HotHardware and Gigabyte New Year's Giveaway

Now that the holidays and CES craziness are over, we thought it would be a good time to launch our latest giveaway! This time around, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Gigabyte to give away a few of pieces of HOT hardware. Up for grabs, we have a Z68 series, Z68XP-UD3P motherboard, GeForce GTX 560 N56GOC-IGI graphics card, and a Force K3 keyboard and M6900 mouse...

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a Gigabyte GeForce GTX 560 N56GOC-IGI!

The First Runner Up will receive and a Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P motherboard!

The Second Runner Up will receive the Force K3 keyboard and M6900 mouse!

To be entered into this sweepstakes, please follow these quick and easy guidelines below. If you're brand new here, there might be a few more steps necessary, but otherwise it's pretty simple!

1) - First: Make sure you're a registered member at HotHardware.com. You can also login with your Facebook or Twitter accounts if you'd like.

2) - Be active in news and article discussions and the forum community here at HotHardware.com. Your posts are your entries! (Only quality posts will count. No Spam please.)

3) - "Like" the Gigabyte and HotHardware Facebook pages if you haven’t already done so.

4) - That's it!

The contest will run through February 3, 2011, at which point we'll pick and announce the lucky winners. Get in early and post here, in the HH news discussions and in our forum often!

** Please note, this give-away is for U.S. or Canadian residents only. The winner, if selected and located at a Canadian ship-to address, will assume all duties / taxes associated with delivery. Any / all winners are responsible for any applicable taxes associated with contest prize.

This is a great chance for to you to win some hot new gear from Gigabyte! Good Luck!

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MSI Ballyhoos 3DMark 11 World Record Set by X79A-GD65 (8D) Motherboard

Motherboard makers have long gone after the enthusiast crowd by implementing overclocking friendly features into their products, and these days companies get just as excited about benchmarking and OCing world records as end users do. Take MSI, for example, which is happy as can be that its X79A-GD65 (8D) was part of an overclocked system that set an official world record for the Physics portion of Futuremark's 3DMark 11 benchmark.

Singapore overclocker "Spyboy48" broke the record during an overclocking contest sponsored by MSI, Kingston, Enermax, and Cougar.

"The new record score, 19090, set with an Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor and MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) motherboard is a great achievement in overclocking skill. At stock settings, a similar system would get a score of about 11000, so Spyboy48 improved the CPU performance of his system by almost 75 percent," MSI said in a statement.

MSI says eight different overclockers scored over 18,000 in the same benchmark, and seven out of the 10 Hall of Fame Physics scores came from this contest.

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Time Warner Cable’s TWC TV App Now Available for iPhone

Months after unveiling its TWC TV app for iPad and weeks hence from bringing a non-streaming version of it (“My TWC”) to Android smartphones and tablets, Time WarnerCable announced that TWC TV is now available on the iPhone, as well.

iPhone users who also have broadband Internet in the home can use the app to stream live TV to their device, control the DVR, and even change channels, with that last feature being ideal fodder for surreptitious sibling-on-sibling tomfoolery. The TWC TV app also features an interactive program guide (with show info, show art, and filtering options) and search functionality. There are no fees associated with using the app.

With the introduction of the TWC TV app for iPhone, Time Warner Cable adds to its growing roster of ways to enjoy and/or control TV on devices other than a TV, including the HBO GO and MAX GO apps as well as the aforementioned version of TWC TV for iPad and My TWC for Android smartphones and tablets.

Although the Android My TWC app doesn’t offer streaming capabilities yet, Time Warner Cable indicated that it would be coming early this year as Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) becomes more widely used.

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Notion Ink, Texas Instruments Tag Teaming Second Generation 'Adam II' Tablets

Notion Ink is a name you don't hear too much of anymore, partly because its first generation Adam tablet has been overshadowed by the current crop of powerul Android slates. The other reason is because the company wasn't ready to announce its Adam II tablet... until now.

Texas Instruments has partnered up with Notion Ink to provide the Adam II with an OMAP44xx processor along with other TI components, such as Wi-Link 7.0 and Phoenix Audio Power Amplifiers, Notion Ink says. The next generation tablet will also leverage power optimizations achieved using TI's integrated power management IC.

