A young Afghan couple - who faced prejudice, threats and even jail after falling in love - are now finally married and living together.

Today Acer announced four new models of a new 13.3" Chromebook design featuring Tegra K1. This is a significant launch for NVIDIA, proving there's industry interest in Tegra K1 after the disappointing interest in Tegra 4 and notching NVIDIA their first Chromebook design win.

NVIDIA has two versions of the Tegra K1, one implementing a 4+1 configuration of ARM Cortex A15s, and another implementing two custom designed NVIDIA Denver CPUs. Acer's new Chomebooks feature the former, so we have yet to see Denver CPUs in the wild. Samsung previously shipped a Chromebook featuring Cortex A15s via its Exynos processor and HP used the same SoC in their Chromebook 11. Samsung has since refreshed their ARM Chromebooks a few times, with new models using the "Chromebook 2" branding.

The most significant portion of the Tegra K1 SoC is its 192 CUDA cores. Chromebook relies heavily on web based applications, but with the rise of WebGL there have been some experiments with browser based 3D games. There haven't been any AAA title WebGL games yet, but when they arrive, this Chromebook should be well equipped to handle them; NVIDIA specifically mentions the upcoming Miss Take and Oort Online, as well as WebGL ports of Unreal Engine 4 and Unity 5.

NVIDIA claims up to 3X the WebGL performance of competing Chromebooks, with processor performance superior to the Exynos 5800 and Bay Trail Celeron N2830. Unfortunately, no performance comparisons between K1 and the Haswell Celeron 2955U were provided. Since both Haswell and Tegra K1 are available for the Chromebook platform, we'll also have the opportunity to perform CPU and GPU benchmarking to directly compare the processors. We have requested a review sample when Acer makes them available.

Beyond the marquee feature of the Tegra K1 processor, the Acer Chromebook also includes 2x2 MIMO wireless AC, an anti-glare coating, and two models feature a 1080p display. Specifications provided by Acer are listed below; Acer provided the model numbers for the three available for presale, and there is a fourth configuration available through resellers where we do not yet have the model number. Acer states they will begin shipping the first week of September.

Acer Chromebook 13 Models Model CB5-311-T7NN CB5-311-T9B0 ? CB5-311-T1UU SoC NVIDIA Tegra K1 (2.1GHz) NVIDIA Tegra K1 (2.1GHz) NVIDIA Tegra K1 (2.1GHz) NVIDIA Tegra K1 (2.1GHz) Memory 2GB 2GB 4GB 4GB Storage 16GB SSD 16GB SSD 16GB SSD 32GB SSD Display 1366x768
Anti Glare 1920x1080
Anti Glare 1366x768
Anti Glare 1920x1080
Anti Glare Manufacturer Estimated Battery Life 13 hours 11 Hours 13 hours 11 Hours Battery Size 4-cell 3220mAh 48Wh 4-cell 3220mAh 48Wh 4-cell 3220mAh 48Wh 4-cell 3220mAh 48Wh Networking 802.11ac
2x2 MIMO 802.11ac
2x2 MIMO 802.11ac
2x2 MIMO 802.11ac
2x2 MIMO Ports 2x USB 3.0
HDMI
3.5mm Audio 2x USB 3.0
HDMI
3.5mm Audio 2x USB 3.0
HDMI
3.5mm Audio 2x USB 3.0
HDMI
3.5mm Audio Extras 720p Webcam
Stero Speakers
Microphone 720p Webcam
Stero Speakers
Microphone 720p Webcam
Stero Speakers
Microphone 720p Webcam
Stero Speakers
Microphone Thickness 0.71 in 0.71 in 0.71 in 0.71 in Weight 3.31 lbs 3.31 lbs 3.31 lbs 3.31 lbs Price $279.99 $299.99 $329.99 $379.99

Source: Acer

The higher resolution displays drop battery life a couple hours, which isn't too surprising, but overall battery life of 11-13 hours is still great for a Chromebook. The industrial design of the new Acer Chromebooks is also much better than on the previous models, with clean lines and a white body. The Acer Chromebook is also fanless, thanks to reduced power requirements for NVIDIA's Tegra K1 SoC.

