With yesterday's launch of AMD's 65W Kaveri APUs, it seemed a good time to give some recommendations for new system builds. We're starting out at the budget end of the spectrum, however, and pricing/availability on Kaveri generally rules it out. We'll keep things short and look at two builds, one AMD and one Intel. Outside of the CPU/APU and motherboard, parts are generally interchangeable.

Budget AMD System Component Description Price CPU AMD A6-6400K (2x3.9GHz, 1MB, 65W, 32nm) $65 Motherboard MSI A88X-G41 $73 RAM Team Vulcan 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-2133 CL10 $71 Storage Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB $55 SSD SanDisk Ultra Plus SDSSDHP-128G-G25 128GB  $60 Case NZXT Source 210 S210-001 $40 Power Supply Seasonic SS-300ET 300W 80 Plus Bronze $38 Total (without OS)   $402

The Kaveri APUs provide a decent blend of general and gaming performance, but finding one priced reasonably for a budget system is still a bit difficult (depending on your definition of budget, of course). While the idea of an inexpensive system capable of running games is fine, the cost to go from the A6-6400K we've selected to one of the Kaveri A10 models is more than the cost of a moderate dedicated graphics card like the R7 250, and the A6-7400K and A8-7600 are hard to find – and when you can find them, they're priced $15 higher than the MSRP. If you can wait a bit, the A6-7400K and A8-7600 should become more readily available. In the meantime, the A6-6400K will provide similar performance with a slightly slower graphics configuration.

For the rest of the system, the MSI motherboard can support both existing Richland APUs like the A6-6400K we've selected as well as Kaveri APUs. Similarly, the DDR3-2133 RAM can provide better bandwidth than DDR3-1600 RAM that would only save you a buck. For storage, you've got three options: go pure SSD and have fast storage performance but without a lot of capacity, buy the 1TB HDD and sacrifice performance for capacity, or get both. Personally, I'd go with a pure SSD or the SSD+HDD configuration.

Wrapping things up, the case is a decent looking and not too expensive NZXT Source 210. Cases can be a very subjective topic, and there are plenty of reasonable options, but the NZXT is a good choice for a budget build. You could also drop down to a micro-ATX case and motherboard, and if that's what you're after the MSI A78M-E45 would be a good alternative. For the power supply, the small increase in efficiency offered by 80 Plus Gold isn't really worth the added cost at this price, and Seasonic makes a good 300W unit that will provide good efficiency for a low-power system like this while still allowing for the use of a moderate discrete GPU down the road should you choose to upgrade.

Budget Intel System Component Description Price CPU Celeron G1850 (2x2.9GHz, 2MB, 53W, 22nm) $50 Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H97M-D3H $80 RAM Team Vulcan 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 CL9 $70 Storage Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB $55 SSD SanDisk Ultra Plus SDSSDHP-128G-G25 128GB  $60 Case Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01 $50 Power Supply Seasonic SS-300ET 300W 80 Plus Bronze $38 Total (without OS)   $403

The Intel budget build is going to provide a pretty similar experience to the AMD build overall; single-threaded performance will be a bit higher, but graphics performance will be lower. The price for these two builds is equivalent at around $400 – which includes both a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, so you can shave off $50 by dropping one or the other storage option. The Celeron G1850 is Intel's least expensive Haswell option right now, and while budget CPUs aren't going to win in any performance contests, for normal tasks they're still plenty fast. Paired with a 128GB SSD they can make for a decent home/office system and the price is certainly appealing. Overclocking isn't really a goal of either of these builds, and Gigabyte's GA-H97M-D3H should do fine for stock clocks.

The one other noteworthy change is that we've included a slightly more expensive (and perhaps a bit too gaudy for some) Corsair Carbide SPEC-01 case. It has lots of angles and vents, and while Corsair has made some very good cases opinions on aesthetics are still up for debate. It ships with two 120mm fans for cooling, which is going to be overkill for a budget build like this but will give you room to grow. It also has a case window and red LED lighting for those that want to show off a bit.

Of course we're still missing the OS, keyboard, mouse, and display; these are all commodity items and most people have existing accessories they can carry over from an old PC. Unless you're running a free OS like Ubuntu or some other flavor of Linux, the cost of Windows is going to represent a significant increase in price of nearly $100, putting us at the $500 mark referenced in the title. Adding a 20" to 22" LCD will tack on another $100-$140, and a keyboard and mouse will be $25 combined for a basic set. So all told if you want a complete new PC the price will be closer to $650, but $500 for the core system and software is a good starting point. You can also find some mail-in rebates on quite a few parts that might drop the price a bit, but as those change regularly I haven't included any in the above tables.

The Intel NUC has created a very successful niche for itself in the SFF PC market. While Gigabyte has released the BRIX lineup (with more options compared to the Intel NUC line, including AMD-based ones and NVIDIA GPU-equipped units), most offerings we have seen (such as the Logic Supply ML320) just build upon Intel's motherboard. In this situation, we have Zotac come out with the ZBOX O-series (Sphere lineup). A motherboard tracing its origins (like the Intel-based BRIX units) to the Intel NUC, it differentiates itself mainly in its aesthetics. How does it perform in our mini-PC evaluation? Read on to find out.

Only yesterday Microsoft officially announced the Windows Phone 8.1 Update and today some more details emerged about what is coming as part of the update. Internet Explorer was bumped to version 11 with the release of Windows Phone 8.1 which brought a lot more compatibility and speed over its predecessor IE 10. However this didn’t solve all issues for all users. With the small market share of Windows Phone, many web sites have not tested against the mobile IE browser, nor do many even attempt to detect it. This has resulted in a mobile browsing experience that is quite different than one you would get on Android or iOS.

