Apple unveiled a snappy new ad for its refreshed iPod devices on Wednesday highlighting the range of colors on offer.

As Apple begins shipping the first batch of orders for its refreshed iPod range of media players to expectant customers around the world, the tech company has launched a new ad called ‘Bounce’ featuring the new devices.

The 30-second slot, posted on YouTube on Wednesday night and set to air on TV, features a bunch of iPods (touches, nanos and shuffles) bouncing around to a funky track called Yeah Yeah by London-based singer Willy Moon. It’s pretty, slick, and quick, and you can check it out below.

Apple unveiled a new iPod touch last month, featuring a larger 4-inch screen identical in size to that of the iPhone 5. Compared to its predecessor, the updated fifth-generation device is slimmer and lighter, and sports a vastly improved 5-megapixel camera. More RAM and a faster processor make for a much zippier device compared to earlier touches, too. It also comes in six colors – no longer just black and white – a feature that forms the basis of the new ad.

The new seventh-generation iPod nano, described as the thinnest nano to date, has done away with the small square design of its predecessor and returned to the longer look of the fifth-generation nano. An extra color has been added to the range, too.

As for the shuffle, three new colors have been added to the range.

On Wednesday morning a Microsoft executive suggested the company was preparing to launch iOS and Android apps for its Office suite of products. A few hours later, however, another executive said the information was "not accurate," leaving us back pretty much where we started.

Every few months rumors surface claiming Microsoft is working on iOS and Android apps for its Office suite of products, followed by nothing happening. It appears we’re in the same position again today, with talk Wednesday morning of an Office app for the iPad and other mobile devices apparently quashed in the afternoon by the computer giant.

Oddly though, this time the initial claim came from a named Microsoft executive in the Czech Republic rather than the usual source “with knowledge of the issue who preferred not to be named.”

According to ZDNet, Microsoft product manager Petr Bobek “let slip” to the Czech-based tech news site IHNED that the Redmond-based company was preparing to launch iOS and Android apps for Office 2013 around the middle of next year.

The information from Bobek appeared to be rather detailed, with the Microsoft Office portfolio manager claiming the software, comprising Word, Excel and PowerPoint, would be available to large companies, as well as Microsoft partners, at the end of this year, while smaller firms and home users would have to wait until 2013.

But a few hours later Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s head of corporate communications, came along and appeared to indicatethat nothing of the sort is happening. “The information shared by our Czech Republic subsidiary is not accurate. We have nothing further to share,” Shaw tweeted. Of course, you can read Shaw’s tweet in two ways – you might interpret it to mean the release dates mentioned by Bobek are not accurate, or you could read it as an outright denial that Microsoft has any plans to release Office for iOS and Android. Either way, it doesn’t look like an Office app will be appearing any time soon.

Are you keen to see a Microsoft Office app for your iOS or Android tablet? Or have you found a decent alternative instead? For more on the matter, check out Geoff Duncan’s in-depth article here looking at the arguments for and against the computer giant making an Office app for iOS and Android devices.

[via Computerworld, The Verge]

The next piece of additional content for Ubisioft’s Tom Clancy: Future Soldier, the DLC pack “Khyber Strike,” featuring 3 new multiplayer maps, a new game mode, and more, is available now.

Fall has come to the beautiful and scenic Khyber Pass region that connects Pakistan and Afghanistan. The leaves are changing, the autumn temperatures bring a resilient crisp sensation to the air, and the sun brings out the loveliest hues in the eyes of the masked gunmen who are turning the area into a warzone.

When Ubisoft released Tom Clancy: Future Soldier to rave reviews, it was a given that the release was not the end of the development cycle. DLC is the way of things now, and especially for those gamers that embrace a game’s online competitive multiplayer, it has become an expected addition that helps to keep a game from growing stale.

The previous Future Soldier DLC, Raven Strike, focused on expanding the campaign. While that could be played with up to four others, the competitive multiplayer was not expanded upon in that offering. In Khyber Strike, it becomes the focus.

The new DLC introduces three new competitive multiplayer maps, a new guerilla mode map, and a new game mode called “Takeover.” The pack also includes new achievements, and raises the level cap by ten (which puts it at 70 if you also purchased the Arctic Strike DLC). 

The new game mode

Takeover

Takeover is essentially Team Deathmatch, but with a Ghost Recon spin. The maps in the multiplayer are so large, both the DLC and original maps, that a Deathmatch without an objective could be a hair-rippingly frustrating time. You could spend minutes looking for a trace of an enemy before you are suddenly shot by someone that stumbles across you. Even if you know where they are, running from one side of the map to another for a confrontation that is over in seconds can be annoying.

With takeover there are objective points that act as point multipliers, but they also give you a place to focus you’re attack, or an area to defend. Doing both as a team is important, but unlike most of other the game modes you can try to just run around and kill and help your team to victory through the point total. It is a good addition, but odd that such a traditional mode would be released this late in a game’s life cycle. Including it on the disc would have made more sense, and having it added this late feels a touch foreign to the multiplayer that we’ve grown accustomed to. Still, a good addition, albeit long overdue.

