Bad definitions pop up every now and again in the antivirus world, as evidenced by that boondoggle a few months back when Microsoft’s AV started banning Google’s Chrome browser as a malicious app. A new set of bad definitions may be the worst whoops! we’ve ever seen, though; a ProActiv definition update pushed to premium Avira subscribers brought Windows PCs around the world to a halt after incorrectly labeling a bevy of critical processes as malware. Ruh-roh Raggie! 

ZDNet reports that the Avira forums were alight this morning with tales of all kinds of false positives. (We’d link to specific threads, but there are a TON.) The premium Avira antivirus programs were blocking users from accessing, amongst others:

• \windows\system32\dllhost.exe
• \windows\system32\explorer.exe
• \windows\system32\iexplorer.exe
• \windows\system32\notepad.exe
• \windows\system32\regedit.exe
• \windows\system32\rundll32.exe
• \windows\system32\taskeng.exe
• \windows\system32\wuauclt.exe
• \Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe
• \OpenOffice.org 3\program\swriter.exe
• \OpenDNS Updater\OpenDNSUpdater.exe
• \Palm\Palm.exe
• \iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
• \Documents To Go\DocsToGo.exe

And those are just the ones we stumbled across in the forums and the ZDNet article! The issue was limited to premium subscribers only, as Avira free doesn’t receive ProActiv updates. Avira forum moderators rushed to offer workarounds to the problem, and fortunately, the problem has already been fixed via an emergency update. The bad patch was active for less than 12 hours in total.

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Enhanced energy efficiency, a decent CPU gain and big improvement on the graphics front: no, we’re not talking about Ivy Bridge, we’re talking about AMD’s second-generation A-Series Fusion APU, Trinity. And why are we talking about Trinity APUs, you ask? Because they officially launched today, that’s why. Well, kinda — only laptop and “ultrathin notebook” Trinity APUs are hitting the streets any time soon.

Trinity APUs are still based on a 32nm manufacturing process, shoving roughly 10 percent more transistors on a die that’s slightly larger than Llano’s. The CPU uses AMD’s new “power-optimized” Piledriver core — the follow-up to Bulldozer — and beats Llano’s CPU performance by up to 29 percent, by AMD’s numbers, while the integrated Radeon 7000 series GPUs offer “an increase in graphics performance of up to 56% over the previous generation.”  Trinity also brings native Eyefinity support.

The AMD-supplied chart above shows how the top-of-the-line quad-core A10-4600M Trinity APU stacks up against Intel’s i5-2520M performance-wise. It’s pretty good, as you can see, but it would be more impressive if the new Trinity proc was compared against an Ivy Bridge chip rather than a Sandy Bridge variant.

Power efficiency is a big deal for this round of updates, with AMD claiming that Trinity sports “Double the performance per watt of the previous generation” and up to 12 hours of battery life in notebook variants. The ultrathin APUs clock in at 17W for a dual-core chip and 25W for a quad-core chip, while the mainstream notebook chips hit 35W. The chart above shows how long the top-end A10-4600M lasts while performing various tasks, compared against an Intel i5-2410M. Not too shabby, as you can see, although once again, we would’ve preferred to see a comparison against an Ivy Bridge chip.

Unfortunately, desktop and component channel Trinity chips won’t be available until the somewhat nebulous “later in the year.” For now, AMD’s teased us with the slide above, which compares the 100W A10-5800K against Intel’s i7-3770K. (Finally, an Ivy Bridge comparison!) As you can see, AMD claims Trinity’s Radeon-powered graphics pretty handily trounces Intel’s HD 4000 graphics; the advantage looks to be anywhere from 20 to 50 percent. Of course, we won’t know if that’s accurate without testing out Trinity’s desktop variants for ourselves, but it whets our taste for more.

For more info, check out AMD’s press release and press deck slideshow. So whaddaya think: was Trinity worth the wait? It looks like a solid improvement over Llano, but is it an attractive counterpart to Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips?

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The much anticipated third installment of the popular hack-and-slash Diablo series launched earlier today at one minute past the stroke of midnight, which means some of you reading this (or not reading this, at it were) have been giving your mouse a workout for around eight hours straight. Those who didn’t download a pre-ordered digital copy ahead of time faced potentially long lines at retail stores, such as the one seen here at a Fry’s Home Electronics store in Las Vegas.

“Twenty years have passed since the Prime Evils were defeated and banished from the world of Sanctuary,” Blizzard explains on its Battle.net site. “Now you must return to Tristram and investigate rumors of a fallen star, an omen that the End Times have begun.”

