Techreport

Anybody who's ever busted the delicate plastic shroud on a SATA power or data connector will appreciate Shenzen Renice Technology's X9 RSATA 2TB SSD. Unlike measly consumer-class drives, the X9 uses connectors that Renice calls Rugged SATA, or RSATA. That connector doesn't appear to be an industry standard, but the company claims the beefed-up plugs can prevent intermittent contact caused by shock and vibration. ...Read more...

The Tech Report is looking for a freelance news writer or two to assist with our daily news coverage. Ideal candidates will be comfortable scouring a wide range of sources for newsworthy information and quickly turning that raw material into entertaining, polished news articles. Those writers will also be comfortable using the right images and videos to help tell those stories.We cover a wide range of interesting stuff happening in tech. Accordingly, you should be passionate about all of the personal computing devices we use today, as well as the stuff inside ...Read more...

Apple introduced iOS 9.3 at its keynote event yesterday. The biggest user-facing change in this release is Night Shift, an f.lux-like feature that changes the color temperature of a device's display to potentially reduce sleep disruption. Night Shift uses time and geolocation data to make the display's color temperature warmer during evening hours. Once the sun rises again, the display returns to its cooler normal temperature. ...Read more...

be quiet! updated its entry-level power supplies today with the Pure Power 9 series. The 80 Plus Silver-certified design is an evolution of the company's older L8 series. The major improvement in this model is its "Active Clamp + SR" design, which is claimed to improve efficiency and regulation compared to the outgoing model. The Pure Power 9 series also uses an improved fan motor and bearing to reduce noise levels. ...Read more...

Many modern keyboards already come festooned with RGB LEDs and more processing power than a lunar lander. Thermaltake thinks it's time to update the humble spacebar now, too. The company has placed a programmable touch surface on the spacebar of its Poseidon Z Touch mechanical keyboard. Through this input area, users can access some of the functions of a multi-touch trackpad without lifting their hands off of the keyboard. ...Read more...

Update 3/22/2016 1:10 PM: Apple told British regulators that it had entered preliminary takeover talks with Imagination Technologies before deciding against an offer, Bloomberg reports. Our original story is below.Imagination Technologies is going through a bit of a rough patch right now, but it may have a savior waiting in the wings. Apple already licenses Imagination's PowerVR graphics technology in its custom SoCs, and now it seems as though Cupertino may be ready ...Read more...

Imagination Technologies is going through a bit of a rough patch right now, but it may have a savior waiting in the wings. Apple already licenses Imagination's PowerVR graphics technology in its custom SoCs, and now it seems as though Cupertino may be ready to purchase the British chip designer outright. A report by Ars Technica UK suggests Apple is in "advanced talks" with Imagination to hammer out a takeover deal. Imagination didn't deny that talks were taking place when Ars UK asked for comment.Bringing Imagination in-house would add significant chops to Apple's already-impressive internal SoC development team, perhaps leading to significant increases in mobile graphics performance for the company's iDevices. Apple kicked off its own silicon development ...Read more...

Andy Grove, one of Intel's most influential CEOs, died today at 79. Born in 1936, Grove immigrated to the United States in 1957 after surviving Nazi and Soviet oppression in his native Hungary. He earned his Ph.D in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley in 1963 before joining Fairchild Semiconductor as a researcher. Grove was the first hire of Intel founders Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce when they left Fairchild to form the new company in 1968. ...Read more...

Sometimes an exceptional deal comes along that causes us to break our normal Friday deal-of-the-week schedule. This is one of those deals, a solid discount on the Asus MG279Q display featured in our most recent staff picks. ...Read more...

Continuing the theme that Apple began today with its iPhone SE, the company also peeled its 12.9" iPad Pro a bit to produce a 9.7" version of its most powerful tablet. Like the bigger iPad, the 9.7" Pro comes with an A9X processor inside, and users can draw on its screen with the Apple Pencil. This tablet does have a couple new tricks hidden inside its glass-and-aluminum body, though. ...Read more...

The rumor mill has been abuzz about a new smaller iPhone for some time now. The cat is now out of the bag. Cupertino has pulled back the curtain on the 4" iPhone SE, a phone best described as an updated iPhone 5S. ...Read more...

