Samsung can once again sell its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the US after a judge lifted a sales ban imposed at the end of June. The ban was put in place after Apple persuaded a court that the design of the Korean company's tablet infringed one of its patents.

A US-based sales ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet handed down just over three months ago was lifted by a US court on Monday, as the ding-dong battle between the Korean tech giant and rival Apple continues.

Responding to the decision, Samsung said in a statement, “We are pleased with the court’s action today, which vindicates our position that there was no infringement of Apple’s design patent and that an injunction was not called for.”

The ban had been imposed before August’s high-profile trial that saw Apple score a decisive victory over Samsung, with many of its patent-violation accusations relating to a number of Samsung smartphones and tablets accepted by the jury.

However, the patent which Apple accused Samsung of violating with the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (patent 889 relating to the iPad’s design, specifically, “clean front, edge-to-edge glass, thin bezel, thin outer border, and rounded corners”), which prompted the decision to impose the temporary sales ban three months ago, was not violated by Samsung, according to the jury in the August trial. As a result, Samsung asked for the ban to be lifted.

Despite US district court judge Lucy Koh allowing the Galaxy Tab 10.1 to go back on sale in the US, things could still get sticky for Samsung and its tablet. Although the jury in the August trial ruled that the design patent had not been violated, it did rule that a number of other patents belonging to Apple had been violated by the Galaxy Tab. A US court hearing on December 6 is set to rule on which of Samsung’s mobile gadgets should be banned from sale based on the jury’s findings back in August – so yes, the tablet could be among them.

August’s multi-billion-dollar patent battle saw Apple accusing Samsung of ripping off the design of its iPhone and iPad devices in the making of a number of its own smartphones and tablets. Apple won big, with Samsung ordered to pay just over $1 billion in damages for patent infringement.

But the dust has far from settled. Last week it was reported that Apple had filed a motion asking for an additional $707 million on top of its already massive award. Meanwhile, Samsung is asking for a new trial, alleging juror misconduct during August’s proceedings.

As for the Galaxy Tab, with all the fuss in recent months over new, more portable, cheaper tablets from the likes of Amazon, Google, and Barnes & Noble – not forgetting a possible new contender hitting the market next month – is anyone even interested in the Galaxy Tab anymore? Are you thinking of buying one?

[via Reuters]

Definitely good news for Virgin Mobile subscribers that love Apple products, several models of iPhone 5 are in the works for customers.

Detailed on MacRumors earlier today, Apple has prepped six CDMA iPhone 5 models for Virgin Mobile USA. However, neither company has confirmed a date when Virgin Mobile will roll out the new iPhone 5 models in both black and white as well as the standard 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB sizes. Virgin Mobile only recently started offering the iPhone 4S to customers at the end of June 2012. When Virgin Mobile launched the iPhone 4S, the company advertised the $35-a-month plan with 300 voice minutes which could be reduced to $30-a-month be signing up for automatic payments. That mobile plan also offers unlimited data, but speed is throttled after a subscriber reaches a data cap each month.

Virgin Mobile currently offers the iPhone 4S for a price of $649.99 and the iPhone 4 for a price of $549.99. It’s unclear if Virgin Mobile will alter the pricing structure of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 when the iPhone 5 is added to the lineup.

According to MacRumors, Alaska Communications and Virgin Mobile are the last two major wireless carriers in the United States that don’t offer the iPhone 5. As of the end of last week, regional carriers such as Appalachian Wireless, Bluegrass Cellular, Cellcom, Cricket Communications, C Spire Wireless, GCI, Golden State Cellular, Nex-Tech Wireless, nTelos, Pioneer Wireless made the iPhone 5 available to customers.

While Virgin Mobile customers will have to pay significantly more for the iPhone 5 than customers at AT&T or Verizon, they aren’t locked into a contract and will pay significantly less over the same two year period as AT&T or Verizon customers that purchased the new iPhone for $199.99 under contract. Virgin Mobile customers also have the option of limiting the amount of voice minutes on the plan in order to keep the monthly bill inexpensive, but there’s also an unlimited voice option priced at $55 per month. In addition, Virgin Mobile allows users to turn their smartphone into a mobile hotspot for an additional $15 per month.

FIFA 13 returns with a host of improvements, but is it enough to defend its long-held title from rival Konami and its Pro Evolution Soccer series?

FIFA’s ace up its sleeve has always been its licenses. With EA’s deep pockets bankrolling everything including league and player licenses, well-known commentators, official sponsors, and real-world brands, the FIFA franchise has always been the go-to place for the most authentic representation of world football. Traditionally, this has come at a cost to gameplay, but in the last few years a concentrated effort to develop the on the pitch aspect of the game has emerged – and to great effect.

FIFA is now, without question, the most popular soccer game on earth. You could even make the argument that it’s the most popular sports game in the world (although in America a certain pig-skin franchise still reigns supreme). So with that in mind, the pressure on FIFA 13‘s publisher EA and developers EA Canada to continue to build on FIFA’s momentum — not just in terms of popularity, but in quality — can’t be understated. And with Konami’s PES 2013 making massive strides this year and upping its own game, FIFA 13 needs to be more than just good – it needs to be great.

Vast improvements on the pitch

Simply put, FIFA 13 is an excellent soccer game. Without question the bulk of that excellence takes place on the pitch. Last year developer EA Canada took a big gamble and implemented a much more robust and user-controlled defending system. The responsibility of positioning your defender, implementing man to man pressure, and tackling were all given to the player. While it was initially difficult to adjust to for series vets such as myself, there was no denying that it breathed new life into an aspect of the series long ignored, and perhaps more importantly added another layer of realism and strategy.

