At the rate things were going, it was only a matter of time before Google’s Chrome browser skipped ahead of Mozilla Firefox, and according to at least one Web analytics company, it’s finally happened. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s paid attention to the browser market. Chrome has been gaining ground ever since it was released, while Firefox long appeared to plateau, and even fall back a step a time or two.

According to data from StatCounter Global Stats, Chrome now owns more than a quarter (25.69 percent) of the worldwide browser market. That’s enough to edge out Firefox (25.23 percent), if only by a hair. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, meanwhile, still leads them all with a 40.63 percent share of the global market.

“We can look forward to a fascinating battle between Microsoft and Google as the pace of growth of Chrome suggests that it will become a real rival to Internet Explorer globally,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter. “Our stats measure actual browser usage, not downloads, so while Chrome has been highly effective in ensuring downloads our stats show that people are actually using it to access the web also.”

Things play out a little differently in the U.S. IE still holds the lead with a 50.66 share, but coming in second is Firefox with a 20.09 percent share (down from 26.75 percent), followed by Chrome with 17.3 percent (up from 10.89 percent). Safari is standing pat with a 10.76 percent share, up slightly from 10.71 percent.

Source: Maximum PC - All Articles

When I heard about this lawsuit I had to stop and wonder, what possible reason someone would have for suing Sony over this. My original thought is that  this is like suing the Watergate Hotel on the behalf of the entire nation for the break-in that caused the downfall of a president and the upheaval surrounding it. Or perhaps suing somebody for allowing their car to get broken into and stolen,  then it  hits somebody on the way to a robbery.

However, there does seem to be some room for speculation of culpability because of negligence on Sony’s part.  Here’s an excerpt from an article by  Maximum PC.

…. First PSN went poof, then Sony announced that some hacker got their keyboard-calloused mitts on everyone’s personal info, and now, well, you can probably see where this is headed. Yep: straight to court.

The Rothken law firm has filed a federal class action lawsuit against SCEA on behalf of PSN’s 77 million-strong customer base. Specifically, the suit takes Sony to task for “failure to maintain adequate computer data security of consumer personal data and financial data” and demands compensation for “extra time, effort, and costs” users must now expend to help clean up Sony’s mess.

“Sony’s breach of its customers’ trust is staggering,” said Rothken co-counsel J.R. Parker. “Sony promised its customers that their information would be kept private. One would think that a large multinational corporation like Sony has strong protective measures in place to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personal information, including credit card information. Apparently, Sony doesn’t.”

Now the sticky part: Is it even fair to blame Sony for the actions of some maniacal tube-bending Internet wizard? Could any security measure taken a hit like this and not come crumbling down? For obvious reasons, Sony’s not talking, but this Digital Foundry article is incredibly eye-opening. In a nutshell, PSN’s gaping security holes have been clearly visible since the Geohot jailbreaking brouhaha earlier this year, yet Sony did nothing to patch them up. There’s far more detail in the actual article, and it’s well worth a read.

So, does it constitute negligence on Sony’s part? That’s for the court to decide. …

In most lawsuits, actual damages need to be established, which in this case could be very hard to prove. Beyond the inconvenience of having to change login and credit card info, how do you assign actual blame on Sony for any erroneous charges on a credit card. Even PCI Compliance is not a law, enforcement left up to the merchant banks and the merchant to police. There is the Federal mandate regarding protection of privacy, also a loosely enforced and ill defined on all but the health industry. There’s also the issue of how far reaching this could be, as many public ISP and web hosting companies do not strictly enforce server patches.

I believe this issue will end up playing out as nothing more than a brief distraction, much like what the the BP oil spill has become; a lot of drum beating, finger pointing and hand wringing up front, with threats and promises made, then more finger pointing, maybe a slap on the wrist, then business as usual.  In the end, it all comes down to how the consumer votes with their wallet.

Let’s start with what a stock GeForce GTX 580 videocard should be running at. According to Nvidia, the GPU in the GTX 580 is rated to run 772MHz. Nvidia pegs the shader clock at 1544MHz, and the 1536MB of GDDR5 is supposed to run at 2004MHz (effective). What’s the fun in that?

Sure, the GTX 580 is already the fastest single-GPU card on the planet, but that didn’t stop overclocking guru Shamino, who works at Asus, from putting the pedal to the metal. Shamino jumped straight into LN2 cooling, and by doing so he was able to crank the GPU all the way to 1519MHz, nearly doubling the stock clock. The memory, meanwhile, was pushed to 2500MHz.

The extreme cooling was necessary, both to accommodate the higher clockspeeds and the handful of volt mods Shamino made to the card.

Image Credit: Xtremesystems.org (LardArse)

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Worldwide semiconductor sales ratcheted up nearly 32 percent year-on-year in 2010 and reached a record $298.3 billion, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

“Semiconductor sales are a bright spot in our current economic picture, delivering a record high in the billions. The year-over-year growth is due in part to the increased use of semiconductor technology in a wider range of electronic devices that we have come to enjoy in modern life,” said Brian Toohey, president, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Our member companies continue to ramp up their operations to meet the growing demand for semiconductor innovation.”

