Analyzing news consumption on mobile devices, a recent Pew study looks at education, income level and gender as it relates to watching or reading news.
Detailed within a new study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, the group asked questions related to how average Americans consumed news on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. After asking a series of questions to approximately 9,500 U.S. adults, the researchers discovered that men were more likely to consume news on mobile devices when compared to women. Specifically, more than forty percent of men consume news on smartphones and tablets while less than a third of women use mobile devices to read or watch news.
In addition, men are more likely to watch news videos on mobile devices as well as read traditional, lengthy news articles. Alternatively, women are more likely to discover news stories on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
When it comes to sharing news stories, users between the age of 18 to 49 are much more likely to share news stories with their friends compared to anyone over the age of fifty. Anyone under the age of fifty is vastly more likely to watch news videos over reading an in-depth article.
On the topic of the effectiveness of digital advertising, the youngest generation is the most likely to tap on an advertisement. Approximately one fourth of users between the age of 18 to 29 said they touch ad placements on tablets. However, only 12 percent of people between the age of 30 to 49 and seven percent of people over the age of 50 claimed to to the same. However, older users are much more likely to pay for a premium subscription to a news service.
Regarding education, people with a college degree are more likely to consume news on a smartphone or tablet when compared to people that did not complete college. In addition, education levels also show an interesting link to how a person consumes news on a mobile device.
People that have completed college are more likely to use a dedicated news application while people that didn’t complete college are more likely to find news through a Web browser on a tablet or smartphone. As news consumption relates to income levels, people making more than $30,000 a year are more likely to consume news using smartphones and people making more than $75,000 a year are more likely to do the same using a tablet.
Beyond news, people between the age of 18 to 29 are the most likely to play games, use a social network or read a book on a smartphone. That age group is also the most likely to read a book or magazine on a tablet. When comparing tablet usage between iPads and Android devices, iPad users are significantly more likely to use the tablet multiple times a day compared to Android tablet owners. In addition, iPad owners are more likely to consume news on the tablet as well as use social networks and check email. When comparing tablet ownership versus education and income level, people that have graduated from college and make more than $75,000 per year are more likely to own an iPad. Amazon’s Kindle Fire line was included within the Android tablets group.
Google's Nexus (ten points to anyone who can tell us if Nexi is the correct plural) smartphones have always set the standard when it comes to a pure Google experience.
The first Nexus One was a true geek device. Sold only through Google directly (apart from a brief flirtation with Vodafone), it never achieved massive sales. But it gave the world the true raw power of Android without the bloatware of other variants. As of January 2010, the ball was well and truly rolling.
We've had several now – and everyone, it seems, had a go: HTC, Samsung, Asus and LG – though strangely, not Motorola, which is now part of Google itself.
Some handsets we look forward to with much anticipation – only to feel deflated when we actually use them. Others, we wait for with little expectation – and they absolutely blow our socks off.
A stealth surprise. We'll lay our proverbial cards on the table here from the outset. The Nexus 4 is one of those rare devices.
LG's not had the best track record of late. Sure, we thought the Optimus 4X HD was a pretty decent offering, but too little, too late compared to what was already out there by the time LG got it to market.
And whereas LG did have good form when it came to innovation back in the day (who remembers the Chocolate, the Shine – and even the dubious widescreen BL40?), the mojo seemed to have passed.
That's not a dig at the South Koreans – far from it. But just to set the scene to show why we weren't expecting much from the Nexus 4.
Perhaps the worst kept secret since the iPhone 5, the Nexus 4 even got left in a bar in true cliché style. And from the pictures, we weren't alone in thinking it looked like a copy of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
The difference is, when we took the Samsung model out of its box this time last year, we thought it was nice. When we took the Nexus 4 out of its box last week, we thought it was beautiful.
Size wise, the Nexus 4 comes in at 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm – which means it is similar to its predecessor. But it is far more stunning to look at and hold.
The front is all glass in piano black. Extra tough too thanks to the Corning Gorilla Glass 2. Think iPhone 4 territory, but just a little nicer looking (we are aware that is a matter of opinion, iFans!)
The whole front is set within a dull chrome bezel and the shininess even extends to the rear of the handset, which has an attractive, though unusual sparkly pattern adorning it.
Think the glittery kind of jacket that you could see Cilla Black, Joan Rivers or Shirley Bassey in at an awards ceremony, and you catch our drift.
