Research In Motion's upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform has received US security clearance that will allow it to be used by goverment agencies – provided they don't all desert the Canadian company before the new platform launches.

As Research In Motion (RIM) executives count down the days to the launch of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform (though one wonders if they really know precisely how many days are left), the company has been pushing out a number of positive press releases recently in an effort to create a silver lining on the gray cloud that has been hanging over the firm for some time.

Last week it announced that development of BB10 had passed what it described as a “critical milestone” with news that it had entered lab testing with more than 50 carriers worldwide.

And on Wednesday evening it issued a statement saying its new BB10 smartphones and its Enterprise Service 10 management console had both received important Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 security certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This is the first time BlackBerry products have been FIPS certified ahead of launch, the Ontario-based company said, and paves the way for US and Canadian government agencies to use the devices in their work.

Commenting on the news, Michael K. Brown, vice president of security product management and research at RIM, said, “Achieving FIPS 140-2 certification means that BlackBerry 10 is ready to meet the strict security requirements of government agencies and enterprises at launch.”

Talking up the security features of BB10, he added, “What differentiates BlackBerry is that it integrates end-to-end security, and includes certified encryption algorithms for data at rest and data in transit. No other mobile solution has achieved the level of security accreditation that the BlackBerry solution has.”

The certification is undoubtedly good news for the mobile company, though with several agencies in recent months announcing their intention to turn away from BlackBerry handsets in favor of iOS and Android-powered devices, RIM will have its work cut out to get them back on board. It must also work to hold on to those who have so far stuck with its devices.

Happily for RIM, last week the Pentagon said it would continue to support “large numbers” of BlackBerry smartphones even though it’ll also be allowing many of its employees to use the iPhone and other devices.

BlackBerry’s reputation for strong security was what until recently made RIM’s handsets stand out for those who required such features. But for many IT administrators working today, iOS and Android phones now offer more secure and manageable platforms.

RIM has been able to offer a few bits of positive news of late, but the real test will of course come when its new, long-awaited BB10 OS and handsets finally make an appearance.

iPhone 5 manufacturer Foxconn admitted Wednesday that assembling the lighter, thinner device is "not easy" and as a result the company is having a serious problem keeping up with demand.

With the holiday season fast approaching, we can safely assume that demand for the new iPhone 5 will surge to some degree, though even now it appears that Foxconn, the company charged with assembling the device, is feeling the pressure.

Speaking to reporters after a business forum on Wednesday, Foxconn boss Terry Gou said, “It’s not easy to make the iPhones. We are falling short of meeting the huge demand.”

Gou’s comments appear to back up a number of recent reports regarding the production of the latest iteration of Apple’s popular smartphone. Last month an official at the Taiwan-based manufacturer told the Wall Street Journal that the handset was “the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled,” largely because its lighter, thinner design called for more precision from factory workers when putting it together. “It takes time to learn how to make this new device. Practice makes perfect. Our productivity has been improving day by day,” the official added.

Another issue facing the production line is the phone’s susceptibility to damage, with its relatively soft aluminum casing more prone to scuffs and scratches compared to the glass back found on the iPhone 4S. Shortly after the phone launched in September, a number of disgruntled customers took to forums to complain that their new handset had arrived damaged. Following this, reports emerged that Apple executives had ordered a quality-control crackdown at Foxconn in an effort to reduce the number of less-than-perfect handsets leaving plants.

No doubt Apple CEO Tim Cook will be more than a little perturbed by the fact that more than six weeks after the iPhone 5 launched, shipping time on its online store is still showing at between three and four weeks. Demand for the new phone may be healthy, but Cook will want Foxconn to find a way of cranking them out at a faster rate – a solution which could involve the Taiwan-based company outsourcing some of the orders to other manufacturers to help cope with demand.

[via Reuters]

It’s a law pretty much everywhere now that you’re not allowed to talk on your cell phone while driving, but most places allow you to use a handsfree headset. If you’re looking for a great Bluetooth headset at a great price, you might want to check out the Motorola H17txt with MotoSpeak. It’s on sale for 60% off.

The Motorola H17txt Bluetooth Headset comes with multiple ear loops, hooks and cushions for different wearing styles, so you should be able to find one that is most comfortable for you. It also comes with CrystalTalk Dual Microphone Technology that will suppress background noise and echo so that both members of the conversation can hear each other more clearly. This headset can also be used for streaming media and it has voice prompts to audibly tell you about battery level, mute status, and how to connect.

One of the more unique features is called MotoSpeak. When you pair it with your phone, the H17txt can read you your text messages so you don’t have to look at the screen. The text to speech system even understands 150 text acronyms like LOL, BTW and THX. You just need to get the free MotoSpeak app from the appropriate app store.

