Here a roundup of the latest reviws and articles, including CES Unveiled 2013, CoPilot Live Premium edition Review, GIGABYTE GTX 670 Windforce x3 OC Review, AMD Richland A10 6800k Vs Haswell GT3 graphics performance analysed, and Hands On with the Huawei Ascend W1, Ascend D2, and Ascend Mate



CES Unveiled 2013 @ ThinkComputers.org

CES Unveiled is the first offical press event of CES and the probably the busiest press event as well. For that reason we normally do not cover the event, but this year we decided to attend. We only talked to a handful of companies, but most of the companies products have won CES Innovations Awards. Read on to see what CES Unveiled 2013 was all about!

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Asustor AS-606T NAS @ techPowerUp

Asustor is a new company with the purpose of providing top solutions for network attached storage and video surveillance. We are lucky to have one of their first products for review: the AS-606T NAS server. It is designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) or enthusiast users that need a lot of storage space and a ton of features.

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MSI GX60 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The MSI GX60 is an affordable gaming notebook that provides excellent graphics performance, surprisingly long battery life and a 1080p HD display. The design could be a little better as it's a little chunky and the keyboard isn't backlit.

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be quiet! Shadow Rock TopFlow Review @ Vortez

In the arena of the CPU cooler the obvious factor to lower is CPU temperature but with the plethora of dual-tower CPU coolers that currently populate the market size can be a concern for those with less space inside their computer chassis and so this makes way for the top-down CPU cooler. Top-down CPU coolers also called C-type offer a low-profile uniform to counter the problem of clearance and today we will be taking a look at one such product.

In the spotlight today is be quiet!’s Shadow Rock TopFlow CPU cooler which as its name implies is a top-down option. Its strengths lie in the low-profile dimensions and silence. TopFlow is equipped with a Shadow Wings 135mm PWM cooling fan which is capable of up to 1500RPM and promises to deliver on build quality, affordability and other areas too but can we expect impressive thermal performance? Let’s find out.

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SanDisk Ultra Plus 256GB SSD Review @ Legit Reviews

SanDisk is best known for their memory products and with that, they've been doing a number of SSDs on both consumer and enterprise fronts. Their latest offering that came across our desk is the Ultra Plus line being powered by the Marvell 88SS9175 controller and SanDisk's own 19nm NAND. The 6Gbps interfaced drives are marketed towards the both the desktop and mobile computing crowds with promises of strong performance, high reliability and power efficiency. It comes standard in the 7mm, 2.5" form factor so it should be good to go for most Ultrabooks as well...

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CoPilot Live Premium edition Review @ TUAW

If Apple Maps or Google Maps for iOS are not your cup of tea, fear not. There are other, low-cost options out there to choose from. The folks who make CoPilot Live Premium for iOS asked me to take their app for a spin, and was glad to take a look.

The basic app is now on sale for US$9.99, which is one third off the regular retail (the sale ends January 7). Unlike Google Maps, CoPilot Live is universal app and quite at home on an iPad. It uses Google and Yelp for local business info, making it more complete in that department than either Apple or Google. Other features include Traffic incident details along your route and on-board map and routing data, unlike both Apple and Google. You can also selectively download sections of the US to keep the apps footprint small on your device.

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GIGABYTE GTX 670 Windforce x3 OC Review @ Vortez

The NVIDIA GTX670 has impressed the enthusiast community with its near GTX680 performance thanks to the same Kepler GK104 core applied to the flagship model. The reference NVIDIA GTX670 comes complete with 2GB (2048MB) of GDDR5 memory but GIGABYTE have seen fit to double this amount to 4GB (4096MB) with thier latest graphics card, the GIGABYTE GTX670 Windforce x3 OC. As the name suggests, this GTX670 also comes pre-overclocked to a respectable 980MHz which is some 65MHz over reference speed equating to a 6.6% increase. The star of the show though is of course that delicious Windforce cooler which in our eyes, is the best GPU cooler we have had the pleasure of handling here at Vortez. The Windforce design comes in either two or three fan guise and it is the latter that graces this graphics card.

