AMD FX-9000 Series Chips Available Now (Kind of)

At last month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was busy tooting its own horn about the prospect of bringing the world’s first commercially available 5GHZ processor (max turbo speed) to market: the 8-core FX-9590. If you too are just as enthusiastic about the company’s enthusiast-class FX-9000 series chips and have spent the last month or so dreaming about the FX-9590 or the FX-9370, another 8-core FX-9000 series part announced last month, you will be happy to know that both chips are now available.

According to CPU-World, consumer electronics e-tailer TigerDirect began selling the FX-9590 and the FX-9370 in standalone form for $829 and $329, respectively, over the weekend. Further, both chips were also available as part of iBUYPOWER gaming rigs.  However, at the time of writing, only the cheaper, less powerful FX-9370 is available as a standalone product, and that too with a $353.34 price tag. For those of you don’t mind ordering a pre-built PC and having to wait anywhere between 10-30 days for your order to arrive, the site is also selling a few gaming PCs based on the FX-9000 series chips from iBUYPOWER.

Both the FX-9590 and the FX-9370 are enthusiast-class chips with eight “Piledriver” cores. While the former has a base clock frequency of 4.7GHz and a max turbo speed of 5GHz, the latter has a base clock of 4.4GHz and a max turbo frequency of 4.7GHz.

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WeMo Switch + Motion Review

There was a time when home automation was a toy only for the wealthy (for whom it worked because they could afford the incredibly expensive hardware) or the extremely geeky (for whom it sometimes worked because the hardware they could afford was reasonably priced but buggy— we’re talking about you, X10). Belkin hopes to change that with its WeMo line.

iOS and Android 4.0 are currently the only smartphone options.

Instead of relying on a central controller and an independent wireless network, as more elaborate systems do, WeMo devices operate on your Wi-Fi network and you control them using an iOS or Android 4.0 smartphone or tablet (the Android software was in early beta as of this review, so we used an iPod Touch for our evaluation).

The WeMo line isn’t elaborate: It consists of a switch to control lamps and small appliances, a motion detector, and a baby monitor. The motion detector and the switch, reviewed here, work together. The WeMo Baby, which we didn’t check out, monitors sounds in your baby’s room and relays them to your mobile device.

Belkin’s WeMo is an inexpensive entrée to home automation, but its capabilities are somewhat limited.

The WeMo switch is a bulky plugin module with ground: Insert it into an electrical socket and then connect the device you want to control—a lamp or a small appliance, for instance—to the module. Install the WeMo software on your mobile device and you can turn the switch on and off and create simple rules to do the same. Add the WeMo Motion to the mix and it can turn the switch on and off when it detects movement (rules can apply here, too).

The rules are extremely basic: Turn the switch on and off at given times on given days of the week. The motion sensor can activate the switch in response to movement, to turn on the lamp in your foyer when you open your front door, for example. You can create a rule to ensure that this happens only when it’s dark.

WeMo gets more fun when you link it into your IFTTT (If This Then That) account. Now, you can create more rules based on WeMo events: If the motion sensor is triggered, send me a text message, for instance. Unfortunately, IFTTT currently supports only one WeMo device per channel, so if you use the motion sensor to trigger an SMS, you can’t use the switch to do the same thing (but you could have the switch send you an email).

The WeMo is certainly not the most sophisticated home-automation system we’ve tried, but it’s relatively inexpensive and it’s free from subscription fees. It’s also early in its life cycle and Belkin seems committed to expanding its capabilities.

$100, www.belkin.com

Inexpensive; very easy to set up and manage; fun.

Unsophisticated; bulky plugin modules; limited to controlling lamps and small appliances.

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Rovio's Angry Birds Star Wars II Flings to Mobile September 19

Can't get enough Angry Birds in your gaming diet? We find that hard to believe, but just in case, Rovio is planning to launch Angry Birds Star Wars II on September 19, 2013. The upcoming Angry Birds Star Wars title will take on the prequels, a path that opens the door to over 30 new characters, all of which you'll be able to play, Rovio says. And new to this edition, you'll have the option of joining the Pork Side.

There will be new levels, challenges, and abilities, of course, but also a toy tie-in that you can use with your phone or tablet.

"To compliment this wide lineup of characters, there will also be a line of over 30 collectable Telepods figures from Hasbro," Rovio said. "Placing these figures onto your phone or tablet camera will scan your character of choice directly into the game, allowing you to select new characters on the fly."

Might Jar Jar Binks may an appearance? Rovio at this point says it's declining to comment on rumors or speculation that he'll be in the game, so your guess is as good as ours.