Diablo III, a PC exclusive, carries a console price tag at $60, and you can tack on another $22 or $37 if you plan to purchase the Diablo III Signature Series Strategy Guide or thet Limited Edition hardcover version. There’s also a Collector’s Edition of Diablo III that sells for $100 and comes with a handful of extras, like a Diablo skull base and 4GB USB soulstone with full versions of Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, as well as an art book, soundtrack, and behind-the-scenes DVD/Blu-ray set.

It’s been more than a decade since Diablo was released, and about 15 and a half years since the original Diablo game came out. That prompted CNet to pose the question of whether or not Diablo is still relevant, which you can read here. Alternately, you can wait for the inevitable landslide of reviews to roll through the Web. That is, if you’re not already playing Diablo III and answering that question yourself, which leads us to our own question:

Did you pick up (or plan to purchase) Diablo III? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Image Credit: Simon Chan

We have already told you about Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop, which the company claims is the world’s lightest 14-inch ultrabook, but the X1 is just one of many new Ivy Bridge-powered ThinkPad models. Hit the jump for a quick rundown of these new business-friendly mobile PCs from Lenovo.

The new ThinkPads include everything from run-of-the-mill laptops to convertibles and span the T, X, L and W lines:

ThinkPad L Family: The updated L series comprises the L430 and the 15-inch L530, both of which will be available next month starting at $879. Both these no-frills ThinkPads sport identical 1366 x 768 displays, USB 3.0, mini-DisplayPort and discrete graphics. Lenovo is claiming a maximum battery life of 9.5 hours.

ThinkPad T Family: Last year’s T420, T420s and T520 make way for the T430, T430s and T530, respectively. The new T series, which comes with the promise of up to 30 hours of battery life, starts at $879 with the 14-inch T430, a laptop that’s said to be appreciably lighter than its predecessor. Next up is the T430s with a starting price of $1,399. The T430s boasts a mini-Display Port, 1600 x 900 display option, Thunderbolt (Core i7 variants only) and Lenovo’s RapidCharge technology. These two models are expected to go on sale next month. However, not a lot is known about the T530 at this stage.

ThinkPad W530: The W530 mobile workstation is not only the most powerful of the lot, it’s also the heaviest at a shade under 6 pounds. The W530 starts at $1,529 and packs a quad-core Intel Ivy Bridge processor, up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, Nvidia Quadro graphics and a backlit keyboard.

ThinkPad X Family: The outgoing X220 and X220T have been replaced by the X230 and X230T (convertible), respectively. The two tip the scales at less than 3 pounds and feature 12.5-inch IPS displays, built-in 4G connectivity, mini-DisplayPort, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, face tracking and Dolby Advanced Audio. Scheduled to begin shipping in June, the X230 and X230T will start at $1,179 and $1,479, respectively.

Without question, Ultrabooks are the sexiest, trendiest laptops on the market right now, and with good reason. They’re thin and light like a MacBook Air and every bit as good looking (and in some cases, they’re thinner, lighter, and better looking than their iOS competitors), fast, and highly portable with long-lasting battery life. All of these things are attractive in a notebook, but if you could afford a desktop replacement laptop, would you still shop an Ultrabook? That’s a question consumers will have to answer.

According to DealNews.com, paying a premium for a decked out 17-inch laptop is something notebook shoppers used to do, but not anymore. Prices have dropped so much, in fact, that DealNews claims the new average price point for scoring a deal on a “souped up” 17-inch laptop is $550.

“And we’re not talking budget laptops here,” DealNews explains. “Desktop replacement laptops are high-end systems with a quad-core Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a minimum 750GB hard drive. So while Apple may be toying with the idea of terminating its desktop replacement, we’re here to tell you that desktop replacements are where you’ll find the best laptop deals today.”

According to DealNews, prices for desktop replacement-class systems typically climb after all the Black Friday sales come and go, but “after last November, deals on these premium laptops have not rebounded; instead they remained at Black Friday lows.” It’s a buyer’s market, and if you’re paying more than $800, you’re paying too much, DealNews says.

We don’t necessarily agree with that last statement, at least when talking about the more hardcore desktop replacement laptops with more powerful graphics options than what you’ll find on a typical 17-inch notebook. But the point is well taken that if you’re spending a fortune on a 17-inch system, you probably could have done better by shopping around, especially if you don’t need an ultra high-end GPU.

Image Credit: Hewlett-Packard