This year EA has added even more nuance to FIFA 13’s mechanics, but instead of there being one large new introduction in the vein of last year’s Player Impact Engine, this year we are given a slew of improvements that help shape a much more realistic game. For starters, the ball physics and how they interact on the pitch and with players has been revamped; balls no longer feel magnetic or on-rails and exhibit a much more unpredictable character. Deflected shots now ricochet properly, and players no longer get sucked directly to the ball like a giant tractor beam.

Speaking of the ball, how it reacts to the players has changed a great deal for FIFA 13. Past FIFAs have always seemed to place players on a level playing field in regards to things like ball control. Send a long pass down the field and any player, regardless of whether they play for Real Madrid or Real Salt Lake, can control and trap it with dazzling ease. This is far from how it is in the real world, and EA Canada has wisely done away with this for FIFA 13. Now players trap, control, and move the ball around like they actually would —  which means you should expect just as many clumsy touches and awkward passes as you would brilliant ones, but also expect to utilize Andres Iniesta’s serpentine-like dribbling skill and Cristiano Ronaldo’s blistering pace to your advantage.

It might seem frustrating at first, but the effect this has on gameplay and tactics cannot be overstated. FIFA 13 requires you play to your teams’ strengths. So for Barcelona, a possession-centered game with intricate passing; for AC Milan, well… we don’t really know what Milan is doing these days, but you get my point.

Another tweak to the gameplay comes by way of FIFA 13’s Complete Dribbling system. If you’ve played FIFA Street earlier this year you’ll be familiar with Complete Dribbling. For 2013, EA Canada basically yanked the mechanic from the Street franchise and plopped it right into FIFA 13. It works really well and provides the ability to navigate tight spaces with greater precision and control.

FIFA 13 also feels like a much more physical game, with the size, weight, and position of your player mattering now more than ever before. While you’ll be able to create a great deal of space and slither by defenders with Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla, or distribute the ball around as Xavi with laser-like accuracy, don’t expect the same amount of freedom with the likes of Peter Crouch and John Terry. Instead, the games demands a higher degree of tactical awareness, so if you’re trying to muscle your way past Vincent Kompany with the likes of Lionel Messi expect to get shoved off the ball every time.

But more than anything else, the improvements made to your teammate’s AI is what will have you singing loud into the rafters long after you pop the game disc in. In FIFA 13, players make intelligent runs and do so without requiring your command. What’s more they actually attempt to stay onside! Keeping possession and passing the ball around is now much more effective, and the ability to deliver that perfectly timed through ball to an industrious attacker brings forth a feeling of joy and accomplishment. Altogether you feel more like you’re surrounded by a living, breathing team who share the same goals as you: winning the match.

It’s clear EA Canada spent a great deal of time trying to get the fluency, subtlety, and realistic characteristics of the beautiful game into FIFA 13, but some issues do creep up. Crossing this year seems much less forgiving, but if you are feeling generous that could be chalked up to the improved (read: more realistic) physics. On the pitch play has a tendency to feel a little too fast at times, especially in comparison to last year’s outing, as well as the recently released PES 2013. It’s not a deal-breaker by any means, but it’s certainly palpable.

Fresh paint can’t hide the cracks

Where FIFA seems to have gotten the least amount of love and attention is in the graphics department. Visually, FIFA 13 isn’t all that different from FIFA 12. Sure it looks sharper, is more polished, and features some nice new contextual animations, but it’s by no means the highlight of the show. And that’s ok. But where I feel compelled to call FIFA out is with the seemingly lazy manner it presents some of the top footballers around the world. And really it’s been doing this for years now.

While some players are spot on and represent their real-life counterparts with almost photorealistic accuracy, many of the game’s established superstars, like Clint Dempsey, Leonardo Bonucci, Oliver Giroud, and Mirko Vucinic, look awkward and lazily done. It might not be as visually polished overall, but in comparison to PES 2013’s character models, FIFA lags behind its rival.

Presentation: In a league of its own

What should come as no surprise is how much FIFA 13 excels and manages to best its past editions in the presentation department. Martin Tyler and Alan Smith return for commentary duty alongside Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, while newcomer Geoff Schreeves provides touchline injury reports.

For FIFA 13 EA has tried to make use of its partnership with ESPN, with the beginning of the match taking on a more “televised” theme, and the ESPN name used to some degree similar to the other EA Sports games. It isn’t done with a great degree of enthusiasm though, and seems like it was more of an afterthought than anything else. It would be nice to see the FIFA series take advantage of its ESPN license similar to how the Madden series does. And while it doesn’t detract from the presentation it doesn’t really add anything to it either.

The long road to stardom

As for content, there is a lot to be had in FIFA 13. In addition to the popular pokemon-esque Ultimate Team mode, Be A Pro mode returns alongside a revamped Career mode. Here you have the choice of either steering your team to promotion or top-flight success as club manager, or battling it out on the pitch as a budding talent in an effort to lead your club to glory. New this year is the ability to get called up to the national team as a player or coach, adding another layer of drama and determination to you weekly matches.

Interestingly my season campaign began with a bit of whimper. I took the reins of a player looking to break into Arsenal’s first team. After being given a chance to shine in a few pre-season friendlies, the gaffer felt my time would be better spent out on loan in a lower division. After denying a few teams my obviously overlooked talent, I finally settled on a Bradford City and eventually guided them to first division promotion with my midfield performances rivaling that of an orchestra conductor. Needless to say that caught the eye of the footballing world, and I was duly recalled back to Arsenal and given a call up to the U.S. national team.

