The United States and the other 27 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plan to aid the defense of any other NATO country in the event of a major cyber attack, according to an agreement that will be ratified this week at a major alliance meeting.

On Thursday, NATO members will meet with 40 partner countries at a major summit in Wales, United Kingdom, to discuss the future security of the region. While the conflict in eastern Ukraine will dominate the meeting, the alliance will also agree to work together to defend its communications network and aid each other against major cyber attacks.

The policy, endorsed by NATO ministers in June, will task NATO countries with sharing information on cyber threats, lending expertise to harden member nations' communications and information systems (CIS), and working with industry partners to improve NATO's ability to respond to cyber attacks.

Read 12 remaining paragraphs | Comments

At the IFA convention in Berlin, Lenovo launched two PCs and a tablet yesterday, and today they are at it again with the new ThinkPad Helix 2-in-1 Ultrabook, HORIZON tabletop PCs, the ThinkCenter Tiny-in-One (TIO), and the Edge 15 laptop. All are a different take on an existing device.

In May 2013, Lenovo released the ThinkPad Helix which is a 2-in-1 laptop with a “Rip & Flip” keyboard which can be detached from the tablet. The current model is getting a bit long in the tooth, with Ivy Bridge processors as the available options. Today, Lenovo announced an updated version of the Helix. The new model is 12% lighter than the outgoing version, coming it at 1.8 lbs, and at 0.38 inches thick, it is 15% thinner than the first gen device. The processors are getting a big boost, with Intel Core M CPUs now under the hood which should boost performance, but even more so, battery life and thermals. The Helix will function in five modes – tablet, stand, tent, laptop, and desktop. ThinkPads are known to have quality keyboards, and the ThinkPad Helix will hopefully keep to that tradition even though it is detachable. The Helix is well suited for business, with both a fingerprint scanner and a smart card reader. The 11.6” display is 1920x1080, is topped with Corning Gorilla Glass, and has provisions for a digitizer pen. The Helix will start at $999 and is available starting in October.

The second laptop announced was the Edge 15, which Lenovo claims is its thinnest 15 inch consumer laptop yet. At under an inch thick, and with a weight of 5 lbs, it doesn’t quite match some of the other 15” ultrabooks on the market for thickness and weight, but it does pack a lot of compute under the hood in addition to being able to fold the display back into a stand mode for media consumption. The Edge 15 can be configured with up to a Haswell Core i7 CPU, 16 GB DDR3L, optional NVIDIA GeForce GT840M graphics, and either a 1 TB hybrid drive with 16 GB of Flash, or a 256 GB SSD. The 15.6” 1920x1080 display also includes 10-point multitouch, and Lenovo claims up to 8 hours of battery life. The Edge 15 goes on sale in October starting at $899.

Lenovo also introduced an interesting take on the All-In-One (AIO) computer with the ThinkCentre Tiny-in-One 23. This is the first ever modular AIO for business. The Tiny-in-One is a 23” 1920x1080 display with a mount for the ThinkCentre Tiny PC on the back side. Any Tiny PC from Lenovo can be used, and it requires no tools. If your business PCs are getting out of date, you can simple pop a new Tiny PC in the back for a new system, or if there is an error with either the monitor or the PC, both do not need to be repaired or replaced like a traditional AIO. All cable connections are done inside, and a single power cord is all that is required. At $279, the Tiny-in-One 23 is not even much more than a traditional monitor. Availability begins in October.

Finally, Lenovo also launched an updated version of the original HORIZON 2 27” tabletop PC. The new models are the HORIZON 2s and 2e. The “s” in 2s stands for slim, with the 2s dropping 10 lbs off of the original HORIZON 2, while still providing the same Stand and Flat modes. Lenovo also has an optional stand made of aluminum which also serves as a charging station for the 27” 1920x1080 tablet. The HORIZON 2e is a smaller version of the original, with a 21.5” 1920x1080 display. Both models are powered by Haswell Core processors and battery life of 2.5 hours for the 2s and 3 hours for the 2e. Prices start at $749 for the HORIZON 2e, and $949 for the larger HORIZON 2s, with availability in October.

Lenovo seems to have a device for everyone. At IFA, they have now announced everything from an 8” tablet for $199 to a 27” tabletop PC. I believe the Tiny-in-One is an interesting idea, with the upgradability of a desktop system but the smaller footprint of an AIO computer. The ThinkPad Helix should be a great device to showcase the Core M, and looks to be a better laptop than some other 2-in-1 devices with detachable keyboards. However we will need to wait for final judgment until we can see some of these devices for ourselves to see just how much of the promise they deliver.