Microsoft has received a patent for technology that would enable the Xbox Kinect hands-free controller to spy in on your living room to see how many people are watching movies or listening to music.

A newly published Microsoft patent shows the Redmond, Washington-based computing giant may soon have the ability to monitor Xbox users through their Kinect hands-free controller. The system would allow content providers, like movie studios or record companies, new ways to monetize their goods. Only problem: The technology sounds like something straight out of 1984.

Microsoft’s patent, entitled “Content Distribution Regulation by Viewing User,” was first filed in April of 2011, and was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on November 1 of this year. The patent describes a “content presentation system and method allowing content providers to regulate the presentation of content on a per-user-view basis.”

So what, exactly, does that mean? Well, according to the patent, that means content providers will be able to offer content licenses to customers based not only on time (i.e. “this rental lasts 24 hours”) but also on the number of people watching a movie, for example, or listening to a song or album. Microsoft’s system would then use the Kinect’s camera to actually see how many people are in the room. If it’s more than the amount allowed by the purchased license, the entertainment will stop, and the system (probably Xbox Live) will demand that the customer upgrade to a new license that allows for more viewers.

Or, in the words of the patent itself: “The users consuming the content on a display device are monitored so that if the number of user-views licensed is exceeded, remedial action may be taken.” Furthermore, Microsoft’s technology may enable individuals to be “specifically identified and the amount of their consumption of the content tracked relative to their specific use.”

A note on copyright law: Right now, U.S. copyright law contains a provision known as “Public Performance” that gives copyright holders the right to when their protected intellectual property is performed or shown in public. So, what does “public” mean in this case? The law says “public” is a “place open to the public or at a place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered.”

The tendency might be to assume that Microsoft’s patent is there to give copyright holders a better way to police public performances of their movies and music – and that certainly seems like a no-brainer application of the technology. But that is not really what Microsoft is proposing here – this is some other beast entirely.

What Microsoft’s enabling with this patent is the exact opposite of public performance monitoring. Indeed, it seeks to monitor what are obviously private performances, which are not prohibited by copyright law. Not only that, but it greatly strengthens copyright holders’ power over users by allowing them to block their legally obtained content if, say, someone else walks in the room.

The benefits for Microsoft and content providers goes far beyond protecting copyright; it allows them to establish entirely new pricing for content. Only one person watching this movie? That’ll be $2. There’s 10 of you? Well, you’re going to have to cough up $15. And you’d better hope nobody shows up late to the party.

For consumers who are already disgusted with the disintegration of ownership in the 21st century, technology like that which Microsoft describes in this patent is clearly a giant leap in the wrong direction. We can only hope this is one of those ideas that dies in the prototype phase, and doesn’t become an industry norm.

And to think, these are the same companies that want to dissuade people from pirating their content. Here’s a hint: This won’t help.

You may always desire the latest and greatest, but does spending the money and time always make sense? The answer, as it turns out, depends.

For casual computer users, keeping in step the fast-moving computing world can be a frustrating conundrum. When does added convenience outweigh the price of an upgrade, and the burden of readjusting to a new environment?

If you’ve been humming along just fine with an old OS despite the arrival of Mountain Lion for Macs this summer or Windows 8 for PCs this fall, you may feel like an upgrade is pointless. But at some point, the age of your computer’s operating system is going to start blocking you off from the rest of the world. Your files and programs won’t be compatible with what they’re using at the office anymore. You’ll find yourself envious of the speed, new features and slick look of friends’ updated computers. What factors should you consider when deciding when to move on?

Cost, security, and the march of time

Security makes the most compelling reason to upgrade your operating system right now. If you’re still stubbornly clomping along on an OS that’s three versions or more behind the time, you’re missing out on years of important security updates for your system.

Cost can present a barrier, but the most recent OS upgrades from Microsoft and Apple have kept it to a minimum. Mountain Lion’s $19.99 price tag makes the upgrade a reasonable move for most Mac owners at any point. Updating a PC is usually more costly, but if your PC can comfortably run Windows 8, upgrading early can save you money. You can snag a Windows 8 upgrade for a mere $40 through the end of January 2013, and as low as $15, if recently bought a new Windows 7 laptop.

Another must-update situation exists if your OS version is so old that the manufacturer no longer sells or supports it. Somewhere around the five-year mark, you’ll fall off the back of the update cycle, and your system will be too old to handle further upgrades.

