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Microsoft’s Surface Pro Now Available For Sale

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Microsoft Surface Pro

Microsoft’s Surface Pro is now available for sale, are you interested? With a 10.6″  HD display, Intel i5 Processor, and up to 128GB of of storage, it’s definitely worth a look. There’s only one problem though, if you’re in the market for the 128GB version, which retails for $999.00, you may have a little trouble tracking one down. Many retailers including Microsoft’s own online store, are apparently sold out. The 64GB version is a little easier to find and it priced at $899.00.  Hopefully this is a good sign for Microsoft in the tablet game.

Although I wasn’t real fond of Windows 8 initially, it has grown on me a bit, and I truly believe the major disconnect between me and the new OS was the fact that it’s not designed to feel very smooth while using a mouse. Surface Pro should make the experience much better, especially when it’s built on good hardware.

If you’re looking to pick one up, Microsoft is offering up retail options here.

Here is a short list of specs from Microsoft.

Surface with Windows 8 Pro:

Exterior
10.81 x 6.81 x 0.53in
Less than 2lbs

Storage
64GB, 128GB

Memory

4GB RAM

Display

10.6″ ClearType Full HD Display
1920×1080 pixels
16:9 (widescreen)
10-point multi-touch

CPU

3rd Gen Intel Core i5 Processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000

Battery
42 W-h

Cameras
Two 720p HD cameras, front-facing and rear-facing

 

Curiosity Drills a Hole into Mars

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Curiosity drills a hole into a Rock on Mars
Curiosity drill site (Source: NASA, JPL-CalTech, MSSS)

The Mars rover Curiosity has drilled a small hole into a rock on the surface of the martian planet today. The hole is about 2cm deep and this “mini-drill” test is in preparation for a larger drilling operation to be performed later on.

The test was performed on a patch of flat rock called “John Klein.The team plans to use Curiosity’s laboratory instruments to analyze sample powder from inside the rock to learn more about the site’s environmental history. Eventually researchers plan to find out whether or not the environmental conditions for life ever existed on the red planet.

For the official post you can head to the NASA news site

X-Play Series Finale

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xplayLogo

Yes, it’s true, the long running X-Play is coming to an end, but not without a final show. The series finale will be an hour long show that goes over the best moments of the past along with some surprise guests.

X-Play has undergone many changes since it first hit the airwaves as GameSpot TV then Extended Play, but it has always brought us great reviews along with a little comedy. Let us not forget  some of the talent that made this show possible, including Adam Sessler, Morgan Webb, Kristin Adams (Holt) , Blair Herter, Kate Botello,  and Jessica Chobot. I have been a big fan of the series since the earlier days (ZDTV/Tech TV) along with many other great shows including the Screen Savers and Call for Help. It’s sad to see it go, this show was one of my favorite shows, but the times are changing and the network is on the way out.

The series finale will air Wednesday, January 23rd at 6/5c.

If You Plan on Upgrading to Windows 8, You Should Do it Soon

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product_win8-startscreen_WebI

f you’re planning on making the upgrade to Windows 8 or if you have been on-the-fence about it, you should consider making your move soon. Windows 8 Pro (upgrade) is currently priced at $40 and that’s not going to last forever. After January 31st Windows 8 Pro will set you back $200, pretty big price jump huh? I thought the $40 upgrade was a brilliant idea and hoped it would last much longer. Windows users are already having a tough time in making the decision to upgrade, but with such a low price in place, it makes that decision a little easier.

So if you want to jump in and go with Windows 8, you should probably just go with the Pro version for $40. You can upgrade by heading to Microsoft’s upgrade site.

Too Human No Longer Available On Xbox Live

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tooHumanSS

Yes, the game that has taken forever to make is disappearing from existence and now to make sure it’s all gone, the Xbox Marketplace has removed the game from it’s database. Silicon Knights, the company behind Too Human, has been court ordered to destroy all remaining copies of the game. The game development company was using components from the Unreal game Engine without permission from Epic.

Silicon Knights was also ordered to pay almost $10 million to Epic and this shut down everything surrounding the game. What’s pretty crazy is that it wasn’t like they took a few things from the Unreal Engine either, they took thousands of lines of code and then attempted to cover it all up. If you really want to dig deep into the details you get read the court details here.

Thanks to Eurogamer for the update.