SIA says all major semiconductor product categories showed double-digit growth for the year, and this despite a “modest decline of 3 percent” for the month of December compared to one month prior. For 2011, SIA predicts single-digit growth for the industry as a whole.

Source: Maximum PC - All Articles

The European Union won’t stand in the way of Intel’s proposed $7.68 billion acquisition of security firm McAfee, though the chip maker did have to promise it wouldn’t engage in any shenanigans, InformationWeek reports. Specifically, Intel had to promise that other security vendors would get access to the same technology in Intel processors and chipsets as McAfee would, while also vowing not to gimp McAfee on non-Intel hardware.

“The commitments submitted by Intel strike the right balance, as they allow preserving both competition and the beneficial effects of the merger,” Joaquin Almunia, commission VP in charge of competition policy. “These changes will ensure that vigorous competition is maintained and that consumers get the best result in terms of price, choice, and quality of the IT security products.”

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission already approved the proposed merger back in December, and with the EU’s blessing, which is rarely easy to obtain, it’s expected Intel will finalize the merger sometime this quarter.

Source: Maximum PC - All Articles

Has it been 5 years already? Razer first released its DeathAdder mouse back in 2006, we reviewed it in 2008, and it was revamped with a 3.5G infrared laser in 2009. Here we are in 2011 and the DeathAdder is back, this time with an all black makeover.

Functionally it’s the same DeathAdder as before, although the non-slip rubber has been extended to both sides, replacing the glossy plastic that adorns the traditional models. And though it retains the same form, gone is the glowing the logo. The white scroll wheel, which tends to gunk up over time, is now all black too.

The revamped DeathAdder sporting its new all black tuxedo is available now in the U.S. for $60.

Image Credit: Razer

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Video streaming and disc rental service Netflix has come out swinging with an analysis of various ISPs’ ability to reliably stream Netflix video, Cnet reports. When all the numbers were in, smallish ISP Charter Communication was the winner, barely edging out Comcast, Time Warner, and Cox. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon were in the middle of the back, and wireless ISP Clearwire was dead last. 

This report seems aimed at making ISPs nervous. Netflix has a product that many people love, and the idea that their ISP isn’t giving them the best Netflix experience could sway consumers. It only makes sense with the wrangling over bandwidth access fees. Some ISPs have made it known they don’t like having to pay to pass all the Netflix data to their customers. Netflix seems to be saying Don’t mess with us. We’re watching.

The data was acquired by averaging the sustained download rates of each ISP across their entire footprint for a three month period. The newer DOCSIS 3 cable internet connections likely helped cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner to boost their scores here. Companies that rely mainly on DSL didn’t really have a chance. How well does your ISP handle that Netflix stream?

Source: Maximum PC - All Articles

Microsoft is left with a little egg on its face after a developer spent just six hours cracking the DRM on its Windows Phone 7 platform, DailyTech reports.

The developer attempted the crack for technical blog site WPCentral, but it wasn’t malicious in nature. Instead, WPCentral hopes this will help Microsoft improve its busted DRM scheme and has no plans of publishing how the hack works.

“We are confident Microsoft will work hard to implement a stronger DRM system, in part due to this proof-of-concept demonstration,” WPCentral said.

As part of the proof-of-concept hack, the developer was able to create an app called FreeMarketPlace that’s capable of downloading any app from Microsoft’s WP7 Marketplace and stripping away the DRM. Those apps could then be loaded on an unlocked smartphone or saved to a PC.

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While Intel’s upcoming Sandy Bridge processors remain the immediate focus of the world, the Santa Clara-based chip maker is already laying the groundwork for the coming of Ivy Bridge, the 22nm die shrink of Sandy Bridge expected to hit market in late 2011 or early 2012. Ivy Bridge processors will be fabricated at four of Intel’s plants in Oregano and Arizona. However, a Digitimes report suggests that Intel might outsource the production of Ivy Bridge’s chipset consort.

According to the report, which cites anonymous industry sources, Intel plans to outsource the production of Ivy Bridge-compatible Panther Point chipsets to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacture Company (TSMC) in order to lower production costs. The lowered cost will help Intel compete with AMD’s affordable Fusion APUs (Accelerated Processing Unit).

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Credit MySpace for once dominating the social networking scene and, more recently, trying to reinvent itself as an all-around entertainment epicenter. But let’s be real, MySpace blew its opportunity to become what Facebook already is, and there doesn’t appear to be room for both to coexist.

According to AllThingsD.com, things are about to get worse. Layoffs loom for perhaps as much as 50 percent of MySpace’s workforce, AllThingsD.com says, which works out to around 550 pink slips.

Citing “multiple sources familiar with the situation,” AllThingsD.com says nothing is a done deal, but all employees have been put on notice to start saving their pennies. The suits in charge are also batting around the idea of selling MySpace, though there’s no word of any potential buyers.

Source: Maximum PC - All Articles