On the IEBlog, Microsoft outlined some of the changes they are going to begin to implement as part of the 8.1 Update to address the inconsistent mobile web. They outlined the top issues affecting mobile browsing in IE as:

• Faulty browser detection not recognising IE as a mobile browser and giving the desktop experience
• Using only old webkit-prefixed features that have been replaced by standards
• Using proprietary webkit-prefixed features for which there is no standard
• Using features that IE does not support with no graceful fall-back
• Running into interoperability bugs and implementation differences in IE

The first change they are implementing is changing the User Agent string. For those unfamiliar, browsers send a text string to the web server when connecting, and this string lets the web server know what browser type is connecting, and which features the browser would support. The idea is that if a browser connects that doesn’t support a certain part of the page, it can gracefully fall back to other code. A big issue the IE team found was that web servers were not detecting IE on Windows Phone as a mobile browser, and were therefore offering up the desktop version of the page. This results in a pretty poor browsing experience on a small screened device. While not saying exactly what the new string will be (though it will be trivial to found out once the update ships) they did say that they added “like Gecko” to the desktop IE 11 when it shipped, so it will probably be something similar to this.

Twitter after changing the User Agent String - WP 8.1 (left), WP 8.1 Update (center), iPhone (right)

The next solution is that the IE team is now adding a mapping for some webkit-prefixed APIs to the standards based APIs that already exist in IE 11. This way, when a website creates content and uses the non-standard webkit prefix, IE 11 will now be able to use that code to provide a page that more correctly portrays what the developer intended. They gave the example of www.macys.com to show how the gradients were not drawn correctly in IE 11 because the web code was not standards compliant.

Macys.com gradients WP 8.1 (left), WP 8.1 Update (center), iPhone (right)

The IE team also worked to add non-standard features to the mobile IE 11. With the popularity of the iOS ecosystem, many sites have used proprietary APIs provided by Safari. With this update, Microsoft is going to do the right thing and support these, even though they are not a part of web standards. Most users don’t want to know why a site doesn’t work perfectly, they just expect it to. By adding these non-standard features, users will get a better experience.

IE 11 on the desktop went a long way towards being more standards compliant, though it still lags behind other browsers. The time the team did spend on adding standards based features though were based on ones used more on the desktop. Many HTML5 features are seldom used on sites presented as a desktop experience, but they are used on the mobile versions of the site. With this update, the IE team has added more feature compliance to help with mobile site rendering.

New York Times mobile site WP 8.1 (left), WP 8.1 Update (center), iPhone (right)

Finally, they examined some of the markup used on real pages and found there was some that was coded incorrectly or the documentation for implementation is unclear. Clear or not, they found that other browsers handled this the way the developer intended, so they’ve made changes to Trident to help with some of this as well. They also fixed several bugs within Trident that were more of a sore spot with mobile sites such as location.hash and CSS layout issues.

The irony of these changes is painfully obvious to anyone who lived through the IE6 monopoly days. At that time, many sites coded directly to features that were not part of the HTML standards and were only available in IE6 or even as ActiveX controls. It can still be an issue with business if their internal line of business web apps were written for IE6. However the web in general has moved away from that, but with the dominance of Safari as a mobile browser, a similar situation has occurred where mobile sites are being written to non-standard HTML. Microsoft has worked hard to bring their browsers into standards compliance, and now they are forced to add non-standard features in order to not degrade the user experience. It would be best if all sites were 100% standards compliant, but that day will likely never come so it is encouraging to see the work being done here to provide the end user with an experience more on-par with other mobile browsers. There is of course always more work to do. One of the often requested features that wasn’t mentioned in this blog post is text reflow. We will have to wait until next week to see if this has been added. Windows Phone 8.1 Update will be available to people in the developer preview starting next week.

Linksys and ZyXEL recently updated their product portfolio for SMB (small and medium business) networking gear. The updates came in the managed switches category for both companies. In addition, ZyXEL also introduced two new gateways.

Linksys

Linksys had recently lost ground as a SMB market leader, but, after Cisco's sale of the business unit to Belkin, things have been improving rapidly. Last month, they announced the Pro series wireless access point (LAPAC1750PRO) with support for cluster managment (handling multiple access points from a single interface) and a customizable branding portal. It also had dual GbE ports for increased throughput as well as redundancy. As with any AP in this market segment, the unit could be powered by PoE (Power over Ethernet). This 3x3 802.11ac AP was priced at $500.

However, the standout announcement came this month for their managed network switches. Usually, we see vendors putting out 24 and 48-port switches, but Linksys is introducing 28 and 52-port ones. There are four models: LGS528, LGS552, LGS528P and LGS552P. The P models come with PoE+ support (802.3at) and have a 30W power budget per port. The 52 port models come with two 10 GbE uplink ports (SFP+). The non-PoE+ models are priced at $550 and $850 for the 28 port and the 52 port versions,
while the PoE+ models are priced at $950 and $1300. Note that these switches support Layer 3 static routing also.

ZyXEL

ZyXEL announced an update to the venerable GS2200 layer 2 managed switches yesterday in the GS2210 series. The updated internals reflect in lower maximum power consumption. The GS2210 also has a larger packet buffer. The lineup consists of 24-port and 48-port models with PoE (HP models) and without PoE support. Pricing for GS2210-24 comes in at $499 while the HP variant will come in at $799. The 48-port versions are priced at $1099 (GS2210-48) and $1349 (GS2210-48HP). I have been using the GS2200-24 24x7 at home for the last three years (not just as part of a testbed), and I have to say that the unit has been silent and reliable all through after initial setup.

A couple of Internet Access Gateways were also announced, targeting the hospitality market. The UAG5100 supports up to 800 concurrent devices with dual WAN capabilities and an integrated WLAN controller for managing up to 32 Wi-Fi APs. The UAG2100 supports up to 200 devices, has a built-in 802.11n AP and an integrated WLAN controller to manage up to 8 Wi-Fi APs. The firmware features of both units are geared towards monetization of Internet services as well as recording of user access information for auditing and security purposes.
 

One of the hot topics in computer upgrades for the next couple of years is going to be the move to DDR4.  Intel has already announced that the Haswell-E / X99 platform will be based on DDR4, and we can only assume that other future platforms will use it as well.  The shift from DDR3 to DDR4 is a the big jump for DRAM manufacturers as well, shifting gears to the new product and maintaining stocks of both for the meantime.  ADATA is one of the first to officially launch their consumer memory, their Premier line of DDR4.