In addition to a more drama-filled career mode, two key additions make their way to FIFA 13: Skill Challenge and Match Day. The first is a series of challenges ranging from simple dribbling skills to free kick practice. On top of being able to tackle these one by one from the main menu, you’re also given the opportunity to complete one before each match begins. There are different levels ranging from bronze, silver, and gold, with difficulty naturally progressing for each subsequent level.

The second introduction adds the greatest amount of depth and longevity to the FIFA experience. With Matchday FIFA 13 attempts to keep up to date with the happenings and goings of the season. That means team lineups, formations, and player form are all tracked from what its taking place in the real world and accurately transported to the game. It’s a very small, but far-reaching introduction that will keep gamers happy, as the mid-season form of players and the shuffling of rosters around the winter break, tend to alter the landscape a great deal.

Truthfully, FIFA has never had difficulty keeping players coming back for more footie fun, but little touches like this really do a lot to keep the game fresh and up to date, especially considering the ephemeral nature of world soccer. Of course, if you’re team ends up plummeting down the league table you might not be so inclined to mimic that in the game, so thankfully FIFA 13 allows you to play with Matchday turned off.

Another new feature is EA Sports Football Club, which serves as an online shop of sorts. Here you earn rewards, unlock items such as new boots, old-school kits, and other player-related swag. Building up your virtual currency is as easy as completing skill challenged and playing matches. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but will keep players busy throughout the course of the year as they strive to reach the 100 levels and nab all the games unlockables.

Another staple of the FIFA series is its online play. There aren’t really many new editions this year, only refinements. Online Pro Clubs implements the excellent online season mode setup, so taking your virtual club online with 10 other buddies makes for a much more interesting affair. Generally, EA does an excellent job managing and maintaining the online experience. Thus far I haven’t really encountered many online glitches or issues, although there is a tendency for the matchmaking to lose connection frequently, but I imagine this will be ironed out over the next few months. The time I did manage to spend in game was smooth. Some noticeable lag crept up, but otherwise online matches behave themselves and offer a never-ending array of human opponents to demolish or succumb to.

Conclusion

There isn’t much more to be said about FIFA 13, EA Canada has delivered in style and a midst a growing amount of hype. FIFA 13 doesn’t provide that groundbreaking leap FIFA 11 did, but it does build on the changes implemented to last year’s effort and continues EA dominance in the soccer arena. It doesn’t blow its competition out of the water, but FIFA 13 is better in virtually every way from FIFA 12, and for gamers (and FIFA fans) that’s really all that matters.

Score: 9 out of 10

(This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360, using a copy provided to us by the publisher)

Technical flaws mar an otherwise enjoyable original take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famed detective, in The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.

In November of 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published a story in the British magazine Beeton’s Christmas Annual dubbed “A Study In Scarlet.” It would be the first appearance of Doyle’s most famous character, the detective Sherlock Holmes, and as a result would go on to set the stage for one of the most enduring figures in modern fiction.

Holmes, for the non-existent subset of readers that aren’t immediately familiar with the character, is defined by his almost superhuman powers of deduction. Show the man a dirty walking stick and he’ll rattle off the name of its owner, his profession, and what sort of soil he had recently been strolling through, merely by observing minute facts about the stick. This would be an impressive character trait by itself, but what makes Sherlock Holmes so enduring is that all of his deductions follow a relatively simple path of logic that makes perfect sense once the story explains how Holmes was able to figure things out so quickly. His appeal, it seems, is that Sherlock Holmes is simply a normal human, with no supernatural abilities, who just happens to be really, really excellent at his job.

Though Doyle may not have known it at the time, he was creating a timeless icon in Sherlock Holmes, and it should come as little surprise that the character has remained relevant to modern audiences for the entirety of the past 125 years. Before his death in 1930, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote four novels and 56 stories featuring the character, but fans just can’t seem to get enough of the detective’s adventures and he’s appeared in hundreds of tales since that time. Tales like The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes, an adventure game created by French developer Frogwares, and the subject of today’s review.

Baker Street Irregulars

In almost all regards, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is a pretty standard adventure title. You’ll spend a lot of time in the game walking through rooms, examining every icon that you can possibly interact with, and attempting to match your wits against the developer’s sense of logic. Unlike classic adventure games however, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is a fully 3D, modern console title with at least some of the accoutrements you’d expect that to entail.

That said, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is not what I’d describe as “thoroughly modern.” It’s not out of place on an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, but when compared to any of the major titles released in either this year or last, the game’s aesthetics are simply not up to snuff. I’d expect to see character animations and texture work like this in a game from 2008, but in 2012 they stick out like a poorly-rendered sore thumb. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all serviceable, but there’s nothing in this game that will make you sit up and take notice of your gorgeous surroundings.

Normally that would be a big strike against the game, but in the case of The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes I can understand why the game isn’t as gorgeous as, say, the next Call Of Duty sequel. Frogwares, the game’s developer, is not only a relatively independent studio from France, they’re also far more accustomed to publishing games exclusively for the PC. Additionally, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes was initially scheduled for release in 2010 before unexpected delays pushed its release a full two years into the future. While my job dictates that I can’t entirely forgive the developer for the game’s aesthetic shortcomings, I can point out that its inability to directly compete with major, blockbuster gaming studios should be a given. If you really expected this game to be gorgeous, you’re either delusional or completely misunderstand how the gaming industry functions.

Remember when I mentioned that Frogwares titles usually appear only on the PC? That’s important, as it seems quite apparent that the PC was seen as the key platform during the development of The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes. Everything from the game’s style of play to its menu system seem like things that would work better on a computer. While Frogwares did a pretty competent job of adapting the game’s controls and options to better suit a modern console, prospective players should know that the Xbox 360 version of this game seems like an afterthought, at least as far as baseline functionality is concerned.

