Thread: Anandtech News

In just a few days we'll be covering the Samsung Galaxy S II event in New York City, and expect to have some hands-on time with Samsung's latest and greatest as specced for AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Verizon, according to a WSJ report that has been confirmed by multiple outlets, has decided not to reveal a Galaxy S II branded device at the event, and will in fact be absent Monday night. Fret not, VZW subscribers, as BGR reports that multiple source have confirmed for them that Verizon Wireless customers will see a phone with specifications nearly identical to Samsung's. Will this be a Droid Charge successor, or something totally different? We're reaching out to our sources to find out.
Source: WSJ, BGR


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With its upcoming sequel to its Defense of the Ancients-inspired shooter Monday Night Combat, Uber Entertainment is embracing another hallmark of the hero arena genre: a free-to-play business model.
Instead of simply throwing players into a typical deathmatch scenario, MNC asks two teams to defend their bases against an onslaught of enemy robots by using turrets, special abilities, and class-based teamwork. The sequel, Super Monday Night Combat, currently scheduled for release by early next year, will update the original to focus more heavily on strategy. Players will be less lethal to one another, turrets and bots will be stronger. But the main focus is reshaping the game as more of a service than a product.
“"We're big believers in allowing people to play the game for free if they want to," creative director John Comes told Kotaku. “We are allowing the player to play the game and we are not holding them back, but if they want to do things faster or more, that's how we'll make our money."
Similar to other free-to-play hero arena games like League of Legends, players will have access to a rotating selection of characters for free but can pay to permanently unlock their favorite characters or buy new skins and taunts.
Despite strong initial sales on the Xbox 360, Monday Night Combat carved out a niche for itself on PC thanks to rapid updates from the development team, and Uber hopes to continue that with Super Monday Night Combat and its nimble free-to-play structure.
Source: Kotaku


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For to those of you who have cashed in on the best tablet buy we've seen to date, HP just made a move to sweeten the already ridiculous deal: a six-pack of paid webOS apps at no-cost. The apps retail from $0.99 to $14.99 but all of them are free to webOS users in the US until 11:59PM on August 31. The apps, descriptions and promo codes to get them for free are below courtesy of HP:

• Glimpse (Inglorious Apps, $5, injoj55410gavxv): Amp up your TouchPad multitasking to 11 using this customizable and addictive split-screen interface.
• Kung Fu Panda 2 Storybook (zuuka, $2.99, eotss76676jjzqr): Enjoy images and voices from Kung Fu Panda 2 right on your TouchPad.
• Big Boss (Fair Play Labs, $1.99, vfimk09918lngoz): Design your “Boss” – a gigantic monster – and attempt to defeat the brave heroes and powerful wizards of WackyLands.
• Sparkle HD (10tons Ltd., $4.99, pweuq32135vrbhx): Save Crowberry Woods in this TouchPad version of the popular desktop game.
• Camera for TouchPad (Keen Studios, $0.99, rijon62171nhvtu): Start snapping away, with options for managing your photos and using them with other TouchPad apps.
• Audubon Birds (Green Mountain Digital, $14.99, jjiox66488ddnik): This searchable digital field guide to North American birds offers stunning photography and thrilling (trilling?) bird songs.

The offer expires on the 31st or when HP runs out of "inventory". There's likely a limit on the number of times these codes can be used, so if you're interested click on the link for each app and enter the promo code (in bold) on your TouchPad.
HP also indicated the next six pack of apps would be out sometime in September. Here's hoping for continued support from HP for its newly expanded webOS user base.


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Valve’s doubling down on the PlayStation 3. In a preview published late Thursday, Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo reported that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the newest iteration of the popular Counter-Strike franchise, will feature cross-platform play between PS3 and PC/Mac players.
Though players can create endless loops of de_dust on their own private servers, Valve will be running official servers for skill-based matchmaking. PC, Mac, and PS3 users will be matched up regardless of platform. Xbox 360 players will be confined to matches with other 360 owners. How Valve will balance play between users on keyboard and mouse versus players using a gamepad or PlayStation Move (which the PS3 version will support) remains to be seen.
Despite CEO Gabe Newell’s previous dismissal of the PS3, Valve is showing strong support for Sony’s platform, citing the openness of its publication model with respect to Microsoft’s. Portal 2, released this April, allowed for cross-platform play between PS3 and PC/Mac, and the PS3 version came with a code for Portal 2 on Steam.
Counter-Strike: GO, announced two weeks ago, looks to be a marriage of beloved shooting tradition with the newest Source engine tech. Those attending PAX this weekend can see what Kotaku saw for themselves, and Counter-Strike veterans looking for in-depth coverage would do well to read Craig Torbull’s comparision of CS: GO to its predecessors over at ESEA News.
Source: Kotaku, ESEA