Consensus? It's complicated and does not involve A) everyone agreeing or B) everyone meeting for coffee. Digital Desktop Wallpaper (via Flickr)

One of the many unfortunate aspects of arguments over climate change is that it's where many people come across the idea of a scientific consensus. Just as unfortunately, their first exposure tends to be in the form of shouted sound bites: "But there's a consensus!" "Consensus has no place in science!"

Lost in the shouting is the fact that consensus plays several key roles in the process of science. In light of all the consensus choruses, it's probably time to step back and examine its importance and why it's a central part of the scientific process. And only after that is it possible to take a look at consensus and climate change.

Standards of evidence

Fiction author Michael Crichton probably started the backlash against the idea of consensus in science. Crichton was rather notable for doubting the conclusions of climate scientists—he wrote an entire book in which they were the villains—so it's fair to say he wasn't thrilled when the field reached a consensus. Still, it's worth looking at what he said, if only because it's so painfully misguided:

Read 26 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The PC market is warming up to the ECS LIVA 'nettop' that we reviewed back in July. The fanless nature and low cost, as well as 'good-enough' performance serve as positives for the unit. Recently, ECS conducted a media event, where they gave a sneak peek into the future of the LIVA lineup. ECS also fielded questions from the media and tried to address the concerns raised.

One of the first things that needs to be cleared up is the configuration of the currently shipping 32 GB LIVA kit. Our review unit came with the Celeron N2806. Apparently, only the first batch of 600 units sported that SoC. Subsequent production batches have the Celeron N2807. The update addresses one of the improvement aspects we raised in our review - the use of a Bay Trail part enabled with Intel Quick Sync for transcoding. This opens up additional use-cases for the LIVA kit.

Coming back to the product roadmap, ECS is going to bring the 64 GB version into mass production soon. Next month, the company is also planning to release the BAT-MINI motherboard standalone into the market (users can bring their own chassis). In late November, we will see the 2nd generation LIVA. This is also based on Bay Trail, and comes in a solid metal chassis. ECS was mum on the internal configuration, but we can see that the chassis addresses concerns regarding the positioning of the USB ports, amongst other things.

Gallery: 2nd Generation Bay Trail LIVA Chassis & I/O

Early next year, ECS also plans to introduce an AMD-based unit. Obviously, the Bay Trail units will get upgraded to Braswell too. The LIVA kits are quite exciting, with the competition mainly coming in from the Bay Trail-based Zotac C-series. Zotac already has the Windows 8.1 + Bing OS pre-installation aspect fixed up. ECS needs to act fast on that, as the LIVA kits currently ship barebones. The attempts of the company to translate their success in the NUC / mini-PC OEM space to the consumer market brings choice to the users - and that is always good.

During the event, ECS also talked about their LIVA chassis design contest. The Z97 motherboards were also talked up, with emphasis in particular on the Z97-PK for overclockers.

Today in Berlin Microsoft announced two new midrange Windows Phones, as well as several accessories to compliment the Windows Phone ecosystem. We now have the rest of the phones to fill out the Lumia lineup with the Lumia 730/735 and Lumia 830 announced today. As well, there is a new wireless charger to match this year’s Lumia color lineup, and a Miracast enabled screen sharing device to allow the broadcast of your phone (or anything Miracast compatible) onto a television.

 

First up are the 4.7” Lumia 730 and Lumia 735 models which are “built for Skype calls and selfies” as described by Microsoft. These devices integrate a wide-angle 5 megapixel front facing camera with a f/2.4 aperature which is the feature point of this midrange phone. The internals are similar to the Lumia 630/635, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926 is listed for both devices but the 730 is likely MSM8226 due to the lack of LTE) and a bump in memory over the less expensive cousins with 1 GB in these new models. Storage is 8 GB internal memory, with support for 128 GB microSD cards. The display is a 1280x720 AMOLED for 316 PPI, and has a curved glass on the front in addition to ClearBlack, SuperSensitive Touch, High Brightness Mode, and Sunlight readability enhancements. The rear camera also looks to be good for a mid-range phone, with a 6.7 megapixel sensor with Zeiss optics and a f/1.9 aperature as well as LED flash. NFC is included, as well as optional Qi wireless charging of the 2220 mAh removable battery via an exchangeable shell. To round out the experience, a new Lumia app has been created just for this model – Lumia Selfie.