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have discovered a vulnerability in Apple’s popular iMessage platform that allows an attacker to retrieve encrypted photos stored on iCloud, according to the Washington Post. The proof-of-concept attack works against an older version of iOS, but the researchers indicate that a hacker could attack modern versions of the OS using a modified version of their approach. Details of the attack weren't made available in order to give Apple a chance to patch the vulnerability today in iOS 9.3.By mimicking an iMessage server on the same network as the target phone, the researchers were able to receive encrypted images and an obfuscated decryption key from the target device. With that data in hand, the researchers were able to brute-force the key by exploiting the fact that the vulnerable version of iMessage accepted ...Read more...

Apple has steadfastly relied on IPS LCDs in its iPhones even as other smartphone makers have come to rely on OLED display tech. Going by a report at Korean site ETNews, it seems even Cupertino will soon follow the siren song of OLED. The site reports that Apple is partnering with Samsung Display to obtain OLED screens for its next iPhone, on the order of 60,000 panels per month. ETNews also says Samsung is also making investments to improve its yields and expand its production capacity to establish competitive superiority over rival display manufacturers in advance of an Apple switch to OLED.The site also reports that Apple is in talks with secondary OLED suppliers to secure the number of panels it'll need for iPhone production. LG Display, Japan Display, and Foxconn (through its Sharp acquisition) are all in ...Read more...

AMD has released Radeon Software version 16.3.1. These drivers largely appear to be a maintenance release, though AMD has added support for a couple new game titles. This update comes a little more than a week after AMD added major new features to its drivers like support for the Vulkan API and XConnect external graphics enclosures.The 16.3.1 release adds support for Ghost Games' Need for Speed , but beware: the game may exhibit poor scaling or ...Read more...

There was a bit of hubbub a little while ago about support for older versions of Windows on computers with Skylake CPUs. Microsoft previously announced that Windows 10 would be the only version supported on Skylake systems for the full duration of its support period. Users still running Windows 7 or 8.1 would have had until July 17, 2017, or roughly a year and a half, to move to Windows 10. After that period, older versions of Windows running on Skylake CPUs would only receive critical security updates.Microsoft has now updated its Skylake support policy, and saw it fit to extend the support period for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 on Skylake devices. Users now have full support for their OSs until July 17, 2018. This amounts to one ...Read more...

Eight is Enough

As Nvidia and Intel's patent-licensing agreement begins to wind down, it appears Intel may be looking to create a new graphics IP licensing agreement with AMD. Analyst responses to an apparently private Bloomberg report circulated by Barron's suggest that the two former rivals are in talks to make a deal, but details of what patents or technology would be involved in that agreement weren't disclosed.The biggest win for AMD in any potential deal may be cold, hard cash. Intel agreed to pay Nvidia $1.5 billion over the course ...Read more...

Greetings, gentlemen. There are few things that fit a man better than an exquisitely tailored suit, cufflinks, and a good graphics card and monitor. Seeing as some gentlemen may be, shall we say, lacking on some of these fronts, we hereby offer to help.Gentlemen should be more presentable after acquiring any of these items. If you find other ...Read more...

Asus is offering a free one-time exchange of select ROG Swift PG279Q G-Sync monitors. The move comes after a rash of customer complaints over backlight bleed and "IPS glow." The offer only applies to monitors produced in the initial production batches. The monitor must also have been purchased in North America. Monitors with the following serial numbers are eligible:Asus says its quality control has improved since the PG279Q was released, and that's why units from later production runs aren't eligible. The company says it's also introducing an extra layer of quality control checks in North America for the PG279Q. Asus claims that it's subjecting every one ...Read more...

Microsoft has announced that select Windows Phone 8.1 devices can now be upgraded to Windows 10 Mobile. Unfortunately, not all Windows Phone 8.1 handsets are eligible. Microsoft says some devices "are not able to successfully upgrade without an impact on the customer experience." That includes some devices that are already running Windows 10 as part of Microsoft's insider program. The phones that made the cut include the following (deep breath):

In a crowded marketplace, products with simple, sensible functionality don't always get the attention they deserve. Logitech's new G610 Orion Brown and G610 Orion Red mechanical keyboards are styled after the the businesslike G810 Orion Spectrum, but they use Cherry MX switches with white backlights instead of the colorful RGB LED-backlit Romer-G switches of the pricier model. ...Read more...