At 139g, the Nexus 4 isn't the lightest handset in school – but it's just about solid enough to get away with carrying that extra weight and puts those who say Android devices look like toys firmly in their place.
The screen is invisible when off – but when it lights up, you're treated to 4.7-inches of True HD IPS Plus beauty. That's 768 x 1280 pixels with a pixel density of 318. It is razor sharp – blowing Retina out of the water and we'll venture it is one of the best we've seen on a handset.
Another reason for this is because there is such little space between the glass and the display. So where we berated the Optimus 4X HD for leaving enough room here to park a small car, the Nexus 4 leaves no gap at all.
It exudes a clarity that has to be seen to be believed. Colours look beautiful, icons and text are razor sharp and everything floats perfectly.
We find it hard to see how this could be beaten. When you're looking at icons on a black background (like in the app drawer), you can't even see the black, if that makes sense. It is so deep, that icons just float. Beneath the screen, in the centre, but hidden until needed, lies a pulsating notification light.
Another element worth pointing out here is the way the phone curves at the sides, from the main panel into the bezel. It seems to make the screen look even more realistic and beautiful. It's one of those things you really have to experience to appreciate.
Round the edges, you'll find the usual adornments. A 3.5mm headphone jack on top, volume rocker and micro SIM tray on the left, micro USB port plus a few dubious screws on the bottom, and a perfectly placed lock/unlock/power button on the upper right hand side.
It's just in that sweet spot where it's easy to press with the thumb if you're right handed and not impossible if you're a leftie.
There's no way of getting the back off – so you know what that means, peeps. No removable battery and no expandable storage. The former doesn't faze us too much since the 2,100mAh battery pack is no slouch but the lack of memory card allowance is annoying.
Yes, we know that ever since the Nexus S, expandable memory is out. Google's said that it doesn't offer it because it's confusing. But for those with lots of content who can't or don't want to stream, it's a real pain. We don't quite buy Google's argument.
As for the innards, LG has cut no corners here. Make no mistake, this is a premium handset. DC-HSDPA, the very latest iteration of Jelly Bean 4.2, a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, quad-core 1.5GHz processor, A-GPS with GLONASS, NFC and so forth.
But what makes this so sweet is the price. Let's just point out that sim-free, a HTC One X with similar specs will set you back around £399 (around $637/AU$611) – even the 18-month old Samsung Galaxy S2 retails at £329 (around $525/AU$503).
And while last year's Galaxy Nexus will leave your wallet £299 (around $477/AU$458) lighter, this brand new model, the Nexus 4 is priced – almost unbelievably – at £239 ($299/AU$349) for the 8GB version and £279 ($349/AU$480) for 16GB. Yes, the newer Nexus is cheaper than the year old Nexus. Word!
We can't overestimate just how revolutionary this is and it leaves us open-mouthed at how Google is doing this. Either it's selling the Nexus 4 at a loss – or the mark-up on handsets is now shown up as being ridiculously high. Whichever it is, it means the Nexus 4 has a distinct advantage over the competition.
Bizarrely, in the UK Google has promised O2 that it can sell the Nexus 4 as an exclusive for the first month. We can't understand why – especially because you could end up paying £800 for the device over the course of the contract.
Most people with sense (and a bit of spare cash) will buy the Nexus sim-free and get themselves a cheap as chips sim-only plan.
But anyway, with an early November release, that means there'll still be plenty of networks marketing this heavily pre-Christmas once that month-long deal with O2 expires. And we can see the Nexus 4 being on a lot of Christmas lists.
Three of Nokia's Windows Phone 8 Lumia handsets are now available for pre-order in China.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform continues to grow, as the company has started rolling out pre-orders for three of its new Nokia-branded Windows Phone 8 devices in China.
The Lumia 920, Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone 8 handset, and its sibling devices the 820 and the 620, will now be available for Microsoft fans in China. Pricing is as follows, according to Windows blog WMPowerUser: the Lumia 920 will cost RMB 4599 ($736), the 820 will be priced at RMB 3499 ($560) and the Lumia 620 will sell for RMB 1999 ($318). The handsets are expected to be sold through major retailers in the region.
This difference in pricing could give Nokia and Microsoft the chance to cater to various demographics throughout China. The news comes as no surprise, seeing as China Mobile confirmed that it would carry Nokia’s brand of Windows Phone smartphones back in October. Nokia also previously promised that the Lumia 920 would be available in China before the end of the year, and the company appears to have upheld its pledge.