JEDEC specifications have the DDR4 base frequency at 2133 MHz with sub-timing latencies of 15-15-15 at 1.2 volts.  This is where ADATA will be positioning their first DDR4 modules in the market, and we can assume that others will as well until higher frequency parts are binned.  Compare this to the rate of DDR3-2133, which is often at 10-12-12 timings or similar, but uses 1.65 volts, and typically comes with heatsinks.

Because we are far from the launch of a consumer platform for DDR4, as one might expect this comes across more as a paper launch.  ADATA in the past typically publishes a PR about new memory about two weeks before it goes on the market, and I am asking about pricing which was not mentioned.  Given the pictures we received with the modules, it would seem that 4GB and 8GB modules will be first to market for DDR4 unless another DRAM manufacturer has something up its sleeve.

Source: ADATA

Gallery: ADATA Formally Announces DDR4-2133 CL15 UDIMMs

Kaveri was launched as a processor line, on desktop, back in January. At the time we were given information on three of the APUs, the A10-7850K, A10-7700K and A8-7600, and reviewed two of them, including the A8-7600 65W processor. However, at the time, AMD stated that the model we tested was to come out at a later date: that date is today, in a trio of 65W parts. The A10-7800 we are testing today is the locked down version of the A10-7850K with a slight speed reduction to hit 65W as well as a configurable TDP to 45W.

Back in January when AMD launched their first Kaveri APUs, we tested the A10-7850K and the A8-7600, with the former being at the top of the product stack featuring two Steamroller modules and 512 GCN cores with a 4.0 GHz turbo frequency. This part, along with the A10-7700K that was also released at the same time, has a nominal TDP of 95W. The interesting element in the mix was the 65W A8-7600, which AMD provided as a sample to review at the time, but was to be released ‘at a future date’. Today is that date, six months after the initial reviews.

AMD’s reason for the delay revolves around the 65W nature of the APUs but also their configurable TDP element. Rather than launch a new APU every two months, they combined all three in an effort to get out this new message that the 65W APUs can all be adjusted to fit within a 45W TDP by reducing the clock speeds.

When we examined the A8-7600 at 45W, we found that the killer application for this APU would be in the integrated graphics segment, where it offered some of the best processor graphics for power consumption on the market. The other two APUs being releases today, the A10-7800 and the A6-7400K, both aim to continue that trend above and below the A8 market.

I am currently waiting for the full specifications for these APUs from AMD, including memory support as well as core counts/frequencies of the processor graphics.

Users will note that the listed price for the A8-7600 has been reduced from the initial review by AMD in order to align the stack better for price against performance. All three new APUs will register as 65W to begin with, and the user will have to enable 45W mode in the BIOS of the motherboard. Enabling the 45W mode corresponds to an ~400-500 MHz drop of full loading frequency while still enabling a high turbo:

AMD quotes a 6-7% drop in performance in PCMark 8 and 3DMark by moving down to the 45W TDP mode, with SFF or low power systems seeing the most benefit.

The technologies that were part of the first Kaveri APU launch are also present with the 65W models, including the Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA), Unified Memory for both CPU and GPU (hUMA), heterogeneous queuing of kernels (hQ), Graphics Core Next (GCN) with Mantle and AMD TrueAudio.

With the OpenCL support, AMD is keen to express their performance benefits in Adobe Photoshop CC (A10 vs i5), LibreOffice (A8 vs i3) and JPEG Decode (A6 vs Pentium). AMD also points out in its release that PowerDVD 14 is fully supporting HEVC compute via OpenCL on AMD APUs, with also AMD Fluid Motion Video in a later update.

AMD is running a promotion for the A10 series of Kaveri APUs during August through to October – purchase an A10 APU and choose from either a full copy of Thief, Sniper Elite III or Murdered Soul Suspect. This offer will be available in North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia Pacific/Japan.

We have the A10-7800 APU in for testing, be sure to look out for that review. We have asked for an A6-7400K sample, which allows overclocking, and it will be interesting to see how the single module SKU stacks up against the Pentium CPUs we recently tested.

Gallery: AMD Officially Launches 65W/45W Kaveri APUs: The A10-7800, A8-7600 and A6-7400K

August will soon be here, with one of the perks being a new list of games available to PlayStation Plus members. Like last month, Sony is offering up six games across the PS4, PS3, and Vita. If you’ve missed July’s games, check them out here and get them before it is too late!

PlayStation 4 Road Not Taken

For August, the first game for free is actually a brand new to the store game from developer SpryFox. This game has a release date of August 5th, and is a puzzle game where you play as a ranger travelling through a vast forest after a winter storm where you have to rescue lost children.

“From the creators of Triple Town, Road Not Taken is a rogue like puzzle game about surviving life’s surprises. You play as a ranger adventuring through a vast, unforgiving forest in the aftermath of a brutal winter storm, rescuing children who have lost their way. Randomly generated levels deliver a limitless supply of possibilities to explore and challenges to overcome. Your actions will influence not only your own story, but that of the villagers you hope to befriend and the town you call home.”

Fez

The second game for the PS4 is the puzzle platform game Fez, originally released on April 13, 2012. Indie developer Polytron Corporation created this award winning game which has an interesting 2D gameplay model in a 3D world, where rotating the aspect ratio is a key component of the challenge. Fez will also be available on the PS3 and Vita. Fez for the PS4 received a 90 Metascore and 7.2 User score on Metacritic.

“Gomez is a 2D creature living in a 2D world. Or is he? When the existence of a mysterious 3rd dimension is revealed to him, Gomez is sent out on a journey that will take him to the very end of time and space. Use your ability to navigate 3D structures from 4 distinct classic 2D perspectives. Explore a serene and beautiful open-ended world full of secrets, puzzles and hidden treasures. Unearth the mysteries of the past and discover the truth about reality and perception. Change your perspective and look at the world in a different way.”

