Returning to their roots with day four of their 14 days of bundles, Humble has decided to give people a second chance at a collection of up to eleven games from the Humble Indie Bundle 8 that happened…oh, about a year ago it looks like, so t…
Investing in the top range motherboard should afford a few privileges. It should come with extra features, extra components in the box, and where possible the manufacturer should put time and effort into better performance. The ASUS Z97-…
Companies often try to diversify their product lineup into other market segments, and today’s review is such an attempt. XFX began as a graphics card manufacturer, later branching into motherboards, power supplies, and now cases. Today we’re reviewing the Type 01 Bravo today, first ever PC case from XFX. With their enthusiast roots, XFX has created a mid-tower case targeted at gamers. Read on for our full testing and analysis.
Samsung has announced a new tablet aimed at the education market. The Galaxy Tab 4 Education is a 10.1” WXGA (1280×800) device built with a ruggedized chassis and designed to work with Google Play for Education.
Samsung is hoping that the tablet features and price appeal to those doing purchasing for school divisions. The Android 4.4 device is equipped with a 1.2 GHz quad core processor (actual model number unknown), 1.5 GB of memory, and 16 GB of storage. Battery life from the 6800 mAH battery is rated at 10 hours for the 1.08 lb tablet.
Also included is a microSD card slot for an additional 64 GB of storage, 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless, NFC and a HDMI port. Samsung also includes its customizations on Android including Multi Window.
The specifications are decidedly low end by any modern definition, but the goal of this device isn’t ultimate performance, but a rugged durable device with a price a school district can afford.
The tablet will be compatible with a future upgrade of Samsung School – an interactive classroom management solution – and for an additional $30 per device, the Google Apps for Education web console can be used to manage the device.
The device is available as of today for $369.99 through Samsung distribution and channel partners.
| 10″ Education Tablets | ||||||
| Galaxy Tab 4 Education | Asus Transformer Pad (Education) | iPad w/Retina | ||||
| Dimensions |
H: 9.58″ (243 mm) W: 6.94″ (176 mm) D: 0.31″ (7.9 mm) |
H: 10.13″ (257 mm) W: 7.02″ (178 mm) D: 0.39″ (9.9 mm) |
H: 9.5″ (241.2 mm) W: 7.31″ (186 mm) D: 0.37″ (9.4 mm) |
|||
| Weight | 1.08 lbs (490g) | 1.19 lbs (550g) | 1.46lbs (662g) | |||
| CPU | Quad Core Quallcomm (1.2 GHz) | Intel Bay Trail-T Z3740 (1.33 GHz) | Dual Core A6X (1.4 GHz) | |||
| GPU | N/A | Intel HD Graphics | PowerVR SGX 554MP4 | |||
| RAM | 1.5 GB LPDDR3 | 1 GB LPDDR3 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | |||
| Storage | 16 GB + 64 GB microSD | 16 GB + 64 GB microSD | 16 GB | |||
| Display Size and Resolution | 10.1″ 1280×800 | 10.1″ 1280×800 | 9.7″ 2048×1536 | |||
| Battery | 6800 mAh | N/A | 11,560 mAh | |||
| Price | $369 + $30 for Management Console | $269 + $30 for Management Console, optional keyboard dock $60 | $399 | |||
There is definitely some stiff competition in this space, with the Asus Transformer Pad education version coming in at a far lower cost, but without the ruggedized build. Apple’s iPad is also very successful in the K-12 education market.
Update: Samsung has confirmed to us that it’s a Qualcomm SoC, but wouldn’t disclose the exact part. This means it is likely a Cortex A7 CPU, but the rest of the details are unknown.
Today Apple released the long awaited OS X 10.9.3 update. The update comes after nine weeks of beta testing, each week with a new release. One of the most interesting things about the update is not in its content but in how Apple opened up their beta seed program to all users when it was traditionally reserved for those who are part of Apple’s developer program.
The most major improvement of the update is the improved 4K (3840×2160) display support on OS X. Prior to 10.9.3 the support for 4K displays on OS X was lacking. Only a small group of monitors from ASUS and Sharp were supported for running at 3840×2160 with a 60Hz refresh rate, and the scaled display options that Apple introduced with the original Macbook Pro with Retina Display were unavailable. This made for poor usability on monitors like the Dell UP2414Q which is only 24” and has extremely small UI elements when running unscaled at its native resolution. In 10.9.3 Apple has greatly expanded the list of compatible 4K displays and has introduced scaling modes for those who prefer sharper UI elements over display real estate.
Anand took a look at the changes to 4K support in the first beta of 10.9.3. Apple now gives the user options for display scaling which includes settings for a workspace that looks like 3200×1800, 2560×1440, 1920×1080, or 1280×720. All of these are handled the same way as on the Macbook Pro with Retina Display where the display is rendered offscreen at twice the selected vertical and horizontal resolution and then scaled down to the panel. In the case of the 3200×1800 setting this means that the display is rendered offscreen at 6400×3600 which may cause performance issues when being driven with the Intel Iris graphics of a Macbook Pro with Retina Display or the entry level 21.5” iMac.
