Nvidia has already released their beta drivers for the support of Battlefield 3, so it’s not surprising for the other arch-rival to do so too. AMD has released a “preview” driver with improved performance for the just-launched Battlefield 3 Open Beta. The news arrives after Nvidia released its new GeForce 285.38 beta drivers which promise up to 38-percent better performance in the Battlefield 3 Open Beta compared to the previously-released 285.27 drivers.

Although AMD didn’t specify percentages in reference to improved performance, users should see better results for both non-Anti-Aliasing and application-enabled Anti-Aliasing cases on the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series for single GPU and CrossFire configurations.

Monday the company also said that the new Catalyst 11.10 Preview driver enables support for Eyefinity 5×1 display (portrait and landscape) configurations  using the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series. The Vision Engine Control Center has also been updated with UI enhancements for the CrossfireX, GPU Overdrive, and Information Center pages.

To beef up your Battlefield 3 Open Beta performance on an AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series GPU, head here.

SOURCE via AMD

Does it feel just like yesterday that you updated to Firefox 6? And the day before it Firefox 5? Well, today it’s time for Firefox 7. Today Mozilla released released Firefox 7 across all major platforms. According to Mozilla, Firefox 7 manages memory more efficiently to deliver quicker browsing experience. Promised performance improvements in Firefox 7 include: faster at opening new tabs, clicking on menu items and buttons on websites. Heavy Internet users will also supposedly enjoy “enhanced performance when lots of tabs are open and during long web browsing sessions that last hours or even days.”

New tools in Firefox make it easier for developers to build snappy Web experiences for users. A new version of hardware-accelerated Canvas speeds up HTML5 animations and games in Firefox. This allows developers to build more compelling and interactive Web experiences like Angry Birds or Runfield.

Firefox now supports the W3C navigation timing spec API so developers can measure page load time and website navigation against bandwidth speed, website traffic and other factors. This API allows developers to test user experiences remotely and easily and quickly optimize websites and Web apps for different types of users.

To help improve future versions of Firefox, users can opt in to Telemetry. Telemetry is a tool built on Mozilla Privacy Principles that allows users to provide anonymous browser performance data in a private and secure way that they control.

On Wednesday, Amazon is expected to revealed its Kindle Fire Android-based tablet that will run a customized version of Google’s OS. Previous hands-on reports have stated that it will feature a 7-inch screen and look similar to RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. But now news has surfaced that the Amazon gadget looks like RIM’s tablet for a good reason: because it basically is the PlayBook, only without the BlackBerry OS. Industry insiders claim that Amazon used the BlackBerry PlayBook hardware template as a basis for its first-generation Kindle Fire tablet. The result doesn’t sound promising.

According to gdgt, RIM originally outsourced much of the hardware design and production of the PlayBook to Quanta, an ODM that builds and helps design hardware for name brands. When it came time to design and build the post-NOOK Color Android tablet prototype, Amazon’s Kindle group (aka Lab 126) opted out of the project to solely work on E-Ink based devices. Determined to produce an Android tablet, Amazon thus turned to Quanta for help.

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RIM’s Blackberry PlayBook tablet hasn’t exactly been a roaring success. Launched to tepid reviews earlier this year, the device isn’t flying off the shelves as quick as the company would like. Now it seems retailers are cutting the price in an effort to shift units. Boy Genius Report says multiple retailers are now selling the PlayBook for less than the suggested retail price.

According to BGR, Staples and Office Depot have discounted the slate by a massive $200 in the form of $100 in instant savings and $100 in mail-in rebate. Best Buy is offering a similar deal, though it stipulates that the ‘sale’ ends on October 6. Even Walmart is said to be getting in on the action, with BGR readers saying the retail giant is offering the 16GB model for a discounted price of $250.

RIM hasn’t officially dropped the price of the PlayBook, though it recently hinted that it would be a part of promotional offers that the company has planned for later in the quarter. In a statement sent to Boy Genius regarding the price drops at retailers around the country, RIM said that the recommended price for the PlayBook remains the same but that it is already starting to see some of its planned promotions being implemented in the form of instant rebates and gift cards. The company said it expects the promotional deals to continue through to the holiday season.

The news of the price cuts follows Best Buy’s decision to drop the price of the PlayBook by as much as $150 (depending on the model) for one weekend only at the beginning of September.

Read the full statement here.

Tuesday McAfee launched All Access, a security solution that covers smartphones, tablets, netbooks, PCs, and Macs across the board. Pricing for McAfee All Access is based on a single user ($99.99 USD annually) or family user license ($149.99 USD annually), regardless of the number of devices they need to secure.

For smartphones and tablets using Android, Symbian and BlackBerry, All Access offers complete anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-phishing protection. It also protects the devices from risky links within SMS, email and social networking sites while providing backup and restore options. Customers can even view their phone’s location on a map and send an SMS to prompt its return, as well as using its remote alarm to make it “scream” so it can be easily found. Remote wipe and lock features prevents access to data (internal and SIM) if the device is lost.

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“Kindle Fire.” Can’t say that’s the name we would’ve thrown together if given five minutes to dwell and assured that we’d take on absolutely no risk at all for it failing, but hey — who are we to question Jeff Bezos? TechCrunch is keeping the Kindle tablet rumors fresh with a new helping of covert intel, hitting the wires just moments prior to the outfit’s September 28th press event.

According to the publication, “Fire” (mocked up above) was chosen in order to differentiate it from the e-ink siblings that’ll sell alongside of it, and we’re told to expect a mind-numbing amount of content deals to make it ever more attractive in a realm that iOS currently dominates.

Moreover, a dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP chip is now being tipped, and if all goes well, the sub-$300 device should ship in November. Meanwhile, B&N engineers are reportedly toiling away on the Nook Color 2, and we wouldn’t be shocked in the least to see it hurry into an announcement just to phunk with Amazon’s flow.

SOURCE via TechCrunch

On Monday Minecreft developer Mojang released a video showing how the popular building-block game performs on the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY using touchscreen controls rather than the slide-out gamepad. But underneath the video the team stated that the Pocket Edition (Android Market) will come out of exclusivity and become available to the general Android audience on Thursday, September 29.

The iOS version will arrive “eventually,” the studio said.

As the video below demonstrates, Minecraft – Pocket Edition will sport a virtual D-Pad on the left for moving and jumping — swiping the screen with the right thumb emulates the typical mouselook function. Four buttons aligned along the bottom of the screen offer different types of building material which can be used in block form by tapping on the screen. Blocks will disappear by pressing on the object for a brief moment.

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