Despite all that though (and likely owing to the relatively simple conventions of the adventure game genre), The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is entirely functional. I don’t want that last paragraph to scare people off (at least not before I get to the next section of this review), so please know that even with the game’s obvious rough edges, it is without any crippling issues. Is it odd that a modern video game like this doesn’t include an autosave option, and that players are only given four manual save slots? Absolutely, but for the vast, vast majority of people, the systems in place here just work. This foundation may not be anything spectacular, but it’s enough to convey the game’s story, and that’s where The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes really shines.

Elementary

The most impressive aspect of The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is that it isn’t based on a tale written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, yet still manages to capture the spirit and tone of his novels almost exactly. As a fan of the original Holmes stories (and a massive fan of the BBC’s recent, phenomenal series Sherlock), I wouldn’t place it among the greatest stories the character has ever played a part in, but that shouldn’t be seen as a slight toward the game so much as praise for Doyle’s work. There is a good reason why this character has endured for over a century, and that appeal is on full display in The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes.

In The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes, you play as a combination of the titular detective and his partner, Dr. John Watson. Though the cases start out rather simply — “simply” in this case means that the first mystery you must solve involves a monkey stealing a priceless necklace and nearly lighting a house on fire — the game quickly turns into a complex web of mysterious events that cause the people of London to lose faith in the detective. Before the game comes to a close you’ll be accused of nearly all the crimes you’re attempting to solve, and only by proving your innocence can you bring the game’s shadowy antagonist to justice.

That’s a relatively standard set up for an adventure game, but it allows the developers of The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes to explore almost every notable aspect of the game’s lead character. Long-time fans of Sherlock Holmes will find that this game is utterly drenched in fan service, from Holmes’ iconic deerstalker cap, to his dependence of cocaine, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes offers an intensely well-researched portrait of its protagonist and demonstrates the affection that the game’s developers have in abundance for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation.

While this history lesson is quite helpful, the true crux of the game revolves around solving mysteries that are initially baffling. To do so, your character must explore every nook and cranny of his environment, interacting with notable objects and occasionally examining them in closer detail as fully rendered 3D objects. There’s nothing here that you haven’t seen in dozens of adventure games before, but aside from the recent Walking Dead episodic series from Telltale Games, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is as user-friendly and well-designed as any recent adventure title.

Unfortunately, and though this type of game design explicitly demands that it be played a certain way, The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes doesn’t quite grant players the feeling of actually deducing facts from otherwise baffling stacks of evidence. In effect, you can play through this game entirely by wandering aimlessly and clicking on anything that lights up. Things will move much faster if you pay attention to the clues presented by the game, but if you’re lazy or just uninterested, there’s no real need to assume the role of “detective” for this title.

Oddly, that doesn’t really detract from the experience (which is good given that I can’t come up with a viable way to accurately mimic Holmes’ uncanny ability to solve crimes in a video game). If anything, it feels like the gameplay mechanics are merely there because they add some sort of interactive element to what is otherwise a fantastic story. Holmes fans will adore the twists and turns in this game (and, likely, Holmes’ resemblance to famed actor Basil Rathbone), and to be totally honest with you that should have been the key selling point for The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes.

Conclusion

The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes is objectively not a great game. On almost every technical level it is overshadowed by other modern releases, and even on the PC, where its quirky design should feel more at home, it wouldn’t appeal to anyone who demands that all games use the absolute cutting edge of graphics technology. However, this game isn’t really aimed at the mainstream audience. Instead, it’s an obvious love letter to the character of Sherlock Holmes that pays him homage by crafting an excellent adventure akin to those that initially made him famous.

While this tale may have worked better in literary form, the minor technical failings of The Testament Of Sherlock Holmes should not be seen as enough to deter any Holmes fans from enjoying this story. If nothing else, this should serve as a perfect way to get your fix of the classic character during those periods where American fans have to wait months for new episodes of the aforementioned BBC series. In that regard, it’s a stunning success, even if it fails in many others.

Score: 6/10

(This game was reviewed using an Xbox 360 copy provided by publisher Atlus.)

Sony executives sound off on the troubled present and long future of the PS Vita.

There is no solution in sight for the PS Vita’s biggest problem: Lack of consumer interst. The easy fix would seem to be new games, but as Sony admitted this week, it’s having a hard time getting those games made.

The PlayStation Vita is an unusual device in 2012. It can run video games close to graphically comparable to those on the PlayStation 3, and even lets you play some home console titles like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale on the go. Its games are released as downloadables on the same day they’re released to retail. Those games are still exceedingly expensive compared to those on mobile devices like the iPhone 5. Speaking of that phone, the Vita also has a number of non-gaming apps, but no essential functionality like an email app or the ability to make phone calls. It’s an expensive bundle of contradictions. It’s not surprising then that Sony has only managed to sell about 2.2 million Vitas since it released in Japan last December. It’s also not surprising that Sony hasn’t been able to lure in third-party publishing support.

“One thing that was surprising and disappointing to us was the number of third parties to [support Vita] after launch,” Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida told Gamasutra, “PS Vita is the best hardware to bring a very immersive game experience onto portable. As we expand our install base and articulate what works really well on the platform as compared to others, it will get easier for us to be able to support from third parties.”

The problem is that developers only have so much money to develop their titles and need to reach the largest audience possible, so they tend to develop for mobile platforms that can guarantee better reach into audiences. Why would Square-Enix develop a PS Vita title when it could spend less making a title that runs on PCs, iOS, and Android? “There are limited resources that third party publishers have, and they have to diversify into new areas constantly; that’s a challenge to get the support we want,” said Yoshida.