PlayStation 3 Crysis 3

Crysis 3 is the award winning first-person shooter released by developer Crytek in February 2013. This sequel to the 2011 game Crysis 2 is set in New York City in 2047, where players take on the role of Prophet. Based on the Cryengine 3, Crysis is a stunningly beautiful game which scored a 77 Metascore and 6.1 User score on Metacritc.

“Seven Wonders of the Urban Rainforest – New York City has been contained in a giant nanodome and grown into a unique rainforest with seven distinct environments. Master the ultimate sandbox and turn it into your own personal hunting ground.

Assess, Adapt, and Attack – Crysis’s highly-acclaimed sandbox gameplay is back with more open levels to let players choose their path and approach. Your upgraded Nanosuit allows brute force or stealth, always giving you more than one option.

The Biggest and Most Explosive Arsenal in Franchise History – In addition to giving you an arsenal of human firearms, Crysis 3 lets you scavenge alien weapons and deploy an all-new Predator bow.”

Proteus

Developer Curve Studios release Proteus in January 2013. This open world exploration game (or anti-game?) is a first-person perspective game drawn in the pixel art style. Proteus got a 77 Metascore and 8.1 User score on Metacritic. Proteus will also be available to PS3 owners.

“Proteus is a game about exploration and immersion in a dream-like island world where the soundtrack to your play is created by your surroundings. The primary means of interaction is simply your presence in the world and how you observe it.”

PlayStation Vita Metrico

Also brand new to the store on August 5th is Metrico from Digital Dreams Games. This is a “atmospheric puzzle action game with a mindset of its own” which has received a lot of accolades by reviewers prior to it being released. The world looks fantastic with a great design theme.

“Metrico is a new world. A living world filled with infographics that react directly to your movement, actions and input. Metrico invites you to explore, experiment, test your skills and most of all: think outside the box.

 Immerse yourself in this experience, exclusive to PlayStation Vita system, and see if you have got what it takes!”

Dragon’s Crown

Dragon’s Crown by Vanillaware Ltd was released July 25, 2013. This 2D fantasy RPG with side scrolling action is a multiplayer experience that lets players choose from six heroes with unique strengths and weaknesses. Dragon’s Crown received a 78 Metascore and 8.9 User score on Metacritic. This game will also be available to PS3 owners.

“Dragon’s Crown is a multiplayer hack and slash beat ‘em up game with breathtaking visual style, a design built around cooperative play and epic boss fights, and the ability to discover a new adventure in every play session. Dragon’s Crown allows up to four players to team up online to clear out monster-ridden dungeons, discover precious treasure, and destroy awe-inspiring bosses.”

Final Thoughts

August looks like a fantastic month for PlayStation Plus members, with a great selection of games from puzzles to first-person shooters to hack and slash games. Also nice to see is that two of these games will be brand new and instantly available to Plus members. Six games over three systems should keep owners entertained for the month of August.

Earlier this year I upgraded to the new Yoga 2 Pro, an Ultrabook with pretty typical specifications. The screen is one of the key differentiators with a QHD+ 3200x1800 resolution, four times the pixels of the original Yoga. After using the laptop for many months now, it's a very interesting experience, as the flexible chassis works as both a traditional laptop or a touch input tablet. Read on to find out what it's like living with the Yoga 2 Pro, and how it measures up in our suite of benchmarks.

It hasn't been long since Microsoft began their rollout of the Windows Phone 8.1 update but they are already giving details of the next update which is slated to roll out in the coming months. The update isn't as significant as Windows Phone 8.1 was, but it still brings some good improvements to the platform. Cortana has been improved and is being rolled out to new countries with localization to make it more usable for different people in different parts of the world. Folders have been implemented in a clever way as well, and there are a whole bunch of other additions throughout the OS. We've detailed some of the bigger changes below, starting with Cortana.

Microsoft's virtual assistant, Cortana, is making its way to several different countries with this new update. Microsoft has put some focus on bringing the feature to the Chinese market with more localized information that would be relevant to someone living in China. The Chinese version of Cortana supports Mandarin Chinese for voice, text, and speech, but Microsoft is also including special features like an alternate form with a different appearance, different animations, and different sounds. Cortana in China also provides information like air quality on weather cards, information about driving restrictions, and the ability to track local TV shows and celebrities, all of which are features Microsoft hopes will make Cortana more useful to users in China.

Microsoft has done the same sort of thing for the new UK version, with a British accent and British English spelling in Cortana. Locally relevant info like info from the London Stock Exchange and local sport statistics are also included. 

With the new update Cortana will also be rolling out to Canada, India, and Australia as an alpha. Users will have to choose between using Cortana with the US or UK English language model as Microsoft is not finished with any localization in those regions.

The big feature addition of this update is one that users have been asking for since the days of Windows Phone 7. Folders are coming to Windows Phone and Microsoft's implementation is clever by not destroying the functionality of live tiles within a folder. The folder takes up a dynamic amount of space on the home screen and the space is made up of all the live tiles within that folder along with a folder name running along the bottom. The user can make certain apps appear bigger or smaller depending on their importance and arrange them however they like. When tapped the folder expands to show all the tiles at their normal size.

Beyond that there are various improvements to parts of the OS. The Windows Phone Store now has a live tile that updates to show new apps and games that have been added to the store, the SMS app gains the ability to select multiple messages for forwarding or deletion, and there's a new apps corner section in the settings app which allows the user to set up a mode with restrictions to what apps can be used. Microsoft is hoping the apps corner feature will make it easier to deploy Windows Phone devices in business scenarios where only a few apps needs to be accessed like for barcode scanning and inventory management at a distribution center.

The last thing Microsoft detailed are improvements to privacy and security features.The new update to Windows Phone will include VPN support to better keep information secure when connecting to wireless networks like public hotspots where the user doesn't want to expose themselves to other users that may be on the network.

Microsoft's time frame for when the update will be released is just described as "in the coming months." For users running the Windows Phone 8.1 developer preview, the preview of this latest update will begin to roll out next week.

Last year Intel introduced the SSD Pro 1500, the company's first SSD for the business segment. The Pro 1500 brought support for hardware accelerated encryption in the form of TCG Opal 1.0 certification, but with the Pro 2500 Intel is updating the spec to 2.0 along with support for IEEE-1667 that is required for Microsoft eDrive. Can the Pro 2500 offer anything over the other drives with Opal support? Read on to find out!