The final phone to fill out the Lumia line is the Lumia 830. This device bumps up to a 5” display, but keeps the same resolution as the 73x models at 1280x720 as well as the curved glass. The SoC also stays the same, with the 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926) and 1 GB of memory, but the storage is bumped up to 16 GB internal NAND as well as up to 128 GB extra storage from microSD. The rear camera gets a spec bump up to a PureView 10 megapixel model with Zeiss optics, Rich Recording (3 HAAC microphones for up to Doiby 5.1 audio recording), and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) which has been tweaked for the 830 with Microsoft claiming it to be the thinnest OIS of any Lumia phone to date. The Lumia 830 can also charge its removable 2200 mAh battery with Qi wireless charging. NFC is not listed, but due to the accessories coming up it seems likely it is included.

New Lumia Lineup   Nokia Lumia 730 Nokia Lumia 735 Nokia Lumia 830 CPU Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
MSM8226 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
MSM8926 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
MSM8926 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core RAM/NAND 1 GB / 8 GB + MicroSD 1 GB / 8 GB + MicroSD 1 GB / 16 GB + MicroSD Display 4.7" 1280x720 OLED 4.7" 1280x720 OLED 5.0" 1280x720 Network GSM/WCDMA/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps GSM/WCDMA/DC-HSPA/LTE up to 150 Mbps GSM/WCDMA/DC-HSPA/LTE up to 150 Mbps Dimensions 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.7 (mm) 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.9 (mm) 139.4 x 70.7 x 8.5 (mm) Weight 133 g 134.3 g 150 g Camera 6.7 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, f/1.9, LED Flash, 5 MP f/2.4 FFC 6.7 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, f/1.9, LED Flash, 5 MP f/2.4 FFC 10 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, OIS, LED Flash, FFC, 5.1 Dolby Digital HAAC audio Battery 2220 mAh removable 2220 mAh removable 2200 mAh removable Current Shipping OS Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware Connectivity 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, NFC, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, NFC, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio SIM Dual SIM Single SIM Single SIM

All of the phones announced today will ship with Windows Phone 8.1 and the Lumia Denim firmware update which brings some big features to the camera functions. The new firmware will allow for a new version of Lumia Camera (formerly Nokia Camera) and add a series of enhancements over what is currently offered. The new Lumia Camera improves camera startup and capture speeds, with Microsoft claiming only milliseconds between shots. 4K video recording is now available, with a long press of the camera button within the camera app. 4K video will be at 24 frames per second, and any single frame can be selected and saved as an image. Rich Capture adds the HDR mode that has been missing since, well, forever in Lumia Camera, and includes auto HDR and Dynamic Flash which lets you edit the photos after the fact to perfect an image. Finally, updated low-light algorithms improve the already impressive performance of PureView cameras in dim scenarios.

The updated Lumia Camera app will come to the Lumia 830 in Q4 2014, and to the Lumia Icon, 930, and 1520 as part of the Denim firmware update following partner testing and approvals (read carriers).

 

In addition, two accessories were revealed today. First, there is a new Wireless Charging Plate. The charging plate connects to the phone over Bluetooth which allows the plate to give status updates for the phone, and will even alert you if the phone needs to be charged. The charging plate will perform a “breathing” light to invite you to charge your phone if the device paired to it has 30% or lower battery. In addition, the charging plate will give two blinks to display notifications such as a missed call or SMS message. While charging, the plate will show a continuous light, and if there is a charging error, it will continually blink until the issue is addressed. The Nokia Wireless Charging Plate is available in green, orange, or white to match the 2014 Lumia colors. Pricing is expected to be $59 USD and EUR 59, with availability in October.

The final accessory is the long named Microsoft Screen Sharing For Lumia Phones HD-10. This Miracast receiver allows you to beam your smartphone display and audio to any HDMI TV or monitor. The HD-10 is NFC enabled, allowing easy pairing by just tapping a phone on the NFC disc, which is removable as well so the disc can be kept away from the receiver. Being Miracast, the device is compatible with any Wi-Fi certified Miracast product. Availability is September with a MSRP of $79 USD and EUR 79.

The new smartphones look like nice mid-range devices to fill the huge gap that exists between the Lumia 630 and the Lumia 930. Pricing was not available, which will be the key to where these fit in the market, but there again is a large gap between the Lumia 630/635 which is already available for $99 or so, and the Lumia 930 which is closer to $600. The bump to 1 GB of RAM and the display resolution increase are the most important additions to these devices to pull them away from the low end 630. Both the 730 and 830 have decent looking cameras, with the 830 even being added to the PureView stable now with OIS to back the 10 megapixel sensor.

The charging plate looks quite interesting, and having it pair with the phone via Bluetooth is a nice trick. The Miracast receiver is the one thing that Miracast needed more than anything, assuming it works well and is as easy to use as indicated. The inclusion of NFC should assist for smartphone users at least for initial setup.

The rich marine life off Tanzania's coast is coming under threat because of blast fishing - a technique using explosives that some fishermen use to maximise their catch.