The Maps

Palace

As the name suggests, “Palace” is set in a palatial area. It features large area with narrow halls and plenty of overlooking terraces, and several routes from one side to another. Finding an elevated position that you can defend will give you a huge advantage, but the size of the rooms makes that much easier said than done. Of the three new maps, Takeover is best suited for this area, but the traditional game modes fit in nicely as well. Overall a fairly balanced map that keeps you moving constantly to avoid being caught in one of the cavernous halls or open areas.

Switchback

Set in an outdoor section of a small town, “Switchback” is a contained area with plenty of cover, but not many hiding places, forcing you into the fight. The map is actually shaped like a “V” with two separate areas connected by a “base” that connects the two sides. If you want to cross from one side to the other, you will need to go through the base, which could lead to potential bottle necks and make for a fine ambush point.

On game modes with an objective, the defending team has a huge advantage here. Even if one person gets to the other side, forcing them back and making them respawn before the bottleneck means they have to go through the battle all over again. With a coordinated effort, this can be fun on either side. Running solo, you will be frustrated.

Transit

Set in an underground rail station, “Transit” is a massive and multi-tiered – but linear — map with two running trains that can kill you instantly if you don’t get out of the way in time. The area is too big to set up defenses outside of designated targets, which makes the takeover mode iffy – unless you have ranged weapons and are a quick shot. Although you will face bizarre angles and need to wait for enemies to advance past the two structures that break up the map, you can easily find a wall and wait for an enemy to cross your line of sight, then use the open lines to pick people off. It will require you to go perpendicular to a map that moves parallel, but the options are there.

This can make defending or taking an objective nerve-racking, as you are left in the open as the interaction bar fills up, constantly wondering if a sniper bullet is just seconds away. In that case, the size of the map is your ally, as it can take a fair amount of time to run from one end of the map to the other. Of the three, this was my favorite.

Guerrilla

Village

The poor, neglected Guerrilla mode sees another entry. If you are already a fan of this mode, “Village”  will give you a new challenge, but those that aren’t interested won’t find much to convince them otherwise.

“Village,” like the other Guerrilla maps, offers no single location for you to hold and is even more exposed than most. You will constantly need to move and relocate, but there are a few areas which will give you a decent vantage point as enemies approach by the street. Be ready to run though.

The Khyber Strike DLC is available now, and will run you 800 MS Points on XBL, or $9.99 on PSN. The level cap raise should appeal to the hardcore fans that have long since reached their limits, and the new game mode should breathe new life into old maps. As for the new maps, all three are in keeping with the Future Soldier philosophy, and all three move better than those in the Arctic Strike. If you are a fan of the series and hungry for more content, this is a no brainer.

THQ shuts down another subsidiary as the video game publisher desperately tries to lower costs in the wake of a new NASDAQ delisting.

THQ continues to trim the fat as it struggles to rebuild a profitable business. In addition to cancelling games like Guillermo del Toro’s Insane and dropping others like Tomonobu Itagaki’s Devil’s Third, it has spent the past year shuttering studios and selling off assets like PC publisher ValuSoft. Now it has closed its entire Asia-Pacific publishing arm.

MCV reported on Wednesday that the Melbourne, Australia-based THQ Asia-Pacific publishing arm would be shuttered in favor of licensing THQ’s titles to smaller local publishers to save costs.

Who will be pushing out games like Saints Row 4 in the region? All Interactive Entertainment. “The evolution of our distribution model in the Asia Pacific region will allow us to increase our reach with a lower cost model,” said THQ’s Ian Curran. Translation: We are finding new ways to tighten our belt in an effort to convince people to invest in the company again.

It’s not unusual for large publishers to adopt this model. Capcom uses All Intereactive for distribution in New Zealand and Australia, while Sega uses Five Star Games.

New details about OnLive's spectacular implosion show that the company was sold for a paltry sum after declaring insolvency in August.

OnLive’s disintegration in August was abrupt. One day the cloud-based streaming video game service was plugging along, the next its entire staff was liquidated. As details emerged, it came out that one of the investment firms that had initially backed OnLive back in 2009, Lauder Partners, was now sole owner of the company. How much did it pay?

Lauder Partners has poured a good amount of capital into other streaming entertainment businesses, including local television provider Aereo and Smart TV software producers like TrickPlay. Streaming video game businesses cost a princely sum based on recent transactions. Sony dropped $380 million on OnLive’s competitor Gaikai in July. Lauder spent a comparatively paltry $4.8 million on OnLive.

The San Jose Mercury News acquired a letter written by Joel Weinberg, CEO of Insolvency Services Group, the company charged with handling OnLive’s liquidation of assets prior to the company’s near closure. Weinberg’s letter states that Lauder swept in at precisely the right moment to buy up what remained of OnLive.

“Had the sale to the buyer not taken place, the assignee would have been left with inadequate capital to fund the significant costs to preserve and market OnLive’s patents and other intellectual property, thus greatly reducing expected recoveries essentially to those of a forced piecemeal auction,” reads the letter. In short: Taking just a paltry sum from Laudner was better than incurring the cost of actually trying to sell OnLive’s assets.