Sony is committed to spending a long time and a lot of money to make Vita a success though. SCEA’s John Koller said that his company is planning to support PS Vita for ten years, the same span it promised to support PlayStation 3. “We’re in year one, so we’ll be supporting for some time,” said Koller, “[Vita] does have its own 10-year life cycle. All of our platforms do. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We expect long-term success from all our platforms.”

Without the games, though, Sony can’t sell Vitas. Without Vitas in people’s hands, it can’t convince developers to make games for the system. The ecology for the device as it stands at the end of its first year won’t maintain it for another two years, let alone nine.

Which USB 3.0 thumb drives are hot rods and which belong in a demolition derby? We put them to the test to find out.

While they tend to look alike, USB thumb drives can vary significantly from model to model in performance. With the USB 3.0 standard boosting speeds up to 10x from USB 2.0, these gaps become even more significant.

Each manufacturer makes different claims on the packaging, but how do you really know which is fastest? We’ve rounded up five popular models to find out: the Corsair Flash Voyager Slider, Patriot SuperSonic Boost XT, Verbatim Store n’ Go V3, Kingston DataTraveler Elite and Lexar JumpDrive S73.

We will be taking a look at performance in three different tests to determine just how quick these drives are. Before we take a look at the hard numbers, however, let’s examine how each drive stacks up in day-to-day use.

Appearances, appearances

The drives we tested used different designs that handled common problems in unique ways.

All of the drives are sliders – the USB plug is concealed when not in use – except for the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT. Among these, the Lexar JumpDrive S73 and the Verbatim Store n’ Go V3 are the standouts. Both offer simple sliding mechanisms that can be operated with one hand.

Corsair’s Flash Voyager Slider proved hard to operate due to an extremely stiff sliding mechanism that made one-handed operation difficult.

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0’s slider is quick to open but hard to close. We also had problems with the slider mechanism being too easy to activate when plugging the drive in to a USB port.

The Patriot drive, unlike its peers, uses an old-fashioned cap. The obvious downside is the fact you might lose the cap, but opening and closing it was easier than operating the sliding mechanisms on the Corsair and Kingston drives.

Patriot’s entry was also the only drive we tested to use a rubberized exterior instead of plastic. We didn’t take a hammer to these drives to prove longevity, but we suspect the Patriot would respond better to being crushed or dropped.

Verbatim’s V3 is the smallest and most portable of the drives, followed closely by the Lexar JumpDrive and Patriot SuperSonic. The other two drives were a good quarter-inch to half-inch longer. Kingston’s drive was the hardest to pocket due to its length and the difficult slider.

One area where these drives don’t differ much is price. The Corsair, Kingston and Patriot drives all typically retail for about $20. The Verbatim and Lexar drives undercut that pack slightly by selling for just above $15.

Synthetic performance

We started out benchmarking by testing synthetic performance. In this test ran HD Tune, a popular hard drive benchmarking suite, and took away from it the average transfer speeds of each drive. What were the results?

Here we can see there is a significant difference between the drives. The quickest are the Corsair Slider and the Verbatim V3 while the slowest are the Patriot and Lexar drives. Kingston’s drive lands smack dab in the middle.

Real-world file transfer performance

Synthetic benchmarks don’t say it all. Real-world performance is of critical importance. To test it we used two different file transfer tests.

The first of these involved copying Diablo 3 to the drive and back to the test computer. A game, like most programs, includes a number of files both large and small. This workload is similar to what will be experienced by anyone who likes to load portable programs on a flash drive.

Our write test results differ significantly between the drives. Verbatim’s inexpensive V3 suddenly drops way behind the pack. It transferred the Diablo 3 folder nearly four times slower than the Kingston DataTraveler Elite, the quickest drive in the test. Corsar’s slider is the second-quickest drive, followed by Lexar and Patriot.

Read results were very similar with the exception of the Lexar offering. It came in significantly behind the field.

Our second test is a large-file transfer test consisting of 500 MB video files totaling 6.5GB in size. This workload represents a scenario more familiar to photographers, amateur filmmakers and digital artists.

These results exactly echo our previous ones, albeit it with shorter transfer times across the board. Verbatim is once again way behind the pack in write times though it also leads the pack in the read test. Kingston’s drive is the best performer overall, followed next by the Corsair. Lexar’s drive again posts poor results in the read test.

Interpreting the results

The difference between the synthetic and real-world results is due to the benchmark. The test we used gauges both read and write speeds and then averages them into a result. Verbatim’s drive, the slowest in our write speed testing, put up good numbers because its good read performance balanced out any disadvantage.

Kingston’s DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is the obvious performance standout. It is significantly faster than the other drives in our write tests. This seems to be at the expense of read performance, where it was constantly the second slowest. But who cares? Sacrificing 10 seconds in read tests seems worth gaining minutes in the write test.

These results make it clear that the drive you buy is important. Yes, they all use the same USB standard and are sold at similar prices, but the memory and controller inside them differs. The gap in performance between the best and worst is dramatic.

Our recommendations

Kingston’s DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is the overall winner and is the only drive to walk away with our Editor’s Choice award. We don’t like the finicky slider’s tendency to accidentally open or close, but we can’t ignore the benchmark results. Kingston’s drive proved far quicker in our write speed tests. Quicker products are often more expensive, but the DataTraveler Elite 3.0 isn’t. It can be purchased for just $19.99 online.

