If you thought virtual reality headsets were expensive, the price of desktops designed to create VR content will blow you away. HP's new Z Workstations, announced on Tuesday, start at US $4,363, and that doesn't include a VR headset. The desktops can also be used for movie-making, engineering tasks, and other resource-heavy applications. The desktops can be used to create content for HTC's Vive headset. HP's line of Z Workstations have been used to
The writing was on the wall for some Intel executives after a former Qualcomm executive was hired to oversee the company’s PC, Internet of Things and software businesses, and two of them are departing. Kirk Skaugen, who previously led the Client Computing Group, and Doug Davis, who ran the IoT group, are leaving the company, Intel said Monday. Their roles were diminished after the November appointment of Venkata Renduchintala, who formerly worked at Qualcomm, as president of Intel’s Client and IoT businesses and its Systems Architecture Group. Renduchintala, who’s known as Murthy, is effectively Intel’s number two executive after Brian Krzanich.
A version of Windows 10 is now the operating system of choice—or maybe, not by choice—for Steam users. According to Valve’s Steam hardware and software survey for March 2016, Windows 10 (64-bit) is installed on 36.97 percent of all devices running Steam. That’s a gain of 2.96 percent from February, and it pushes the OS past Windows 7 (64-bit), which fell to 32.99 percent last month. Overall, Windows 7 still has a slight edge if you factor in both 64-bit and 32-bit installations. Combined, Windows 7 accounts for 39.96 percent of Steam installs, compared to 38.28 percent for Windows 10. Still, any version of Windows 10 hitting the top of those charts seems like a noteworthy milestone.
Google’s Chrome OS continues to assault business PCs with a new all-in-one Chrome OS computer designed for video conferences. Acer and Google recently announced the Acer Chromebase for meetings based on the Acer’s new all-in-one is meant for video conferencing in “small meeting areas with up to two people,” according to
I did emerge from my VR chrysalis for a few hours this weekend to give the PC version a shot, though—just a quick “It runs and it looks beautiful” look at the game. I didn’t make it very far past what I’d already played in previous press demos, but the difference playing on a PC is
With privacy and secrecy functions a given in competing messaging systems, BlackBerry is dropping the subscription fee for users of the ‘retract’ and ‘timer’ functions of its cross-platform BBM messaging app. As BlackBerry’s share of the smartphone market declined, it released versions of its BBM messaging app for iOS and Android to reach new users, but made some features available only as paid add-ons in a bid to shore up revenue. With some of those features now found at the heart of competing messaging services—such as Snapchat’s focus on making picture messages expire after a certain time—BlackBerry is now forced to drop the charges or see users switch.
It's time for you to have the amazing clipboard powers you never knew you needed.
Microsoft has long had an
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is to sell its majority stake in Indian IT services provider Mphasis to Blackstone Group, in a deal that will help the Palo Alto, California, company raise capital as well as continue to get services delivered from India. HPE said the purchase by Blackstone of its shares at rupees 430 (US$6.5) a share values its 60.5 percent stake at about $825 million. Under the agreement announced late Sunday, HPE will continue to have services delivered to it and its clients under an existing customer agreement that it plans to extend for another five years. HP business accounted for 24 percent of the Indian company’s total revenue of rupees 15 billion in the fourth quarter. The company had 23,512 staff at the end of the quarter, delivering both business process outsourcing and IT services.
Yamaha joins the growing list of manufacturers releasing DTS:X upgrades, while Denon and Marantz up the ante with Auro-3D support on select A/V receivers.