Overall pricing looks good, with the base model matching the price of HP's current Chromebook 11 and the 1080p upgrade taking on the HP Chromebook 14. But the real competition is still going to be with Acer's existing Chromebook C720, which can be found with 32GB storage and 2GB RAM and a Celeron 2955U for just $229. There's also the question of size; the C720 was an 11.6" Chromebook, and while some might prefer a smaller device the 13.3" will likely be preferred by others. Samsung's Chromebook 2 13.3, which has a 1080p display and 16GB of storage and 4GB of ram, likely needs a price drop to compete as it is listed for $399. Either way, with ChromeOS continuing to improve over time, Windows laptops continue to face increasing competition from alternative laptops.

Gallery: Acer Chromebook 13

One of AMD’s main selling points it likes to promote is towards the gamer, especially those on a tighter budget. This subsequently suggests to the motherboard manufacturers to build models oriented for gaming. MSI’s Gaming Range has become a solid part of MSI’s plethora of motherboards, and now this extends to the FM2+ platform. Today we review the MSI A88X-G45 Gaming.

The United States has offered billions to contribute to Africa's economic development, but many who left the continent to build a new life in America may be missing out.

Uganda is lending its expertise in dealing with Ebola as a number of West African countries struggle to cope with the worst ever outbreak of the virus.

Some of the smartest - and potentially most dangerous - minds in the hacking community gather in Las Vegas for their annual meeting, Def Con.

Outgoing PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed his victory in Turkey's first direct presidential election as a new era for the country.

Version:next-20140811 (linux-next) Released:2014-08-11

A panel of medical ethics experts from the World Health Organisation is meeting in Geneva to discuss the possible use of experimental drugs to treat the Ebola virus.

On Thursday August 7th, NVIDIA released their results for the second quarter of their fiscal year 2015. Year-over-year, they had an excellent quarter based on strong growth in the PC GPU market, Datacenter and Cloud (GRID), and mobile with the Tegra line.

GAAP Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.103 billion which is flat from Q1 2015, but up 13% from $977 million at the same time last year. Gross margin for Q2 was up both sequentially and year-over-year at 56.1%. Net income for the quarter came in at $128 million, down 6% from Q1 and up 33% from Q2 2014. These numbers resulted in diluted earnings per share of $0.22, down 8% from Q1 and up 38% from Q2 last year but beating analysts expectations.

NVIDIA Q2 2015 Financial Results (GAAP) In millions except EPS Q2'2015 Q1'2015 Q2'2014 Q/Q Y/Y Revenue $1103 $1103 $977 0% +13% Gross Margin 56.1% 54.8% 55.8% +1.3% +0.3% Operating Expenses $456 $453 $440 +1% +4% Net Income $128 $137 $96 -6% +33% EPS $0.22 $0.24 $0.16 -8% +38%

 

NVIDIA Q2 2015 Financial Results (Non-GAAP) In millions except EPS Q2'2015 Q1'2015 Q2'2014 Q/Q Y/Y Revenue $1103 $1103 $977 0% +13% Gross Margin 56.4% 55.1% 56.3% +1.3% +0.1% Operating Expenses $411 $411 $401 0% +2% Net Income $173 $166 $133 +4% +30% EPS $0.30 $0.29 $0.23 +3% +30%

The GPU business is the primary source of revenue for NVIDIA, and includes GeForce for desktops and notebook PCs, Quadro for workstations, Tesla for high performance computing, and GRID for cloud-enabled graphic solutions. This quarter, the GPU revenue rose 2% over Q2 2014 with $878 million in revenue. This is down 2% from the previous quarter due to the seasonal decline of consumer PCs. Revenue from the PC GPU line rose 10% over last year and was helped by the introduction of the GeForce GTX 750 and 750 Ti Maxwell based boards. They are also seeing growth in the Tesla datacenter business. Quadro revenue also increased, citing strong growth in mobile workstations.