The dire state of OnLive when it declared insolvency in August is enhanced by other figures revealed. While the company had raised as much as $40 million prior to opening for business in 2010, it had accrued nearly $19 million in debt by the time it dissolved this summer, not counting future costs for maintaining its facilities.

It was OnLive’s employees who got the rawest deal. Not only did they lose their jobs, but according to a report at The Verge, many of them had spent significant sums on shares in the company that were rendered worthless when it declared insolvency. That same report says that clients including Samsung and LG had offered to buy the company, but CEO Steve Perlman refused to sell, preventing those employees from seeing any return on their investment.

A guide to help you get the hang of how to navigate Dunwall's sandbox in Arkane Studios' Dishonored.

Dishonored is a sandbox. Don’t let the level-driven narrative focus fool you. Once Corvo Attano is handed a mission and unleashed in the dirty, plague-ridden streets of Dunwall, the methods you use to complete that task are entirely your own to decide. This level of freedom can be daunting though. That’s why I want to take some time today to run through some of the less clearly defined game systems and offer some tips for making the most of your time in Dunwall. 

Save Early, Save Often

The old PC game adage “save early, save often” should be your mantra while playing Dishonored, especially if you are attempting a non-lethal and/or ghost run through a mission. Get into the mindset of manually saving your game whenever you overcome a particularly challenging obstacle. There are checkpoint locations that autosave for you, but they are relatively few and far between. Dishonored is the rare game that allows you to save anywhere, at virtually any time, and there’s a reason for that. ‘Take advantage.

Don’t Fear the Reaper

Most video games are built around the idea of having you learn as you proceed. Come to a nasty boss fight and you might die a few times, but each new attempt brings added knowledge of patterns to watch for and weaknesses to exploit. Dishonored doesn’t feature any boss fights, but it rewards trial-and-error play. Don’t be afraid to run out into the open — after saving, of course — and seeing what sort of trouble you stir up. You might be intentionally dooming yourself, but you also might catch sight of an access point that you hadn’t noticed before.

Also be sure to take advantage of the no-strings-attached tutorial mission that amounts to Corvo’s escape from prison. Achievement/Trophy hunters take special note here: most of the game-spanning goals do not apply during this mission. Take advantage of that to experiment. Learn how Dishonored’s stealth system works. Get the hang of blocking and countering in open combat situations. You can do this anywhere in the game, of course, but the first mission is there specifically to train you… so take advantage.

The Path of Which Resistance

Once you’ve got a handle on how Dishonored works mechanically, it’s worth spending some time figuring out how you want to play it. Will you ghost your way through the game, quietly avenging the Empress’s murder from the shadows? Would you prefer a more merciful path, never once allowing your blade to taste the enemy’s blood? Or will you stalk the streets of the city openly and brazenly, meting out justice as an unstoppable angel of death that strikes fear into the hearts of one and all?

Whether you sneak quietly or go loud, your choices have repercussions as the game unfolds. The attention that you draw to yourself and the death — or lack thereof — that you leave in your wake contributes to the city’s overall Chaos level. This determines what sort of resistance that you’ll be facing with each new task handed to you. At the end of each mission, you will be given your chaos ranking, but it is about more than just killing, there are certain objectives you can do if you want to raise it that may not be clear. For example, in one mission you are given a non-lethal way to take down a key figure.  You could always just kill the target, but for the best chaos boost, complete the non-lethal method, then as others are coming for him, kill him as others look on. Watch the shocked guards then proceed to freak out.  

In broad terms, the city becomes increasingly hostile as your Chaos level rises. Conversations with your allies and those overheard will reflect that, and the story is slightly modified to match. Leave too many bodies and alerted guards behind you, and you can expect to encounter a heavier enemy presence during future assignments. Not just town guards either. Your handiwork also quickens the spread of the plague, since there’s more rotting meat for the rats to feast on and less guards to enforce the quarantines. This means that you can expect to deal with additional rat swarms and Weepers as well when you have a high Chaos rating.

Of course, maybe that’s the challenge you’re looking for. There’s nothing inherently bad about having a high Chaos rating, especially if you’re going lethal and loud all the way. The endgame reflects this, and the final mission will play out much differently. The story’s conclusion won’t be quite as happy if you choose to bloody your blade too frequently, but the only real “penalty” for a high Chaos rating is stiffer resistance.

Blink Or You’ll Miss It

If you are into achievements/trophies and have seen a list of all the available rewards, you may have noticed that there is one for completing the game without unlocking any of Corvo’s supernatural abilities. Thankfully, Blink is excluded from that, and for good reason. You’re forced to unlock it, sure, but the game is also virtually unplayable without it. Blink allows you to move a short distance (its range can be upgraded) in any direction without anyone noticing, and it’s hard to overvalue Blink’s usefulness.