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Newegg Daily Deals: Extreme Division II Abaddom Case, 16GB G.Skill DDR3-1866, and More!

Top Deal:

Trying to score a case that offers plenty of cooling potential, flashy looks, high-end hardware support, and a cheap price tag? That's like having your cake and eating it too, and if you ask us, there's nothing wrong with that. Hence today's top deal for an Extreme Division GS-6070 II Abaddom Black SECC ATX mid-tower computer case for $45 with free free shipping (normally $75 - use coupon code AFNJ2246). It has all the features of a high-end chassis at a fraction of the price.

Other Deals:

G.Skill Ares Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory for $120 with free shipping (normally $130 - use coupon code:[0709BTS12])

Rosewill Tachyon-550 550W 80 Plus Platinum SLI/CrossFire Ready, Modular Active PFC Power Supply for $120 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code:[0709BTS55])

Asus GRYPHON Z87 LGA 1150 Intel HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 uATX Intel Motherboard for $160 with free shipping (normally $170 - use coupon code:[0709BTS64])

Rosewill RIMP-11002 Soft Gaming Mouse Pad for $8 with free shipping (normally $10 - use coupon code:[RWWS200713])

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Powercolor Summons "Devil HD7870" Graphics Card

The Devil is back, and this time it's in the form of a Radeon HD 7870 graphics card. Powercolor first summoned the Devil to power its dual-GPU Radeon 7990 part, a hellacious card that's almost as fast as two cards in Crossfire. This second member to Powercolor's Devil family of graphics card isn't wielding multiple GPUs, but it is equipped with an elaborate cooling solution similar to the Devil 13.

It features Powercolor's so-called Platinum Power Kit, which includes a 7+1+1 phase design, digital PWM, and "super capacitors." To keep thermals from becoming a problem, it has three ultra-efficient cooling fans, four heatpipes, and plenty of aluminum fins. According to Powercolor, it cools 25 percent better and runs 18 quieter than reference.

Underneath the hood is a GPU clocked 1100MHz and 2GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1250MHz on a 256-bit bus. Connectivity consists of a Dual-Link DVI-I port, Single-Link DVI-D port, HDMI, and two mini DisplayPorts.

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Asustor Launches Atom Powered AS 3 Series NAS Boxes for Home Consumers

There usually isn't anything inherently sexy about Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices, not unless you're really into storage chores and get unusually excited about the prospect of backing up data. Newer generation NAS boxes, however, are proving much more than just simple backup solutions. Asustor's new AS 3 Series, for example, boasts a wealth of multimedia functionality, including support for Full HD 1080p video playback.

According to Asustor, a subsidiary of Asus, its new AS 3 Series NAS devices are the first in its class to come equipped with Intel Atom 1.6GHz dual-core processors along with 1GB of DDR3 memory. These parts apply to both its 2-bay AS-302T and 4-bay AS-304T models.

Both boxes feature an HDMI port and a 3.5mm audio jack, which you can take advantage of by installing the XBMC multimedia player app from Asustor's App Central. There's also an infrared receiver to use with an optional remote control.

"The AS 3 Series devices provides users with one of the top price-to-performance ratios in its class and are the only devices in the segment to feature high performance Intel dual-core processors and audio jacks," said Johnny Chen, Product Manager at Asustor. "With its combination of storage, backup, file sharing and powerful multimedia applications along with an array of industry-first features, the AS 3 Series is sure to meet the diverse demands of the market while bringing users exceptional value for their money."

Asustor's NAS boxes support a number of volume types, including single disk, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 10. They also support internal and external drive hibernation.

No mention yet of price or availability.

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Crytek in Need of a Programmer to Port CryEngine to Linux

Looking for a job in the game development field? If so, and if you happen to be well versed in Linux with a minimum of 2 years of professional software development experience, Crytek would very much like to make your acquaintance. That's because the German video game company is hoping to port its CryEngine 3D engine over to Linux, further underscoring the growing importance game makers are putting on open source platforms.

The qualifying candidate will maintain Linux support for CryEngine, contribute to maintenance and improvements of low-level engine systems, ensure reliability of Unix based build systems for SDK releases and special projects, create and maintain modules to be used for automated testing, and a whole lot more.

Crytek also requires that you be willing to relocate to Germany, so telecommuting from the U.S. or anywhere else in the world appears out of the question. The other job requirements are pretty standard fare for a software development position, and obviously a deep familiarity with Linux is a must.

CryEngine began as a technology demo for Nvidia, and it was so impressive, a dedicated game (Far Cry) was born. The latest version is CryEngine 3, which has been used for a number of titles, including all three Crysis games, Homefront 2, Warface, and more.

