Valve's Steam Machine lineup poses massive threat to gaming status quo

Consoles beware: with huge players like Alienware and Falcon Northwest onboard, the diverse and low-cost Steam Machines unveiled at CES 2014 put Valve in place to pull off its revolution.

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Valve Unveils Lineup Of 13 Steam Machines From Partners Including Alienware

Valve Software’s Steam Machine seems to be moving towards becoming a real consumer product — today at the Consumer Electronics Show, the company officially announced the first 13 partners building Steam Machines, and it shared the pricing and basic specs.

The Steam Machine initiative was announced last fall. Valve co-founder Gabe Newell reiterated today that it’s meant to bring the openness of the PC into the living room, particularly for gaming. At the time, the company only created 300 prototypes for beta testers, so it seemed like it would be relying on third-party hardware manufacturers to bring Steam Machines into the homes of consumers.

The initial lineup of partners includes Alienware, Digital Storm, Gigabyte, Materiel.net, Origin PC, Webhallen, Zotac, Alternate, CyberPowerPC, Falcon Northwest, iBuyPower, Next, and Scan Computers. (Engadget actually got ahold of the list before it was officially announced.)

Asked whether Valve is going to make any more devices of its own, Newell said, “We’re going to continue to make that decision as we go along.” He said that the company is happy with the results so far, although it’s been prodding testers for more negative feedback.

Anyway, here’s the Valve brochure with the details. Release dates were not announced.

Steam Machines Brochure by TechCrunch

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Cobra announces CES lineup of mobile Bluetooth speakers and portable chargers

Cobra Electronics will debut its new series of AirWave Bluetooth speakers and solar powered mobile chargers, as well as the JumPack powerpack.

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Fujifilm widens X-series lens lineup

(Credit:Fujifilm)

DSLRs have their 16-35mm staple lenses, now Fujifilm is offering a 10-24mm f4 -- equivalent to 15-36mm on a full-frame camera -- X-mount lens for its X series of interchangeable-lens cameras.

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Notably, it has image stabilization; a lot of manufacturers still contend that you don't need that in short focal-length lenses, but some folks, like me, need it in every lens.

It uses internal focus, has a seven-blade aperture, incorporates the company's High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating, and can focus as closely as 9.4 inches. Plus, like some of the higher-end XF lenses, it offers a manual aperture ring.

The XF10-24mm F4 R OIS is slated to ship in March for $999.95.

Topics: camera accessories Tags: lenses, Fujifilm, X-mount, digital photography

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Amazon shooting 2014 original series lineup in 4K

Set top boxes everywhere just cried out in agony. Amazon announced this morning that its full lineup of 2014 series will be shot in 4K. The retailer-turned-TV-studio likely considers the move a bit of future-proofing, given the limited options for actually watching such shows in their intended resolution. The list of 8.3 million pixel programs features five new pilots, including Chris Carter's The After, Roman Coppola's Mozart in the Jungle and Jill Soloway's Transparent.

Update: We received clarification from Amazon -- seems the 4K shoots pertain to full series and not the already-completed pilots.

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Source: Amazon

Tags: 4k, amazon, amazon studios, hdpostcross, ultra high definition Next: 'Breaking Bad' spin-off 'Better Call Saul' will be a Netflix exclusive in Europe and Latin America .fyre .fyre-comment-divider

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