Author: kenmay

AMD Offers a Performance Boost, Over 20 New Features With Catalyst Omega Drivers

MojoKid writes: AMD just dropped its new Catalyst Omega driver package that is the culmination of six months of development work. AMD Catalyst Omega reportedly brings over 20 new features and a wealth of bug fixes to the table, along with performance increases both on AMD Radeon GPUs and integrated AMD APUs. Some of the new functionality includes Virtual Super Resolution, or VSR. VSR is “game- and engine-agnostic” and renders content at up to 4K resolution, then displays it at a resolution that your monitor actually supports. AMD says VSR allows for increased image quality, similar in concept to Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing (SSAA). Another added perk of VSR is the ability to see more content on the screen at once. To take advantage of VSR, you’ll need a Radeon R9 295X2, R9 290X, R9 290, or R9 285 discrete graphics card. Both single- and multi-GPU configurations are currently supported. VSR is essentially AMD’s answer to NVIDIA’s DSR, or Dynamic Super Resolution. In addition, AMD is claiming performance enhancements in a number of top titles with these these new drivers. Reportedly, as little as 6 percent improvement in performance in FIFA Online to as much as a 29 percent increase in Batman: Arkham Origins can be gained when using an AMD 7000-Series APU, for example. On discrete GPUs, an AMD Radeon R9 290X’s performance increases ranged from 8 percent in Grid 2 to roughly 16 percent in Bioshock Infinity. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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AMD Offers a Performance Boost, Over 20 New Features With Catalyst Omega Drivers

The world’s slimmest smartphone is now 4.75mm thick

How thin is too thin? Well, the Chinese smartphone makers are always pushing their limits on this end. Following Gionee’s 5.1mm Elife S5.1 and Oppo’s 4.85mm R5 , today Vivo has set a new record with its X5Max, a 4.75mm-thick Android phone that still manages to pack a number of notable features. The slim aluminum mid-frame houses a vibrant 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen, a 1.7mm-thick logic board and a 5-megapixel f/2.4 front camera. Flip to the back and you’ll find a 13-megapixel f/2.0 main camera — the inevitable bulge that goes beyond the phone’s official thickness by almost 2mm — and a loudspeaker towards the bottom. On the whole, the phone feels surprisingly light (Vivo has yet to list the official weight) but also solid and well-made. It’s worth pointing out that unlike the Oppo R5, the X5Max has managed to keep its 3.5mm headphone jack instead of forcing a micro-USB adapter upon us. Another equally impressive feature is the dual-SIM tray (fits one Micro SIM and one Nano SIM) that also lets you use a microSD card (up to 128GB) in place of Nano SIM, but you might have already seen this on the likes of the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro or the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 . The X5Max is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chip that’s both octa-core (quad 1.7GHz Cortex-A53 and quad 1GHz Cortex-A53) and 64-bit ready, though the latter part won’t be usable until the phone is updated from Android 4.4.4 to Lollipop. You also get 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage to boot, while the fixed 2, 000mAh battery should be sufficient for a full-day usage; though you’ll miss out on the Oppo R5’s awesome rapid charging technology. Like its sibling devices, the X5Max places heavy emphasis on its audio performance, which is why it packs some dedicated audio chips — Yamaha YSS-205X signal processor, Sabre ES9018K2M DAC, exclusive Sabre ES9601 headphone amplifier and OPA1612 amplifier — as part of its “Hi-Fi 2.0” package. Together, these apparently outperform the Xplay3S’ offering in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range and restoration. More importantly (for this author, at least), the Yamaha chip is actually for implementing a karaoke mode, in which you can sing along with songs and music videos while also hearing yourself — with added echo or reverb if desired — through headphones. It may be gimmicky for some, but apparently it’s also what the cool kids like to use these days. Alas, the X5Max is only launching in China to begin with: The China Mobile version will be available for CN¥2, 998 or about US$490 as of December 12th. As for those outside China who need a phone to quench their karaoke thirst, stay tuned for an FDD-LTE version later. Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile Comments Source: Vivo

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The world’s slimmest smartphone is now 4.75mm thick

