MICROSOFT TO ALLOW PIRATED WINDOWS USERS UPGRADE TO GENUINE WINDOWS 10 FOR FREE

Piracy has always been the enemy to genuine software and we are pretty sure Microsoft has extensive experience dealing with counterfeit software being the largest software company in the world. However, the company has decided to take an extremely different approach for the upcoming release of Windows 10 in China later this year: by offering free upgrade to pirated Windows users.

This rather interesting information was announced by Terry Myerson, the Executive Vice President of Operating Systems for Microsoft in an interview with Reuters. That being said, Myerson did mentioned that the upgrade will be provided to qualified PCs but didn’t provide detailed clarifications on that matter.

Of course, it goes without saying that users with genuine Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will receive free upgrade to Windows 10 as well within the first year of its release as per what Microsoft has announced in January 2015. Still, we are wondering though if there is any hidden agenda behind this move by Microsoft in China.

At this moment, it is not known whether Microsoft will provide similar offer to markets outside of China or otherwise. It will be interesting to how the market will coupe or change to such move, if Microsoft is willing to deliver similar offer in other countries.

[Source: Reuters and Windows Official Blog. Image: Microsoft China @ Weibo]

NVIDIA SHEDS MORE LIGHT ON GEFORCE GTX TITAN X: AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY FOR USD 999

When it was first shown to the world for the first time at GDC 2015 earlier this month,NVIDIA only revealed three things about its brand new GeForce GTX Titan X graphics card: how it looks like, 12GB of VRAM, and 8 billion transistors. The company promised to reveal more info about its new high-end graphics card at its own GPU Technology Conferencethat kicked off earlier today and yes…NVIDIA has kept its promise.

Equipped with NVIDIA’s new 28nm GM200 GPU, the new Titan X features 3,072 stream processors (or CUDA cores, as NVIDIA calls them), 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operations unit. The card runs at a base clock speed of 1000 MHz that can dynamically rise up to 1075 MHz.

In terms of memory, Titan X features a 384-bit memory interface together with 12GB GDDR5 VRAM that runs at 7 GHz. Altogether, the card apparently able to deliver 7 TFLOPS worth of single precision performance as well as 0.2 TFLOPS double precision performance at 250W TDP.

At the same time, NVIDIA also claims that Titan X has 33% higher texture filtering rate and 50% more peak memory bandwidth than GeForce GTX 980. Apart from DirectX 12, it goes without saying that the Titan X pretty much supports plenty of NVIDIA’s in-house techs such as Physx, MFAA, VXGI, SLI, VR Direct, and the upcoming VR SLI.

Meanwhile, NVIDIA has also stated that Titan X is also designed for overclocking. Hence, the company has strengthen the card with 6-phase power supply with overvoltaging capability in addition to another 2-phase power supply specifically for its 12GB GDDR5 memory. In total, the Titan X’s GPU receives 275W worth of power at maximum power target setting of 110%.

In fact, the company claimed that Titan X cards have managed to hit 1.4GHz during its internal testing even though they are running on reference air cooling. Together with the help of improved airflow design, NVIDIA has also quipped Titan X with polarized capacitors and molded inductors to help the card operates more quietly.

Available immediately from NVIDIA with add-in board partners to follow suit within the next few weeks, the retail version of NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan X will continue to carry the reference design cooling system and is priced at USD 999 (around RM 3,695). To learn more about the card, head on to NVIDIA’s official website and don’t forget to stay tuned for our review of the card coming your way very soon.

MANAGE YOUR XIAOMI SMARTPHONE WITH THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH MI PC SUITE

Previously available only in Chinese, the Mi PC Suite (or MiPhone Manager) is now officially available in English as well. This nifty desktop application enables owners of a Xiaomi smartphone to manage multiple aspects of the device with a computer, which can be convenient to back up large amount of data.

The MiPhone Manager, just like other PC Suites, enables easy back up of your Xiaomi smartphone. Other than that, you can also use it to uninstall apps from your device, write down a note from the PC Suite itself which can then be accessed on the device afterwards, and even the ability to control your phone from your computer.

Unfortunately, in order for the MiPhone Manager to detect your phone, it has to be connected to the computer via USB, which is a little bit inconvenient. That being said, it could still be useful for certain purposes, such as large file transfers and data backups.

Before the official availability of the MiPhone Manager in English, multiple users have translated the Chinese version. Although they were successful in doing so, there were bugs here and there that could prove to be annoying to the average consumer. It’s nice to finally have an official English version that should have minimal to no bugs.

If you own a Xiaomi smartphone and would like to try the Mi PC Suite for yourself, you can download it over here.