With this summer’s upgrade to Mountain Lion, Apple has committed to an annual upgrade cycle that mirrors what it is already doing with the iPad and iPhone. Older machines (think mid-2006 or earlier) that can’t keep up with the most recent versions no longer receive updates. Despite the Apple Software Update messages assuring you that your software is up to date, you’ve entered the dead zone.

With updates hitting about every three years, Windows fall behind the curve in just a couple of versions. PC users still relying on Windows 95, Windows Millennium, or Windows 2000 have definitely slipped into left-behind territory, and Windows XP is also getting precariously old and cranky .

Questions to ask

• Beyond those essential points, ask yourself what you expect to get from an OS upgrade.
• Is a hardware update what you really need?
• Would a good tuneup give you the performance boost you’re looking for?
• Is your computer powerful enough to run a newer version of your operating system?
• Is the rest of the software you use compatible? Will updating your operating system set off a cascade of other software updates?
• If you ever work from home, is the new version compatible with systems at work?
• Do you actually need or want the features a new OS version offers?

Ultimately, your operating system needs to be able to keep up with ongoing security updates and compatibility with current software. An OS released within the past five years should be up to the task. But if your computer can handle it and the price is right, the hop to the most recent release may be the smartest bet.

Thanks to the most recent Activision Blizzard financial report, we now know of a Diablo III expansion in development, and have a slightly clearer idea of when StarCraft II's Heart of the Swarm expansion might hit shelves.

Earlier today the gaming giant known as Activision Blizzard held its third quarter financial conference call. As per usual, the company’s report (.pdf) was largely designed to make it look as competent and well-run as possible for the benefit of shareholders, a feat the firm handily accomplished by focusing heavily on the blockbuster computer games the Blizzard Entertainment half of the corporation released over the course of 2012, specifically Diablo III and the Mists Of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft.

Of course, hearing that Blizzard’s games sell well is as useful to you readers as hearing that the sky is blue or that kittens are, in fact, adorable. The most interesting part of this conference call actually had nothing to do with Activision Blizzard’s finances, and instead focused on two titles that we likely won’t even see for months to come.

Though you won’t find it in the official records of the call released by Activision Blizzard, during the conference call Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that Blizzard is already hard at work on developing an expansion for Diablo III (which, for the record, has now sold more than 10 million units since launch). “We do have an expansion planned for Diablo. I don’t have any timeline to talk about yet,” Morhaime said. “I think the most important thing for us always comes down to the quality of the expansion and the gameplay, so that will be a big factor in terms of driving our schedule.” In sum, Blizzard will release this expansion, whatever it might be called, when it’s done, so expect to see this thing on store shelves at some nebulous point in the future. Probably.

On the flip side, Morhaime was slightly more specific about the upcoming release of the Heart of the Swarm expansion for StarCraft II (pictured in beta form above). He claims that this expansion should see retail during the first half of 2013, and while that’s vague, it’s the most precise pre-release window we can recall Morhaime ever offering this far ahead of a game being officially completed. We fully expected a “it will be done when it’s done” from Morhaime, and would have been perfectly content with that, but if the man suddenly wants to start making promises about when we’ll be able to play his company’s games, we welcome the opportunity to report it to the masses.

As exciting as all of this is, objectively it’s not actually a lot of information. Still, we know how you boys and girls love Blizzard’s games, so expect further reports to follow as we learn more about Blizzard’s next two projects.

The creators of the popular multiplayer survival horror game DayZ have taken issue with a modification that offers players real world cash rewards for their in-game exploits.

DayZ, if you’re unaware, is a massively popular PC game that drops players into a gigantic, open-world environment populated by other, like-minded players and hordes of ravenous zombies. Players are free to do whatever they’d like in this space, for good or ill, and as a result of this freedom DayZ has become one of the most “realistic” depictions of the zombie apocalypse ever created. It’s not uncommon to find small groups of players forced to pool their resources and hope that strength in numbers applies to situations where the dead have returned to life, though it’s equally likely that you might be wandering through the woods only to have a group of bandits (all controlled by real people) swipe your stuff and leave your corpse lying in a pool of coagulated blood.

DayZ Bounty, if you’re unaware, is a new modification for DayZ that was officially unveiled only yesterday. PC Gamer has a great piece explaining the mod’s basics, but if you don’t have that kind of time the important thing to know about DayZ Bounty is that this modification is designed to reward players with real world cash for things they do in DayZ. It’s not all free money for killing corpses however; in order to fund this rewards system, every player that wishes to join the special DayZ Bounty server must first pay somewhere between $5 and $20 for a set number of “lives.” By killing zombies, survivors and bandits, players can recoup their initial cash outlay, and there’s even a special bonus for killing the human-controlled character with the most in-game kills.

