NVIDIA announces GeForce GTX 770 for under $400, says it's faster than last year's GTX 680

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/30/nvidia-announces-geforce-gtx-770/

It probably won't come as a huge surprise, given the GTX 780's appearance last week, but today's launch of the GTX 770 nevertheless brings us a very interesting product. The card is claimed to be about five percent faster than last year's much more expensive flagship, the GTX 680, thanks to a faster memory interface (7Gb/s instead of 6Gb/s), a slightly higher base clock speed (1,046 vs. 1,006GHz) and an equivalent number of CUDA cores (1,536). Seeing as how the the GTX 680 still holds its own with current games, this performance parity strikes us as something of a deal -- assuming independent benchmarks back it up. We're still awaiting a confirmed US price, but we'll eat our SATA cables if it's anything other than $399 for a 2GB model (the press release just says "under $400"). UK and European prices match those of the GTX 670 (£329 inc. VAT, 329 euros exc. VAT), and availability begins today. Check out NVIDIA's slide deck for more details, including power consumption and noise, SLI scaling (which looks healthy) and some in-house frame rate comparisons against other products.

Gallery: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 slide deck

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, NVIDIA

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LG's Optimus G Pro launching across Asia in June

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/30/lg-optimus-g-pro-asia/

Right now, Asians who want LG's Optimus G Pro have to make a sneaky trip over to South Korea, but not for much longer. The handset will begin rolling out across the continent through June, starting in Hong Kong and spreading to places like Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia before the end of that month. Just remember, that unlike the Galaxy Note II, you'll have to spring for the stylus yourself.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

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MediaTek unveils quad-core MT8125 processor for budget tablets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/29/mediatek-unveils-quad-core-mt8125-processor-for-budget-tablets/

MediaTek told us to only expect its tablet-focused SoC in the summer, but it's clearly something of a keener: we're already looking at the part today. The new MT8125 builds on the familiar formula of a quad-core Cortex-A7 processor and PowerVR Series5XT graphics, with most of the improvement coming from a higher 1.5GHz clock speed. That extra grunt helps the chip handle up to a 1,920 x 1,200 display on top of earlier support for 13MP cameras and 1080p videos. Focusing on tablets gives MediaTek some freedom in configurations, too -- it can offer the SoC with basic EDGE cellular data, full HSPA+ or WiFi alone. Customers won't have to wait long to try the MT8125 when tablets like Lenovo's IdeaTab S6000 series should be using it now, although there's no word on how much of that hardware will reach the US.

Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Lenovo

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Source: MediaTek

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Lenovo's dual-SIM S820 unveiled, joins the Chinese league of feminine phones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/29/lenovo-s820-china/

Following the likes of the Oppo Ulike 2 and the MeituKiss, Lenovo's decided to join the fun with yet another phone targeted at Chinese female users. Dubbed the S820, this Android 4.2 device appears to be prettier -- with a hint of HTC's One X on both sides -- yet also more gender neutral than the older S720, but Lenovo's marketing team has been working hard to emphasize the phone's vivid redness, soft curves and velvet finish to back its case. Even the launch event yesterday featured bikini-clad models holding the new product, though that might have backfired a little.

Unlike the two aforementioned devices from the competition, the S820 only comes with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera instead of a 5- or 8-megapixel version, but it does have a 13-megapixel imager on the back. You'll also find a 4.7-inch, 720p gapless IPS display on top of a 1.2GHz quad-core MT6589 SoC with 1GB RAM and 4GB internal storage. Removing the flexible back cover reveals a removable 2,000mAh battery, dual SIM slots (WCDMA 2100 and GSM 900/1800/1900) and microSD expansion of up to 32GB. Not bad for ¥1,999 or about $330, and it's already available for pre-order from now until June 2nd. For now, you can check out a hands-on video of the S820 after the break, courtesy of a Dongguan-based trading company.

Gallery: Lenovo S820

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo

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Via: CNMO

Source: Lenovo

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The Visual Effects Behind Iron Man's HUD in Iron Man 3

Source: http://gizmodo.com/the-visual-effects-behind-iron-mans-hud-in-iron-man-3-510227528

Iron Man's HUD has always been one of the cooler details in any sci-fi movie. The way it pops up, the way it shields the face, the way it works—it's fantastically unreal and yet completely believable. And the beauty is in its impressive details.

John Likens posted this video breaking down the visual effects of the HUD. Created by Cantina Creative, the HUD was generated and rendered from CINEMA 4D. Likens writes:

Marvel tasked us with designing all the elaborate 3D head-up displays (HUDs) – a virtual graphical interface that Iron Man sees from within the helmet environment of his armored suits that communicate essential data and statistics ranging from his physical condition to weapon and navigational diagnostics – While putting strong emphasis on the new ultra-high-tech Mark 42 suit, we also delivered upgraded HUDs to match the new suits seen in the film. It was great fun.