These Windows Phone 8 handsets come days after Nokia announced the newest edition of its Lumia family set to launch exclusively in China: the Lumia 920T. Some sources are referring to the device that just launched in China simply as the Lumia 920, but WMPowerUser calls it the 920T.
The Lumia 920T is a TD-SCDMA version of Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone 8 device. This basically means that it supports both circuit-switched data and packet-switch data, allowing network operators to move from a second-generation wireless network (2G) to a third generation wireless network (3G). In short, the Lumia 920T will operate on China’s speediest network and is the first smartphone in the country to do so.
Otherwise, the device’s specs are entirely identical to the versions available in other countries. The Lumia 920T comes with the same 4.5-inch display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor and other components found in other devices around the globe.
China Mobile currently boasts more than 75 million 3G customers, and if Nokia can manage to flourish in that market it will give the company a much-needed boost. Nokia lost $754 million last quarter, as The Next Web reports, and its partnership with China Mobile could be crucial. A successful Windows Phone 8 launch in China could also give Microsoft the aggressive entrance into 2013 that the company needs, especially after reporting lackluster sales of its Surface tablet.
Check out the video below to get a glimpse of what Windows Phone 8 fans in China can expect.
When it comes to video games, hyper-violence is rarely a match for the scourge of piracy, yet the independently developer Hotline Miami is not just surviving, it's thriving.
Let’s say you’re a game developer. You’ve got a wonderful, novel idea for a new game, and the necessary programming and artistic design skills to put the whole thing together, so you decide to create the game by yourself. An independently developed title, you believe, has just as much opportunity to find an audience in our modern era as a big-budget blockbuster funded by Activision or EA. You may not have the marketing budget that those companies boast, but your idea is just so clever that you have no doubt of its ability to become a massive success.
Unfortunately, there was one aspect of this project you didn’t think about beforehand: Piracy. Though your game is excellent, and lauded by critics and fans alike, you actually end up losing money on the project as tens of thousands of prospective players opt to simply download your game via torrent instead of forking over the inarguably reasonable $10 you’ve decided to charge for your title.
Though the above scenario is entirely hypothetical it’s all too real a concern for independent developers. In an effort to ingratiate themselves with fans who abhor any sort of digital rights management scheme these indie game creators often release their titles completely sans DRM. This does certainly appeal to prospective fans, but it also makes these games trivial to pirate. As a result, many excellent games are crushed under the weight of thousands of freeloaders, thus depriving honest players of future games these smaller developers might create.
That preface is a solid description of the situation facing the developers of the recently-released Hotline Miami. The game, which pits you against overwhelming odds and tasks players with murdering their foes in the most gruesome, efficient fashion possible, has been a prime target for pirates since it debuted nearly two months ago. Hotline Miami project manager Graeme Struthers recently sat down with Eurogamer to discuss the scope of the problem.
“It has been torrented to such a staggering level, and given the file size of it, I mean, you can’t really be surprised, right? You could pass this thing around on the world’s smallest memory stick,” Struthers said. “So it has been torrented to extraordinary levels.”
Despite the obvious blow this has dealt to the game’s bottom line, Hotline Miami creator Jonatan Söderström has actually been offering polite assistance to the game’s pirates. In October Söderström went so far as to visit the notorious Pirate Bay website to give pirates a heads up that Hotline Miami would be receiving an imminent patch to fix a number of the game’s most obvious bugs. Instead of inserting code into this patch that might make Hotline Miami more difficult to acquire illicitly, Söderström asked the pirates if they would be so kind as to update the Pirate Bay’s Hotline Miami torrents with the latest version of the game. “Hey there, I’m Jonatan Soderstrom [sic], me and my friend Dennis Wedin made this game,” Söderström wrote. ”We’re working on an update that hopefully will take care of any/all bugs, and we’ll try to do some extra polish in the next few days. Would be great if you could update the torrent when the patch is out! It’d be great if people get to play it without any bugs popping up.”
“Hope everyone will enjoy the game!” he cheerfully added.
When Eurogamer asked Struthers about Söderström’s unorthodox approach to combating piracy, his response was both candid and pragmatic. “That’s what he’s like. He just felt he didn’t want people playing the buggy version of his game however they got it. He wanted them to get the patch,” Struthers stated. “He basically said, ‘I’m not going to criticise this, it’s a fact of life. It would be nice if guys could find it within themselves to pay for it, but that’s the world I’m in, so you know, you just have to take it for what it is.’”