Before you get too excited about all of this, know that there are two huge hurdles preventing you from quitting your lame day job and instead funding a lavish rockstar’s lifestyle purely through shooting virtual zombies. First, DayZ Bounty was designed specifically to ensure that it’s creators would never have to actually pay out cash to people themselves (unless they lost fair and square, anyway).  Thus, while you might get lucky and pull down $100 from a large group of people every once in a while, you ought not expect to see games where players walk away $5,000 richer thanks to some developer-sponsored jackpot.

Second, and most crucially, DayZ developer Bohemia Interactive isn’t very pleased with the idea of this modification (despite the fact that DayZ itself started out as a modification for modern warfare simulation ArmA 2). Speaking to VG247, Bohemia expressed concern that this mod fundamentally changes DayZ into something the company doesn’t necessarily want to be associated with. Given the insane number of rules and regulations that must be followed in any gambling enterprise (and, let’s be honest, that’s what DayZ Bounty is) we don’t blame them.

“We believe that the elements of gambling that DayZ Bounty introduces challenges the basic game design aspects that DayZ is built upon,” Bohemia states. “It changes the focus of DayZ from being a creative, enjoyable, gritty gaming experience to a game that is based almost solely on financial gain and that is not something we want to be associated with.”

“We will be contacting the owners of the DayZ Bounty website directly over the coming days, to ask that they cease their activities in their current form.”

So, odds are pretty solid that DayZ Bounty won’t be around for much longer, at least not in its current form. If you’d like to get in on the action before Bohemia tells them to shutter the whole thing, a quick trip to the mod’s website should have you up and running shortly.

Obama has four more years in the White House, but what will his policies mean for the future of the tech we use every day?

A couple of years ago, President Obama was having dinner with Silicon Valley movers and shakers, including an ailing Steve Jobs. Although no recording of the dinner has been made available, legend has it that the President asked Jobs what it would take for Apple’s manufacturing jobs to come back to America.

“Those jobs aren’t coming back,” replied Jobs.

Whether that is true or not, during the campaign both President Obama and Governor Romney focused a lot of their energies on plans to bring that kind of manufacturing back to American shores. Now that the president has won a second term, what does that mean for American technology and manufacturing?

Mr. Obama’s plan was built on education and training, investing in clean energy, and giving tax incentives to companies that bring jobs back to America.

Jobs’ grim reply was based on the fact that American workers are no longer trained for the needs of high-tech manufacturing. Obama believes that making college more accessible, both at the university and community college level, is part of the solution for closing that skills gap.

A major focus during Obama’s first term was keeping tuition rates down, doubling funding for Pell Grants, and trying to get community colleges to work together with local employers to better train outgoing students for jobs that already exist locally. There’s every reason to believe that push will continue.

Another creative idea from the campaign trail was the creation of “manufacturing innovation institutes,” where businesses and research institutions work together to make sure that American research and development produces corresponding high-tech manufacturing jobs. How the federal government can spur that idea remains to be seen, but it could be a key step in reshaping the American manufacturing sector and making sure the next Apple keeps its assembly lines here at home.

During the campaign, Obama predictably hit Governor Romney on the Republican Party’s close ties with the oil industry. In his first term, the president advocated an “all of the above” energy policy. He’s willing to explore any source, including oil, which can help America reach a majority of energy independence by 2035. It is now expected that investment in alternative energy technologies will only continue in the next four years.

During his first term, President Obama pushed ahead with plans to double fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks by 2025, which is spurring the auto industry’s investments in hybrid and electric vehicles and has led to an American manufacturing boom of sorts in battery technology. Since these rules are now under no threat of repeal, cars and light trucks are expected to sip less and less gas in the next four years. Horsepower may be a different story.

One of the places where we heard repeats of 2008’s campaign pledges was in the area of corporate tax structure. The president promised to end tax breaks for companies that participate in outsourcing during his first term and promised to do the same in his second term (which you can assume to mean that the first effort didn’t go so well).

He also wants to provide tax incentives for companies to bring jobs back to the US. Considering Apple currently enjoys a 1.9 percent tax rate on its foreign earnings, I’m not sure how much of an incentive the US government can provide. Perhaps they will mandate that all federal employees will have to buy an iPad Mini. At least all of our forest rangers will have something to do while they’re stuck in those fire towers.

Any conversation about tax policy centers on Congress. In the coming days, it will be interesting to see if our Republican House makes any overtures of bipartisanship to the president now that they know they are stuck with him for another four years. If history is any indication, don’t hold your breath. There’s probably better chance of an impeachment investigation than bipartisan tax reform.

