen HP-1 from Advanced MP3 Players for just £69, an awesome price bearing in mind you are getting two completely usable features in one package.

Overall

The i.Fuzen HP-1 is a solid performer. It lives up to charging claims, it boosts the quality of audio, and it’s design whilst not the flashiest  does compliment its purpose well. After hard thinking however, the ability of being able to change the volume of a song when using the amp feature is simply essential, so I have had to knock 2 marks of the final star verdict below to reflect this.

Rating: 7 out of 5 stars (7/10)

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

If you can dig a little bit of industrial design on your gadgets, then the Kube 2 might just be the next MP3 player for you. Featuring a rather obvious cube-inspired design just like its predecessor, the Kube 2 is being marketed as the world’s smallest MP3 player (but certainly not the most aesthetically pleasing one), and is made up from an aluminium wrap-around body.

Controlling the MP3 player looks simple enough too as the Kube 2 rocks touch-sensitive controls on one panel and three more inputs on another panel. Storage wise, the Kube 2 takes SD cards and you’ll be able to bump the storage up to 32GB. Pretty cool, huh?

“Since the launch of theKube two years ago, our customers suggested that a touchscreen on the player would allow for easier navigation. They also added that they would like to have changeable skins to give theKube a new look and feel,” said Bluetree on listening to what their customers wanted from this sequel MP3 player.

Via: T3

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

But before you whip out your credit card and go on shopping spree, make sure you know the risks you will face (and your rights for dealing with them).

Risk #1: The price dropping after you make the purchase

Retailers try hard to convince us their prices are best during the weeks leading up to Christmas, but is that really the truth? According to ConsumerReports.org that’s not always the case.

In 2010 they tracked the prices for 7 popular electronic devices from October 1st through February 25th. By the first week of January, the prices on most were actually lower than during the weeks leading up to Christmas.

If the price of an item drops after you buy it, a number of popular credit cards from Chase and Citi offer a price protection benefit, where they will make up the difference. But there’s a big catch… there are a lot of rules, such as online pricing being excluded and the lower price must by advertised in a physical newspaper, flyer from the store, etc.

Conclusion? If the price drops after you buy something, chances are your credit card probably won’t help you.

Risk #2: Accidentally breaking the item

Last week I was getting out of a car and forgot my iPhone was in my lap. When I stepped out, the phone flew into the air and crashed onto the pavement. Luckily, it had a case so there was no damage, but we’re not always so lucky, are we?

Because electronics can break somewhat easily, there’s always a risk. If it’s a gadget you’ve owned for years you might not care as much. But if your brand new iPad broke, I bet you would be on the verge of tears!

Fortunately, credit cards can be helpful here. Some of them offer a benefit called “Purchase Protection” which will reimburse you if a purchase is accidentally damaged during the first 90 days. Not all items will qualify but from my experience, most purchases of brand new electronics will be eligible.

Risk #3: The retailer going bust

If you’re like me, you probably buy your gizmos and gadgets online so you can score a cheaper price. Sometimes the stores with the best prices are small operations which are dubious (to put it nicely). What happens if you place an order from one of them and before it ships, they go out of business?

If your credit card was charged for an item and the retailer goes bust before sending it, you will usually be protected if you file a fraud report with your card issuer. Some of the lower tier cards may give you a hard time, but I think if you have an American Express, or a higher-tier Citi or Chase credit card, you should be in good hands.

Risk #4: Receiving an item not as advertised

One of the biggest risks of ordering online from an unknown seller is that many will try and scam you. For example, they may send you a refurbished computer instead of a new one, or a different (but similar looking) model altogether.

When this happens, there are two ways you can tackle this with your card issuer:

(1) filing a fraud dispute
(2) filing a dispute regarding the quality of the item

Since you actually received the item, typically your bank will require you to go the second route. However the laws regarding the “quality of goods and services received” aren’t as favorable to the consumer, so if at all possible try and convince them to process it as a fraud dispute (because there are specific laws limiting customer liability for credit card fraud).