Like Google Glass but way cooler. [John Likens]

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YouTube adds slow-mo feature to its editing tools

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/28/youtube-slowmo-feature/

How do you add a dramatic flair to your mundane video clips? You play it in slow motion, that's how. And now that YouTube has introduced a built-in slow-mo feature, you don't even need to capture footage using a high-speed camera. Just click Edit, navigate to Enhancements and hit the icon emblazoned with a turtle to make footage crawl at 12.5, 25 or 50 percent of its original pace. Note that resulting clips can last no longer than 10 minutes, and the feature might not be available in some countries outside the US just yet. Head past the break to compare two samples and see how the new feature can transform your YouTube vids, Dave Chappelle-style.

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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Source: YouTube

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AMD's Opteron X-series targets Intel Atom for the microserver CPU market

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/29/amd-unveils-opteron-x-series/

AMD might not be able to keep up (down?) with Intel in the CPU power consumption race, so it's taking another tack with the new Opteron X-series: horsepower. It just announced the Opteron X1150 and X2150 64-bit processors for microservers, part of the Jaguar-codenamed family of CPUs arriving in the next-gen Xbox One and Sony PS4 consoles. Thanks to its ultra-low power 6-watt Atom S1200 chips, Intel excels in the low-power server market, and at 9W and 11W respectively (minimum), AMD's CPUs consume considerably more juice. But AMD is pitching them as a better solution overall, thanks to those four cores (compared to two in the Atom), integrated AMD Radeon HD 8000 graphics on the X2150 model, support for 32GB of RAM and integrated SATA ports. AMD's chips are pricier, though, at $64 (X1150) or $99 (X2150) compared to $54 for Intel's Atom S1200 (all in quantities of 1,000). To top it off, Intel has new 64-bit Atom SoCs coming soon promising even lower power consumption -- possibly leaving AMD to play catch-up agai n.

Filed under: Peripherals, Networking, AMD

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Upload Anything to Flickr's New 1TB of Space With a Simple Hack

Source: http://lifehacker.com/upload-anything-to-flickrs-new-1tb-of-space-with-a-sim-510138485

Recently, Flickr gave all of its users 1 terabyte of free space. Reddit user rlaw68 shows how to utilize that space for more than just photos and videos.

The process involves combining the file you want to upload with a gif. Flickr checks the headers of the file and sees a picture and grabs the whole thing. Unbeknownst to the server, though, your file is tagging along in a makeshift zip package. As per rlaw68's instructions:

So, how to do this:

1) Put the two files you want to combine into a single folder, preferably off the root of your drive, say c:\combos

2) Hit the Windows key + R, type in CMD and hit Enter

3) Change the directory to the root:

C:\users\Bill>cd \

4) And then to the folder where your files are:

C:>cd combos

5) Now, to combine the files type:

C:\combos>copy /B project1.zip+cat.gif project1.gif

6) That’s it! Now you’ll see a file called project1.gif in your \combos folder that you can upload and store on Flickr – it’ll appear as just whatever the .gif file was that you combined with your archive.

When you want to access it again, you just download the file, rename it with a .zip extension and open it like normal. If you're using a Mac, WonderHowTo also has a primer on how to accomplish this task.

This may not be useful for most situations. Flickr has an upload limit on photos of 200MB, and this process means that it's somewhat cumbersome for daily use instead of a service like Dropbox, but in a pinch, it never hurts to have a backup plan. While it won't work for uploading to Flickr, you can also hide files in a JPEG to keep certain data out of sight.

How to use that 1TB of free Flickr space to store stuff other than images | Reddit via WonderHowTo

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Most Popular External Battery Pack: Anker Astro Series (3E/E4/Pro)

Source: http://lifehacker.com/most-popular-external-battery-pack-anker-astro-series-510076495

If you need to keep your gadgets powered up on the go, you'll need batteries—or better yet, an external battery pack. There are tons to choose from, but last week we asked you for the best. Then we looked at the five best external battery packs based on your nominations. Now we're back to highlight your favorite.

The Anker Astro Series were your clear favorite, and they took the top spot with over 40% of the overall vote. The affordable, slim, and power-packed 3E, E4, and Astro Pro were just a few of your favorites, and a number of you called out other Astro models in the call for contenders that were just as powerful and just as portable.

In second place with 22% of the vote was the Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation, a metal-bodied, sturdy power pack with a ton of juice for its size. Right behind it in third were MonoPrice's external battery packs, which brought in close to 16% of the vote and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Their universal qualifier however is that they're generally cheap and get the job done. In fourth place were the New Trent iCarrier and iGeek external battery packs, both of which are affordable, portable, and offer easy-to-read displays to show you how much juice is left. Bringing up the rear in fifth place was a big name in battery technology: Energizer's XP Series brought home just shy of 8% of the votes cast, and offer a wide array of battery packs from the super-affordable and portable (but low on power) to the power-packed and pricey models that can power netbooks and laptops if need be.

The bright spot here is that any of these external battery packs will serve you well on the go, and they're all portable enough to fit into either your pocket or a small laptop bag or backpack, so you can't really go wrong here. There were some other nominations in the call for contenders thread and the full post, so if these don't strike your fancy, make sure to check there for more suggestions.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it—it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!