The mobile side of NVIDIA hasn’t seen as many product wins compared to Qualcomm, but the Tegra business is still growing strongly for NVIDIA. Tegra revenue was up 14% from Q1 2015, and 200% from Q2 2014 with a total revenue of $159 million for the quarter. Tegra continues to have strong demand in the automotive infotainment sector, with a 74% growth in that market year-over-year. This could be a lucrative market, with automotive systems generally locking in for at least several years compared to the mobile sector which might see a product replaced in less than a single year. The Tegra K1 has just come to market though, and it has shown itself to be a capable performer and may win some more designs soon.

The last avenue of income for NVIDIA is $66 million per quarter in a licensing deal with Intel.

NVIDIA Quarterly Revenue Comparison (GAAP) In millions Q2'2015 Q1'2015 Q2'2014 Q/Q Y/Y GPU $878 $898 $858 -2% +2% Tegra Processor $159 $139 $53 +14% +200% Other $66 $66 $66 flat flat

The company projected this quarter to be flat on revenue as compared to Q1, and they were exactly right. Projections for Q3 2015 are for revenue of $1.2 billion plus or minus 2%.

During the quarter, $47 million was paid in dividends and NVIDIA purchased 6.8 million shares back from investors. This brings them to $594 million of the $1 billion promised to shareholders for FY 2015. The next dividend of $0.085 per share will be paid on September 12th to all stockholders of record as of August 21st.

It was an excellent quarter for NVIDIA, and their stock prices jumped after the numbers were released. All segments of the company are growing at the moment, and with the recent release of the Tegra K1 they can only be hoping to have another strong quarter of mobile grown in Q3 after a great 200% jump in Tegra revenue since last year. The stronger than expected PC sales have helped their biggest business as well, with the GPU division up 2%. CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has worked to bring the company a more diversified portfolio, and with the recent gains in mobile and datacenter computing, the company has certainly had some recent success.

Yogita Limaye finds out why the lack of toilets in India is a critical problem and one that is hard to solve.

Israel and Palestinian factions accept a fresh 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, clearing the way for more talks in Egypt.

LAS VEGAS— Sin City has the greatest density of surveillance cameras per square mile anywhere outside the Pentagon, and that fact makes Vegas an appropriate host for both Black Hat and Def Con, the yin and yang of information security conferences. The two have become the anchors for a collection of security events here every summer (including BsidesLV  and PasswordsCon) that results in a week-long festival of infosec overload so scary, it's now even more frightening to use hotel Wi-Fi.

CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});While Jeff Moss, aka "TheDarkTangent," is the founder of both Black Hat and Def Con, the two events have continued to diverge. This year, however, they carried a very similar message: security has reached a critical point, and the people gathered at both events have never been more relevant to society as a whole, for better or worse. "This is our moment right now," Moss said during the introduction of his Black Hat keynote. "When was the last time we were this relevant and this in demand? I would say during the dot com (boom)... but if you think about it, all you needed was green hair to get a job back then."

Moss challenged attendees at Black Hat to do something real in the coming year. "I have the sense that we don't have unlimited time," he warned. "If we're going to make some moves, we're going to have to make them soon." The message at Def Con was similar—a call to action in a world where state actors and other maleficent forces are taking advantage of an ever-growing number of vulnerabilities in systems ranging from mobile applications to "Internet of Things" devices. The looming threat of surveillance makes it increasingly difficult to live a private life.

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Flickr user: eutrophication&hypoxia

Researchers have developed a method to produce ammonia starting only with air and water. Not only is it more energy efficient than the century-old Haber-Bosch process that’s currently in use, but it’s also greener.

The ability to mass produce Ammonia—made up of three parts hydrogen and one part nitrogen (or NH3)—has had a momentous impact on society. Without the ready availability of this chemical, it is estimated that as many as a third of us won't be alive. This is because its main use is in fertilizer production, which has helped improve crop yields and sustain a large population.

Developed in 1909, the Haber-Bosch process—often cited as the most important invention of the 20th century—involves heating nitrogen and hydrogen gas at very high temperature and pressure in presence of an iron catalyst. The presence of the catalyst, which doesn't take part in the reaction but lowers its energy threshold, is vital. Haber-Bosch was used to produce about 140 million tons of ammonia in 2012, but it consumes nearly two percent of the world's energy supply.