Imagination Technologies is putting the pedal to the metal on the restructuring plans it announced in February. In an update to its corporate blog today, the company says it's accelerating the plan by putting 200 more jobs on the chopping block, reducing overhead, and winding down or selling "non-core and/or cash-consuming units." Imagination had already announced 150 layoffs as part of its February notice. The company says the move will let it save an extra £12.5 million ($18.1 million) that'll be delivered by April 2017.It's not all bad news, though. Imagination says that it's not planning any reductions in its three main businesses—PowerVR, MIPS, and Ensigma. In fact, it's looking for 50 new employees for the PowerVR business as part of its efforts to bolster that division. The company also says it's ...Read more...

Razer officially gave its Core external graphics enclosure a $500 price tag this evening. The dock will cost $100 less when it's purchased with a Razer Blade Stealth or 2016 Razer Blade notebook. The Core is available for pre-order now, and it'll begin shipping April 15. The dock connects to compatible devices using a Thunderbolt 3 port. ...Read more...

We've tested a few of Intel's NUCs over the course of the platform's existence. While those machines are perfectly competent mini-PCs, we've often found ourselves wanting more gaming muscle from their tiny footprints. Intel's newest NUC appears set to address that. ...Read more...

MSI has released the Vortex, a gaming tower that packs quite the punch. In fact, tower may not be the right word to describe this beast, as its cylindrical form measures just 10.5" tall and contains just 6.5L of interior space. Despite those constraints, MSI has managed to squeeze in hardware as powerful as two GeForce GTX 980s and an unlocked Intel Core i7-6700K processor. ...Read more...

The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets are both nice pieces of hardware, but they're not very useful without software to go with them. Up until now, we've only seen random tidbits of info about VR titles and scattered demos. That changed today at GDC, where both Oculus and Valve published full lists of the games they expect to release along with their headsets....Read more...

MSI appears to be hopping on the power-sipping GeForce GTX 950 train. The company revealed two takes on a 75-watt board power GTX 950 today: the GTX 950 2GD5T OCV2 and the GTX 950 2GD5T OCV3. The OCV2 uses a single-fan cooler, while the OCV3 uses a longer board and a second fan. Both cards are clocked at 1076MHz base and 1253MHz boost speeds, and they come with 2GB of RAM. ...Read more...

Crytek must have seen TR's subscription system and thought it was a fine idea. The software maker has just released Cryengine V, and it's offering the game engine to developers using a pay-what-you-want model. Take a peek at the engine's showcase reel:...Read more...

Back in June of last year, Philips unveiled what it claimed to be the first monitor that used quantum dot technlogy. Now, a version of that monitor—the E-line 276E6ADSS—is making its way to North America. It's available on Amazon now for $299.99. ...Read more...

Eight is Enough

Basemark and Crytek have announced VRScore, a tool to evaluate PC readiness for a variety of virtual reality head mounted displays (or HMDs). The tool can currently test the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) headsets.The test suite includes tests for interactive VR gaming, 360-degree VR video, and VR spatial audio. Interestingly, the tests can be run with or without an HMD attached to the target PC. ...Read more...

Nvidia is adding another notch to its VR belt. Unity Technologies is adding support for the Nvidia VRWorks SDK (née GameWorks VR) to its cross-platform Unity engine. ...Read more...

GDC—Kishonti announced the latest version of its GPU benchmark, GFXBench 5.0, today. The new version tests graphics performance using the next-generation Vulkan, Metal, and DirectX 12 APIs. The company claims the benchmark is useful for testing in performance envelopes from mobile devices all the way up to desktop PCs. ...Read more...

Razer's Core external graphics add-on is one of the hottest new pieces of hardware to surface this year. The company hasn't revealed how much the external graphics enclosure will cost yet or when consumers can buy one, though. Now, we may have both those puzzle pieces. VentureBeat seems to have prematurely published an article (now cached by Google) with full details of the Core's price and release date. If the now-removed post is correct, the Core will arrive next month with a $500 price tag, or $400 when purchased with a Blade Stealth notebook. ...Read more...