Whatever the case, many pundits believe that the president will be bolder in his second term, enacting whatever policies he can without congressional approval if Congress proves to be as intransigent as they have been in the past. A lot of the policies mentioned above came to pass through that same kind of executive maneuvering. Because of that, the next four years of America’s technology and education policy might be just as much decided in courtrooms as in the Oval Office.

New video offers preview of Wii U Chat and Miiverse possibilities.

We’ve known for a while now that big changes were in store for the Nintendo online experience with the impending release of the Wii U this month, and now we have a few more details about those changes.

In a Nintendo Direct video presentation that arrived online today, the company outlined a number of innovations Wii U users can look forward to in the next-gen system and the new look and feel of WaraWara Plaza, the in-game lobby that serves as a starting point for Wii U interaction.

One of the big tweaks the new system will receive is the replacement of Nintendo’s “Friend Codes” with a “Network ID” for each user. The ID will be a cross-platform form of identification that serves as your Nintendo account for the eShop and associated Nintendo identity elsewhere around the Internet. According to the presentation, up to 12 different Network IDs can be associated with a single Wii U console, and they’ll all be able to share the downloaded games.

Nintendo’s “Miiverse” will also provide an instant form of interaction with the greater Nintendo community, putting the spotlight on certain users’ conversations about games displayed in the WaraWara Plaza and allowing you to join the discussion without opening a new application.

The video also provides a look at Wii U Chat, the video chat tool that users can communicate on from one Wii U to another, using both the GamePad and television. The GamePad’s onboard camera provides video of the user, and the touchscreen on the GamePad allows for some interesting options during the chat. The GamePad will blink with a similar blue light that the Wii used to alert its owners to messages awaiting them.

Halo 4 has been released, but that won't stop Microsoft's PR efforts. The company wants you playing Halo 4, and it's willing to pay to ensure that happens.

Regardless of how you might feel about the game, the launch of Halo 4 will go down in history as a magnificent, unprecedented display of wanton spectacle channelled entirely toward convincing every gamer on the planet that they absolutely must buy the game as soon as humanly possible. To wit: Microsoft effectively rented a country for a day purely so a group of Halo fans and international media could stomp through its historical architecture while pretending to solve riddles that vaguely tie in to Halo lore.

Obviously if Microsoft was willing to go to such great lengths to ensure that we purchase Halo 4, the firm must have some interest in keeping us playing as long as possible, no? Of course it does, and it’s also got a keen promotional stunt lined up to make sure that we all spend our every waking moment shooting aliens.

A new addition to the Xbox Live Rewards program, the newly revealed “Halo 4 Combat Tour” builds on the idea of rewarding Xbox Live gamers with free Microsoft points, but instead of subjecting users to endless surveys the Combat Tour hands out bonus points merely for playing Halo 4. Points earned in any of these Xbox Live Rewards programs can be used to purchase items on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and should not be mistaken for Achievement points. Those are an entirely separate thing, and have no real monetary value.

Anyway, according to the official Halo 4 Combat Tour page, points are being handed out both for how much time you spend within Halo 4, and how much of your real-world cash you spend on items for the game (read: downloadable content additions, premium themes, etc). Spend 35 hours or more playing Halo 4′s multiplayer modes and you’ll pick up an extra 100 points. 70-plus hours will net you 300 points, and those who play for more than 140 hours will earn 600 points. Likewise, those who spend 1500 Microsoft points in the Xbox Live Marketplace on Halo 4 content will earn 100 free points, and those who spend over 3000 points will see a 200 point return. All told, there’s a massive 800 Microsoft points on offer here.

For the record, that “massive” was sarcastic. 800 points seems like a large number out of context, but if you do the math it only works out to about $10. “Oh, well, I’d still like a free $10,” you think, before realizing that to earn that money, you would have to spend at least $37.50 on downloadable Halo 4 content, and have spent over 140 hours in the game’s online multiplayer modes by themselves. Any time you spend playing the single-player campaign is completely ignored. Even if we discount that aforementioned cash outlay, players who take advantage of this scheme are only earning about seven cents an hour — which, again, can only be spent on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

So maybe it’s not exactly a foolproof get rich quick scheme, but for those of you who will inevitably rack up 140-plus hours in Halo 4′s multiplayer and are quite likely to buy all of the game’s DLC, it does seem like a nice sign of gratitude from Microsoft in the form of a useful, thematically appropriate rebate. You’d be a fool to turn that down, so if you for some baffling reason aren’t already enrolled in the Xbox Live Reward service, click through to the sign up page and make sure you’re getting all the free Microsoft points you’ve got coming.

"That number's just continuing to grow," says Microsoft rep of Kinect sales.

