Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock were both unavailable for comment, but we’re guessing the pair would be quite pleased to see that the tech world’s Need For Speed is hardly fading. Maingear and Origin PC have both announced this week that their high-end gaming desktops are now available with Intel’s Core i7 2700K — a beast of a processor that’s clocked from the factory at 3.5GHz. Maingear’s shoving this guy into its SHIFT (starting at $1,985) and F131 (starting at $1,228) rigs, with factory overclocking options pushing it beyond 5GHz. Origin is hawking its Genesis desktop with a factory speed of 5.2GHz, and yes, gratis warranties are thrown in for the paranoid. Hit the links below to give your wallet the dent it’s been asking for.

Continue reading Maingear and Origin PC shove Intel’s Core i7 2700K into gaming rigs, overclock it beyond 5GHz

Maingear and Origin PC shove Intel’s Core i7 2700K into gaming rigs, overclock it beyond 5GHz originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has rolled out version 15 of Chrome to its “stable” channel. The update brings some minor cosmetic changes, including a slightly cleaner new tab page, and Google has also redesigned the Chrome Web Store with a simpler layout.

The “new tab” page, which is displayed by default for blank tabs, currently shows a thumbnail grid of the user’s most-visited websites and provides shortcuts to the user’s installed Web applications. The new version is functionally identical, but the layout and behavior have been tweaked.

Users can page between the application shortcuts and page thumbnails by clicking an arrow or by using the navigation bar at the bottom of the page. They can also create multiple pages for the application icons. The ability to “pin” a thumbnail to the grid is no longer available, but it’s possible to drag a thumbnail to one of the application pages. Right-clicking an application icon allows users to specify whether the app should open in a regular tab, a pinned tab, or in full screen.

Alongside these changes, Google also overhauled the Chrome Web Store. The design has been greatly simplified with a design that feels more application-like. The main content area displays a grid of installable extensions, applications, and themes. It will dynamically load more as you scroll down. A sidebar on the left lets you search or filter by category, while a navigation bar at the top shows bread crumbs indicating your current location in the navigation hierarchy.

The new version is currently being rolled out to end users, but it can also be downloaded manually from Google’s website.

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Chrome 15 released with… improved start page

Citrix is touting new technology to make the up-front cost of virtual desktops cheaper for businesses than physical desktops within six months, while ensuring that virtual desktop performance doesn’t lag too far behind traditional PCs. While advances in XenDesktop software and the ability to pack ever more virtual desktops onto a single server factor into the equation, a key piece is a new partnership with virtual desktop software vendor NComputing and hardware vendor Texas Instruments to create a system-on-a-chip architecture that incorporates Citrix’s own HDX high-definition virtual desktop technology directly into the silicon.

The first devices using HDX system-on-a-chip technology will be sold in early 2012, and will eventually lead to client devices that cost less than $100, Citrix claims.

“For the first time ever, nontraditional devices like network monitors, phones, smart keyboards, consumer set-top boxes, shop floor equipment, kiosks and hospital workstations-on-wheels will be able to display virtual apps and desktops directly, without the need for an a full PC at the endpoint,” Citrix said.

The HDX system-on-a-chip architecture is initially designed for ARM-based chips but will be expanded to x86. To enable access to virtual desktops, these devices would connect to customer data centers outfitted with Citrix’s XenApp and XenDesktop software. Citrix says the average first year cost for deploying physical desktops in a business setting is roughly $1,000 per device, and that virtual desktops are on the verge of dropping below that mark and will continue to decline in price while physical desktops stay steady.

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Citrix claims it will make virtual desktops cheaper than real ones

The Linux-based Tsunami backdoor trojan has made its way over to the Mac, according to security firm ESET. The company posted to its blog (hat tip to Macworld) that a Mac-specific variant, OSX/Tsunami.A has made an appearance on the trojan scene, though ESET made no mention of whether it was gaining any traction among users.

ESET’s Robert Lipovsky wrote on Wednesday that the code for OSX/Tsunami.A was ported from the Linux version of the trojan that the company has been tracking since 2002. Hard-coded is a list of IRC servers and channels, which the trojan tries to connect to in order to listen for malicious commands sent from those channels.

Lipovsky published a list of the commands pulled from the Linux variant of Tsunami, but the general gist is that the trojan can open a backdoor to perform DDoS attacks, download files, or execute shell commands. Tsunami has “the ability to essentially take control of the affected machine.”

Security firm Sophos also acknowledged the appearance of the Mac-targeted Tsunami backdoor, but reminded users that there is still “far less malware [in] existence for Mac OS X than for Windows.” Still, the company says the problem is real and that users should protect themselves with anti-malware software. “We fully expect to see cybercriminals continuing to target poorly protected Mac computers in the future,” Sophos’ Graham Cluley wrote. “If the bad guys think they can make money out of infecting and compromising Macs, they will keep trying.”

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Tsunami backdoor trojan ported from Linux to take control of Macs too

Police use of GPS tracking in investigations is something of a hotbed issue that calls into question how much privacy people are entitled to. But when it’s used successfully, as it was to arrest a California man who committed identity theft against 300,000 people, that argument becomes much more complex. More

It used to be that you could make Google include terms in search results by placing the + symbol before them in queries. Not any more! Writing for Wired, Andy Baio covers Google’s increasing willingness to muck around with your search queries and how to work around it. [Wired]

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Continue reading Corning peels back the petals on Lotus Glass, promises low-power, high performance

Corning peels back the petals on Lotus Glass, promises low-power, high performance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 09:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad: iPhone and Android users already have versions of Mint customized for smaller screens, but now iPad users can download a version of Mint optimized for the iPad and its larger display. The new app is built with iOS 5 in mind, and allows you to organize your accounts, track your spending, and review your finances and bills anywhere you have a data connection. More

Windows XP first went on sale ten years ago today. In that span, it has become the desktop OS of choice with a worldwide install base of as much as 80 percent. Here’s looking at you XP. More

The comparisons between Siri and HAL 9000 were pretty tough to avoid, and the folks at ThinkGeek have now come through to do what they do best: take things to a ridiculous extreme. In this case, that comes in the form of the IRIS 9000, a familiar-looking fellow that doubles as a dock for your iPhone 4S. It has a remote that lets you activate Siri from afar, a built-in mic and speaker that lets you interact with Siri (or make phone calls) and, of course, a glowing red LED eye that makes Siri suitably menacing. Now, ThinkGeek has been known to produce some faux products in the past, but last we checked it wasn’t April Fools’ day, and the company has assured us that this is indeed real and set to be available in the spring of next year for $60. Video of your new favorite desk mate is after the break.

Continue reading ThinkGeek IRIS 9000 promises to make 2012 a desk-bound odyssey

ThinkGeek IRIS 9000 promises to make 2012 a desk-bound odyssey originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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