You can use it to slip past guards in an open space where they might otherwise catch you. Or locate hard-to-reach access points. Or zip around the battlefield to flank behind an enemy before he realizes what’s going on. If you are falling to your death, you can even use it to teleport closer to the ground and drop without taking damage, and if you Blink to within a step of an enemy, you can instantly take out that guard from behind. It is, by far the most flexible ability in Corvo’s toolbox. Use it, abuse it, learn it, love it.

Vengeance Can Wait

Take your time in each mission. Dishonored might be a level-based game, but you’re not ever following a linear set of corridors from point A to point B. There’s a lot of ground to cover in Dunwall, with an assortment of nooks and crannies hiding all of the best gear. Take the time to find them.

The first thing that you should do whenever a new chunk of map loads is pull out your Heart. You receive this item early on in the game, and it points out the location of each Rune (used for upgrading you skills) and Bone Charm (offers passive bonuses) on any given map. Use it when you arrive in a new location to get a sense of what’s out there. It is also worth equipping it and using it like an ability now and then. If you do it while pointing at a guard, it will tell you things about them. Doing so when facing a key target will give you a more complete picture of life in Dunwall, and the role they play. If you use the heart without a target in sight, it will tell you a bit about the area you are currently in.  

Make finding the Runes a priority before proceeding with your mission. Not only will you gather useful items, you’ll also inevitably find other goodies hidden away as well — things like gear, upgrade blueprints, valuable collectibles, and cash-money. Quest-givers too. Keep an eye out for secondary tasks during each mission. Often you’ll find that helping someone else unlocks additional access points or offers non-lethal options for neutralizing your primary targets. There are even instances where helping a character at one point will open up other missions later on, while ignoring them, or even killing them will close that thread for good.  

Blink is essential for exploration. In planning out your skill upgrades, it’s best to prioritize Blink and then at least level one of Agility — which more than doubles your jump height — to aid in your Dunwall wanderings. The first level of Possession helps too, since ratholes sometimes provide access to areas that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach. If you intend to remain non-lethal, the Dark Vision and Bend Time abilities are handy as well; if you choose to take the bloody path, offensive abilities like Devouring Swarm and Blood Thirsty should be your focus.  

Victory Through Experimentation

The city of Dunwall is extremely well designed with regards to offering multiple approaches to most situations, but it’s Corvo’s toolbox of skills and gear that really allow you to embrace Dishonored‘s sandbox. Be sure to read the “tips” section for each skill, but it’s equally important to simply mess around and see what works. There’s not an in-game reward for engineering creative kills, but there’s a personal sense of triumph that comes from exploiting the tools laid before you in unexpected ways.

Did you know, for example, that you can rig a rat with a springrazor trap? Try doing that, then using Possession on the rat and walking it right into the middle of a group of enemies. Use Bend Time at the right moment and you can snatch projectiles and grenades right out of the air, adding them to your stock or directing them right back to their sender. Want to get really cute? Use Bend Time to stop a bullet in midair then possess the person that fired it and walk him in front of his own shot.

The possibilities are endless, especially since you can use thrown objects or fired crossbow bolts to direct an enemy’s attention in one direction or another. Why distract someone when you can instead draw them over to a location where you’ve set a trap or used a rewire tool to turn a piece of machinery into your own agent of death? You’ve got that save anywhere feature, so take advantage of it and experiment to see what sort of inventive tactics you can engineer.

For more on Dishonored, check out our roundup that includes interviews, videos, and our full review here.

Chris Roberts reveals his ambitious crowd funded Star Citizen, a massive PC game that hearkens back to his Wing Commander series.

One month after his surprise announcement of new game studio Cloud Imperium Games, Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts has unveiled his first game since 2003’s Freelancer. PC exclusive Star Citizen looks like a successor to Roberts’ dramatic science fiction adventures of the ‘90s but with the graphical glitz of modern AAA games.

“At its core, Star Citizen is a destination, not a one-off story,” writes Roberts on the studio’s homepage, “It’s a complete universe where any number of adventures can take place, allowing players to decide there own game experience. I’ve always wanted to create one cohesive universe that encompasses everything that made Wing Commander and Privateer/Freelancer special. A huge sandbox with a complex and deep lore allowing players to explore of play in whatever capacity they wish.”

In short, he wants to make the science fiction game to end all science fiction games, melding the freedom of PC classics like Elite with the deep story building of his own famous series. Easier said than done. Roberts’ is claiming his game will do it all while still being a technological powerhouse. How realistic is that goal?

Since opening the studio in 2011, Roberts says that he and his team have put together the assets (art, story, etc.) for Star Citizen’s world as well as a substantial prototype of the game, but the persistent online world he’s promising, with both single- and co-operative play, won’t be ready until 2014. That’s if and only if actual players fund the game and play the prototype. Cloud Imperium is selling 200,000 alpha slots to backers of the game at $40 a pop. (The game, when it’s released, will be $60.) $8 million in crowd funding is a far more ambitious goal than the average Kickstarter project, but the average Kickstarter project doesn’t invite backers to automatically help test the game. Roberts is aiming for total funding, when private investment is included, of around $15 million.