Microsoft’s controller-free Kinect system has come a long way since its 2010 debut — to the tune of 20 million units sold.

Speaking with Games Industry International, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business rep Mat Barlow said Kinect sales currently sit at over 20 million units, with even more sales expected this holiday season.

“That number’s just continuing to grow,” said Barlow, the general manager of product marketing for the division. “And I know we’ve seen holiday cycles like this. Gift givers coming out to buy Kinect is really going to be a large chunk of the console units sold these days. So 20 million units of Kinect and at the end of this holiday that number should be creeping up as well.”

Barlow also addressed the changing way the company has positioned the controller-free system of interacting with the Xbox 360, which began as a competitor with the Nintendo Wii and has since moved on to become a creature all its own.

“The voice-control stuff is really starting to catch on,” he said. “When I look at some of the stuff we’ve done with Skyrim, some of the integration we have with Skyrim, some of the work with FIFA…voice integration has been unbelievable. If you look at some of the reviews we have on Mass Effect 3 and some of the people who play through using some of the voice control capabilities as well in that game. We’re starting to strike the right chords in the core audience, but I feel like we’re better off having an asset like Kinect and being able to have the broad audience appeal and appreciate it and then trying some different things with the core. I think another thing that I know the core really does like with Kinect when they’re using it are some of the controls for media, whether it’s gesture control inside a Xbox video app or even just a voice search inside the dash, and being able to find things through Bing and find content and control.”

And new, unique uses for the the Kinect do indeed seem to pop up every day, with recent reports of the system being employed as a helpful tool for doctors, as well as a shopping assistant for trips to the market.

“We’ve only scratched the surface. Kinect is going to be something that everyone’s going to want to own,” said Barlow.

Assassin's Creed III becomes Ubisoft's most successful launch in company's history.

It’s no surprise that Assassin’s Creed III sold well upon its release last week, but just how well is pretty darn impressive.

Ubisoft released its first-half financial report this week, and the company estimates that the latest installment in the blockbuster game franchise has sold more than 3.5 million units since its October 30 release. Not only does that qualify Assassin’s Creed III as the most successful launch in the company’s history, but the sales tally is actually double that of the previous game, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, at the same point in its life.

The massive sales figures for the game, which is set amid the American Revolution and pits its stealthy hero against Templar controlled British forces occupying the colonies, also helped push Ubisoft’s sales figures up 12 percent over last year’s tally at this point. This prompted the publisher to bump its sales estimates for the year to a figure between $1.54-1.62 billion.

In related news, yesterday’s reveal of an upcoming Assassin’s Creed Anthology bundle that will package all five games and their associated DLC into a single box has received an update of sorts — though U.S. gamers won’t be happy about it.

According to Joystiq,Anthology will be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe, but there are no plans for a North American release at this point. The bundle is currently designated as an “EMEA” (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) release, with an expected release date of November 30 in the UK and November 29 elsewhere in Europe.

Still, the site notes that the Ubisoft rep who confirmed these details left the door open for future updates regarding a U.S. release, saying that Assassin’s Creed Anthology is exclusive to the UK “for now” and isn’t currently confirmed for US release.

So keep your fingers crossed, North American Assassin’s Creed fans. There’s still hope.

Learn how to back up your computer with this simple and straightforward tutorial

Anyone who’s ever lost an important file knows just how crucial backups can be. They’re one of those things that you might only use once or twice in your lifetime, but when the day comes that you urgently need to recover a file, you’ll be relieved you had the foresight to plan ahead.

Backing up your data is tantamount to making a spare key for your car — you’re basically making a copy of something important in case you ever lose the original.  Although backing up is essentially saving something twice just in case it’s lost, this article is about more than just saving a couple important files.

We’re going to assume here that if you made it to our site and landed on this article, you probably have the basic computer skills necessary to copy and save a file to separate location. This article isn’t about how to save a few files — it’s intended to give you a simple explanation of how to back up your entire computer. Read on to get the details.

First of all, regardless of whether you’re on a Windows or Mac PC, you’ll need to get a backup drive. This can be just about any USB external hard drive, but since you aim to make a complete backup of your system, it’s best to opt for a drive with about twice the capacity of your computer.

Once you’ve got your backup drive, connect it to your computer via whatever port you prefer – be it USB, FireWire, or ThunderBolt. If this is the first time you’ve plugged in the drive, both Windows and Mac will ask you if you’d like to use the drive as a backup. If this happens, choose yes.

If you’re not immediately prompted to use your external drive as a backup, do this:

MAC: Go to System Preferences > Time Machine, hit “Select Backup Disk” and choose your external drive.

