As Bitcoins have become more valuable, they’ve also become much harder to accumulate using the mathematical process known as “mining.” This air of futility hasn’t fazed ASRock , however, as the company has revealed two new motherboards that promise to help DIY-ers to “join the gold rush now!” The H61 Pro BTC and H81 Pro BTC are both Intel socket boards, with the latter being Haswell compatible, and their main party trick is to carry extra PCIe slots and power connectors so you can exploit the compute power of up to six graphics cards simultaneously. What ASRock doesn’t specify, however, is how much profit one of its fully-loaded mining motherboards might deliver. So, although we’re quite deliberately not experts at this stuff (aside from a bit of armchair interest ), we plugged some numbers into the Bitcoin Profitability Calculator , based on six Radeon HD 7990 cards running in parallel, and discovered that this monster of a system might never actually break even, due to its ridiculously high energy costs. This could well explain why all the big boys use dedicated ASIC boards for mining these days, instead of consumer-grade hardware. Filed under: Desktops Comments Via: Bit-tech Source: ASRock [1] , [2]

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Bitcoin mining motherboards promise huge profits (for your energy provider)

There was little doubt that the PlayStation 4 would sell well on launch given the sheer amount of hype , but we now have proof: Sony has revealed that it sold over one million PS4s in North America during the console’s first 24 hours of availability. While that figure pales in comparison to the sales numbers we see for smartphones , it gets the company a long way toward its goal of moving five million units before the end of its fiscal year in March. It also suggests that Sony won’t face the same lackluster response that greeted Nintendo, which took a week to sell its first 400, 000 Wii U systems in the US. The real question is whether or not the PS4 will preserve its sales momentum — with the Xbox One launch just five days away, Sony won’t keep the high end of the console market to itself for much longer. Filed under: Gaming , Sony Comments Via: Joystiq Source: PR Newswire

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Sony sells over 1 million PlayStation 4 consoles in first 24 hours

Apple may not have had all of its own apps overhauled in time for iOS 7’s launch, but it’s slowly but surely bringing them up to speed. The latest to get a complete redesign are iBooks and iTunes U, which expectedly now look a fair bit like Apple’s Newsstand app and the App Store itself. What’s more, the company’s also pushed out the latest minor update to iOS 7, which now stands at 7.0.4 — it promises a fix to the FaceTime issue that has been plaguing some users, along with the usual range of other “bug fixes and improvements.” Not to be left out, iPod touch users unable to upgrade to iOS 7 can also download an update to iOS 6 that promises to remedy the same FaceTime problem. Filed under: Cellphones , Tablets , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: 9 to 5 Mac (1) , (2)

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Apple pushes out iOS 7.0.4 update alongside redesigned iBooks and iTunes U apps

Whatever happened to AMD’s last tablet chip, Temash ? We had a great time playing DiRT Showdown on a Temash-powered Windows 8 tablet back at CES, but the graphics-focused processor has so far only appeared in a handful of low-profile devices from the likes of Acer , ASUS and Gigabyte . If this lack of impact was due to the chip’s relatively hungry four-watt power draw (hungry for a tablet, at least), then AMD might just have a solution in the form of Temash’s successor, this time named after a river called “Mullins.” Thanks to its new Puma cores and 28nm fabrication, Mullins brings the wattage down to just two watts. This puts it broadly on a par with most ARM and Intel Bay Trail consumer tablet chips, which is a first for AMD outside of its industrial G-Series range. Meanwhile, a claimed doubling of performance-per-watt means that frame rates shouldn’t take much of a hit. As with all of AMD’s latest processors, including its “Beema” range for low-power laptops which should launch around the same time as Mullins, the presence of a Graphics Core Next GPU should help to improve performance on Mantle-boosted games , including those brought across from next-gen consoles. So, although AMD is now extremely late to the tablet party, it may still get there — and we don’t have long to wait. Mullins is due to launch in the first half of next year, and we’re promised a turn on a Mullins-powered tablet at the upcoming CES 2014 in January. Filed under: Gaming , Tablets , AMD Comments Source: AMD

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AMD looks to boost Windows tablet gaming with its first true mobile chip

When you’re a company with $147 billion in cash lying around, why wouldn’t you spend it on robots and lasers? According to a Bloomberg report , Apple is investing about $10.5 billion in newer manufacturing equipment, possibly in preparation for those new product lines we’ve been hearing so much about. As we’ve seen with the recent iMac and other products, Apple’s already dabbling in manufacturing techniques normally reserved for the defense and aerospace industries. But according to Bloomberg’s sources, the company is increasingly striking deals to use these machines exclusively, and that in fact, some of this gear was designed specifically to accommodate Apple’s unique designs. Sadly, all of the machinery called out in the article (a MacBook-chiseling laser, something to polish the iPhone 5c) pertain to products that have already been announced, so if you’re looking for any clues about Apple’s rumored smartwatch , you won’t find anything by reading in between the lines. Filed under: Misc , Mobile , Apple Comments Source: Bloomberg

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Apple reportedly spending $10.5 billion to upgrade its manufacturing ahead of new product launches