Our Recommended award goes to the Corsair Flash Voyager Slider and the Patriot Supersonic Boost XT. Corsair’s drive was second overall in our performance metrics and its slider, though stiff, is more reliable than that of the Kingston. Patriot’s drive received its award because of its respectable performance, small size and rugged exterior. Both drives are typically sold for $19.99.

We can’t bestow the Lexar JumpDrive S73 or Verbatim V3 with honors. The small size and excellent sliders found on these drives were negated by performance hiccups. Verbatim’s drive was painfully slow in our write tests and Lexar’s drive was far behind the pack in our read tests. These drives are $5 less than the competition, but that’s barely more than the price of a venti latte. We suggest skipping coffee for a day and buying the Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0.

Electronic Arts has lost hundreds of millions of dollars on the NBA Live series over the past three years. Free-to-play could fix the series.

“[We] made a commitment to deliver a high quality experience—this is what our fans expect and what we demand of ourselves at EA Sports,” said the publisher’s VP Andrew Wilson in the Thursday announcement of NBA Live 13’s cancellation, “But making great games is not easy, and we’re just not there yet on NBA Live 13.” For Electronic Arts, fans of the classic NBA series still holding a torch even as NBA 2K has risen to replace it, and especially Electronic Arts’ investors, the cancellation is a bitter pill to swallow heading into the holiday season. In 2010, when EA cancelled the release of Live successor NBA Elite after the game had already gone into production, CEO John Riccitiello pegged the ensuing loss at around $250 million. With two years of development on the new title wasted with no promise of return coming, what can possibly resuscitate EA’s demolished NBA gaming business?

Three simple words: Free to play.

While Electronic Arts’ announcement suggests that it will swing back around with NBA Live 14 for consoles next year, that isn’t a likely future for the series. Budget pricing and cross-platform play are NBA Live’s survival tools based on Electronic Arts’ current business strategy. Consider first Electronic Arts’ broad shift away from traditional pricing for its games. Command & Conquer: Generals 2, originally announced as a full-price retail game, has been transformed into a free-to-play only release. Star Wars: The Old Republic, EA’s struggling MMORPG, has also turned to free-to-play models to survive.

Consider also COO Peter Moore’s focus on cross-platform play experiences for EA properties going forward. “The company has a vision and a mission,” said Moore in June, “The mission is to build the world’s best digital playground with fun for everyone, anywhere, anytime. We think that the future of gaming is cross-platform play, always having something with that’s a gaming device, but everything you do connects.”

These changes in strategy are relevant to NBA Live because of the changing state of the broader video game market. By fall 2013 comes, Microsoft and Sony will be preparing to release Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4. If any work done on the current version of NBA Live is to be saved and used to create revenue for the company, it will have to support those platforms as well as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, in addition to accommodating PCs with modest horsepower. Since the game won’t be seen as a cutting edge product, it makes the most fiscal sense for EA to release the game as a digital only product that’s either free and supported solely by microtransactions (team equipment, player trades, etc.) or with a budget pricing augmented by microtransactions. There are hints that EA was already considering this path with NBA Live 13.

EA is committed to the NBA. “We want to be in NBA forever, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure we are a proper player in the space,” Wilson told ESPN in June. This is how EA will stay in the game.

When the bones of 38 Studios are picked clean, who will make Kingdoms of Amalur 2, the lost sequel to Curt Schilling's only game?

The saga of 38 Studios will come to a close on Oct. 23 when the SJ Corio Company holds its second and final auction of its material assets in Providence, Rhode Island. The goods going up on the block range from the mundane to the exceedingly valuable, at least by video game development standards. 38 Studios office furniture will be sold alongside its servers, graphic design, and motion capture equipment. Just who will buy up the pieces of 38’s legacy is an interesting question facing the gaming industry. While we know that Microsoft is anxious to prevent the sale of the Xbox development kits seized from 38 Studios, who else in the industry might be interested?

Epic Games’ newest studio Impossible Games certainly has a vested interest in the remnants of 38 Studios’ operation. Impossible is comprised primarily of developers from former 38 Studios subsidiary Big Huge Games, that team behind that company’s only release, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The first auction of 38 assets being held on Oct. 16 in Timonium, Maryland has a selection of gear and other games like a “video game library” that could be valuable to the team at Impossible, especially if it plans to renew work on the planned sequel to Reckoning it was making when 38 Studios was shuttered by Rhode Island.

It looks as though that won’t happen though. Whether or not Impossible’s staff attempts to repurchase lost goods from its old office, it won’t be to complete Kingdoms of Amalur 2 since Epic will not be pursuing the IP when the state of Rhode Island sells it. “We don’t buy IP, we make IP,” Epic told Digital Trends, echoing president Mark Rein’s statements following the formation of Impossible Games.

The Kingdoms of Amalur IP may simply fade into obscurity. Electronic Arts said in July that it would be interested in revisiting the series even though the first one missed sales expectations. It did not, however, commit to trying to buy the series’ rights.

Who else might be digging through the detritus? We contacted Sony to see if it was also attempting to reclaim development tools from the state just like Microsoft, but as of this writing the company hasn’t returned our inquiries. Development kits for video game consoles aren’t purchased by developers, they’re licensed to them. As Microsoft said told Polygon, “Xbox 360 development kits (XDK) are the property of Microsoft and are only licensed to authorized studios and may not be assigned or sold to any third party without the written consent of Microsoft.”

We love our smartphones, but we don’t really love the typical battery life that we get out of them. Between all those Facebook updates, Google Maps lookups, and Ustream video-streaming sessions, they just don’t last. This is why you need to have a backup battery for your smartphone and this universal unit from Motorola totally fits the bill, because it will charge just about anything via USB, including Apple, BlackBerry, Samsung, LG, Nokia and, yes, Motorola too.