While Google has successfully moved its suite of productivity apps away from Google Drive and into their own Docs, Sheets, and Slides app on mobile, the separation hasn't always felt as clear on the web. The portion of the separate websites for each app that allowed users to view their files was essentially the same interface for Google Drive and they had a feel more similar to a Google Drive extension than separate applications with Google Drive integration. As of today this is no longer the case, as Google is rolling out new home screens for each web application which are similar in look and feel to Google's mobile apps for the same services. Each interface is similar apart from the different color scheme for each application, and below we have the new interface for Google Docs on the web.

As you can see, it's very similar to the interface on Google's mobile Docs application, particularly when the application is used on a tablet. The top bar features a menu that slides in from the left and gives the user links to navigate to the other productivity apps that Google offers, as well as a link to Google Drive and settings for language and offline editing. On the right side there is a button to change between a list view or a preview view, a button to change the method of file sorting, and a button to upload files to Google Drive for editing. At the bottom there is an ever-present circular button which creates a new document and brings the user to the editing interface. Google Drive receives similar design changes but with appropriate alterations due to its functionality as a storage tool rather than a productivity tool.

This is a particularly important update for Google. It allows for Docs, Sheets, and Slides to be better separated from Google Drive but it also works toward accomplishing something Google focused on at Google IO which is creating an interface that looks the same and works the same across every sort of device. It will be very interesting to see where Google goes from here with making changes to both their mobile and web based applications and trying to keep them visually and functionally the same.

The update is rolling out now, and users will be prompted to switch to the new interface when they visit any of the websites for Google's productivity applications.

Joining today’s launch of the SHIELD Tablet is a new GeForce driver set from NVIDIA. After last month’s release of the first R340 beta driver, 340.43, NVIDIA is back again with 340.52, which sees R340 reach WHQL status.

Not surprisingly, SHIELD Tablet support is the headlining feature for 340.52, as NVIDIA needs to update their drivers in order for GameStream to support their latest gadget. This driver is also being released as another on one of NVIDIA’s Game Ready drivers, this time for the forthcoming Metro: Redux and the China launch of Final Fantasy XIV. Other than that however this is a fairly low-key driver launch for NVIDIA; compared to the 340.43 betas there is only a handful of bug fixes (including a Chrome bug), functionally making this a WHQL version of the earlier beta driver for most users.

Update: AT Forums user code65536 has noted that these drivers unexpectedly remove all mention of Miracast support, which was first added in 340.43. We're currently chasing down NVIDIA to find out what happened.

As usual, you can grab the drivers for all current desktop and mobile NVIDIA GPUs over at NVIDIA’s driver download page.

Today's launch of the new SHIELD Tablet with NVIDIA's Tegra K1 SoC has muddied up the tablet waters a bit. We've posted our full coverage of the device, but for those looking for a short summary of the SHIELD Tablet – and whether it's worth buying or not – here's the synopsis of NVIDIA's latest entry into the mobile gaming market.

At its core, the SHIELD Tablet is a fully functional 8" Android tablet, which is quite a change from the initial SHIELD handheld gaming device. Of course it comes with NVIDIA's latest Tegra K1 processor, a quad-core ARM Cortex A15r3 CPU with a 192 CUDA core Kepler-derived GPU and 2GB DDR3L-1866. Storage options are currently 16GB or 32GB, and a microSD slot for additional storage. The display is a 1920x1200 IPS panel, and though it has a somewhat limited color gamut it's a decent if not exceptional display overall. Connectivity consists of 2x2 stream 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, with optional LTE support also available. The 16GB model comes with WiFi only while the 32GB model is equipped with LTE. A capacitive DirectStylus 2 also comes standard on both models.

The overall build quality and design are definitely improved over the Tegra Note 7, with a premium feel that was previously lacking. In many ways, it feels like a larger variant of the Nexus 5, and as an owner of a Nexus 5 that's pretty high praise. NVIDIA has also provided stereo front-facing speakers that sound better than those in most tablets. The only problem is that the SHIELD Tablet is rather heavy compared to the competition – it weighs 390g, compared to 294g for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, but you get better performance with the added weight.

While there's certainly plenty of hyperbole involved with NVIDIA referring to the K1 as having supercomputing roots, from a pure performance perspective the K1 GPU delivers the goods, topping the charts in most of our graphics benchmarks. The CPU side of the equation isn't quite as impressive; it's faster than the previous generation Tegra 4, but given differences in platform, OS, etc. it can be difficult to draw firm conclusions. In general, you can expect somewhere around 5-25% better CPU performance than the Tegra 4, and the K1 tops most of the CPU charts and is at worst competitive with other leading SoCs. About the only potential weaknesses are in the NAND performance (random write is a bit low), and battery life takes a step back from the earlier SHIELD (though that's with a smaller battery) – and under heavy gaming workloads it can be less than three hours depending on the game. That's sort of the price you pay if you want maximum gaming performance from a tablet, though: battery life is going to take a hit when running full tilt.

NVIDIA has put quite a bit of effort into the software side of things as well. Besides all the usual Android tablet features – which basically work as expected – you get ShadowPlay support (record and/or stream your gaming sessions), GameStream (either local or remote is in beta), and access to GRID gaming as well. We've covered all of these previously, and there's nothing really new to add: they all work and offer features that you can't find on other tablets. If you're in the market for a tablet that can function as a portable gaming system, your options are quite limited.

The base price for the SHIELD Tablet is actually quite good, all things considered: $299 will get you one of the fastest Android tablets around, but don't forget the accessories. There's the DirectStylus 2, SHIELD wireless controller, and SHIELD Tablet cover. While you get a DirectStylus 2 with every SHIELD Tablet (a replacement stylus will set you back $20), the wireless controller is a $60 accessory and the magnetic cover is another $40 accessory. The cover isn't strictly necessary, but as someone that has used quite a few tablets without covers, over time getting some sort of cover is highly recommended, and the SHIELD Cover is a high quality cover that meshes well with the tablet. The wireless controller is a different matter: if you're looking at this as a gaming device, it's basically a required accessory. There are many Android games that are designed for a touchscreen, but if you want to use GameStream or play any of the games optimized for a gaming controller, you'll need the SHIELD wireless controller.