WINDOWS: Open the Start Menu, type “backup” into the search box and choose “Backup and Restore” from the results. In the window that pops up, click on the “Set Up Backup button,” select the drive that you just plugged in and click Next until you reach the final window. On the last window, click “Save Settings and Run Backup.”

**Note: if this is the first time you’re backing up your system, it’ll take a while. Do it at a time when you won’t be going anywhere and won’t need to unplug your computer.

That’s it! Once you’ve finished the setup process, your computer will automatically create backups of your system whenever the backup drive is plugged in and available.

However, while this method will protect you from unexpected hard drive issues and accidental deletions, backing up on a physical disk still makes your data vulnerable to fires, floods, and toddlers playing with magnets. If you want truly accident-proof backups, back your system up in the Cloud.

Cloud storage services have boomed in recent years, and there are loads of good, low-priced services out there. We recommend iCloud, CrashPlan+, BackBlaze, and CommodoBackup – but there are dozens of others out there that offer different pricing plans. Shop around and find the one that suits your needs.

According to reports, Microsoft is moving forward with an Xbox Surface tablet. The 7-inch device will place a firm focus on gaming with a custom-built processor and modified version Windows OS. We're likely to see the tablet before we see an actual new Xbox.

According to a report from The Verge, Microsoft is entering into the hardware business with a 7-inch gaming tablet. We’ve known for a while that Microsoft has had interest in building hardware for devices running its new Windows 8 operating system, but this tablet project appears to be an entirely new beast — though it’s been rumored since June.

The sources used in the report states the 7-inch gaming focused tablet would run on a modified version of Windows, similar to the Windows RT tablets, and would include “a custom ARM processor and high-bandwidth RAM.” While gaming will be the focus of this device, it may not be its explicit purpose as some other tablet functionality may remain in place. 

It’s interesting to note the Xbox 720 is rumored to be built on Windows, likely a custom kernel of the operating system. This is the same way the Xbox Surface tablet is said to operate. The report from the Verge also made mention of the fact that the Xbox Surface tablet is being developed in Microsoft’s Silicon Valley offices and the company recently locked down Xbox-related buildings on its campus. This news means we could see an Xbox tablet before we see a new console from Microsoft.

Microsoft has yet to comment on the speculation, but all signs are pointing to an Xbox Surface offering from the Redmond based company. After some rough reviews on the first Surface, it makes sense that Microsoft might go back into its stable and come out with another offering branded with its powerhouse product. The Xbox brand is only eleven years old but is one of the most notable names in gaming. The mobile market has proven itself as a true embracer of games and entertainment, so slapping a well-recognized name in those fields onto a tablet seems like a no-brainer for marketing. If the Xbox 720 is truly being built on Windows and Microsoft is working on some sort of OS integration between its tablet and its gaming system, the Xbox Surface may become a must-have accessory for console gamers who remain loyal to Microsoft.

Mortal Kombat reboot could involve a "supermarket employee who discovers that he has out of this world powers."

Not only is the long-rumored reboot of the Mortal Kombat movie franchise happening, it could receive a bigger budget than both of its predecessors.

Speaking with Web Series Network at the Marseille Webfest, Warner Bros. exec Lance Sloane described the upcoming reboot directed by Mortal Kombat: Legacy filmmaker Kevin Tancharoen as a “$40-50 million feature film,” and indicated that it was one of the studio’s spotlight projects on their upcoming slate.

You can watch the video with Sloane below:

If Sloane’s estimate of the as-yet-untitled film’s budget is accurate, that would give it the highest budget of any film in the franchise so far. The original 1995 Mortal Kombat was made for an estimated $18 million and generated $122 million at the worldwide box office, while its follow-up, 1997′s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was budgeted for $30 million but only generated $44.5 million at the box office. A third film, Mortal Kombat: Devastation was shelved due to the poor performance of Annihilation.

Tancharoen found his way to the reboot director’s chair after creating a short film titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth that went viral online in 2010. As Sloane mentions in the video, Mortal Kombat rights-holders Warner Bros. initially sent its legal team after Tancharoen, but eventually ended up having him direct a web series based on the franchise titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy. The series was received well, and a second “season” is in production now in addition to the upcoming big-screen reboot.

Also on the Mortal Kombat wire is some unconfirmed information regarding the film’s plot that may or may not pan out as fact, but is interesting all the same.

According to movie blog Bloody Disgusting, the live-action film will tell the story of “a lowly unlucky supermarket employee who discovers that he has out of this world powers and must decide between good and evil, even though the evil side has helped him discover his true potential and who he really is.”