“The PC gaming business is still a pretty strong valid business, but it hasn’t been getting a lot of love recently,” Roberts told Eurogamer, “I want to come back. That’s where I made my name. PC is the place where a lot of great games were started. Even a lot of the top console franchises started on the PC. I want to do my part.”

Cloud Imperium Games has a long road to ho. Roberts cites Minecraft as an example of a game that didn’t need a massive publisher to support, but Minecraft, vast and dense a game as it is, didn’t need $15 million to develop.

With Windows Phone 8 just around the corner, is Windows Phone 7.x all-but-dead? Actually, no. There have been several reports of new Windows Phone 7.8 devices coming to China and many third world countries in recent times. This makes a lot of sense, actually. Now that the platform is aging, Microsoft could potentially cut down the fees associated with licensing the software and could market it as an alternative to Symbian.

The vast majority of smartphone users in the developing world are either powered by the aging Symbian or by RIM Blackberrry. Some users also make use of the older Windows Mobile platform. Considering Nokia’s special relationship with Microsoft these days, Windows Phone 7.x could really appeal to Symbian users that are ready for something a bit more modern, as well as the small minority of consumers stuck with older Windows Mobile phones. One example we’ve seen before of a decent lower-end WP7 device is the Nokia 510.

The device in question today is the View S606, which is said to likely be the Chinese version of the Russian Alcatel One Touch View. The View S606 runs a Qualcomm single-core MSM7227A processor at 1GHz. It also has 512MB of RAM, 4GB internal storage, a 4-inch display, 1500mAh battery and 5MP camera. Priced under $250 without any contract in Russia, this could certainly be an affordable alternative for Symbian and Blackberry users. Sure, it isn’t nearly as powerful as the quad-core devices we are starting to see in North America, Europe, Japan and other major markets– but it is still worlds better than a traditional ‘dumb phone’.

What do you think? Could Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.x find an afterlife in developing countries?

We give a quick and comprehensive overview of the devices set to launch alongside Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.

Windows Phone has struggled to establish a foothold in the crowded smartphone marketplace, and the distance between Microsoft and its competitors is only growing. Microsoft hopes this will all change with the release of Windows Phone 8 and device manufacturers like Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and Huawei ready to back it up on the hardware front. 

We surfed the web for hours (seriously, it was hard) to put together a list of all the WP8 devices set to launch alongside the new OS at the end of October. And if we may be so bold, each company has put out some of its best work under the Microsoft name. Below are the first Windows Phone 8 devices.

(*Note: All devices below run on Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors.)

Nokia Lumia 920

Screen: 4.5 inches, 1280×768 pixels, 332ppi, IPS LCD
Specs: 1.5GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM, 32GB storage
OS: Windows Phone 8
Camera: 8.7MP rear (1080p video), 1.2MP front (720p video)
Connection: 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+ 
Price: TBA

Description: The Lumia 920 is posed to be Microsoft’s savior for Windows Phone 8, a White Knight on horseback ready to cut a swath through all the iPhones and Androids out there. Nokia claims the big draw for consumers comes from its superior camera technology and software innovations. Its latest line up comes with wireless charging and elements of its PureView camera. On the software front, it has its own maps and a music streaming app. Not to mention it looks gorgeous with a polycarbonate, high-gloss, unibody design.  

Nokia Lumia 820

Screen: 4.3 inches, 800×480 pixels, 217ppi, AMOLED
Specs: 1.5GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage
OS: Windows Phone 8
Camera: 8MP rear (1080p video), 0.3MP front (VGA video)
Connection: 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
Price: TBA

Description: The Lumia 820 may be aimed at more budget-minded consumers, but it still holds onto the wireless charging (with the right accessory) and software present in its older brother (but a lesser camera). Like the 920, the 820 comes in a bunch of bright colors but in this case, the colored backplates are interchangeable. Since it doesn’t follow a unibody design, the 820 also has a removable battery and supports microSD so you can jack up the storage up to 32GB.

 
HTC Windows Phone 8X

Screen: 4.3 inches, 1280×720 pixels, 341ppi, Super LCD 2
Specs: 1.5GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM, 16GB storage
OS: Windows Phone 8
Camera: 8MP rear (1080p video), 2.1MP front (1080p video)
Connection: 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
Price: $200 with a 2-year contract 

Description: At first glance, the HTC Windows Phone 8X looks like it may just be a cheap knock-off of Nokia’s Lumias. However, once you get past the familiar form factor and dizzying color options, the 8X does hold its own. It’s crafted from the same polycarbonate that gives the Lumia its signature swagger. HTC has also included Beats Audio here, much like in its One-branded smartphones. The non-expandable 16GB storage may be a drawback, but that wholly depends on your storage needs.