The idea behind the Motorola P793 Universal Dual-Charging Portable Power Pack is quite simple. It’s about the size of a standard cell phone, but it has an integrated micro-USB cable that can swing out and charge your mobile device. If you use something other than micro-USB, as would be the case with an iPod, you can use the device’s charging cable with the USB output. Yes, you can charge two devices at the same time.

It has a total capacity of 1420mAh, which is roughly enough to provide one complete charge to most modern smartphones. They say it should provide about five hours of additional talk time. Motorola is also going green with the P793, using eco-friendly materials in this CarbonFree product.

Jun Iwasaki made Square a household name and built XSEED into a durable niche publisher. Now he's focussing on PS Vita with GungHo.

The biggest video game publishers in the world are working hard to recreate their business models to accommodate an American gaming market where players are moving away from consoles and devoted portable gaming devices. Electronic Arts is recasting its console-centric empire on mobile and social games on platforms like iOS and Facebook, as well as the fast-growing free-to-play PC market. Activision is opening studios devoted to mobile gaming, like The Blast Furnace, for the first time. Now is not the time to focus on small audiences.

GungHo Online Entertaiment doesn’t care about what the industry giants are doing in the United States. The Japanese publisher sees not just opportunity in the US, but opportunities on some of the current industries least successful platforms. Three of the six games GungHo’s new GungHo Online Entertainment America branch is releasing are for the PlayStation Vita.

Can it succeed?

The company’s hired an executive with experience making Japanese games a success in the United States. Jun Iwasaki, former president of Square-Enix’s America office and until now the CEO of niche publisher XSEED, has spent the past two decades making Japanese games hits in the United States. His track record is strong. Iwasaki oversaw Square at the end of the ‘90s and early ‘00s, handling the domestic releases of Final Fantasy VII and many of the companies biggest western games. That experience will reportedly drive GungHo’s efforts here

“We understand there are cultural differences between Japanese and Western audiences, but we believe that the best approach is to start with a game that is genuinely entertaining, then produce said game for a specific audience,” Iwasaki told GamesIndustry International in a new interview, “It may seem like a basic rule, but it’s one that we firmly believe in.”

His statements seem strange in light of GungHo’s initial American releases. While it’s bringing three Android and iOS titles out, including Puzzle & Dragons, Freak Tower, and Princess Punt 2, its biggest releases are for the PlayStation Vita. Sony’s portable console has sold just 2.2 million units worldwide since its release last December, making its player bade the very definition of a “specific audience.” Dokuro, Picotto Knights, and Ragnarok Odyssey are badly needed original titles for Sony’s machine, but who will play them? Why bank so heavily on Vita?

“While we are looking forward to the Vita’s installed base growing in the future, we believe that the Vita and other handheld gaming devices (like the Nintendo 3DS) have great potential for network functionality and overall versatility,” said Iwasaki, “Also, as smartphones and tablets become increasingly closer to directly competing with dedicated handheld consoles, we feel it’s important to maintain a multi-platform model. In the same way that Sony and Android have increased their compatibility, it seems the PSP and Vita have increased their network connectivity rates, so we believe the systems show promise.”

Parity of online functionality and the ability to release titles on Vita as well as other mobile platforms is how Iwasaki thinks GungHo can mitigate risk in the market.

His company still faces the issue of competing for an already small audience. XSEED, Iwasaki’s previous venture and the initial US publisher of Ragnarok Odyssey, Atlus, and NIS America are just a few of the publishers already pushing small Japanese titles on PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS.

Whether or not GungHo thrives depends almost entirely on how well it’s able to promote its games. Iwasaki made Final Fantasy VII a success in America by partnering with Sony to publish it and aggressively marketing the game. That could work with GungHo’s titles, but it’s a different industry today than in 1997. The company is bold for going global, but the risk may not be rewarded.

The latest Facebook Messenger update makes it compatible with iPhone 5 and iOS 6, with an interface that closely resembles Apple's iMessage.

With iOS 6 updates rolling out in most major apps, it was only a matter of time before Facebook got in on the action and unveiled its latest Messenger app to match the newest version of Apple’s mobile operating system.

Facebook Messenger 2.0 features a few new shortcuts, such as swiping left to see who’s got the green light to chat and the ability to add friends you message the most to the top so you don’t have to search through your friends list. It’s also got a list of emoticons that are compatible with Facebook Messenger for those who like reliving the good ol’ AOL Instant Messenger days. This experience is heightened by the use of chat bubbles to distinguish between you and the recipient, which follows along the line of the interface found in Apple’s iMessage or even the precambrian iChat.

Just like the Web interface, you can see who in your thread has viewed your message — down to the time the person opened it. You will also be able to see from where the person sent the message so friends can stay in the loop of their social circle’s whereabouts. Of course, the biggest improvement is the screen sizing to fit iPhone 5′s enlarged display so no more awkward black bars at the top and bottom of your screen where the iPhone 4 display cuts off. The revamped Facebook Messenger app is clearly made for those who’ve replaced texting with Facebook chats — especially for those who may have forgotten their friends’ phone numbers or check their Facebook more than they check their cell.

Call me silly, but if I see a notification for Facebook and text on my phone, I do find myself checking Facebook first to see what’s new — but that may be because I personally use an Android phone. While the new Facebook Messenger for iOS may come just several weeks after Android first got the update, one feature sorely missing in iOS is the ability to send a Facebook message as a text. Knowing Apple’s API restrictions and tough workarounds, it is unlikely that iPhone users will be able to look forward to such functionality. For the time being, Facebook has done a fine job recreating the SMS experience — and then some — with its Messenger app. The app and update is free and is available for download today.