While that plot sounds suspiciously like the premise of the Evil Dead movies, nothing has been confirmed at this point regarding Mortal Kombat outside of Tancharoen’s involvement and Sloane’s comments.

A new Uncharted game is one the way, but it's not what you think.

The next installment in the Uncharted franchise will be a casino-style card game, according to information gleaned from recent overseas ratings board reports.

A project with the title Uncharted: Fight For Fortune popped up in the listings for Brazil and Australia’s game ratings boards, with One Loop Games listed as the developer on the project. One Loop Games previously worked on the mobile games God of War: Betrayal, Spider Man 3, James Bond: Casino Royale, and Ratchet & Clank: Going Mobile, as well as console games Star Wars Episode III, Full Spectrum Warrior, and The Saboteur.

The game is listed as a Vita release on the Brazil listing, but the Australia listing indicates that it will be a multi-platform game, so a Playstation 3 release seems likely. Possibly the most interesting element of the listings, however, is a note on the Brazil ratings report that describes Fight For Fortune as a “casino/cards” game.

The project isn’t listed by title on the One Loop Games website, though the site does hint at a “Secret Project #1″ that it recently completed and a “Secret Project #2″ that’s currently underway.

The previous Vita release in the franchise, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, was a critical success, earning an 8.5/10 in our Digital Trends review.

Do you love your new Apple iPhone 5 but wish that it had a slide-out physical QWERTY keyboard to make text messages and Facebook status updates that much easier? This case could be the perfect fit.

The MiniSuit iPhone 5 Bluetooth QWERTY Keyboard Case has two purposes. First, it can act as a protective case for your iPhone 5. Much more interesting is the second function, though, since it has an integrated slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Even though it’s physically there with your iPhone, it actually connects wirelessly via Bluetooth 2.0.

The net result is an iPhone 5 with a slide-out keyboard, giving you a similar form factor to what we saw with devices like the original Motorola DROID. There’s an on/off switch to conserve power, raised buttons for tactile feel, and even backlit illumination for typing in the dark. Standby time has been rated at 45 days and you can recharge the case/keyboard via the provided USB cable.

While the LG Nexus 4 might be lacking 4G LTE, it is jam-packed with extremely powerful graphics and processing power. In fact, there is so much great hardware in here, it seems impossible that Google Play is able to sell the Nexus 4 for only $299. That’s because they are actually not making a dime directly on the hardware, it seems.

So far we’ve started to see other retailers get their hands on the Nexus 4 for sell off-contract and it is listing at prices around $750-$800. Of course these retailers need to make a profit after they buy the handset– but even so, that’s a HUGE price difference between the $299 we are seeing Google Play sell the Nexus 4 at.

There are two explanations, one is that Google is relying on their services and ads to make all the money so they are selling this at-cost or even slightly cheaper than cost. The other possibility is that vendors overprice gadgets a good margin. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Google knows it can make back the money on its services and search, so why charge a bunch?

For those that need a reminder, the LG Nexus 4 features 8GB of storage, 2GB of RAM and a Qualcomm S4 Krait chipset all for $299. Do you plan to pick one up or is there another phone that seems more up your alley right now?

Apple is trying to add Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, and the Galaxy Note 10.1 to yet another patent infringement court case against Samsung in California.

Apple argued yesterday that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet and the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system infringe on its patents and should be added to an existing California lawsuit against Samsung.

Appearing in a federal court in San Jose, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal, Apple’s lawyers sought to expand the lawsuit against Samsung with additional patent infringement claims. This follows Samsung’s attempt to add patent infringement claims against the new iPhone 5 back on October 1.

The judge has not issued a ruling yet.

Most notable among Apple’s claims is the inclusion of Google’s Android 4.1 operating system, also known as Jelly Bean. Apple insisted that the Galaxy Nexus is the only phone with Jelly Bean that it is seeking to add to the patent complaint, for now. The implications of this are serious for Google and it’s the first time that Apple has included the Android platform specifically in its cases against Samsung.

It seems the Cupertino-based company is also now looking to add devices with a stylus, such as the Galaxy Note 10.1, and Apple’s attorney mentioned adding a further 17 devices that could use a stylus, but don’t ship with one.

This case is not scheduled for trial until 2014.

We will find a resolution to the highest profile case so far sooner than that. The jury verdict saw Apple awarded $1.05 billion in damages. As we reported before, Apple is seeking more money while Samsung is claiming juror misconduct. Those arguments will be heard in December and there will also be a decision on Apple’s attempt to get eight Samsung smartphones banned from sale in the U.S.

We’ll keep you posted on all the news about Judge Grewal’s decision and the December hearing as it breaks.