 HTC Windows Phone 8S

Screen: 4 inches, 800×480 pixels, 233ppi, Super LCD
Specs: 1GHz dual-core, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage (32GB)
OS: Windows Phone 8
Camera: 5MP rear (720p video)
Connection: 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
Price: TBA

Description: HTC’s Windows Phone 8S is the cheaper option in the company’s WP8 offerings, and it’s a fairly large step down spec-wise from its more luxurious counterpart. The two-toned coloring is pretty flattering, but the cheaper, plastic build can’t compete with the polycarbonate body of the 8X; the saving grace is that HTC opted for a matte finish. Like the Lumia 820, the 8S supports microSD for added storage. The 8S also doesn’t have a front-facing camera, a rather weird move considering Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype and it’s RAM, screen resolution, and storage are lacking. 

Samsung ATIV S

Screen: 4.8 inches, 1280×720 pixels, 306ppi, HD Super AMOLED
Specs: 1.5GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM, 16 or 32GB storage
OS: Windows Phone 8
Camera: 8MP rear, 1.9MP front
Connection: 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
Price: TBA

Description: Judging by the looks of the ATIV S, Samsung wasn’t invited to Microsoft’s neon-centric design meeting. In stark contrast to its fellow WP8 devices, the ATIV S is rocking a brushed metallic finish and only comes in a single color option. However, it’s certainly nice to see Samsung can make a device that isn’t made of plastic. The ATIV S wins in terms of storage space, supporting up to 32GB of added storage through an appropriately sized microSD. But all in all, the ATIV S isn’t as unique as what Nokia and HTC are presenting. Samsung may, literally, be phoning it in.

Huawei Ascend W1 and Ascend W2

Not a lot is known about Huawei’s rumored pair of Windows Phone 8 devices. We’re still waiting for the official unveiling, but we do know the W1 will be its flagship device and the W2 will most likely be a mid-range device.

However, if the Ascend is anything like the Android-powered P1 then the smartphone will pack a 4.3-inch screen, Super AMOLED display, and 4GB of storage. Due to Microsoft’s restrictions on Windows Phone 8 devices, we can expect the Ascend will also come with a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 and 1GB of RAM. It will also probably look a lot like the device pictured at left. 

Here’s hoping Huawei puts its best foot forward here and launches an incredible pair of smartphones. 

Any of these new devices stand out to you? Are you planning on upgrading to Windows Phone 8 when it launches? Let us know in the comments below.

The new eBay redesign is here, and it looks a lot like Pinterest -- if Pinterest's goal was to help you spend tons of cash.

Earlier in September, eBay announced that a “new eBay” was coming, teasing the audience with a logo rebranding to reveal a slimmer, more modern take on what used to be a clunky, bulbous design. Today, eBay takes the next step in unveiling a site overhaul that shows off a Pinterest-like grid interface to help shoppers browse more comfortably and more visually.

The “old” eBay allowed shoppers to view search results in a list or grid view, with price, auction end date, and Buy It Now options either lining the right side of the screen or hidden in grid view. The new design is tailored to be more mobile friendly, allowing for larger photos and fitting more listings in one page without having to scroll through search results. The redesign is even more helpful for shop owners, as they can have a prettier place to display all the items being auctioned off while their star ratings are located promptly at the top of their profiles to offer credibility. 

Furthermore, eBay users can view a feed of watched items, featured, recently viewed, or “My Feed,” which showcases a grid of things you’ve chosen to curate under your profile. This way, even if you aren’t selling the item yourself, you can promote your customers to a list of products they might like based off purchases they’ve made from your store before.

“The future of commerce is personal, driven by data. Search results and recommendations are no longer enough,” eBay President Devin Wenig writes in an announcement post. “Consumers want insight. And they want personal, curated selection that is relevant to them, controlled by them.”

EBay joins Facebook in revealing a Pinterest-ified e-commerce element this week. The social network recently unveiled its Collections feature, a brand-facing tool that gives retailers a visual, pinboard-formatted way to show off their goods. The mechanism also introduced “Collect” and “Want” actions to Facebook, giving users the ability to create wishlists and show off their purchases, as well as click-through buying power. And, of course, it all looks incredibly similar to the site that really ignited the social shopping craze — Pinterest. The hype about its profit-turning power has been enough to get e-commerce hopefuls mimicking its design. 

The more contemporary, clean eBay interface is slated for launch in the upcoming weeks stateside, while a global launch should be anticipated by the year’s end. It’s definitely eBay’s answer to being more intuitive, and making shoppers spend money faster in an Amazon-like fashion. If you’re already an avid eBayer, the redesign might make it that much more appealing for you to keep auctioning the things you want and want to sell, but it’s still going to be a tough to compete with the hoards of loyal Amazon users. 

Samsung has now officially confirmed that a smaller version of the Galaxy S3 is on its way with a reveal tomorrow. Besides confirmation of a 4-inch display, we really don’t know much about the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, though. That being said, we now have what is supposedly a leaked official image of the device from Mobile Geeks— they have the specs, too. Keep in mind that this is all just rumor and speculation for the moment.

