Funky Kit - Hardware Reviews and News

Intel's $150 HDMI Stick Turns Any TV Into a Windows Desktop

Details: Category: PC & Computers; Published: Friday, 30 January 2015 20:11; Written by Wesley Braddock

Got an HDMI port handy? Sure, you could plug in a Chromecast, Fire TV Stick or Roku Streaming Stick to get your Netflix fix. Or you could pay $150 to get a full Windows 8.1 PC in the same form factor.

This is the Intel Compute Stick, a humble HDMI dongle that houses a full desktop computer experience. It's not a particularly powerful one—you get a quad-core 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of solid state storage—but it does have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and both a full-size USB port and a microSD card slot for expandability. As long as you're not gaming and find yourself a decent couch controller, you could probably do quite a bit from this tiny PC! Here's the spec sheet.

Samsung TVs will play PlayStation games without a PlayStation in 2015

Details: Category: Audio & Visual; Published: Friday, 30 January 2015 19:30; Written by Wesley Braddock

Sony and Samsung are teaming up to offer gamers a festive treat: PlayStation games without a PlayStation on Samsung smart TVs.

playstation-controller-sony-crop

Samsung's Internet-connected TVs in the US and Canada will be able to access the PlayStation Now service in the first half of next year.

Microsoft Details How They Are Going To Deliver Updates For Windows 10 For Enterprise Customers

Details: Category: Apps & Software; Published: Friday, 30 January 2015 18:52; Written by Chris McCart

On January 21, Terry Myerson announced that a free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices who upgrade in the first year after launch*. This is something we think consumers and many small businesses will be really excited about, given it is the first time we have offered a free upgrade on this scale. We believe this will allow hundreds of millions of customers to upgrade to Windows 10 soon after launch, create a broad opportunity for our ecosystem partners to drive innovation, and deliver value to all Windows 10 customers. And as Terry said last week, this is much more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current via Windows Update for the supported lifetime** of the device – at no cost. We think of this as Windows as a Service, and think that it’s remarkable news for many of our customers and partners. As an example, customers running Windows 7 Pro and Windows 8/8.1 Pro, like small businesses, have an opportunity to upgrade to Windows 10 for free in the first year. It would allow them to take advantage of the latest innovation, and enable their devices to stay up to date with latest features and security updates going forward. We recommend those customers take advantage of the upgrade within the first year, as soon as it is available. There’s also more information about the offer on our website.

For enterprise customers and partners, we will continue to deliver exclusive value and offer extensive flexibility in how Windows 10 is deployed and managed as Windows evolves to become a service. For companies that require these enterprise-grade capabilities, Windows Software Assurance (SA) will continue to offer the best and most comprehensive benefits. Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise are not included in the terms of free Windows 10 Upgrade offer we announced last week, given active Software Assurance customers will continue to have rights to upgrade to Windows 10 enterprise offerings outside of this offer – while also benefitting from the full flexibility to deploy Windows 10 using their existing management infrastructure.

LG adopts all-plastic flexible OLED displays, no more glass

Details: Category: Audio & Visual; Published: Thursday, 29 January 2015 16:28; Written by Chris McCart

LG Chem is ready to announce that the korean company completed their development of a truly flexible plastic based OLED lighting Panel. The first samples are available for their customers.

flexible-oled-lighting-panel

The current bendable OLED lighting modules (F6BA40, F6BA30) are thin glass based and can only provide a limited bending of 75 mm. The new completely flexible plastic based panels increased the bending radios flexibility to 30mm which also eliminates the danger of the panel shattering when excessive force is applied. LG describe that the main problem to change from glass to plastic was to maintain the performance levels of efficiency, luminance, and CRI. LG Chem has overcome this challenge by adopting its expertise in barrier and encapsulation technology.

Supreme League of Patriots Hilarious Superhero Comedy Adventure Available Now

Details: Category: Apps & Software; Published: Thursday, 29 January 2015 07:31; Written by Jeremy Gulley

Phoenix Online Publishing Releases First Game From No Bull Intentions, Now Available for PC, Mac and Linux

slop screen

St. Louis, MO – January 29, 2015 – Evil-doers beware, Phoenix Online Publishing and No Bull Intentions today announced the release of Supreme League of Patriots for PC, Mac and Linux! Don your cape and hit the streets of New York City in this hilarious superhero comedy adventure! All three issues of Supreme League are available on Steam, GOG.com, the Humble Store, and the Phoenix Online Store (store.POStudios.com) for $14.99 as a season pass, and $5.99 individually. The new trailer can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYE_VXLjboM