Linux is fast becoming a viable option for people who just want to game (check out our How to Build a Linux Gaming PC feature). Some would argue it's been that way for some time with solutions like WINE, but with the introduction of Windows 8 and the fear (so far unfounded) that Microsoft would take a walled garden approach to its latest OS, there's been increased attention by game developers on Linux.

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HTC One Mini Specs Leaked, May Launch in Two Weeks

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Subscribe NowGive a giftRenew NowShopNewsReviewsFeaturesHow TosForumsPodcastVideosPDF ArchivesMaximum Tech HTC One Mini Specs Leaked, May Launch in Two Weeks HTC One Mini Specs Leaked, May Launch in Two Weeks Posted 07/15/2013 at 8:30am | by Paul Lilly 4CommentsPrint A possible replacement for the HTC One S

This is shaping up to be interesting year for smartphones, and if you're an Android user, you'll have more options than ever to choose from. One of those options is the HTC One Mini, a handset that's sure to give One S owners a bit of smartphone envy. A German website posted a handful of photos of the One Mini, along with a list of specs that include a 4.3-inch 720p display.

According to Androidnext.de, it will also sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 dual-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 4MP rear-facing camera, and 1.6MP front-facing camera. That's 100MHz slower than the One S, though the One Mini has a better GPU (Adreno 305 versus 225), higher resolution display, and updated software (Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Sense 5).

Another German website, MobileGeeks.de, pegs the launch as still being on track for July, based on information it obtained from its "internal source." The site also says HTC will follow up the One Mini launch with a One Max phablet slated for September. The HTC One Max will feature a 6-inch Full HD 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of Storage, and a 3200mAh battery.

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Tags: Hardwarehtc one minimobilesmartphoneNews Here's What You Get:Our latest Features, Reviews, and How-TosThe No BS Podcast delivered right to your inbox!Essential PC-info, sneak peeks, contests and videos Also, send me e-mail announcements and special offers from Maximum PC and trusted partners. 4 Comments + Add a Comment

appleroxinhouston July 15, 2013 at 2:39pm

The HTC One Max will feature a 6-inch Full HD 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of RAM, and a 3200mAh battery.

seriously? 64 GB of RAM? This is the third typo I've seen so far, guys. Read it out loud before posting (unless you're posting on Facebook; screw editing).

Julian Reiche July 15, 2013 at 6:10pm

I think our writters have been gaming a little to late... but fixed! :)

spaceporker July 15, 2013 at 11:01am

I wish my computer had 64GB of RAM...

xRadeon July 15, 2013 at 8:57am

I really like the looks of these phones, HTC did a good job. I really want to trade my GS3 for one of these. :)

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Best Antivirus

Every year, antivirus vendors paint the same gloom-and-doom portrait, their canvases filled with startling statistics outlining the rapid spread of malware. As a consumer, the natural reaction is to look at these reports with a fistful of salt and a sack of skepticism—after all, AV vendors have a vested interest in promoting a need for security software, but are we really as vulnerable as they say? It all depends on your computing habits, but make no mistake, the web is a dangerous place to roam.

We’ve seen firsthand what a malware-infected PC looks like; it isn’t pretty. Today’s malware strains not only slow down your PC and bombard you with pop-ups, they can also capture your keystrokes and send your bank login information to a cybercriminal thousands of miles away. An innocent mouse click on the wrong URL is all it takes to set the wheels in motion, and the next thing you know, someone else is using your identity to open up a credit card account. Not cool.

Careful computing is your best line of defense, but sometimes it’s not enough. Security software adds another layer of protection, which is why we run an antivirus roundup each year. This time around, however, we asked you to vote on which 10 programs should make the cut, and you’ll find the results on the following pages. If the one you voted for isn’t represented here, let us know and we’ll consider running a stand-alone review in a future issue.

What matters in an antivirus program and why

We’re passionate about our PCs, and we don’t spend endless hours researching parts and tweaking settings only to watch a security program rob us of the performance we so carefully crafted. To keep these programs honest, we compare how long it takes to boot into Windows versus a clean install. We also examine the impact on PCMark 7 and Vantage scores, and how long it takes to transfer 6GB of data. Finally, we measure the time it takes to run a first and subsequent system scan.

We know what we want when it comes to security software, but do the developers know? We deduct points for programs that try to upsell us additional security or that are hyperactive with unnecessary security alerts. At no time should we have reason to be annoyed or frustrated with an AV program. Period.

Most of the programs voted into this roundup are Internet security suites that promise to go above and beyond simple virus protection. In theory, these suites should include everything we need to stay safe on the web, and everything else is icing on the cake. At the same time, we don’t want to be bogged down with arbitrary add-ons that exist solely to beef up an AV’s resume. We’re looking for useful additions, and also how well they’re integrated into the core package. Extra points are awarded to AV programs that inform you when you need to update an app, plugin, or browser.