Taken as a complete package, then, you're looking at $400 for the 16GB WiFi model with accessories and $500 for the 32GB LTE model. You can argue that's too much, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree, but if you like the idea of a portable gaming tablet you don't really have many other choices. You can get the older NVIDIA SHIELD for $200, but that's half the price for basically half the performance and it was never really that useful except as a gaming device. The SHIELD Tablet on the other hand can function perfectly well as a tablet, and you only need to bring out the controller for times when you want to play games.

Ultimately, the SHIELD Tablet is a far more versatile solution than the original SHIELD, and if you're in the market for a new tablet it's still worth considering even if you don't care much about the gaming aspects – you can always add the controller at a later date. It might be a bit heavy compared to other options, but the performance and features definitely help set it apart. Unless you're particularly committed to a specific vendor for your devices, the SHIELD makes for a good addition to the Android family.

Gallery: Short Bytes: NVIDIA's SHIELD Tablet

While I talked about this in the launch article, the SHIELD Tablet is very much the culmination of lessons learned from 2013. While the Tegra Note 7 was a decent tablet, it had to eke out a profit through hardware sales against competition that was willing to sell their tablets with no profit on hardware. While the SHIELD portable was a good portable gaming device, it was far too specialized to be anything but a gaming device. Without an established gaming ecosystem, NVIDIA struggled against established competitors.

As a result, NVIDIA is the first to launch a serious gaming tablet running Android. While gaming tablets have been done before, they’ve been few and far between. It’s always been technically possible to take a high end tablet and make it usable for gaming, but for the most part these attempts are marred by either the need for root or an application that requires extensive work on the part of the user to create proper control profiles for each game. In addition, the SoC in the tablet is often underequipped for intensive 3D gaming.

That’s where the SHIELD tablet comes in. With Tegra K1, a dedicated controller, 2x2 WiFi, and a huge amount of custom software, there’s definitely a lot of ground to cover. Once again, while the SHIELD tablet is a gaming device, it must also be a good tablet. To that end, NVIDIA has tried to differentiate this tablet with DirectStylus 2 and dual front facing speakers/bass reflex ports. To find out how this device does, read on for the full review.

Earlier this month Intel introduced new models in their lineup of Haswell mobile CPUs. With the Haswell manufacturing process having matured since its initial launch, Intel was able to bump clock speeds by 200MHz on a handful of their laptop CPUs and those chips have found their way into a refreshed lineup of Macbook Pro laptops from Apple. This update brings CPU speed boosts, and more RAM in the base 13" and 15" models. The new CPU and memory specifications for Apple's new lineup are shown below.

MacBook Pro with Retina Display Lineup Model 13-inch (base and mid-tier) 13-inch (flagship) 15-inch (base) 15-inch (flagship) Old CPU 2.4GHz Core i5-4258U 2.6GHz Core i5-4288U 2.0GHz Core i7-4750HQ 2.3GHz Core i7-4850HQ New CPU 2.6GHz Core i5-4278U 2.8GHz Core i5-4308U 2.2GHz Core i7-4770HQ 2.5GHz Core i7-4870HQ Old Memory 4GB DDR3L 8GB DDR3L 8GB DDR3L 16GB DDR3L New Memory 8GB DDR3L 8GB DDR3L 16GB DDR3L 16GB DDR3L

The first thing to make note of is that the CPU speed has been increased by 200MHz across the board. The highest end CTO (configure-to-order) 15" model which is not shown now comes with Intel's Core i7-4980HQ with a base clock of 2.8GHz and max turbo clock of 4.0GHz. The other important thing to note is that the amount of RAM in the entry-level models has been doubled from 4GB to 8GB on the 13", and from 8GB to 16GB on the 15". This is a change that is nice to see brought to the 13" Macbook Pro with Retina display. Originally the entire 13" line had 8GB of RAM and the 4GB model was introduced to reach a lower price point during Apple's Haswell refresh. Now the entry level model once again has 8GB of RAM like the higher end versions.

The new models are available to purchase now on Apple's website for the same prices as the previous generation and are all available to ship within 24 hours.

While AMD's Kaveri APUs initially launched on the desktop at the beginning of the year, for many the APUs looked like a better fit for laptops and notebooks. In early June, we were able to preview the performance of the first mobile Kaveri APUs in the form of a prototype laptop running the FX-7600P. Nearly two months later, laptops with Kaveri are starting to show up online. Interestingly, several of the first laptops to use Kaveri aren't consumer devices but instead target business users and in most cases opt for the PRO series of Kaveri APUs.

If you missed our coverage, the PRO series of APUs is essentially the same as the consumer models, only they're guaranteed to be available for a longer period of time so that businesses in particular don't have to worry about validating new processors or platforms. There are three PRO APUs, the PRO A6-7050B, the PRO A8-7150B, and the PRO A10-7350B. Note that all three parts are Ultra-Low Voltage models (17W for the A6 and 19W for the A8 and A10), and their intended competition is Intel's Core i3 and i5 ULV parts. Along with the PRO APUs, the first consumer laptops are showing up as well. All of the Kaveri laptops at present are using ULV APUs, which we haven't had a chance to test yet, but the improved Boost clocks should make them fairly competitive, and if you happen to use software that can leverage the GPU portion of the APU then Kaveri could prove a compelling option.