According to HTC, the Desire 816 proved to be a popular device in the mid-range smartphone market. Now, only a bit longer than six months after its release, the Desire 820 is here to replace the 816 as HTC's new flagship of the Desire lineup. It's one of the first Android devices with a 64-bit ARMv8 SoC, and the first to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615. Below I've laid out all the specifications for the Desire 820.

HTC Desire 820 SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 with 4 x Cortex A53 at 1.5GHz and 4 x Cortex A53 at 1.0GHz + Adreno 405  Memory and Storage 16GB NAND + MicroSDXC, 2GB RAM Display 5.5” 1280x720 LCD at 267ppi Cellular Connectivity 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE) Dimensions 157.7 x 78.74 x 7.74 mm, 155g Camera 13 MP f/2.2 Rear Facing, 8MP Front Facing  Battery 2600 mAh (9.88 Whr) Other Connectivity 802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 with aptX, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC SIM Size Nano-SIM (dual Nano-SIM SKU in certain markets) Operating System Android KitKat with HTC Sense 6

In many ways the Desire 820 is similar to its predecessor. The appearance is very similar, with colorful plastic backs and a front sporting HTC's Boomsound speakers on the top and bottom, with the front facing camera off to the left on the top bezel. The dimensions are also similar, with the 820 being ever so slightly taller and thinner than the 816. Keeping the same dimensions also allows the Desire 820 to retain the same 5.5" 1280x720 display and 9.88Whr internal battery. Where things get interesting is the SoC.

For a long time the hardware platform for mid-range devices has remained the same. Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 4 x Cortex A7 cores and either 1.5GB and 2GB of RAM. Obviously there are cost and performance reasons for this. Snapdragon 200 was a big step down, and Snapdragon 600 and 800 were a big step up. With the launch of Snapdragon 410, 610, and 615 there's finally some more options for the mid-range market.

HTC has chosen to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 which sports 8 Cortex A53 cores in two clusters. One cluster of 4 cores is optimized for high performance, running at 1.5GHz, and the other is optimized for low power and runs at 1.0GHz. This is the first device to ship with Snapdragon 615, and one of the first 64-bit Android devices with the ARMv8 instruction set. However, support for 64-bit under Android won't exist until Android L ships later this year, and HTC is committing to updating the Desire 820 to Android L some time after it releases. For more information about Snapdragon 615 as well as Qualcomm's other Cortex A53 SoCs you can read the piece that Anand previously wrote about them.

Beyond the SoC there are a few other improvements. The RAM has been bumped from 1.5GB in the Desire 816 to 2GB in the 820. The front facing camera also moves up a notch from 5MP to 8MP. In terms of connectivity the Desire 820 retains the same Qualcomm MDM9x25 modem solution but now includes 5GHz band support on 802.11n and aptX audio support over Bluetooth which is appreciated by users like myself who use Bluetooth headphones.

HTC Desire 820 in Santorini White

While the Desire 820 won't win over buyers looking for the highest end smartphone, it definitely breaks new ground in the mid-range segment of the market. Like its predecessor, the Desire 820 comes in a wide variety of colors. Below is the entire list of color options, including whether they are a glossy or matte finish.

Tuxedo Grey (matte) Marble White (glossy) Santorini White (glossy) Milky-way Grey (glossy) Tangerine White (glossy) Saffron Grey (glossy) Flamingo Grey (glossy) Blue Mist (glossy) Monarch Orange (glossy)

HTC plans to begin sales of the Desire 820 by the end of September, with the goal being to eventually have it at carriers and retailers worldwide. In certain markets, it will have dual Nano-SIM slots. Pricing is yet to be announced.

If you go back far enough in the computer industry, there have been many successful video card companies. Back before the whole 3D craze kicked off, some of the fastest 2D video cards came courtesy of Matrox, and while they made some attempts at producing compelling 3D graphics cards, they were never able to grab the performance crown from NVIDIA or ATI. Their last real attempt at the 3D graphics market came in 2002 with the Parhelia-512, and as was the case with previous efforts it basically ended up falling short. Interestingly, the Parhelia-512 supported "surround gaming" long before AMD's Eyefinity, and that may have opened the gates for what would become Matrox's core focus over the next decade: multi-display video cards.