Let’s get one thing straight: You don’t need to pay for protection. If that’s the case, why bother reviewing non-free security suites? Put simply, we believe there’s value in security programs that bundle multiple layers of protection and features into a tidy package. However, the ones that charge an annual fee have to convince us that they’re worth paying for, unlike the free AV programs, which get an automatic pass in this category.

If you think this category should hold the most weight, we’re right there with you. Pricing and features don’t mean diddly-squat if an AV program turns a blind eye to malware. This is also the trickiest category to judge. Our approach is multipronged and starts with synthetic spyware and virus tests found on www.spycar.org and www.eircar.org. Next, we consult with independent testing labs Virus Bulletin (www.virusbtn.com), AV-Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org), and AV-Test (www.av-test.org). Finally, we subject each program to our own collection of malware and dirty links.

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Big Data: Opportunities and Challenges

by Mark Davis

The last few years have seen a remarkable explosion in thescale of data problems relevant to industry, government and society. Fromgenetic analysis to fraud detection, the scale of the data landscape combinedwith the unstructured nature of the data types has led to new forms ofdistributed information processing and storage. This rising field has come tobe known simply as “big data.” In this article, I describe the big datalandscape, including issues ranging from privacy to distributed computingtechnologies.

Big data has become a pervasive phrase of art that toucheson the application of data trying to solve problems that were previouslydifficult or impossible to attack. Big data has risen from being a datamanagement specialty with focused efforts in national laboratories and socialmedia companies, to being a part of the national conversation. Examples includethe New York Times weighing in on thepossibility of the next industrial revolution germinating out of big data1, and TIMEMagazine covering data analytics in support of the 2012 Obama presidentialcampaign2. It has also become part ofa new thrust in a so-called data-driven science that has the potential topromote rapid innovation in scientific fields.

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A Good Date's Hard to Find: Here's How Anonymous Social Media Can Help

by M.K.

Most peoplehave problems finding a good match. In spite of the numerous matchmakingwebsites, most people still struggle to find a good match. And when they dofind one, they have a hard time maintaining a long-term relationship. Part ofthe problem is that, although we acknowledge that we’re all different, we stillexpect a turnkey solution. Relationships take adjustments and compromises.Then, on the other end of the spectrum, there are a lot of people who areafraid to ask someone out - this usually applies to men (and especiallyteenagers) but it could apply to women too. People have difficulty musteringthe courage to ask out someone for fear of rejection and subsequently end upwasting days, months, and even years in misery.

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Software Vendors, Take Note: Security Features are as Important as Performance Ones in Purchasing Decisions

by JohnLinkous

In recent weeks, Google has once again stepped up to theplate of information security by demonstrating that they are a responsiblesoftware vendor. First, the company dramatically increased their bounty onvulnerability discovery, incentivizing white-hat hackers to discover black-boxissues within their entire suite of products. Next, Google took a strong standtoward information security awareness, reminding customers to maintain arelatively complex personal password policy for all online services.

Microsoft was not far behind, initiating a bug bountyprogram with substantial payouts – up to $100,000 per discovery – fordiscovering vulnerabilities across all layers of their product stack includingcore security services, OS and browser, and individual applications. Unlikeprevious “BlueHat” programs, this appears to be a perpetual offering, and willinclude both production and beta-release software to help ensure that softwaregoes gold with minimal security vulnerabilities.

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Find the Best Backup for Your Business

by Luis Gomes

The CEBI Foundation is a non-profit focused on providingservices to our community. We don’t have piles of cash for the latest andgreatest technology, and our technical skillset is constantly under pressure toadapt and keep current. Layer on top the tremendous data growth we’re seeingand a strategic but gradual shift to virtualization and it’s plain to see we’vegot a full plate. Backup is at the top of our worries list. Our data isgrowing, our environment is changing over time and complexity is increasing. Weneeded to find a backup solution that would function better in a more complexenvironment without forcing new skills training or upgrading the talent wealready have. Our current solution was already far too complicated and slow touse even without the additional complexity of the virtualized environment. Threeareas became key for our decision.

Installation
The first test was the installation itself. Did we need tobuy services from the vendor, send folks to school, or bring in an army ofconsultants? It’s important that the implementation be done quickly to minimizedisruption to operations. And we didn’t want to be on the bleeding edge,introducing new risk on top of our existing changes. Since our migration isgradual, we needed a single platform that could handle these infrastructurechanges over time without breaking down under the stress or starting outover-subscribed.