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Connected Data to merge with Drobo, bring Transporter features to Drobo products

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/28/connected-data-to-merge-with-drobo-bring-transporter-features-t/

Connected Data, makers of Transporter, just announced that it's entered into a merger agreement with Drobo. As a refresher, Transporter is a cloud-based file sharing appliance that provides Dropbox-like functionality without the recurring subscription costs. Drobo's best known for its Ethernet, Thunderbolt, FireWire and USB-based multi-drive storage devices which offer seamless expandability. Presumably we'll start seeing some of Connected Data's file sharing features on upcoming Drobo products. The two companies have 30 days to finalize the merger process -- and perhaps even come up with a clever new brand. We vote for DroboPorter ourselves. PR after the break.

Filed under: Storage, Internet

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Vizio begins shipping 2013 M-Series Smart TVs, prices start at $400

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/28/vizio-m-series-smart-tvs-shipping/

Back at this year's CES, all Vizio said about its brand new M-Series lineup of HDTVs was that they'd be hitting shelves at some point "later this year." Fast forward to today, and the company's announcing its 2013 M-Series Smart TVs are now shipping to retailers such as Best Buy, Amazon and Walmart, with interested folks being able to grab one starting at $400 for a 32-inch LED model. Speaking of which, Vizio also went ahead and modified the M-Series pricing scheme a bit, making some models a little more expensive and others slightly cheaper. For example, the Theater 3D-ready 80-inch Razor LED Smart TV (say that five times fast) is now $4,000, as opposed to the $5,000 price tag that it was announced with originally. You'll find the full MSRP list in the PR after the break, and do let us know in the comments below if you plan on snagging one of these for yourself.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Vizio

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Make Facebook More Searchable with Email Notifications

Source: http://lifehacker.com/make-facebook-more-searchable-with-email-notifications-509958135

Facebook's email notifications are usually just annoying, and we often recommend turning them off. Weblog MakeUseOf discovers a good reason to keep them on: it makes your entire Facebook archive searchable.

All you need to do is turn on Facebook's email notifications, then set up a Gmail filter that automatically marks them as read, archives them, and labels them. That way, you never have to deal with them cluttering up your inbox, but if you ever want to find an old post, you can just search your email inbox for a direct link. It isn't for everyone, but if you find that you get annoyed at not being able to find old Facebook posts, it's a pretty clever solution. Hit the link for the step-by-step.

Facebook Search Sucks - Use Facebook Email Notifications as a Workaround | MakeUseOf

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The Top 12 Schools For Producing Fortune 100 CEOs

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/where-top-ceos-went-to-school-2013-5

There's an ongoing debate about how useful college is as costs rise, the economy changes, and the job market remains stagnant.  

But when it comes to the business world and America's largest companies, a degree — and often a diploma from a top tier graduate or business school — is common among those who make it to the top. 

There are exceptions, like Larry Ellison and Michael Dell, but they're rare. 

U.S. News took a look at the CEOs of the Fortune 100 companies to see which schools produced the most top executives. 

Thirty-nine of the 97 for whom they found data got an MBA. Seven got a law degree. Those who did, tended to head for the Ivy League, which had a pretty strong showing in the undergraduate department as well. 

Here's the breakdown:

Read the full article here

SEE ALSO: The 27 Most-Impressive Students At Harvard Business School

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Olloclip brings distortion-correcting camera app to its three-in-one iPhone lens

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/28/olloclip-distortion-correcting-camera-app/

As our debut Insert Coin project, the Olloclip will always be near and dear to our hearts, but the handy three-in-one iPhone lens is not without its niggles -- like significant distortion produced by the the wide-angle and fish-eye attachments, for one. Luckily, Olloclip now has a remedy for that in the form of an iPhone camera app that'll correct or enhance such aberrations, depending on which way you want to take your artistry. You'll also get video and macro modes, spot focus and exposure adjustments and a photo library -- all the better to stay footloose and DSLR-free on the road. You can grab it for free at the source.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

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Via: Cult of Mac

Source: Olloclip

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Canon 50D gains video recording through Magic Lantern RAW hack

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/28/canon-50d-gains-video-recording-through-magic-lantern-raw-hack/

It may be time to dust off that Canon 50D you purchased back in 2008. The folks behind the Magic Lantern firmware add-on have pulled yet another rabbit out the proverbial hat (or is it lantern?) by enabling RAW video recording on the APS-C-based DSLR. What's even more impressive is that the 50D lacks video support out of the box, so this new-found functionality is truly magical. This hack comes hot on the heels of the Magic Lantern team coaxing the Canon 5D Mark II / III into capturing 24 fps RAW video. With the firmware add-on installed, the 50D is capable of shooting video up to 1592 x 1062 pixels at 30 fps. There are some caveats, though. First, there's no audio recording since the camera lacks a microphone input and associated electronics. Second, capturing RAW video requires fast CF cards (at least UDMA 6). Third, we now fully expect to see the 50D skyrocket in value on the used market. Hit the break for a few sample videos.

Filed under: Cameras, Canon

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Via: No Film School

Source: Magic Lantern Forums

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