Since 2002, there haven't been many reviews of Matrox cards because the focus shifted to industries that need not just two or three but potentially a dozen or more displays all running from a single system. Their last graphics card update was in 2009, and since then the top product has been the M9188, a single card capable of driving eight DisplayPort or DVI connections, with the possibility of using two cards to drive 16 displays. Who needs that many displays? Well, the financial and security markets are two easy examples, as they both have use cases where six or more displays is "reasonable", and digital signage is another category where Matrox can provide useful technology. These are all professional markets, and the M9188 is priced accordingly ($1500+), but if you were looking to build a system with good graphics performance, Matrox basically hasn't been relevant as their cards seem to focus almost exclusively on 2D performance these days.

That might be changing with future products given today's announcement, as Matrox will be switching to AMD-designed GPUs for their next generation of multi-display products. These will continue to support Matrox's PowerDesk desktop management software, but what's not clear is whether Matrox will be doing much in the way of customized hardware. The announcement states that "key features of the selected AMD GPU include 28nm technology with 1.5 billion transistors; DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.4 and OpenCL 1.2 compatibility; shader model 5.0; PCI Express 3.0 and 128-bit memory interface."

From that we can surmise that Matrox will be using a variant of the Cape Verde GCN core, which is one of the lower performance GCN parts from AMD. In fact, Matrox may actually be using AMD's FirePro W600 cards, only with custom Matrox-developed software applications. This would also mean Matrox is looking at a maximum of six display outputs per graphics card (compared to eight on the M9188), but AMD already has the ability to run up to six GPUs in a system with the appropriate motherboard meaning up to 36 displays off a single system is theoretically possible.

The hardware is of course only part of the equation, and Matrox's PowerDesk software is something that benefits many businesses and professionals. Matrox notes that "critical productivity-enhancing features available with Matrox PowerDesk software will continue to be supported on the next line of Matrox graphics cards designed with AMD GPUs." These features include the ability to configure and manage multi-display setups, which can get tricky once you move past two or three displays. PowerDesk has tools to configure stretching, cloning, pivot, bezel management, and other items that are important for a professional multi-display configuration.

There are plenty of upsides to this announcement. For one, it allows Matrox to reallocate resources that are currently going into hardware development and instead focus on their core competency, which at this point is multi-display solutions. PowerDesk is well regarded in their target market, and this will allow Matrox to continue to improve the platform without trying to design their own hardware. AMD benefits as they're able to partner with Matrox and potentially sell their GPUs at higher "professional" prices, and they may also increase their share of digital signage and other multi-display markets.

And of course the customers that purchase the cards benefit as they get to move to a modern platform with support for all the latest DirectX, OpenGL, and OpenCL libraries. Long-term, this also opens the doors for Matrox to offer substantially higher performance 3D solutions from AMD for customers that need such features. Overall, this announcement isn't likely to affect most computer users, but it's good to see Matrox still hanging around after several decades in the computer graphics industry, something many of their competition from the 90s didn't manage to achieve.

Tesla Motors

On Wednesday, a source speaking with the Associated Press said that Tesla has chosen an industrial plant outside of Reno, Nevada, to be the location of its $5 billion battery factory. The factory, which will be built in conjunction with Panasonic, will produce batteries for Tesla's forthcoming Model 3 line of low(er)-cost electric vehicles.

The AP's source spoke anonymously because no official announcement had been made. That source said that work on the factory will begin soon and that “Nevada still must approve a package of incentives Tesla negotiated.” Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is scheduled to make a "major economic development announcement" tomorrow afternoon, and Tesla representatives say the company will be present.

Ars contacted Tesla about the report, and a spokesperson wrote, “We continue to work with the state of Nevada and we look forward to joining the Governor and legislative leaders tomorrow in Carson City. More details to come tomorrow at 4 PM Pacific.”

Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

L Church

If you want a role model for work ethic in the animal kingdom, you’d do well to pick the ant. Maintaining tunnels, gathering food, and defending the colony are all in a solid day’s work. Now you might be able to cross off another item on the ant to-do list: pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Over geologic timescales, the Earth has a convenient regulator on its thermostat: the weathering of many minerals. During their breakdown, they react with carbon dioxide, which converts them into a clay mineral while also producing carbonate. In a warmer climate, weathering ramps up, removing more CO2 from the atmosphere. This provides a cooling influence. In a cooler climate, weathering slows and CO2 can accumulate in the atmosphere, nudging temperatures upwards.

Some of this is simply the result of physical weathering of exposed rock at the surface, but living organisms contribute as well. Tree roots penetrate cracks and pry rocks apart. Lichens and fungi in soil slowly dissolve rock. Burrowing things move material around.

Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The world’s largest PC maker arrived at the IFA trade show in Berlin with quite a few new products. Today Lenovo announced an 8” tablet, a 17” gaming laptop, and a gaming desktop PC.