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Stack Exchange

This Q&A is part of a weekly series of posts highlighting common questions encountered by technophiles and answered by users at Stack Exchange, a free, community-powered network of 100+ Q&A sites.

user3150201 asks:

Most Java applications don't look the same as C/C++ applications. Swing might have been designed on purpose to have a distinctive look. SWT for example tried to look native and doesn't completely succeed.

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Dan Goodin, Ars Technica

In the vexing pursuit of passwords that are both easy to remember and hard to crack, many people embed clues into their login credentials, choosing for instance, "playstationplaystationdec2014" to safeguard a recently created gaming account or "L0an@ w0rk!" for an IT administrative account at a financial services company. Now, a whitehat hacker is capitalizing on the habit with a tool that automates the process of launching highly targeted cracking attacks.

Dubbed WordHound, the freely available tool scours press releases, white papers, and Twitter accounts belonging to companies or sites that have recently suffered security breaches. The software then generates a list of commonly found words or phrases that attackers can use when trying to convert cryptographic hashes from compromised password databases into the corresponding plaintext passcodes. The tool, devised by security consultant Matthew Marx, was unveiled Wednesday at Passwords 14 conference in Las Vegas.

"People are influenced greatly by their environment when choosing a password," Marx, who works for consultancy MWR Info Security, told Ars. "It could be a work environment, their personal life, or the sport teams they like. I wanted to create a tool that leveraged this human vulnerability."

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Megan Geuss

CN.dart.call("xrailTop", {sz:"300x250", kws:["top"], collapse: true});RENO, NV—On an uncharacteristically rainy day in western Nevada, a small tour bus of journalists rumbled past security gates at the Ormat Steamboat Complex in Washoe County. We were there to learn about geothermal power, a renewable energy resource produced by transferring heat from underground rocks up to power plants.

Most people think of Iceland when they think of geothermal power. On that island, approximately 90 percent of homes are heated by geothermal energy. But some 12 gigawatts of geothermal power are generated worldwide, and the US is one of the largest producers of it, generating nearly 3.4 gigawatts in 2013.

Ormat’s Steamboat Complex is within the Reno city limits, and it’s made up of seven smaller plants that collectively generate 78 megawatts of power. A typical coal-fired power plant can generate around 660 megawatts of power, so Ormat’s 78 megawatts are not a lot by comparison. But when compared to other renewables, geothermal has some advantages.

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A near-production model of TrackingPoint's AR 556, the 5.56mm NATO precision guided firearm. Lee Hutchinson

Since first running into TrackingPoint at CES 2013, we’ve kept tabs on the Austin-based company and its Linux-powered rifles, which it collectively calls "Precision Guided Firearms," or PGFs. We got to spend a few hours on the range with TrackingPoint’s first round of near-production bolt-action weapons last March, when my photojournalist buddy Steven Michael nailed a target at 1,008 yards—about 0.91 kilometers—on his first try, in spite of never having fired a rifle before.

But big, heavy, bolt-action rifles were only the beginning, with the underlying idea being that the company would scale its weapons both up and also down in size. And, last month, we day tripped back out to the Best of the West range just outside of Austin in Liberty Hill to lay hands on TrackingPoint’s newest set of PGFs, the TP AR 556 and TP AR 762. Unlike the big XS-series long rifles we fired last time, these newest PGFs are semiautomatic carbines—the type of weapon that the media usually (and incorrectly) refers to as "assault rifles."

But the smaller form factor wasn’t the only thing that TrackingPoint had on tap for our demo that day. Last trip out, the highlight was hitting targets at 1,000 yards; this time, we’d be aiming at targets a bit closer in… but aiming through a tiny wearable screen while looking backward, over the shoulder.

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An Australian couple have denied abandoning a baby born with Down's syndrome to a surrogate in Thailand.

Voting ends in Turkey first direct presidential election, as Mark Lowen reports.