Risk #5: The store won’t accept your return

Okay so you bought that hottest gadget, only to decide it’s not right for you. When you try and return it, much to your surprise the store/website refuses… are you out of luck?

If you paid with cash or a debit card, the answer is yes. If you paid using a credit card that offers the “Return Protection” benefit then you might be able to get some or all of your money back.

For example on an American Express card the benefit typically works like this:

• 90 Days of Protection – If you try to return an eligible item purchased in the U.S. within 90 days from the date of purchase and the merchant won’t take it back, American Express can refund the purchase price.
• Up to $300 Coverage – You can be covered for up to $300 per eligible item, excluding shipping and handling, up to $1,000 annually per Card account.

The qualifying item will have to be in new condition. I actually used this benefit a couple months ago for a shirt I bought in the wrong size and my American Express Plum Card refunded the $54 within just a couple of days of filing. With many stores only allowing returns for up to 14 or 30 days on electronics, play it safe and pay with a credit card that offers this perk.

This post was written by Mike, the founder and CEO of CreditCardForum.com, an uncensored message board where people give their two cents about everything from the best cash back credit cards, to which cards offer the worst benefits and support.

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.

You’ll know Urbanista, a Stockholm based accessory company, for the Copenhagen headphones we reviewed and the urban inspired designs all their products carry and now they have released an iPhone 4 and 4S battery case which promises to enhance your iPhone’s charge by 100%. Called the ‘Las Vegas’, it’ll set you back £69.99 or $99 over the other side of the pond, and interestingly features changeable side panels in Dark Clown, Red Snapper and Gun Metal variants, included out of the box. Overall, we reckon this is a fair competitor to Mophie’s option. PR below.

Urbanista Extends Range of Smart Mobile Devices – Announcing the Las Vegas PowerCase™

Outstanding Protection for the iPhone 4/4S with Incorporated Technology that Offers 100% extra Battery Capacity

Southampton, UK, 8^th December, 2011; Urbanista, the Stockholm-based design concept shop which produces products geared towards the needs and fashions of urban living, launches its latest addition to their mobile phone accessory range – the Las Vegas PowerCase ™. In seeking to develop new and “on trend” solutions for the mobile urban person, Urbanista has developed this mobile phone case, which in addition to the traditional design and protection also provides the user with a 100% extra battery capacity.

“The Apple® iPhone has become a necessary accessory and tool for our target audience. However, poor battery-performance has been a continual problem for iPhone users everywhere.  When Urbanista wanted to expand its mobile phone accessory collection, it was natural – to include an “added value” compared to other mobile phone cases on the market.”   Stated John Wahlbäck, founder and CEO of AB Urbanista

The Las Vegas Power Case ™, coated with black rubber , comes with 3 pieces of different side panels, Dark Clown (black), Gun Metal (silver), and Red Snapper (red). This enables the user to vary the colour combinations of their choice. It also comes with a USB charge / release cord.

Technical Specification:

• Las Vegas Power Case ™ for iPhone4/4S
• Capacity: 1500mAh (Li-polymer battery cell)
• Output: 5V/500mA
• Includes three side panels in different colours: Dark Clown / Gun Metal / Red Snapper
• Material: ABS
• Packaging: Blister Box
• Dimensions: 129.5 x 62 x 14.9 mm
• Weight: 70g

Price and Availability:

The Las Vegas PowerCase ™ is available at MSRP £69.99 inc from http://uk.urbanista.com/

About Urbanista:

Urbanista was founded in 2010 by Johan Wahlbäck and Daniel Roos. The company’s mission is to provides stylish yet functional, well made life-style tools that will simplify tasks in any urban environment. The focus for the products will be on their design, colour and mobility, and they will be innovative, smart and affordable.

Urbanista currently sells a range of personal audio devices, a portable folding bicycle; and a range of shopping trolleys. Additional product categories will be added during 2012.

 

©2012 Technology Blogged, News. All Rights Reserved.