Lenovo Devices   TAB S8 Y70 Touch ERAZER X315 Form Factor 8" 1920x1200 IPS Touchscreen Tablet 17.3" 1920x1080 Touchscreen Laptop Desktop CPU Intel Atom Z3745 (1.86 GHz quad-core) up to Haswell Core i7 quad-core AMD Kaveri A8-7600 (3.1GHz quad-core)
AMD Kaveri A10-7850K (3.7GHz quad-core) Memory 2GB LPDDR3 Up to 16GB DDR3L A8: 8GB DDR3
A10: 12GB DDR3 Graphics Intel HD Graphics Up to NVIDIA GTX-860M 4 GB VRAM A8: AMD Radeon R9 255 2 GB VRAM
A10: AMD Radeon R9 260 2 GB VRAM Storage 16 GB eMMC Up to 1 TB + 8 GB SSHD or 512 GB SSD A8: 1 TB + 8 GB SSHD
A10: 2 TB + 8 GB SSHD Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; BT 4.0; Optional LTE Optional BT4.0; 802.11ac/bgn Wi-Fi; 1G LAN 1G LAN, 802.11ac Wi-Fi Dimensions 209.8 x 123.8 x 7.9 mm
8.1 x 4.8 x 0.31 inches 422.9 x 190.6 x 25.9 mm
16.6 x 11.4 x 1.1 inches 375.9 x 360.7 x 175.3 mm
14.8 x 14.2 x 6.9 inches Weight 299 g
0.65 lbs 3.4 kg
7.5 lbs 7.48 kg
16.5 lbs

The Lenovo TAB S8 is an 8” Android tablet with a 1920x1200 resolution “Infinity” screen, which is the marketing term for the thin bezels surrounding the 16:10 dispay. Powering this tablet is the Intel Atom Z3745 SoC which has four Bay Trail cores at up to 1.86 GHz. There are dual front speakers, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and optional LTE data. There is an 8 MP rear camera with F/2.2 aperature, and a 1.6 MP fixed focus front facing camera. Lenovo claims the 4290 mAh battery will last up to seven hours. The TAB S8 is available in ebony, blue, canary yellow, and white, and starts at $199 with availability in September.

Moving from the 299 gram (0.65 lb) tablet, we hit the other end of the spectrum with the 3.4 kilogram (7.5 lb) Y70 Touch gaming laptop. This is the first gaming laptop from Lenovo to be offered with a 17” screen size – in this case a 17.3” 1920x1080 touchscreen. This behemoth of a laptop is powered by up to a Core i7 quad-core processor, has up to 16 GB of DDR3L, and can be equipped with a NVIDIA GTX-860M GPU with 4 GB of dedicated memory. Storage options are up to 512 GB Solid State Drive (SSD), or up to a 1 TB Solid State Hybrid Drive (SSHD) which has 8 GB of SSD cache. Audio on the laptop should be a highlight feature, with JBL stereo speakers and an integrated 3.0 watt subwoofer built in. Wireless options are 802.11ac, and a gigabit Ethernet connection is also included. Battery life is rated for only 5 hours, but with a curb weight this high, this is not the kind of machine you would take and use on the go anyway. The only optical disc option is an optional external DVD/Blu-ray drive. A backlit keyboard with red lighting completes the experience. The Y70 Touch will be available in October with a starting price of $1299.

The final announcement today is the ERAZER X315, which Lenovo considers an affordable gaming desktop. With a starting price of $599, they could be right. Lenovo went with the AMD Kaveri for the X315 series, with choices of the A8-7600 (3.1 GHz quad-core) or A10-7859K (3.7 GHz quad-core) APUs. Memory is up to 8 GB for the A8 version, and 12 GB for the A10, and GPU options are the AMD Radeon R9 255 with 2 GB of memory for the A8, or an R9 260 with 2 GB memory for the A10. Storage options are both SSHD drives, with 1 TB for the A8 and 2 TB for the A10. This desktop also includes four USB 3.0 ports (with one always powered), two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI input, and wireless connectivity with 802.11ac supported in addition to the Ethernet port. The case includes front lighting and a “knight’s armor” design. The ERAZER X315 will be available in November. 

Lenovo has announced three devices aimed at three completely different markets. The tablet looks to have a great display for the $199 price. A 17” laptop with a 1080p display seems like a low resolution offering for this day and age, but for a gaming device it makes sense with the amount of GPU power available in a mobile device. The desktop looks to be a decent gaming machine for a starting price of $599, but we will have to wait for a review to know for sure.

