MODDING: blogs

Google Maps for Symbian just got updated to v3.3, with direct syncing support for your ’starred’ places (to the full Web version of Google Maps). In addition, on the first sync, your Nokia/Ovi Maps favourites also get uploaded. You can get v3.3 by going to m.google.com in Web on your phone. There are a couple of screenshots after the break.

The new patch for Need for Speed SHIFT has been released and is ready for download. This is the patch that I benchmarked here and found that it greatly improves ATI video card performance! I just downloaded the North American patch and found it to be 135MB in size and their download servers are fairly fast right now with ~800 KB/sec download speeds. Grab this if you play the game!

Patch 1.02 includes five new cars (Toyota Supra Mk IV, 1967 Shelby GT500, 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, 1969 Dodge Charger R/T and the 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T). There is a new game mode called Team Racing which pits Team Red vs Team Blue in an intense battle for track domination. The maximum number of racers in an online game is increased from 8 to 12.

Micron Technology, Inc. has raised the performance bar for SSDs. The company today announced its RealSSD C300 SSD, the industrys fastest for notebook and desktop PCs. Microns new RealSSD C300 drive enables users to enjoy a more powerful and responsive computing experienceincluding faster operating system (OS) boot and hibernate times, and speedier application load, data transfer and file copying. Micron says that C300 drive outperforms every client SSD currently available on the market, which is amazing if it is true. They also sent us a link of a YouTube clip that shows their RealSSD C300 go head-to-head with a 7200RPM hard drive in everyday tasks that is worth a watch.

The RealSSD C300 drive leverages Microns established 34nm MLC NAND flash memory, allowing the company to provide a cost-competitive, high-capacity SSD solution. Bringing another first to SSDs, Microns 34nm MLC NAND supports the high-speed ONFI 2.1 standard, ensuring the NAND performance keeps pace with the faster SATA 6Gb/s interface. The drives will be available in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch form factors, with both drives supporting 128GB and 256GB capacities. Micron is currently sampling the C300 SSD in limited quantities and expects to enter production in the first quarter of calendar 2010.

Thermaltake Lanbox Lite Case Review @ Hi Tech Legion and other reviews from around the web can be found by visiting our forums!

“I am a pretty big gamer, and I definitely am known to frequent a LAN party or two. In most cases, I would be packing up one of my computers that was housed in a mid tower case, which was far from portable. Now having tested the Lanbox Lite and seen the room that this case provides, I think a LAN build will be in order for me. The easy installation with excellent airflow will allow me to run a full sized graphics card with good graphics power for gaming. In addition, the side windows and the stylish exterior will certainly garner attention from my fellow gamers at the next LAN party I attend. If LAN parties are not your thing, dont pass over this case without a look. The stylish design and excellent interior space makes this a very nice HTPC case that will add a nice touch to any entertainment center. The quiet running fans do not contribute much to the noise levels, which makes for a quiet solution as a piece of entertainment for your home theater center.”

California will be the “lead market” for the Chevy Volt when the electrically driven car is available at the end of next year, General Motors said Wednesday. California was chosen because the state has the largest U.S. car market, and Californians are “known to be leaders in adopting groundbreaking new technologies,” GM's vice president of global Chevrolet brand, Brent Deware, said in a statement pegged to this week's Los Angeles International Auto Show. The 2011 Chevy Volt is an electric car that goes 40 miles on an electric charge. This reduces harmful carbon emissions and gas usage.

Production of the Volt is scheduled to start in late 2010. GM has not announced pricing for the 2011 model, though newly dethroned CEO Fritz Henderson acknowledged earlier this fall that the price would be about $40,000. (GM's board on Tuesday asked Henderson to resign, effective immediately.) As part of the California rollout, GM plans to make 100 Volts available to three utilities for testing. The cars will be used as fleet vehicles, and performance data will be collected via GM's OnStar in-car communications for a Department of Energy-run research program.