As you can see, the S3 Mini looks just like its bigger brother, it is just a bit smaller. So what is under the hood (if rumors are true)? You can likely expect a 4-inch Super AMOLED 800 x 480 display, a STE U8420 dual-core processor running at 1GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, microSD, a 5MP rear cam, a 1500mAh battery and the power of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

This basically means this isn’t a high-end device, but it is quite a distance away from being considering low end as well. For those coming from 4-inch smartphones like the iPhone, this could certainly be the perfect size. What do you think, would you consider the 4-inch Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini or are the specs not as good as you would like?

In clarifying the future of its virtual currency, Microsoft confirms that Microsoft Points will be used on Xbox 360 but not Windows 8.

It’s always surprising when a massive corporation decides to introduce consumer friendly policies. Obviously Sony wants people to buy more PS Vitas, but it’s still impressive that it’s just giving away Vita versions of games like Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time with PS3 versions that are going to be sold for $60 regardless. On Monday, it appeared that Microsoft would finally reconsider some of the more byzantine and vicious monetization policies in its entertainment business. It would still charge people to play together online through Xbox Live, but it would finally stop using Microsoft Points, its virtual currency, for downloadable purchases. The reasoning was sound: The Windows 8 platform would unify all Microsofts platforms—PC, Windows Phone, and the still unannounced Xbox 720—and digital shopping transparency would speed adoption of the platform.

Turns out that Microsoft won’t be engaging in any consumer friendly activity after all, as the company confirmed on Wednesday that it was not just keeping Microsoft Points, it would further confuse its audience by using real money prices on other platforms.

“Microsoft Points continue to be the currency for purchasing content for the Xbox 360 console,” a Microsoft spokesman told The Verge. When it releases on Oct. 26, though, Windows 8 will let users purchase goods, even through Xbox Live, using local currency or Microsoft points. “Current Xbox Live customers may also make a purchase using points.”

Any customers looking for parity between their Xbox Music and Xbox Video accounts between their Xbox 360 in the living room and, for example, a Windows 8 laptop taken on the road will be out of luck.

Microsoft’s confirmation that Microsoft Points are here to stay on the Xbox 360 does not mean that its policy won’t change when the next console arrives. The Xbox 720, sometimes called Durango, will run on the Windows 8 operating system according to Microsoft’s Brian Hall, so it’s reasonable to expect that by the time it releases in 2013/2014, Microsoft will finally stop charging consumers for virtual currency packs that leave them with credit they can’t spend.

The time for Microsoft to begin changing its policies is now though. If Windows 8 is going to be successful as a core for the company’s growing entertainment businesses, it needs parity across all platforms. Restricting options on the Xbox 360, and continuing to charge for services like online play as part of Xbox Gold, is only going to alienate consumers increasingly accustomed to free play and real money pricing on platforms like iOS.

Groupon unveiled its latest play in assert the company as a commerce platform with the iPad-based point-of-sale system for merchants.

Groupon acquired iPad point-of-sale solution Breadcrumb just a few months ago and today the daily deals giant has accordingly unveiled its own POS system for local businesses to use on the iPad. While Groupon has offered a Square-like card reader to its clients, the new service is a fully-featured cash register replacement. Given Groupon’s recent launch of its payment system, Groupon Payments, the physical POS system is a natural next step. 

With Groupon Payments, Groupon hopes to reassure shareholders that have been disappointment by the company’s performance since its initial IPO price at $20 per share tanked and settled into single digits. At the moment, based on Yahoo Finance, Groupon’s stock is priced at $5.31. Still, that number is up since September, when it was at its lowest at $4.15 per share.

According to Groupon’s blog post, Breadcrumb’s General Manager Seth Harris explains that the company will be purposed with the hospitality industry in mind. “We started Breadcrumb to provide the hospitality industry with the best POS experience it has ever had,” says Harris. Breadcrumb is a fairly robust point-of-sale system: Servers can search for menu items and rearrange tables within the iPad-based software, take and place orders, split checks, process payments, and access analytics to track sales and performance.

Breadcrumb for Groupon will run strictly on iPads for a recurring monthly rental fee of $99, and this cost includes 24/7 support from Groupon’s hospitality focused customer service representatives. Breadcrumb will likely have multiple payment plans depending on the number of terminals that a business is interested in renting. All plans include the iPad compatible Breadcrumb software for rent, unlimited users, and free updates. But for $399 per month, merchants can use Breadcrumb on as many as 10 iPads, according to Breadcrumb’s site. Although, for that cost, the hardware (iPads, printers, and cash drawers) isn’t included.

Groupon Payments will likely serve as the payment system running on top of Breadcrumb’s platform. We’ve reached out to Groupon to clarify this.

When we last talked to Groupon, we learned exclusively that the company is working on developing a brick-and-mortar point-of-sale terminal for local mom-and-pop type shops, which should be introduced within the next month. According to a Groupon rep, not all small retail owners are tech savvy and interested in evolving into iPad POS services. 

With Groupon’s stock price slowly climbing, the company may have found a way to crawl out of the daily deals black hole.

To the surprise of no one, things take yet another turn for the worse in Telltale's latest episode of The Walking Dead.