User Interface
That meant usability was critical. Our staff is focused onserving the community and our IT staff is minimal. Backup and recovery tasks hadto be comprehensive but simple. If the interface is intuitive enough that non-technicalusers can use the solution, it will free up professional IT staff to pursueother initiatives and save on overhead.

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Securing Identities in the Cloud: Simple Methods, Satisfied Customers

by T.Kendall Hunt

More flexibility, betterscalability and lower costs: The arguments for cloud computing are generallyknown. Gartner estimates1 that total spending on cloud services will increase from $110 billion in 2012to $210 billion in 2016. However, poor securitytechnology often causes trouble. The FTC estimates that each year, as many as 9million American Internet users become victims of identity theft2. Cloud service providers put the responsibility in theusers’ hands, which may decrease customer trust. But even here, the cloudoffers an appropriate solution.

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The Top Five Questions to Ask Before Embarking on a Big Data Project

by Jim Gallo

Because Big Data is everywhere todayin the tech news, it's more important than ever to get past the hype and seewhat, if anything, it means for you.

First of all, we have to get beyond the idea that Big Datais just about two things: volume and a technology -- Hadoop, in this case. While both of these play a central rolein defining and working with Big Data, neither is sufficient to explain whatBig Data is and why it's going to be so important to businesses in the verynear future.

You've probably heard of the "3 Vs" of Big Data:volume, variety and velocity. Each of these by itself only makes up part of thestory, but mix and match them and you have the beginnings of a workingdefinition.

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Is ETL Dead in the Age of Hadoop?

by Josh Rogers

So where are we on this Hadoop thing? Coming out of theStrata conference at the end of February, it felt as though organizations knowthey should be doing something with Hadoop. That’s important. But exactly what?Well, that’s less clear. There are a few organizations that have figured it outand are creating breakthrough insights. However, there’s a much larger set thathave stood up 10 Hadoop nodes and are looking at each other with an expressionof “now what?”

The collision between traditional approaches to DataIntegration and Hadoop is one of the more interesting aspects of Big Datagenerally and of Hadoop specifically that warrants attention. There has been much written about BigData analytics and the promise of architectures like Hadoop. But morespecifically, what are the implications of Hadoop on traditional and currentapproaches to Data Integration?

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Taming Big Data E-Discovery Using the Cloud

by John Tredennick

The business world is accumulating data at a staggeringrate. Every day, estimates say, we create 2.5 exabytes of data. That numberwill double by 2014. Just one business, Walmart, is said to collect more than2.5 petabytes of customer data every hour.

From a legal standpoint, this accumulation of “big data”raises two major challenges. One is what is broadly referred to as informationgovernance. It involves sometimes-difficult, executive-level decisions aboutwhat data to keep, how long to keep it, and how best to manage it.

The second challenge arises when a business becomes involvedin litigation or a government inquiry. The difficulty then is for thebusiness’s lawyers to sift through all this data to find the specificdocuments, emails, text messages, spreadsheets, presentations and otherelectronically stored information that are pertinent to the matter at hand.

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The Top Mobile Network Challenges That Will Make or Break Operators

by Lyn Cantor

For communications serviceproviders, 2013 is shaping up as a year of momentous change for mobile serviceproviders. The world is now shipping more smartphones and tablets than PCs, yetoperators struggle each quarter to turn a profit on voice and SMS service. As a result, they’re seeking to emulatethe practices of over-the-top (OTT) applications — even partnering with or acquiringthose companies in some instances.

At the same time, this consumerdemand for mobile technology poses new challenges that the savvy mobileoperators will convert into opportunities to monetize its services and boostcustomer loyalty.

There are five challenges thatare redrawing the industry landscape. The operators who become the mostproactive in addressing these developments are certain to become the favoritesof customers and the leaders in the mobile industry.

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Eight Secrets Most Backup Vendors Don't Want you to Know

by Dr. Mark Campbell

Every industry has its secrets, and the backup market is no different.While widely known within the industry itself, many backup providers do a greatjob of keeping these secrets from current and prospective customers.

But today’s increasingly agile, complex and heterogeneous data centershave made data protection a challenge for many companies, and the last thingthey need is to be kept in the dark on the industry’s intricacies. With this inmind, I want to shed some light on eight secrets most backup vendors don’t wantyou to know.

The cost of backup software is afraction of what you’re going to spend.
The cost of your backup software is only the tip of the iceberg in termsof your capital and operating costs. You’re also going to need to purchase aserver, an operating system, a storage controller, a lot of storage and somepretty advanced networking – and then spend time and money figuring out how tointegrate these components to optimize functionality and performance.

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