For those mostly looking at Kaveri as a decent budget laptop, let's start with the consumer models as prices are quite a bit lower. I couldn't find anything with the entry-level A6-7000, but there are a few options with the A8-7300. HP's ProBook 455 G2 (covered in more detail below) is priced at $572 with 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 1366x768 LCD. Acer has a 15.6" E5-551-89TN with 6GB RAM and a 1TB HDD starting at $480, which is the best price for a Kaveri laptop so far, though Amazon has a 4GB RAM/500GB HDD version listed for pre-order at $399. A10-7300 laptops include the Lenovo Z50, a 15.6-inch model with 1366x768 LCD, 8GB RAM, and 1TB HDD starting at $570, while Amazon has two more Acer models available for preorder: the E5-551-T5SV starts at $500 (4GB RAM and 500GB HDD with 1366x768 LCD) and the E5-551G-T0JN has 8GB RAM, a 1TB HDD, and Dual Graphics with a Radeon R7 M265 for only $600. That last one is certainly going to be the highest performing option, and the inclusion of a discrete GPU means even better gaming potential.

Sadly, while there are quite a few budget laptops with Kaveri now shipping (or shipping in the very near future), at present I have not been able to find any models with the new FX APUs. The 35W standard voltage (SV) Kaveri APUs are also missing right now, which is interesting as in the past it was often the SV parts that launched first with the ULV parts following a few months later. Both AMD and Intel seem to now be focusing more on ULV parts, which isn't a bad thing. That said, none of the laptops listed above appear to be going after long battery life; most are claiming five hours of battery life, but they're also doing that with 3- and 4-cell batteries. It would be good to see a few models with 6-cell batteries and 8+ hours of battery life, so hopefully someone will provide an appropriate model in the future.

As for the laptops that are shipping with the PRO APUs, let's quickly run through the current options. At present there are four offerings from HP using two of the PRO APUs. At the low-end of the pricing spectrum is the HP ProBook 455 G2, equipped with the PRO A6-7050B, 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD, and a 15.6" 1366x768 display with a price of $476. The one clear concession to the business class of laptops is the presence of a fingerprint scanner on all of these laptops (it's optional, but most of the models for sale at Newegg appear to include the fingerprint scanner). The price isn't too bad, but obviously the lack of RAM and the relatively large display mean this one isn't going to win any performance or portability competitions. The next step up in terms of price is the EliteBook 755 G2 with the same A6-7050B APU but sporting 4GB of RAM and running Windows 7 Professional, priced at $737.

Moving on to the HP models with the A10-7350B, there are three options: the same EliteBook 755 G2 is available with either 4GB RAM and a 1366x768 LCD for $843, or if you want a 1080p touchscreen and 8GB RAM the price jumps to $1091. A 14-inch version is the next option, with the EliteBook 745 G2 listed in three varieties (all with the A10-7350B): 4GB RAM and 1366x768 display priced at $820, 8GB RAM and 1600x900 display will set you back $906, or there's a third model listed at $1090, but some specs are missing so it's not clear why it costs so much more (it likely has an SSD, and a 1080p touchscreen is also a possibility). Last is the 12.5-inch EliteBook 725 G2, again in three variants: 4GB RAM and 1366x768 for $898, ditch the 500GB HDD for a 180GB SSD for $1100, or add a 1080p touchscreen for $1196. Pricing on all of these laptops is obviously quite a bit higher than what consumers would consider reasonable for the hardware, but for businesses the laptops might make sense.

Of the currently shipping Kaveri laptops, if you're itching to get your hands on one I'd say the Lenovo Z50 looks to be the best of the bunch. I like the styling more than some of the other offerings, and while I really would prefer an SSD, at least you do get 8GB of RAM and a large 1TB hard drive at a reasonable price of $570. If you're not in a rush, however, holding out for one of the Acer Kaveri-based laptop will get you a lower price. For those that don't really need a faster GPU, the $400 A8-7100 E5-551-86R8 will certainly suffice, while the A10-7300 mostly improves the GPU performance by increasing the number of GPU cores from 256 to 384 (with a slight boost in GPU clock speed as well). Spending $100 more to go from an A8-7100 to the A10-7300 is a bit much, and if you need more GPU performance at that point you might want to just go for the $600 Acer E5-551G instead. Regardless, it's good to see quite a few Kaveri laptops now shipping, and keeping the prices of the A8 and A10 models well under $600 will certainly help with sales.

Gallery: AMD Kaveri Laptops Sighted

The latest round of upcoming games for the Games with Gold program have been announced today, and unlike last month, there are no carryover games on the list. As seems to be the norm, Xbox One owners with Xbox Live Gold subscriptions will receive two games available for a free purchase for the entire month of August, while Xbox 360 owners get two games split over two weeks each. Hopefully this will get changed soon so that all games are available for the entire month.

Xbox One Crimson Dragon

“Available Aug. 1-31, Crimson Dragon, originally an Xbox One launch title, and acts as a spiritual successor to the much-beloved Panzer Dragoon saga. It’s a fast-paced rail shooter set in a beautiful fantasy world, where you can join with up to three other players for online co-op battles. You have a half-dozen majestic draconian steeds to choose from, and they level up as you progress through the game’s epic story. Crimson Dragon also features a killer soundtrack, courtesy of Panzer Dragoon composer Saori Kobayashi.”

The game is set in a science fiction universe where humans have recently colonized a planet inhabited by dragons, which can be befriended and controlled. The game is a spiritual successor to the Panzer Dragoon series, however critical and user reviews of the game have been mixed. The game scores a 56/100 on Metacritic and 6.6 for the User score. Crimson Dragon normally sells for $19.99.

Strike Suite Zero: Director’s Cut

“Also available Aug. 1-31, Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut has its origins in crowdfunding platform Kickstarter and was the first title from the ID@Xbox program. You take on the role of a pilot of the titular suit, flying it against aggressors in epic space battles. One of the key hooks is that you are only a small part of these battles, with huge ships duking it out around you, and your objectives within them clearly defined – but it’s up to you to accomplish them as you see fit. With fantastic ship design, gigantic battles, and plenty of weapons and enemies to deal with, Strike Suit Zero: Director’s Cut gives space-sim fans on Xbox One plenty to chew on.”

Strike Suit Zero is from the independent game developer Born Ready Games, and was originally a Kickstarter project. Strike Suit Zero was originally released on the PC in January 2013, with Mac and Linux versions coming out in August. The game is a space flight combat game where you play a fighter pilot for the United Nations of Earth. It scored slightly higher than Crimson Dragon in both critical reviews and user scores, with a 68/100 and 6.9 User score on Metacritic. Strike Suit Zero normally sells for $19.99.