Late last year, we reported on the upcoming System Shock 3. It so happens that the original System Shock game from 1994 is being fully remade by Night Dive Studios, too. The first video footage of the new-old title has just been released. Take a look:...Read more...

Razer has refreshed its Blade gaming laptop for 2016. The freshened-up notebook offers upgrades that include a Skylake processor, a high-resolution display, and a Thunderbolt 3 port while retaining the slim and portable all-aluminum chassis from older Blades. ...Read more...

LucasFilm's ILMxLAB has prepared a virtual-reality demonstration called Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine for the HTC Vive platform. The experiment was made using Epic's Unreal Engine. Among other things, it lets the Vive wearer wield a lightsaber with the aid of a Vive controller. ...Read more...

GDC—Nvidia announced several new features for its Gameworks SDK yesterday. GameWorks SDK 3.1 includes three rendering techniques related to shadows and lighting, plus two beta PhysX techniques.The first, called Volumetric Lighting, lets developers more realistically simulate how light passes through the atmosphere. That technology is likely most familiar in Fallout 4. Hybrid Frustrum Traced Shadows, or HFTS, produces shadows that are hard near an object with smooth transitions to softer shadows as the distance from ...Read more...

Eight is Enough

In honor of Pi Day, Western Digital has announced a mechanical drive for Raspberry Pi based on its 500GB Caviar Blue Slim model. This 314GB drive is equipped with a number of Raspberry-Pi-focused features. Western Digital has also worked with BerryBoot to produce a bootloader specifically designed to ease the complications caused by the MicroSD-only boot function of the Pi.

UPDATE 3/14/2016 at 5:51 PM: In a statement to Ars Technica, Microsoft says the FAQ update that prompted this story was "a mistake," and that its store will continue to accept Bitcoin. Our original story is below.In 2014, Microsoft made a move to accept Bitcoin for Microsoft Store transactions , using BitPay as a middleman. Now, that relationship seems to be coming to an end. Without much fanfare, Microsoft has removed Bitcoin as ...Read more...

In 2014, Microsoft made a move to accept Bitcoin for Microsoft Store transactions, using BitPay as a middleman. Now, that relationship seems to be coming to an end. Without much fanfare, Microsoft has removed Bitcoin as a payment option. The company only offered a two-sentence explanation for the change in its FAQ for the Microsoft Store. Past purchases made with Bitcoin are now non-refundable thanks to the change.A variety of competing crypto-currencies , increasing regulatory burdens , and price volatility all might have made the continued acceptance of Bitcoin a less-than-appealing prospect for Microsoft. While Bitcoin is ...Read more...

Oculus' Rift and HTC's Vive VR headsets are hot stuff, but both require the wearer to be tethered to a PC. Sulon Technologies' Q headset might make the VR experience less tied-down. The Q headset incorporates a full PC into its head-mounted package. ...Read more...

If you have your ear to the ground, you may have heard that the recently-released Gears of War: Ultimate Edition seems to have contracted a serious case of consolitis. The PC gaming community's complaints haven't been falling on deaf ears, though. The Gears development team has now outlined and published a plan to fix the game's most pressing problems.According to Gears ' technical director Cam, the team has been "reading the forums and looking over social media." It's working on a patch that'll probably be released sometime next week. The coming update will bring performance optimizations, better ...Read more...

Eight is Enough

Stay awhile and listen. Blizzard has released a patch for... Diablo II. That's right, sixteen years after its release, the game is still being actively supported. The latest update, version 1.14a, improves compatibility with modern systems. On the Windows side, the game now has native support for Windows 7 and above. Mac gamers ought to be happy, too, as the new version includes an OS X installer that supports OS X versions 10.10 and 10.11. ...Read more...

This is weird. I think today is "Worldwide Monitor Sale Day," but I haven't seen anything in the news, nor has Google put up a doodle for it. The deals are out there, though, and we've separated wheat from chaff to bring you the best.That's it for today, folks! As always, if you come across any great ...Read more...

Rise of the Tomb Raider is getting its fifth patch today, and it's a big one. Developer Nixxes Software says this patch will let the game take advantage of the DirectX 12 API and Nvidia's voxel ambient occlusion (or VXAO) technology. ...Read more...