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Plextor M5 Pro SSD Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Plextor's SSD range is the subject of our review today and we are going to look at the M5 Pro, one of the first drives around to use Marvell's newest controller. How does it stack up against the likes of OCZ's Vector and the Samsung 840 Pro? Let's find out...

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Noctua NH-L9i CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets

The Noctua NH-L9i is a low-profile CPU cooler that is only 1.46" (37 mm) tall and uses a 92 mm PWM fan. Let's test it!

Noctua NH-L9i CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets

AMD Richland A10 6800k Vs Haswell GT3 graphics performance analysed @ KitGuru

Both Intel and AMD have been puffing out their collective chests when it comes to graphics in the integrated market. It's the one area where AMD has consistently beaten Intel in recent years. It's an area where Intel is working overtime to redress the balance while AMD is running like a gazelle from a lion to ensure it stays ahead. With Dr Lisa Sus recent statements at CES in Las Vegas, both sides have now declared their expectation. KitGuru pulls out the calculator to see what might happen when they get in the ring if both sides claims are accurate.

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HAWKEN Mech Combat FPS Video Game Preview @ Benchmark Reviews

From the moment you hit the launch button to when you expire in a burning and crumpled mess, the impact of the Hawken Mech Combat FSP video game is almost mesmerizing. Meteor Entertainment and Adhesive Games have produced a gripping and fast paced game that is challenging, and very engaging. Benchmark Reviews has had the opportunity to preview the game during the Open-Beta events 1 and 2.

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Akasa Venom Toxic Black Full Tower PC Case Review @ NikKTech

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is once again live and although our current workload made it impossible for us to attend this year (distance is also a huge factor) we truly hope that any of you who are able to attend (especially the ones who live near Las Vegas) will do so in order to show your support for the industry and all the people working in it. Of course you can expect most manufacturers to introduce many new and innovative products during the show, some in final and others in beta form (you might want to check Occulus Rift), but regardless of the current state of the products unveiled in CES things should be quite exciting especially for professionals, enthusiasts and gamers. As for us well like i said our workload has been quite heavy even during the holidays and so today we are taking a thorough look at the latest Full Tower PC Case by Akasa, the Venom Toxic Black.

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Hands-On With Lenovo's ThinkPad Helix, ThinkPad Tablet 2 and ThinkVision Monitor @ HotHardware.com

We had a chance to stop by Lenovo's suite today at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, to check out some of the latest and greatest offerings from the company. First up is the new Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2. This tablet runs on Windows 8 Pro and features a 10.1-inch multi-touch HD display. Lenovo claims this is the lightest Windows 8 tablet on the market with a starting weight of 1.25 pounds.

We also got a chance to see the ThinkPad Helix. This machine gives you the best of a full Windows 8 notebook as well as a Windows 8 tablet. The ThinkPad Helix features an 11.6-inch, 10-point multi-touchscreen panel as well as pen input capabilities and a full-sized keyboard experience. All of the functionality of this machine is found in the lid, which enables you to disconnect the display from the keyboard to use the machine as a tablet.

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Hands On with the Huawei Ascend W1, Ascend D2, and Ascend Mate @ Anandtech

There hasn't been much in the way of mobile handset news out of CES 2013 this year, save some announcements by Huawei this morning. I didn't get a chance to make it into the Huawei press event, but instead caught up with Huawei at Pepcom this evening and got my hands on the three devices that were announced. Probably the most intriguing handset from Huawei is their first Windows Phone 8 device, the Ascend W1 (H883G). Huawei is entering the market with a decidedly entry-level set of specs with the W1, but it's an impressive first beginning. The W1 is based around a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus (MSM8230) SoC and 512 MB of LPDDR2, and looking at the menu, resolution on the 4-inch IPS display is WVGA. There's a 0.3 MP front facing camera and 5 MP rear facing camera as well. The W1 comes with 4 GB of internal storage, but behind the removable battery cover is a microSD card slot.

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Ozone Xenon Gaming Mouse @ techPowerUp

Ozone Xenon is the name of a brand new mouse that features the Avago ADNS-3090 sensor. The Xenon is a no fuss gaming machine and even side buttons are omitted in order to achieve better handling. We put it to the test to see how it fares against other, similarly priced mice.

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