When ASUS introduced the first EeePC back in 2007, it became a huge hit and essentially ushered in the era of the netbook. Using Linux as the core OS and sporting low-end hardware in order to target a price of $200 (though it ended up shipping at $300 initially), the ultraportables world was forever changed. Google essentially revised and reinvigorated the netbook market with their Chromebook initiative, which brought us $200 laptops in 2011 that again used an alternative OS. Considering the $200 Chromebooks have been one of the highest volume laptops for the past year or two, others are looking to get a piece of that market. Now ASUS is teaming up with Microsoft to release a Windows 8.1 with Bing laptop that hopes to steal some of the thunder from budget Chromebooks.

As you'd expect from any full laptop selling for $200, the components are going to be relatively low-end. ASUS is using an 11.6" 1366x768 LCD – and no, it is not a touchscreen – the first sign of compromise. The processor comes courtesy of Intel's quad-core Atom platform (Bay Trail), and the X205 will ship with 2GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage (plus two years free of 500GB ASUS WebStorage). It also features two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11n WiFi, micro-HDMI, and microSD support. There will also be a version with 64GB of storage at a slightly higher price point. In other words, this is sort of like what would happen if you took a basic tablet and converted it back into a laptop, and then used Windows 8.1 instead of Android.

The overall quality of any $200 laptop is obviously going to be a concern, as that price point is far below what we usually see for Windows laptops. For those that want a higher performance computing device, this is obviously not going to fit their needs, but Windows 8.1 has taken steps to improving performance on low memory devices, and you still get a full keyboard and presumably decent battery life. You also get full compatibility with the existing library of Windows applications, which is going to be the real selling point. Is the market still interested in such a device, or have most people moved on to tablets and Chromebooks? We'll find out how well the X205 does at retail in the coming months.

Today at IFA ASUS announced a couple of new laptops. The first continues the refinement of the Zenbook line with an update geared around Intel's Core M line of processors. Andrei is at IFA Berlin and can hopefully provide some hands-on impressions later, but the design language looks similar to the existing 13.3" Zenbook. The big news outside of the Core M processor is that the display has been upgraded yet again, this time to a 3200x1800 QHD+ panel. Other aspects include three USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, micro-HDMI, and 802.11ac WiFi connectivity.

We'll have more information on the Core M processors as well coming next week at IDF, but in the meantime it's interesting to note that ASUS has made the switch from the U-series line of Intel CPUs to what is effectively the Y-series Broadwell replacement. This is even more surprising as the UX301 shipped with the Core i7-4558U, which was a 28W CPU with a GT3-based Iris Graphics 5100 GPU. What we know of Core M suggests that the TDP has been cut way down, and the UX305 may actually be fanless, though it's likely Intel will have configurable TDP support as well. In any case, we may very well see a regression in performance from the UX301 to the UX305, though battery life should improve in the process.

Pricing and availability on the UX305 has not been announced, but there should be 128GB and 256GB SSD models, and likely multiple CPU SKUs. We'd expect the price to be similar to the existing UX301 – i.e. $1500+, depending on model – but the switch to Core M may result in prices being closer to $1000. For students and businesses that need highly portable laptops, the UX305 may be exactly what they want.

In the wake of the release of stolen, intimate photos from a number of celebrities’ cell phones this past weekend on 4chan’s /b/ Web forum, the site has added something to its rules and policies—a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown policy. While 4chan previously relied on its rapid expiration of content to keep 4chan LLC and site founder Chris “moot” Poole out of trouble, the heavy scrutiny that came from the latest round of celebrity exposure has pushed the site to adopt more formal measures to avoid litigation. (Victims of photo theft could use copyright claims to seek damages from publications and websites that publish them.)

Under the policy, 4chan will now remove content when notified of a “bona fide infringement” under the law. The site will also contact the individual posting the content to tell this user it has been removed. “It is the Company’s policy…that repeat offenders will have the infringing material removed from the system and that the Company will terminate such content provider’s, member’s or user’s access to the service,” the policy reads. Those who believe their content has been taken down improperly can file a counter-notice with 4chan.

The DMCA policy post designates a DMCA agent for the company (though not by name) at Corporation Service Company in Wilmington, Delaware. Corporation Service Company is an organization that acts as a corporate office and compliance agent for Delaware-registered companies.

Read 1 remaining paragraphs | Comments

NEW YORK CITY—We're still in New York, where Samsung has dumped a bucket load of devices on us for the holidays. You've seen the liveblog and the official announcements, and now that the festivities are over it's time to see just what Samsung's new products are like in person.

With a whopping four devices and only a limited time for each, we didn't have much time to get very in-depth with each one, but we can at least whet your appetite for the full reviews, which will come once the devices have been released.

The Galaxy Note 4—Or, alternatively, the “Note 3S”

Left: The Note 3, Right: The Note 4. They're practically identical.