New Destover Malware Signed By Stolen Sony Certificate

Trailrunner7 writes: Researchers have discovered a new version of the Destover malware that was used in the recent Sony Pictures Entertainment breaches, and in an ironic twist, the sample is signed by a legitimate certificate stolen from Sony. The new sample is essentially identical to an earlier version of Destover that was not signed. Destover has been used in a variety of attacks in recent years and it’s representative of the genre of malware that doesn’t just compromise machines and steal data, but can destroy information as well. The attackers who have claimed credit for the attack on Sony have spent the last couple of weeks gradually releasing large amounts of information stolen in the breach, including unreleased movies, personal data of Sony employees and sensitive security information such as digital certificates and passwords. The new, signed version of Destover appears to have been compiled in July and was signed on Dec. 5, the day after Kaspersky Lab published an analysis of the known samples of the malware. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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New Destover Malware Signed By Stolen Sony Certificate

Feds Plan For 35 Agencies To Collect, Share, Use Health Records of Americans

cold fjord writes: The Weekly Standard reports, “This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the release of the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2015-2020, which details the efforts of some 35 departments and agencies of the federal government and their roles in the plan to ‘advance the collection, sharing, and use of electronic health information to improve health care, individual and community health, and research.’ … Now that HHS has publicly released the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, the agency is seeking the input from the public before implementation. The plan is subject to two-month period of public comment before finalization. The comment period runs through February 6, 2015.” Among the many agencies that will be sharing records besides Health and Human Services are: Department of Agriculture, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Justice and Bureau of Prison, Department of Labor, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Personnel Management, National Institute of Standards and Technology. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Feds Plan For 35 Agencies To Collect, Share, Use Health Records of Americans

Sub-$500 battery-powered wheel brings electric capabilities to any bike

Add / Remove When it comes to electric bicycles, consumers either have to buy an entirely new bike or some bulky equipment to retrofit their current one, often at great cost. We’ve already written about the battery-free Copenhagen Wheel , which can be attached to any bike to convert cyclists’ pedaling energy into a power boost for uphill climbs. Now GeoOrbital is the first sub USD 500 electric wheel that is compact and battery-powered, and can be attached to any bike. Coming out of Cambridge, MA, the startup behind the innovation has developed a unique way to provide power to any bike. Rather than creating a device with enough energy to propel an entire wheel, the wheel itself actually remains still when the bike is in motion. Instead, three rollers push the rim and tyre around the machine itself. GeoOrbital is easily connected via the front wheel forks, with a throttle located on the handlebars so cyclists can control when they get a burst of energy without a smartphone. The current prototype can reach speeds of 8mph and weighs a fairly heavy 35 pounds, although the next version will be both faster and lighter. Watch the video below for a demonstration of the wheel: Considering GeoOrbital can be affixed to any existing bike and is set to retail for below USD 500 — a good USD 300 cheaper than the Copenhagen Wheel, for example — it could encourage a fair few more potential cyclists to finally dust off their old two-wheeler. Are there other ways to deliver electric capabilities to push bikes? Website: www.geoo.com Contact: www.geoo.com/#contact

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Sub-$500 battery-powered wheel brings electric capabilities to any bike

NetHack: Still One of the Greatest Games Ever Written

M-Saunders writes: While everyone obsesses about frame rates and polygon counts, there’s one game that hasn’t changed visually for decades. NetHack may look incredibly primitive today, but it’s still arguably the best game of all time, with an unmatched level of depth, creativity and replayability. Linux Voice looks at this fascinating dungeon romp, explaining what makes it great, how to get started with it, and how to discover some of its secrets. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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NetHack: Still One of the Greatest Games Ever Written

This Artificial Skin Can Feel Pressure, Heat and Dampness

Skin is complicated. Our body’s largest organ senses touch—but also temperature, pain, wetness, itching, and more. A new, stretchy artificial skin can pick up many of the sensations from the real thing, and it could someday cover a lifelike prosthetic hand. Read more…

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This Artificial Skin Can Feel Pressure, Heat and Dampness

The Most Intricate Images of Live Nerves Ever Captured

You’re looking at some of the most intricate images of live nerve endings ever captured, in which it’s possible to make out individual nerves and touch receptors in unprecedented detail. Read more…

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The Most Intricate Images of Live Nerves Ever Captured