Xbox 360 Motocross Madness

“Available Aug. 1-15, back on earth Xbox 360 gamers get to tool around the dirt tracks and mud pits of their imaginations with Motocross Madness, an off-road motorcycle racing game. Racing against the clock (or other racers) is just a small part of this one, as you’ll be able to perform tricks, run through obstacle courses, or just motor around big maps and explore as you please. Asynchronous multiplayer via social networks means you can involve your friends, even if they’re off doing something else while you’re playing. Unlimited potential!”

Bongfish GmbH is the developer for the first of the Xbox 360 games, Motocross Madness. This off-road motorcycle racing game has been well received by both fans and critics alike, scoring a 73 Metascore for critics reviews, and 8.3 as a User score. Motocross Madness normally retails for $9.99 in the Xbox 360 store.

Dishonored

“Finally, available Aug. 16-31, Xbox 360 owners get to experience Dishonored, an award-winning steampunk stealth/action title. You play Corvo, erstwhile bodyguard of the Empress, turned assassin. Your job is to protect the princess, take out the bad guys who are trying to take over the Empire, and do it all undetected. You have an arsenal of gadgets, weapons, and magical powers to help you, but the most important is your own brain. Challenges in Dishonored often have multiple solutions, so lateral thinking is more important than a quick trigger finger. You can blast your way through, too, to be sure – there’s something for everyone here – but cleverness is rewarded more than aggression.”

The second game for the Xbox 360 is Dishonored by Arkane Studios. Dishonored, which normally sells for $19.99, originally came out in October 2012. This is a stealth based action-adventure game which received numerous awards including the 2012 Spike Video Game award for Best Action-Adventure Game and the 2013 BAFTA award for Best Game. It received a 91/100 Metascore on Metacritic and a 8.3 User Score.

This month’s Games with Gold seems to favor the Xbox 360 as far as the overall reception of the games. That’s not a huge surprise considering the much larger catalog. In case you missed it, last month’s games can still be had until July 31, so check them out if you missed them.

Just over a month ago, AMD and their partner Raptr pushed out the first version of their video recording Game DVR utility, which ships as a part of AMD’s second-party sourced Gaming Evolved Client. Last month’s release saw the initial take on this feature in beta form, which was a generally positive experience that proved the core technology worked, though not without some rough edges that remained to be cleaned up. Since then the Raptr team has been further working the Game DVR function as part of a broader client update, culminating in today’s release of version 4.0 of the Gaming Evolved Client.

Ahead of today’s client release Raptr gave us some time to spend with the forthcoming update, and while the Game DVR function is still officially in beta as version 4.0, we can briefly report that AMD and the Ratpr team have made good progress in just the last month. In the earlier beta of the Game DVR function – now dubbed Game Video Recorder, or GVR – we encountered both compatibility and image quality issues, and in the case of the latter the problem has been fully resolved in our test suite. The one game we were having a problem with on the previous client, Thief, now records with the correct gamma. All other games that we’ve had a chance to test (our complete benchmark suite and then some) are similarly correct.

Game compatibility however is still hit & miss. GEC will only enable recording for games it can detect – this essentially serving as a whitelist of sorts – and it needs to be able to both detect the installation of a game and its launch. Of the dozen games we’ve tried, all of these games are on the compatibility list and their installations are detected, but GEC stubbornly can’t detect the launch of Bioshock Infinite and hence can’t record it. The actual recording process itself is rather generic and Bioshock is supposed to be supported, so this would seem to expose some weaknesses in GEC’s launch detection process rather than a lack of (intended) support.

Otherwise our other 11 games were detected just fine. And indeed the Raptr team is claiming that they now support 5000 games, versus what Raptr claims is 169 for NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience (a claim NVIDIA strongly disagrees with since they don't even use whitelists). In any case, at 5000 games we have no way to fully validate this claim – and meanwhile we’d note that GeForce Experience worked with all 12 of our test games out of the box – but it’s worth pointing out that for technical reasons it’s important for GEC to support so many games. Since GEC lacks a fallback measure equivalent to GeForce Experience’s desktop capture mode and doesn’t officially support adding unsupported games, a large supported games list is necessary in this case to enable recording of as many games as possible.

Along with the under the hood updates to the GVR function, Raptr has also given the feature a UI tweak from the beta. Of particular note, the always-on (Replay) and on-demand (Record) functions have been separated from each other, allowing them to be easily enabled and disabled separately from each other. GVR’s settings pane has also been tweaked for 4.0, with image quality settings being excised to their own tab for space. Finally the in-game overlay HUD icons for the GVR functionality has also been overhauled to make it clearer when the Record and Replay functions are in use and how to use them, with the HUD being hideable when not in use.

Finally, with the release of the 4.0 client the Raptr team is looking to parlay the GVR functionality into their larger social networking ambitions, with the final feature addition of the new client being a dedicated community replay showcase. The replay share feature allows for replays to be uploaded to YouTube and simultaneously listed in the Raptr community showcase, complete with comments and hashtags. The built-in video uploading is fairly clever – many, if not most of these recordings will be destined for YouTube – though I’m not sure how frequently gameplay videos are uploaded directly to YouTube without editing (something that notably Sony included as part of their replay sharing package on the PS4).

The Gaming Evolved Client 4.0 update will be released later today, and should be available both as an automatic client update and as a download from AMD's Gaming Evolved Client website.

The launch of the QNAP TS-x51 series was covered in detail last month. Its introduction has revitalized the premium NAS market for SOHO and power users by providing a powerful enough alternative to the Atom D270x-based NAS units. The 22nm Celeron J1800 in the TS-x51 is a SoC (obviates the necessity for a platform controller hub) and brings a revamped Atom microarchitecture (Silvermont) to the NAS market. Does this make the TS-x51 perform better and consume lower power compared to its predecessors in the same class? Read on for our review of the 4-bay TS-451 to find out.