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5750 Vapor-X, with the configuration of 720 stream processors and 1GB of GDDR5 memory offers users access to the same new generation technology, and full DirectX 11 support found on the more expensive models at a lower price point. The Vapor-X model is also factory overclocked and uses a better cooling solution than the reference design. Read on to see what this budget friendly card is all about.

The Sapphire Vapor-X HD5750 has a look all its own. Though, looks aren't what the Vapor-X is all about; it's about performance. Using their patent pending Black Diamond Chokes they can offer a card that is 10% cooler and offers 25% more power efficiency than other cards that use the normal chokes. To keep things even cooler this card uses the Vapor-X cooler. A key point for me aside from performance (which the Vapor-X has plenty of) is the noise, or lack thereof. Throughout the testing I never heard a peep out of the fan. The test I was sure I would hear the fan on was the power consumption test. I disabled all the other fans in the system so that they wouldn't fluctuate speed and power, and I still couldn't hear the fan on the Vapor-X while it was set on auto.

Codemasters announced yesterday that a playable demo of the DirectX 11-powered Games for Windows LIVE edition of DiRT 2 has gone live and is available for PC gamers everywhere to download and play. A full list of mirror sites, plus gameplay and tech videos, is now available at www.dirt2game.com. If you have a DirectX 11 graphics card already you owe it to yourself to download this demo and see what your new graphics card is capable of doing. This game looks amazing and only the new DirectX 11 enabled AMD Radeon HD 5000 series of graphics cards give you all the eye candy.

The playable demo enables gamers to compete in two of DiRT 2s exhilarating events. In the Trailblazer event, players take on the ultimate test of rally car against the challenging Moroccan terrain on a point-to-point track filled with flat-out straights and hair-raising hairpins in the Mitsubishi Eclipse GT. In the second event, gamers compete in a Landrush race at the spectacular Ensenada Port circuit set in Baja California, where players go wheel-to-wheel in an 8-vehicle riotous race over lethal bumps and killer jumps in the heavy duty West Coast Choppers Stuka TT.

The Patriot Box Office is a media player that frees your digital media library from the constraints of a PC and bridges digital media to your home entertainment system. The Box Office also supports the most popular media formats (H.264, ISO, VOB, DivX, xVid, MKV, MOV, MPEG and more) and recently came out with a firmware update to play Blu-Ray ISO files. Legit Reviews took the time to try out this new firmware version and gives you the details on it in a down and dirty update.

This week Patriot released their first firmware update for the Box Office media player. This beta P02 firmware adds support for Blu-ray ISO files and gives the player support for multi-channel HDMI audio out. With the newest firmware installed, we immediately tried to play an ISO ripped from a Blu-Ray disk. The file played with no hesitation. In fact, my receiver even picked up the LPCM via the Patriots HDMI out. Mission accomplished, Patriot. O.

Acer plans to launch a Google Chrome operating system-based netbook, which the company has been developing since mid-2009 in the second half of 2010, according to industry sources. While Google Chrome OS is based on an open-source Linux kernel as with other builds weve seen on netbooks, it differentiates itself by keeping all of the action in the browser.

Acer chairman JT Wang also expressed his confidence that the company will be the first vendor to launch Chrome-based netbook in the market during a recent interview with Digitimes. Acer was the first first-tier vendor to launch a Google Android-based netbook in the market. Although demand for the model was not as strong as expected, it did not dampen Acer's willingness to develop netbooks with non-Microsoft operating systems.

The Thermaltake Element T is a mid-tower gaming chassis with great features such as a tool-less design, a full mesh front panel and the ability to house seven 3.5″ hard drives. When it comes to cooling the case features a 230mm side panel fan as well as two 200mm case fans in addition to its 120mm 'turbo' exhaust fan. Read on to see if this is the case for you!

Out of the cardboard box, Styrofoam, and plastic wrap, we have this case with its 'tactical appearance' which is really not that descriptive, if I had to choose words to describe its appearance, I would go with 'simple' with more of a 'functional' outlook. This case doesn't have all the bells and whistles a lot of cases now come with like most gaming chassis. Aside from the four red LEDs in the 200mm top fan, the only other light is the HDD status indicator.