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Razer, a gaming-centric company known primarily for its mice and keyboards, today announced that they would be introducing a gaming laptop, the Blade, in Q4 2011.
The $2799.99 laptop is impressive not just for its specs (which include a 2.8GHz Core i7 2640M, an Optimus-equipped GeForce GT 555M with 2GB of GDDR5, a 17" 1920x1080 display and 8GB of RAM) and its dimensions (16.81" wide, 10.9" deep and 0.88" high, weighing just under 7 pounds), but for its striking design and its integrated multi-touch LCD panel, which can serve either as a touchpad or a second display. Also included is Razer's Switchblade User interface (see above the multi-touch panel in the photo above), which allows users to map in-game functions to 10 extra physical keys.

The Blade is expensive, and to be sure, its market niche is small, but it's nice to see a serious high-end gaming laptop that takes form factor and aesthetics into account - many gaming laptops, like the Toshiba Qosimo X775 we reviewed recently, definitely leave something to be desired in that department.

Source: Razer


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GameStop is attempting to make up for the Deus Ex: Human Revolution debacle by offering a $50 gift card and a “Buy 2 Get 1 Free Pre-owned Purchase” to those who bought boxed copies of the PC version in-store.
By first removing free game vouchers from boxed PC copies of Deus Ex and then removing the game from its shelves altogether, GameStop garnered a lot of negative press this week. Today, the retailer apologized – sort of.
GameStop CEO Paul Raines extended an olive branch to disgruntled customers via email:
“We regret the events surrounding this title’s release and that our customers were put in the middle of this issue between GameStop and Square Enix, the publisher of this game. And for this we are truly sorry.
For your inconvenience, we would like to offer you a free $50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase. We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience. Please bring in this email and your store receipt or order confirmation from GameStop.com and present it to a Game Advisor.”
By focusing its mea culpa on the customer, GameStop avoids having to address its stance on Square Enix’s promotional deal with OnLive. GameStop's apology is a win for whoever bought Deus Ex on PC from a GameStop. For everyone else (that includes publishers), it’s simply evidence that GameStop’s only sorry it got caught.
Source: Joystiq


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It's been a long time since CES, but the wait is nearly over. Per Motorola's Droid Bionic Twitter account, the Bionic will grace Verizon's network on Sepember 8th. Earlier today the phone's page appeared in Motorola's web store with a mostly empty page that did provide the first official press shots for the device. Nothing more has been confirmed but we do expect the device to ship with a TI OMAP 4430 dual core processor and Adreno 220 GPU with 1GB of RAM and a 4.3" qHD screen. The press shots to confirme a rather svelte slate with a small bump near the top of the phone housing the 8MP/1080P camera. What remains unknown is pricing which is rumored to be $299 on contract. Official images below, we'll update further when we learn more.

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Let's be clear, this fall has easily one of the busiest release schedules, and Samsung's not interested in making it any easier. In addition to the US SGS II event in New York, now scheduled for Tuesday courtesy of Irene, Samsung will be announcing two new LTE Galaxy products at IFA Berlin on Thursday. Leave it to Samsung to take their tweaks beyond simply adding an LTE radio though. Based on the press release the SGS II variant being released will have a dual core processor clocked at 1.5 Ghz, a huge 4.5" Super AMOLED Plus screen along with the 4G speeds courtesy of its new LTE radio. Details on SoC, memory, carrier, pricing and availability are, as usual, pending. The Galaxy Tab 8.9 was teased along with its larger brother the Tab 10.1 in the Spring, but we haven't seen much out of the device since. No US announcements have been made for the device, something that may change rather soon; but the first variant of the 8.9" TouchWiz UX infused tablet will be showed off on Thursday sporting an LTE radio. Anand was pretty impressed with the Tab 10.1's speeds when paired with its own LTE radio so we expect much of the same from this latest iteration.
Whatever else Samsung has in store for this week, tune in here to get the details from NYC and Berlin; and come back throughout the fall as more and more of these devices start to show up on our door steps.
Source: Samsung
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If you missed out on last week's free 6-pack of TouchPad apps, HP just introduced another 6-pack including four new apps as well as two from the last 6-pack. The apps including the free promo codes are listed below:

• Big Boss (Fair Play Labs, $1.99, rlhul24446cnvjo): Design your “Boss” – a gigantic monster – and attempt to defeat the brave heroes and powerful wizards of WackyLands.
• Camera for TouchPad (Keen Studios, $0.99, qnauu98845swgrt): Start snapping away, with options for managing your photos and using them with other TouchPad apps.
• Angry Birds Rio HD (Rovio Mobile Ltd., $1.99, xsgsc06319eeqrk): The original Angry Birds are kidnapped and taken to Rio de Janeiro, where they eventually escape their captors and set out to save their friends, Blu and Jewel.
• Quell HD (Fallen Tree Games, $1.99, urber52865hgtqc): A unique puzzler that is sure to test your brain with 70-plus levels of game play.
• Pennant (Vargatron, $4.99, ltrns51564vabdu): Got historical pennant fever? Get the scoop on over 115,000 games with this interactive statistical treasure trove of baseball from 1952 to 2010.
• FlightPredictor HD (gregstoll.com, $1.99, htukc87057kxshv): Powered by FlightCaster.com, you’ll get timely notifications before air travel glitches get in your way.

This group expires on 10/1/11 or until the promo codes last, whichever comes first. Given that the last group expired in less than 5 days I wouldn't wait if you want any of these. To redeem the codes you need to use your TouchPad and have credit card purchasing enabled for the HP App Catalog. Enter the codes listed in bold above during checkout.


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HP has released HP Pro 3400 Series desktops today. They are aimed for business users and HP markets them as microtowers (seems to be mid-tower Micro-ATXs).

HP Pro 3400 Series
Model	XZ937UT	XZ938UT	XZ939UT	XZ940UT
Processor	Intel Pentium G620 (2/2, 2.6GHz, 3MB)	Intel Core i3-2100 (2/4, 3.1GHz, 3MB)	Intel Core i3-2120 (2/4, 3.3GHz, 3MB)	Intel Core i5-2300 (4/4, 2.8GHz, 6MB)
Graphics	Intel HD 2000	Intel HD 2000	Intel HD 2000	Intel HD 2000
Memory	2GB 1333MHz DDR3	2GB 1333MHz DDR3	2GB 1333MHz DDR3	4GB 1333MHz DDR3
Storage	250GB 7200rpm	250GB 7200rpm	500GB 7200rpm	500GB 7200rpm
Optical drive	DVD-ROM	DVD writer	DVD writer	DVD writer
Slots	PCIe x16, three PCIe x1, mPCI	PCIe x16, three PCIe x1, mPCI	PCIe x16, three PCIe x1, mPCI	PCIe x16, three PCIe x1, mPCI
Ports	10x USB 2.0, DVI-D, VGA, Ethernet, audio-in, audio-out, mic-in	10x USB 2.0, DVI-D, VGA, Ethernet, audio-in, audio-out, mic-in	10x USB 2.0, DVI-D, VGA, Ethernet, audio-in, audio-out, mic-in	10x USB 2.0, DVI-D, VGA, Ethernet, audio-in, audio-out, mic-in
Dimensions (WxDxH)	6.5" x 15.31" x 14.49"	6.5" x 15.31" x 14.49"	6.5" x 15.31" x 14.49"	6.5" x 15.31" x 14.49"
Price	$421	$482	$506	$563

There aren't any real surprises in the specs. These are regular budget-level business PCs which are ideal for office use for example. Built-to-order options allow some beefier hardware, such as i7-2600 and AMD 6570. Still, these are meant for business and hence the stock configurations come with fairly low specs. For more intensive use, HP offers workstations like the Z200 series.
Source: HP


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