It’s a double-edged sword: your work is using one of your favorite services to manage files and projects, but now you have to juggle two logins to maintain balance between your personal and work accounts. This frustrating practice may be “business as usual, ” according to Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, but the truth is, he finds it a little silly. “People think there’s this consumer version of Dropbox, and there’s this enterprising version of Dropbox and we think that’s ridiculous. There should only be one” Soon, there will be. Speaking at the company’s headquarters today, Houston announced that Dropbox for Business will now allow users to link their personal accounts, giving them seamless, simultaneous access to both their self-managed Dropbox and their corporate managed files. Ross Piper, VP of Enterprise Strategy, told Engadget that the feature grew as a necessity of growth. “We noticed we had 200 million users and 4 million businesses, but no elegant solution to linking the two that gave IT the control it needs without imposing on personal data.” Dropbox’s account linking hopes to solve this problem, giving companies full control over their own accounts, while allowing users private access to their personal files from the same login. The company says it’s “like having your house keys and work keycard on the same keychain, ” but Piper says it feels more like just having two folders on your computer desktop. The new system will roll out to call customers early next year, but users who want to try account linking right now can sign up for the beta on Dropbox’s website. Filed under: Internet , Software Comments Source: Dropbox

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Dropbox links business and personal accounts, says it’s tired of juggling passwords

What will Acer’s outgoing CEO leave as his legacy, aside from a bit of financial wreckage? It could be a pair of brand new TravelMate Ultrabooks, the X313 and P645, which were revealed a few weeks ago and now have final pricing and availability set for this month. The 11-inch X313 is a tablet hybrid like the Surface Pro 2 or VAIO Tap 11 , except that it’s priced higher (at $950), has a lower resolution (1366 x 768) and comes with an older Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor instead of Haswell. This strange choice of silicon could potentially have an impact on battery life, which is officially rated at six hours. Then again, the X313 has a redeeming feature in its portability: at 0.39-inches thick and 1.74 pounds in weight, it’s slightly less of a burden than the two-pound Surface Pro 2. The base spec also includes a 120GB SSD, versus the Microsoft hybrid’s 64GB. Meanwhile, the P645, shown below, does possess Intel’s latest chip, but it’s a more traditional business Ultrabook in an ocean of similar products. The 14-inch Core i5 version also starts at $950 for the base configuration, with a 1366 x 768 display and integrated graphics. Spending more will add a 1080p panel with discrete AMD graphics, although doing so will bring you closer to ThinkPad territory, especially now that the new ThinkPad T440s has launched at $1, 149. As far as legacies go, therefore, we’d suggest that JT Wang puts something else on his CV: perhaps the Iconia W4 or even the new Chromebook . Filed under: Laptops , Tablets , Acer Comments

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Acer goes up against the Surface Pro 2 with its own $950 hybrid

As much as we love Netflix , we’ve always found it a bit odd that the browsing experience is fragmented between platforms. Jumping between PS3, Xbox and Roku devices can be a jarring experience, each offering its own spin on the Netflix queue with an inconsistent distribution of the service’s best features. Even Netflix is put off by the mixed ecosystem: which is why it’s launching a new, unified television experience today. “About a year and half ago we took a step back to think about Netflix’s television experience across devices, ” explains company director of innovation Chris Jaffe. “What we saw was a mismatch in how Netflix worked relative to how regular TV works, where you just turn it on and things are happening.” Jaffe explained that compared to the active browsing experience of traditional channel surfing, Netflix seemed static. “We also looked at the devices and realized that while we’ve got a great experience on the PS3 and some smart TVs , we’ve got an Xbox 360 experience that’s very different.” Fixing these problems required the company to rethink its interface from the ground up. We met up with Netflix to see the results. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD Comments

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Netflix updates Xbox 360, PS3, Roku and Smart TV apps with unified interface

Making CyanogenMod the third major mobile ecosystem is a lofty goal, but the minds behind the custom Android ROM have just made it easier for smartphone users to join their ranks. Rather than installing the operating system by hand, folks can now rely on the freshly-released CyanogenMod Installer app — which just arrived on the Play Store — to do the heavy lifting. A smartphone wielding the application can score the latest version of CyanogenMod by being hooked up to a windows PC (with Windows Vista or newer) running the companion desktop software. The majority of current flagship devices are supported by the setup, and the devs say they’re working on adding more models to the list. Head to the source links below if you’re ready to embrace this outsider operating system, just be sure to back up your handset’s data beforehand. Filed under: Cellphones , Software , Mobile Comments Via: CyanogenMod Blog Source: Google Play Store , CyanogenMod Installer

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CyanogenMod makes installing its Android OS a breeze with new desktop and mobile apps

We’ve been waiting a long time for the AMD chip known as Kaveri , but at least now we have a date for its availability: January 14th. We also know that the flagship desktop part for FM2+ socket motherboards will be called the A10-7850K, that it’ll use four Steamroller CPU cores clocked at 3.7GHz, and that it’ll incorporate the same TrueSound audio processing technology found on AMD’s latest Radeon graphics cards. What we don’t know for sure is how much this A10 chip will cost, or whether it’ll arrive first as a standalone part or in pre-built systems. But either way, we’re about discover something important: namely, whether the next-gen “Heterogeneous Systems Architecture” ( HSA ) that AMD has been boasting about, and which is supported for the first time on Kaveri, is actually worth its syllables. Read on for more. Filed under: Desktops , Gaming , AMD Comments Source: AnandTech

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AMD’s next desktop chip lands in January, merges CPU and GPU like never before