(Source: MIUI Forum)

FUJITSU DEVELOPS LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM FOR SMARTPHONES

Japanese electronics manufacturer Fujitsu has discovered an answer to heating problems that modern devices face, and it happens to be a miniaturised liquid cooling system. The loop heat pipe measures some 1mm in diameter, but the company claims that it will increase heat transfer in devices by as much as five times.

The thin loop heat pipe resembles any other liquid cooling system in that it is composed of an evaporator that absorbs heat from the source, and a condenser that evaporates the heat away. Fujitsu has not specified what kind of liquid coolant will be used in the system. The loop itself is constructed from layered copper sheets, each some 0.1mm thick.

Fujitsu claims that this system can be used for any mobile device because it is built using an etching process. Which means that the pipe layout and heat transfer can be used for just about any device.

It is difficult to see how something like this could be integrated into devices that continually strive to be the thinnest thing ever. However, smartphones aside, it could be an interesting solution for Ultrabooks and laptops that have been eschewing fans in favour of silent operation. Provided, of course, that it is capable of handling the increased heat output.

Fujitsu expects to have the thin loop heat pipe technology implemented in devices by 2017, which is a long way off by consumer electronics standards. We can think of at least one company that would love to have extra cooling in its devices.

[Source: Fujitsu]

APPLE TO IMPLEMENT TRADE-IN OFFER FOR ANDROID DEVICES

Apple will be launching a new program which allows users to trade-in their non-Apple devices to receive discounts when purchasing a new Apple device. The company will be using a similar program it has for its iPhone Reuse and Recycle trade-in program, but this time to cater to non-Apple devices.

In the company’s latest effort to tempt potential Android switchers, the Cupertino giant is starting a trade-in program for users to obtain discounts by trading in their devices – mostly Android and Blackberry smartphones. The discount will come in the form of gift cards and it can be used to receive a price reduction when purchasing a new iDevice.

To prepare for the new program which will purportedly begin in the coming weeks, extensive training programs for retail store employees will soon commence. Apple employees will be trained to evaluate the trade-in value based on the devices’ aesthetics and functionality. Besides that, they will be able to migrate some of the user’s data like contacts from their devices to iPhones, whereas other data will have to be moved by customers themselves.

The iPhone Reuse and Recycle trade-in program was launched back in 2013 and it was originally exclusively for the iPhone. The company later added the iPad to the program on Earth Day, 22nd April 2014. The program was to encourage users of older iPhone models to upgrade to the iPhone 5 series – iPhone 5, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. It now covers countries like the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia.

[Sources: 9to5mac via GSMarena]

WINDOWS 10 TO BE AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER IN 190 COUNTRIES

Moments ago, Microsoft has just revealed that Windows 10 will be shipped to 190 countries throughout the world this coming summer. That means we’ll be seeing the new operating system sometime between June and August this year.

In addition to that, Windows 10 will be made available in 111 languages in order to suit these markets. However, Microsoft didn’t actually specify actual release date for each of those 190 countries and no pricing was mentioned as well.

That being said, Microsoft has reconfirmed that existing Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 8.1 users will able to upgrade to Windows 10 for free within the first year after the new operating system is release into the market. As mentioned back in January, the operating system will continue to be updated without any additional cost for the supported lifetime of the device once it is upgraded to Windows 10.

All in all, this means that we will not only see a new Windows operating system at the end of Q2 or beginning of Q3 this year but plenty of new devices as well. For those who are in the market for new Windows PC, laptops, or tablet at this moment, the upgradability to Windows 10 is something that you might want to consider as well.

[Source: Windows Official Blog]

LENOVO P70 WITH 4,000MAH BATTERY NOW AVAILABLE IN MALAYSIA FOR RM729

Lenovo Malaysia has quietly announced the Lenovo P70‘s availability in Malaysia on its Facebook and Twitter accounts. This particular smartphone is equipped with a huge 4,000mAh battery that is said to offer up to 34 days of standby time or up to 46 hours of talk time, which is pretty impressive.

The Lenovo P70’s specifications are pretty standard for a mid-range device. It has a 5-inch 1280 x 720 IPS display, a Mediatek MT6752 octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz paired with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage which can be expanded with a microSD card, and Android 4.4 KitKat, presumably with the company’s Vibe UI on top.

In the camera department, there is a 13MP rear camera along with a 5MP front-facing shooter. The Lenovo P70 is also a dual-SIM smartphone and has LTE connectivity. Judging by these specifications and the very generous 4,000mAh battery, the P70 is a pretty compelling smartphone, especially for budget-conscious consumers.

Design wise, the P70 seems to share some design elements of the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro, especially the rear of the device. The curved sides of the back cover should help with the ergonomics of the P70; assuming the material is not slippery.

The Lenovo P70 is now available for purchase in Malaysia. With a retail price of RM729, it’s priced rather competitively.