Assuming you’ve read our reviews of the past three episodes of Telltale’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, you’re aware that we’re big fans of this game. Episode 1 was a wonderful surprise, Episode 2 was even better, and Episode 3 somehow topped both of its predecessors, both from a storytelling perspective and in the gameplay options it offers players. Fans of the original comic book series should be delighted by how excellent and source-accurate this game has been so far, but to be honest with you, I’m running out of ways to praise The Walking Dead. The newly released Episode 4, dubbed “Around Every Corner,” does nothing to change that; Like Episode 2 and 3 before it, Episode 4 is the finest entry in the series to date.

While the story of Lee and Clem’s survival amidst the zombie apocalypse in the American Southeast remains the key focus here, there is one big difference that sets Episode 4 apart from its forebears: This episode was written by Gary Whitta. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Whitta spent years as the Editor In Chief of PC Gamer magazine before leaving to write scripts for Hollywood. To date his biggest film has been 2010′s The Book Of Eli, a dystopian action flick starring Denzel Washington. While Whitta has been involved in Telltale’s The Walking Dead since the beginning, his role has largely been that of a supervisory position over the game’s writing team. In the case of Episode 4 however, Whitta has been tapped to write the episode himself.

This is probably where you’d expect me to detail all the new, interesting elements that Whitta brings to the story, but honestly that’s not at all the case. Given Whitta’s previous involvement with the series, it makes sense that he would want to seamlessly blend his episode with those that came before it, and in that regard he was very successful. If anything, Whitta’s writing gives players more of the same — excellent characterization, a bleak atmosphere and poignant moments that are genuinely emotionally resonant — and while I generally thrive on novelty, “more of the same” is exactly what I wanted to see from this episode.

Of course, that’s not to say that Episode 4 doesn’t bring anything new to the table. If you’ve played through the past three episodes of The Walking Dead, you’re well aware that over time the story in the game, regardless of your decisions, has grown increasingly dark. Death has been a constant companion on this journey since day one, but by the end of Episode 3 most players were likely wondering how many more characters they could stand to see snuffed out before bursting into tears or heading down to the local pub for a stiff drink. Assuming you enjoyed all of that morbidity, I’ve got great news: The ongoing trend of making each episode darker than the last continues in Episode 4. I refuse to drop spoilers for this game, but let’s just say that no one is safe in Telltale’s version of The Walking Dead. 

Well, actually, scratch that. I will disclose one minor spoiler. That’s about to happen, so those of you who want to go into Episode 4 totally fresh might want to skip to the next paragraph. Alright, now that they’re gone I can point out one excellent early-game example of the tone of this episode: A few minutes into the game your group is trapped in the backyard of a huge house. You’re trying to get inside but the doors and windows are firmly boarded up. You discover a shovel, but this doesn’t seem to help your situation until you discover that the pet door can be unlocked by a chip in the family dog’s collar, and then notice that there happens to be a freshly dug grave next to a nearby doghouse. Being the problem solver that he is, Lee opts to dig up the dog’s corpse, and once the thing is unearthed it’s just disgusting. Imagine those dogs from Resident Evil, except without any skin at all (yet a horrible, biologically-improbable case of mange). As if that wasn’t enough, while trying to get at the dog’s collar the thing’s head falls off.

That moment I just outlined serves as a succinct description of Episode 4 as a whole. This episode is gorier than its predecessors, darker than its predecessors, yet at the same time it amplifies the humor that first became apparent in Episode 3. Granted, it’s dark humor, but it still provides a nice contrast for a game that is otherwise eternally focused on morbidity and our characters’ lonely struggle.

Mechanically speaking, Episode 4 tops its predecessors as well. Instead of recycling concepts for the various action-focused segments, Episode 4 offers completely new ones. I can’t objectively say that these new mini-games are better than what we’ve seen in past episodes, but I can say that they seem more numerous in Episode 4. If nothing else, this kind of novelty signals that the developers aren’t resting on their laurels, and want to make each episode a unique experience, despite the overarching storyline.

Conclusion

I’d like to echo a sentiment that I first described in my review of The Walking Dead: Episode 3: After witnessing the events of Episode 4, I’m genuinely concerned that the only way for Telltale to continue topping itself is for the game’s protagonists to meet a horribly bleak, depressing end. Mass suicide? Being torn apart by the undead? Starvation in a dank basement? Whatever the end result, I don’t see a rosy future for these characters.

Why is this a part of my conclusion? Because it’s the highest praise I can pay this game. Though I predict horrors for everyone involved in this virtual situation, it absolutely kills me to think about it. Over the course of these episodes I’ve grown intensely fond of these characters, and feel real, legitimate anger and sadness whenever one of them dies. Given the adventure game genre’s reliance on quality storytelling, it should be seen as a massive compliment that Telltale is able to create this level of emotional attachment between a real person and one comprised of pixels. 

Now let’s just pray that Episode 5 arrives as soon as possible. Grisly as it might be, I can’t wait to see how this story ends.

(This game was reviewed using an Xbox Live Arcade copy provided by Telltale Games.)