If ever there were a prime candidate for Pimp my Mouse, ROCCAT’s Savu would be it. The R.A.D. peripheral (no, really, that’s the acronym) incorporates a category-first: an achievements application that rewards players for “a wide range of gaming feats, such as mouse movement, button clicks, scroll steps, etc.” The tricked-out mouse also features an adjustable 4000 DPI optical sensor and Easy-Shift+ tech to let gamers program up to two dedicated functions per button. But, wait, there’s more superfluousness to endure. In the event you feel the need to take this whole affair to 11, the company’s also tossed in a customizable rear light bar that can be preset to one of 16.8 million colors. If you’re a fan of over-the-top desktop accessories, you can snag this posterboy peripheral now for $60 at the virtual (or brick-and-mortar) retailer of your choice. Need more convincing? Then click on past the break for the hyperbolic presser from this extra-ordinary PC gaming kit.

Continue reading ROCCAT Savu hybrid mouse ready to assault PC gamers’ senses for $60

ROCCAT Savu hybrid mouse ready to assault PC gamers’ senses for $60 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can never have enough apps, right? With that in mind, Microsoft’s rolling out a couple of new applications to Xbox 360s in the US and Canada. For starters, those of you living Stateside will now have access to Manga Entertainment and MUZU.TV (also available in the True North); the first of which allows you to watch free video content from its catalog, while the latter has around 40,000 music videos ready for your viewing pleasure. In addition to the aforementioned apps, the Australia-only FOXTEL application has been updated with support for Redmond’s Kinect, allowing Oz folks to control it with hand gestures or by voice. We’ve already seen the new apps pop up on our Xbox, so you should be seeing them hit your console any time now.

Microsoft rolling out new apps to Xbox 360, including MUZU.TV and Manga in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Western Digital has completed its FTC-ordered handover of assets to Toshiba in order to buy Hitachi’s HDD business Viviti. The wedding of the year was halted when regulators, citing monopoly concerns, demanded WD hand over a bundle of IP, R&D materials and production line gear to Tosh. In exchange, Western Digital will take over Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand), the arm of the company that was devastated in the recent flooding. It’s WD’s aim to integrate the remaining assets into its own local operations — you can read the official line in the land of pure imagination below.

Continue reading WD grits teeth, hands over the goodies to Toshiba to regulators and dentists’ delight

WD grits teeth, hands over the goodies to Toshiba to regulators and dentists’ delight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been following AMD’s game plan over the last couple of years, then you probably won’t be totally shocked by what follows. That said, reviewers’ verdicts of the new high-end Trinity laptop APU, the 2.3GHz quad-core A10-4600M, do include some dizzying highs and despairing lows, which are still kinda surprising in their own way. Like how? Well, HotHardware found that AMD’s chip beats Intel’s Ivy Bridge (with integrated HD 4000 graphics) by 30 to 50 percent in some games, albeit with a few stumbles over immature DX11 drivers. Similarly, AnandTech‘s handy table above shows just how far ahead Trinity is across fifteen common titles. On the other hand, most reviewers found that non-gaming CPU performance fell far short of Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge mobile chips. For example, Hexus‘s Geekbench scores put the APU 40 percent behind last year’s Dell XPS 15z, which is totally underwhelming. So, as usual, it’ll all depend on what you need a laptop for — but if you’re after something that costs $699 or less, handles regular day-to-day tasks okay and can also play current games with decent frame-rates, then you’ll be keen to conduct further research at the links below.

Read – HotHardware
Read – AnandTech
Read – Hexus
Read – PC Perspective

AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With so much information readily available at our fingertips, a multitude of devices to access it from and an increasing outside demand for our divided attention, it’s easy to short-circuit on the productivity front. But there’s a bright spot on the horizon as emerging research out of MIT is poised to help offload the burden shouldered by our overtaxed grey matter with a much needed and intuitive assist from human-robot systems. The Brainput project — as the collaborative effort is known — combines near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with an input system designed to read changes in a user’s brain state and translate those signals into an adaptive multi-tasking interface. Sounds like heady stuff, but if successfully implemented into high-stress environments like air traffic control, the low-cost, experimental tech could go a long way to boosting individual performance and reducing overall stress levels. For now, the team still has a ways to go before the system, presently capable of interpreting three distinct mental states, could make its way into end user applications. Curious for a more in-depth, jargony journey through the project’s ins and outs? Then click on the source below for your daily dose of scientific head candy.

MIT’s Brainput reads your mind to make multi-tasking easier originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 07:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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