Hewlett Packard has announced the ElitePad 900, a business grade Windows 8 tablet that will be joined by a wide range of accessories.

Hewlett Packard has announced another Windows 8 tablet, this time aimed at business and government use, along with a wide range of specially designed accessories to make it a more tempting proposition.

The ElitePad 900 has a 10.1-inch touchscreen with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, and is covered with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 to help protect it. Inside the 9.2mm thick machined-aluminum chassis is an Intel Atom processor, the new Z2760 Clover Trail to be exact, however its clock speed is currently unknown, plus 2GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage.

The new processor means the ElitePad’s battery boasts eight hours of continuous use, plus there is an 8-megapixel camera on the rear, a video call lens which shoots in 1080p around the front, plus a SIM-card slot for mobile data connectivity too.

So far, so ordinary, but the ElitePad is obviously supposed to be purchased with one or more of the official accessories, and HP’s range is pleasingly extensive. The cringingly named Productivity Jacket turns the ElitePad into a laptop with a keyboard, improved speakers, an array of ports including an SD card reader, USBs and an HDMI, plus a second battery.

It’s not the only option either, as the ElitePad Docking Station provides an “enterprise class desktop experience,” with a keyboard, monitor and a charging system. The ElitePad can even be used as a second screen.

These are joined by a stylus, a case that boasts what HP calls “military grade” protection against bumps and drops, and a second case that contains an extended battery. Finally, provided companies purchase a special tool, the ElitePad 900′s battery and motherboard are accessible for ease of service.

All this sounds exciting, particularly due to the varied docking systems, and HP will release them and the ElitePad 900 in the USA from January 2013. Don’t bother asking about the price though, as like every other Windows 8 product, we’ve no idea how much the tablet or any of its accessories will cost.

You can watch some business people — including the Common Suited Middle Manager and the rare White Lab Coated Scientist — demonstrate the ElitePad 900 in HP’s all-business launch video below.

Apple recently announced it would be dropping the free storage offered through iCloud from 5GB to 20GB. How does it compare to the rest?

Apple hasn’t exactly been the media’s darling in the weeks following the release of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. As you may have heard, it has been embarrassing itself with the half-baked maps it decided to lump into iOS 6.

Now Apple has sent out emails to users of its iCloud service informing them the 20GB of storage they’re used to having will be dropping down to a paltry 5GB. New users will also be offered 5GB. This drop was originally scheduled for June 30, but Apple chose to postpone it for a later date; perhaps to soften the final blow. As for the reasoning behind the change, Apple says most users aren’t using the full 20GB of space anyway. But if most people aren’t saving 20GB of files then why take it all away?

It seems like a strange move considering Apple is taking storage away from loyal supporters of the company and its cloud service. After all, Microsoft awarded loyal Hotmail and Live accounts with 25GB of storage in SkyDrive — an offer I am still enjoying.

The email states that users with more than 5GB uploaded to iCloud will be able to keep their files but no longer upload new ones. Backups also stop and won’t continue until additional space is purchased for a yearly fee or files are removed to bring down the total to 5GB or less.

If you’re interested in dropping some cash each year, you’ll get 10GB for $20, 20GB for $40, and 50GB for $100. These offerings aren’t straightforward, however, and there are a few additional details around the service. The extra storage doesn’t include the free 5GB in the total so you’d actually be getting 15GB, 25GB, and 55GB. The yearly fee also has free, unlimited backups for apps, books, purchased music (not available in all countries), TV shows (US-only), and movies. Actual storage space is used for photos, videos, settings (wallpaper, mail, contacts, etc), app data and organization, messages, and ringtones. But is this drop in storage understandable or is Apple pulling a fast one on its customers?

What’s the competition offering?

When you look at Microsoft, Apple’s biggest competitor in terms of product ecosystem, the two cloud storage services offered by each company are definitely not equal, especially concerning price. For starters, SkyDrive gives users 7GB of storage for documents, photos, videos, and whatever else. SkyDrive also offers much better prices per year for additional space: 20GB for $10, 50GB for $25, and 100GB for $50. Compare that to $100 for Apple’s 50GB of storage, SkyDrive’s online backups, and its compatibility with iPad, iPhone, and Macs, suddenly it’s not much of a conversation. Of course, if you’re Apple all the way then iCloud may win on convenience alone. But if you have some Windows or Android products in your collection, SkyDrive’s flexibility is a definite asset as iCloud is only compatible with Apple devices.

But SkyDrive and iCloud aren’t the only players in this game. Google Drive is another popular cloud storage option and users of the free service are treated to 5GB as the standard. If that’s not enough you can sign up for 25GB for $2.49 per month (approx. $30 yearly) or 100GB for $4.99 (approx. $60 yearly). Google Drive may not be more affordable than SkyDrive or as good at back ups as iCloud, but it does have the advantage of supporting up to 16 terabytes of storage for users who need unwieldly amounts of data. 

Another strong contender is Dropbox. The platform agnostic service offers 2GB of free space, assuming you don’t earn more space through referrals, the platform offers a “Pro” option. Users can obtain 100GB for $100 per year ($10 monthly), 200GB for $200 ($20 monthly), and 500GB for $500 ($50 monthly). The advantage with Dropbox is you can access a lot more space, but if you’re only after 100GB, then SkyDrive is still your best option.

Of course, we can’t be the only ones with opinions on iCloud and its competition. What do you think of Apple’s drop in default storage space? Will it affect your use of iDevices? And if you don’t use iCloud, which online storage option do you use? Do you pay for extra space? We’re really curious.