PowerVR's SGX5xxx GPU will provide the Adam II with its pixel pushing power, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will bring it all together. The Adam II will also release the world's first 'Modular Based Software Architecture,' which essentially gives developers easy access to every single hardware feature in a user customizable application with a drag and drop interface. According to the always ambitious (and sometimes too ambitious) folks at Notion Ink, this system will help professionals and students alike use the tablet as a logic analyzer, medical imaging device, for signal acquisition and processing, 3D modeling, and of course regular ol' multimedia chores.

No word yet on price or availability.

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Asus Tips New Notebook (B23E) for Business Users

It appears Asus left a little something extra for the business crowd post-Consumer Electronics Show (CES). There's a product page for the B23E "Pro Notebook for Business Pros" (we'll just call it an Ultrabook) on Asus' website, and it's a pretty slick looking device.

The chassis is made of magnesium-aluminum alloy and features brushed motif, one that conveys a "sophisticated feel," according to Asus. As far as internal specs go, the B23E is configurable with:

• Core i7 2650M; i5 2540M/2450M; i3 2350M/2330M
• Up to 8GB of DDR3-1333 memory
• 320GB 5400 RPM; 500GB 5400/7200 RPM; 640GB 5400 RPM; 750GB 5400/7200 RPM
• 5-in-1 memory card reader
• 2MP webcam
• 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth v3.0 + HS; GbE LAN
• 1 x USB 3.0; 1 x USB 2.0; VGA/HDMI; Mic/Headphone jacks
• Windows 7 OS

"The B23 12.5’-inch notebook is durable and light, using magnesium-aluminum alloy construction on the cover and keyboard chassis. This build is several times sturdier than conventional plastics, yet remains very lightweight and portable," Asus explains on the B23E's product page. "Reinforced metal hinges, an anti-shock hard drive and a spill-proof keyboard all serve to make the B23 extremely reliable. It also includes a Sonata Long Life Battery, offering three times the life cycle of traditional li-ion batteries. The Asus Power Station II dock enables expansive connectivity to increase business productivity, just as security features include TPM (Trusted Platform Module hardware), fingerprint authorization, and smart card support."

No word on how much it will cost or when it will ship.

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Nokia Bakal Hentikan Symbian Lebih Awal?

NOKIA

Nokia E6 dan Nokia X7 menggunakan Symbian terbaru yang disebut Anna.

Nokia pernah (dan masih) begitu identik dengan sistem operasi Symbian. Namun ada indikasi Symbian akan "dibunuh" lebih cepat dari perkiraan sebelumnya.

Indikasi itu muncul dalam wawancara Stephen Elop, CEO Nokia, dengan TechRadar. Elop mengaku telah menerima kenyataan bahwa Symbian telah mengalami penurunan pangsa pasar terbesar sepanjang sejarahnya, terutama di pasar Amerika Serikat dan Inggris.

Pihak Nokia pun juga sudah sadar bahwa Symbian saat ini mengalami masa sulit akibat tantangan dari OS yang lain seperti Android, iOS dan lainnya.

"Kami memilih platform alternatif karena terjadi penurunan signifikan di pasar Symbian," jelasnya.

Saat ini Nokia berencana untuk sepenuhnya beralih dari Symbian ke Windows Phone untuk smartphone-nya. IDC pun telah memprediksi Symbian akan hilang pada 2015.

Memang  Elop tidak secara tegas menyatakan bahwa Symbian sudah mau dimatikan. Hanya saja ia terkesan lebih legowo melepas sistem operasi tersebut.

Di masa transisi ini, smartphone Nokia "terpecah" antara Symbian dan MeeGo. Agaknya, tak lama lagi Windows Phone bakal jadi satu-satunya platform pilihan.

Di sisi lain, Nokia masih memiliki platform ponsel kelas menengah dan bawah seperti S40 dan S30. Platform S40 sering disebut sebagai platform yang paling banyak digunakan di dunia.

sumber:kompas

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Apple iBooks 2 Fokus pada Buku Interaktif untuk Pendidikan

Apple Inc secara resmi mengumumkan versi terbaru iBooks, yakni iBooks 2. Versi terbaru iBooks ini menargetkan pasar pendidikan. Apple berharap, iBooks 2 dapat memberikan buku-buku yang interaktif yang bisa mengalahkan buku teks mata pelajaran yang membosankan.