7 more images in gallery

.related-stories { display: none !important; }

CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});First up is the Note 4. Have you seen a Note 3? If so, you're about 95 percent of the way there. The Note 4 looks almost identical to the Note 3—it's a big, 5.7-inch rectangle done in Samsung's typical style.

Read 27 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Very powerful PSUs may not be all that useful to most users, but they certainly are the pride of any company. Today we're looking at the new pinnacle of Seasonic's retail PSUs, the Platinum XP3 series, products designed with very advanced users and cryptocurrency miners in mind. Their advertised performance seems amazing, especially when combined with their reasonable retail price. How well can they perform though? We will find out in this review.

It's getting nasty between Sega of America and Gearbox. 20th Century Fox

The class-action lawsuit pitting angry gamers against the producers of critical stinker Aliens: Colonial Marines nearly reached a conclusion last month, when game producer Sega of America tentatively agreed to a $1.25 million settlement. However, on Wednesday, over a month after game developer Gearbox filed a motion distancing itself from any financial obligation—namely, to avoid paying $750,000 to bring the settlement's grand total to $2 million—Sega responded with its own motion insisting that Gearbox was just as responsible for any payout responsibility.

Ars obtained a copy of the motion, filed by Sega's lawyers in the Northern District of California Court. It included copies of e-mails, contracts, and correspondence that reinforced a particular sticking point in the case: that Gearbox was just as responsible for the game's promotional efforts—which were tagged as "misleading" in the class-action suit—as Sega was. Many of the dozen-plus letters hinged on Gearbox pushing forward with screens, videos, and other details that hadn't been cleared or approved for reveal by Sega, either on Gearbox's official website or at community events. Sega's attitude about this had deteriorated by October 2012, with a Sega PR rep blaming "persistent panel leaking" of game details on "Randy [Pitchford, Gearbox director] doing whatever the fuck he likes."

One e-mail, titled "Gearbox is announcing things," detailed a number of game facts and video preview footage revealed in June 2011 that hadn't been approved by Sega. In another, a Sega PR representative called out Pitchford for "talk[ing] a LOT beyond what was in there" at an event. And in yet another e-mail, Pitchford was quoted as saying "A:CM will curbstomp Dead Space," a prediction that we're comfortable saying never came true.

Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});We're just a couple of days away from the official start of the IFA trade show in Berlin, but a lot of companies are trying to get out ahead of the noise and announce their biggest products early (this rush to announce early creates plenty of noise all by itself, but whatever).

IFA is usually where the Windows PC makers unleash their wave of holiday-season computers, and this year is no exception. Today we've got announcements from Toshiba, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus—we'll tell you about the most interesting PCs here, pointing out trends along the way, and we'll continue to cover new announcements as other companies take the wraps off of their new systems.

Toshiba

Toshiba's got a couple of new Windows systems, along with the new Chromebook 2 that we already covered earlier. The most significant of them is probably the Toshiba Encore Mini, a full Windows 8.1 tablet that will run you $119.99.

Read 26 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Robyn Lee

On Tuesday, a Ninth circuit appeals court ruled that Yelp's ad sales strategies do not extort small businesses and merely amount to “hard bargaining” by the company.

Yelp lets anyone review a business, and businesses can't opt out of being reviewed. So when Yelp's ad sales team began calling around asking companies to buy advertising in exchange for displaying a chosen review more prominently, some storefronts cried foul. In 2010, four small business owners banded together to sue Yelp for extortion after they refused to buy advertising from Yelp and allegedly found that bad reviews were displayed more prominently.

Two of the business owners also alleged that Yelp authored negative reviews to induce them to advertise or in retaliation after the business declined to buy advertising.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Today ASUS threw their hat in the ring of Android Wear smartwatches with their new ASUS ZenWatch. All of the Android Wear watches sport a common hardware platform and the ZenWatch is no exception. It sports a 1.63" curved 320x320 AMOLED display, and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad Cortex-A7 part running at 1.2GHz, paired with an Adreno 305 and 512MB of RAM plus 4GB of NAND. ASUS claims that the internal 1.4Wh battery will get a user through the day, and the IP55 rating for dust and water resistance should resist environmental hazards but not to the extent of other smartwatches like the Sony SmartWatch 3.

Android Wear watches typically have to compete on price or on design and build, and it looks like the ZenWatch has chosen to go with the latter. The stainless steel design with the curved cover glass and leather strap all convey a more premium feel than other plastic smartwatches. Of course, this also means that the ZenWatch is priced as one of the more expensive smartwatch options at 199 euros. ASUS expects that the ZenWatch will be put on sale sometime during the second half of 2014.

Source: ASUS via The Verge