With 10.9.3 Apple has not only broadly increased support for 4K displays, but also enabled 60Hz output to 4K displays on more systems. The Dell UP2414Q, a 24″ 3840 x 2160 display, is now properly supported by OS X and Macs that can drive it at its native resolution. Apple appears to have manually added a profile for the UP2414Q as its scaled resolutions are somewhat different from the 30″ Sharp/ASUS 4K panels.
| Apple OS X 10.9.3 4K Display Handling | ||||||
| Scaled Resolution | ASUS/Sharp 30″ 4K | Dell 24″ 4K (UP2414Q) | ||||
| Best for Display Setting | 3840 x 2160 | 1080p Hi-DPI | ||||
| Scaled Resolution 1 | 1504 x 846 (3008 x 1692) | 1504 x 846 (3008 x 1692) | ||||
| Scaled Resolution 2 | 1920 x 1080 (3840 x 2160) | 1920 x 1080 (3840 x 2160) | ||||
| Scaled Resolution 3 | 2560 x 1440 (5120 x 2880) | 2304 x 1296 (4608 x 2592) | ||||
| Scaled Resolution 4 | 3008 x 1692 (6016 x 3384) | 2560 x 1440 (5120 x 2880) | ||||
| Scaled Resolution 5 | 3840 x 2160 | 3008 x 1692 (6016 x 3384) | ||||
There is no native 3840 x 2160 resolution exposed on the UP2414Q and by default OS X appears to want to run the panel in a 1080p Hi-DPI mode. This is similar to what happens on the rMBPs where text/UI elements appear as they would on a 1080p display, while images, videos and other similar objects appear as they would on a 3840 x 2160 display.
The 24″ 4K panel gains a new intermediate scaled mode of 2304 x 1296. The table above shows the frame buffer resolution in paratheses. For example, the screenshot below was taken with the UP2414Q set to its highest scaled resolution (3008 x 1692). The full untouched PNG weighs in at 19.8MB from OS X and is a 6016 x 3384 image. At the highest scaled resolution setting the frame buffer is now over 20 megapixels (excluding the 5MP primary Retina Display), which is just insane. The screenshot open in Preview (screenshot within the screenshot) is a 2880 x 1800 screenshot, open at full size. Note how little space the screenshot occupies. Apple’s Hi-DPI scaling and seamless integration across the ecosystem continues to be awesome.
Along with expanded display support, some new Macs also get the ability to drive 4K panels at 60Hz. By some I mean one: the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display from late 2013. This is the Haswell refresh of the rMBP15, and it remains the only portable Mac capable of driving a 4K panel at 60Hz over either of its two miniDP ports (HDMI is limited to 30Hz).
The 13-inch Haswell rMBP unfortunately doesn’t support 4K60, although you can use its HDMI port to drive a 4K panel at 30Hz (I noted MST compatibility issues when trying to use the 2013 rMBP13’s miniDP out). I suspect this has more to do with performance than a physical hardware limitation, as even running the 13-inch rMBP’s primary display at a high frame rate can be a chore with a lot of windows open. The 15-inch 2013 rMBP forces the use of its GeForce GT 750M whenever you connect an external display, which helps ensure a better experience when driving a couple of high res displays. Obviously the new Mac Pro works just fine with these displays as well.
Update: As many of you have pointed out, the base 15-inch 2013 rMBP also lacks a discrete GPU. Apple doesn’t specifically exclude the entry level 15-inch rMBP in its release notes. Driving ultra high resolutions (up to nearly 26MP across two displays) is mostly an exercise in memory bandwidth and ROP performance. The 15-inch rMBP benefits from having Intel’s Crystalwell eDRAM on-package, which should help tremendously in the memory bandwidth department at least. If anything, the lack of Crystalwell is probably what keeps the 13-inch rMBP from getting access to the higher scaled resolution modes at least.
Beyond the improvements to 4K support Apple has also included various stability and security improvements. 10.9.3 also bundles the Safari 7.0.3 update which brings along its own bundle of security patches. The full changelog for the update is as follows:
- Improves 4K display support on Mac Pro (Late 2013) and MacBook Pro with 15-inch Retina Display (Late 2013)
- Adds the ability to sync contacts and calendars between a Mac and iOS device using a USB connection
- Improves the reliability of VPN connections using IPsec
- Resolves an issue that prevented Font Book from installing PostScript Type 1 fonts
- Improves reliability of copying, editing and inspecting permissions of files on an SMB file server
- Improves reliability of network home directories
- Improves stability when installing configuration profiles
- Improves login speed for users in Active Directory groups
- Includes Safari 7.0.3
OS X 10.9.3 is available now to all Mac users with a computer that supports OS X Mavericks. The changelog for the update is available in the source below and Apple will put up a page detailing the security content of the update on their security page shortly.
Source: Apple