Dalam peluncuran di Museum Guggenheim di New York Time, Phil Schiller dari Apple Inc memeragakan cara penggunaan iBooks 2 yang interaktif. Misalnya dalam pengetahuan tentang serangga, anak-anak akan bisa membuka bagian demi bagian serangga sehingga bisa mengetahui seluk beluk serangga tak hanya dari tulisan, seperti yang ditawarkan oleh buku konvensional. Penambahan audio pada setiap koleksi buku di iBooks 2 juga akan menambah unsur interaktif tablet ini.

"Anak-anak akan bisa lebih pintar dan berterima kasih kepada tabletnya. Buku teks sudah tidak lagi menjadi alat yang ideal untuk belajar," ujar Schiller. "Saya bangga untuk mengatakan kepada anda bahwa anak-anak akan sangat mencintai iBooks mereka," tambahnya.

Apple memang tidak hanya mengubah versi sebuah buku teks ke format buku elktronik. Apple merombak total setiap buku yang akan dijual di iBooks 2 dan menambahkan audio dan visualnya. Apple juga menambahkan sebuah fitur seperti notes, yang bisa digunakan anak-anak untuk mencatat hal penting dan menjawab kuis-kuis yang tersedia untuk menguji pemahaman mereka terhadap materi yang ditawarkan.

Aplikasi untuk Membuat E-book

Di iBooks 2, Apple juga menambahkan aplikasi yang memungkinkan penulis membuat buku elektronik langsung dari aplikasi. Jika selama ini seseorang membuat buku elektronik dengan cara menulisnya di word, lalu save as ke PDF, lalu diunduh, kali ini cara tersebut akan dipermudah. Hanya dengan membuka aplikasi iBooks Author, penulis bisa memulai menulis naskah bukunya langsung di aplikasi, mengedit tata letak, dan desain sampul.

Aplikasi ini bisa digunakan oleh para guru dan orang tua untuk membuat buku sendiri, yang bsia dibaca oleh murid dan anak-anak. Selain itu, aplikasi ini juga sangat berguna bagi akademisi untuk mengerjakan tugas kampus, membuat jurnal, atau laporan penelitian. Bagi penulis buku selfpublishing, aplikasi ini juga bisa dimanfaatkan untuk menulis dan mengedit buku elektronik yang ditulis sendiri.

sumber:kompas

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Inikah LG X3, Sang Penantang Galaxy S III?

 LG Electronics dikabarkan bakal merilis ponsel pintar X3 yang berteknologi prosesor quad core Tegra 3. Jika ini benar, maka LG akan langsung bersaing dengan Samsung Galaxy S III. 

Kehadiran X3, yang diduga baru merupakan nama kode saja, mulai terendus di internet. Salah satunya melalui foto yang bocor di situs Pocket Now. 

Seperti dikutip dari Pocket Now, ponsel ini bakal dibekali dengan prosesor Tegra 3 dari nVidia. Beda dengan Samsung yang bakal membenamkan prosesor Exynos 4412 yang (rumornya) berbasis ARM Cortex A9 quad-core. 

Resolusi layarnya mencapai 1.280 x 720 piksel yang berada pada bentang 4,7 inci. Kamera belakang beresolusi 8MP dan kamera depan 1,3MP. Sedangkan memori internalnya sudah 16GB dan bisa ditambahkan microSD.

LG X3 ini bakal memakai OS Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, sama seperti kebanyakan ponsel pintar terkini lainnya. Koneksi jaringannya Long Term Evolution (LTE) atau jaringan 4G. 

Fitur lain termasuk adanya Near Field Communication (NFC) transceiver. Sementara kapasitas baterai ponsel 9 mm ini mencapai 2.000 mAh.

Diduga, LG akan mengungkap perangkat itu pada Mobile World Congress di Barcelona, Spanyol, bulan depan. Namun kehadirannya di pasar mungkin baru beberapa bulan setelahnya.

sumber:kompas

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