Interestingly, despite the massive amount of piracy seen by Hotline Miami, and Jonatan Söderström’s efforts to aid the pirates, Hotline Miami has done quite well for itself. In its seven weeks of availability, the game has already sold over 130,000 copies. If the game were an Activision blockbuster these sales figures would be disappointing, but for a small game developed by one or two people over a relatively short period of time, selling over 130,000 units is a victory.
If all of this has piqued your interest in Hotline Miami (and it hopefully has, as the game is utterly phenomenal), you can find a copy for Windows PCs on Valve’s Steam service (a Mac version is reportedly imminent). While it’s obviously not terribly difficult to pirate the game for free, actually buying the thing will only set you back $10, and trust us when we say that the entertainment value of Hotline Miami is worth far, far more than that. Look, just buy the thing, alright?
In the market for a new car? For $28,000 you could pick up a new Honda Accord. If you'd prefer something a bit more rugged though, might we suggest investing in Halo's iconic troop transport, the Warthog.
In 2009 a British gent named Peter Cooper built a surprisingly spot-on replica of Halo’s Warthog vehicle for a fan film called Operation Chastity. As writer and director of the film, the creation of the Warthog was just one more indicator that Cooper was willing to go to great lengths to finish this flick. Unfortunately, the production seems to have become inextricably mired in the dozens of small issues that crop up when creating movies. A teaser appeared in 2010 that offered a “Summer 2011″ release window for Operation Chastity, but here we are mere days from 2013 and the movie has yet to materialize. Supposedly Operation Chastity is still being in production, but at this point we feel safe in describing the project as stuck in limbo.
Given the lack of progress on his film and, presumably, mounting debt related to the project, Cooper has decided to sell his Warthog. The price? £17,500, or roughly $28,180USD. Can’t come up with that much scratch on such short notice? Cooper’s initial sales announcement does state that he’s willing to consider reasonable offers for the vehicle (though “reasonable” in this case is entirely subjective and up to Cooper’s own discretion).
Assuming you do have that kind of money burning a hole in your pocket and an unending wellspring of affection for Microsoft’s most famous franchise you’re likely now wondering what exactly you’ll get for Cooper’s nearly $30,000 asking price. Luckily, the official Operation Chastity website includes a section specifically devoted to the Warthog. According to the site, the Warthog you see pictured above started life as an unassuming early-80s Land Rover Defender. With the assistance of professional prop maker Daniel Carey-George (who is most famous for supplying the cars used in 1997′s Herbie Fully Loaded), Cooper stripped the Land Rover, and equipped the basic skeleton of the car with a new body, lifted suspension, special oversized tires and “a whole host of other upgrades to make it into the futuristic combat vehicle.”
As much as we’re excited for the possibility that one of you readers might turn this prop into your daily driver, we’ve got concerns about the work Cooper and Carey-George put into the Warthog. Actually, scratch that. Cooper and Carey-George created a vehicle specifically to suit their specialized needs (read: they built a movie prop), but it’s questionable whether this machine might also function as a real world vehicle. Even assuming the normally quite capable Land Rover Defender engine isn’t massively bogged down by the alterations made to this car’s body and suspension, we doubt there are many DMV locations that would approve of the Warthog’s huge exposed doors. Likewise, Cooper makes no mention of safety features in the Warthog. We’ve seen how some of you drive in Halo 4, and without seatbelts we have to imagine that most of you would be killed the first time you attempt to launch the ‘hog off of a conveniently-placed rock formation.
And of course, that’s assuming that you don’t attempt to mount a gun on the back of the Warthog. Even in the most lenient of jurisdictions an exposed, fully-automatic machine gun gives the cops free rein to search your vehicle.
Still, as far as replicas of video game objects, this is one of the best we’ve ever seen. It ranks right up there with the finest cosplay, only instead of fancy homemade clothing, this object is a gear-grinding, diesel-chugging piece de resistance for both Halo fans and gearheads. We imagine Cooper won’t have too much trouble selling this car, even with its sizable price tag.
This amazing Android superphone started its life as a Japan-exclusive, going by the name of the HTC J Butterfly. It then flew across the Pacific, landing at Verizon Wireless and becoming the HTC Droid DNA. And now, it looks like the 1080p superphone is now flying across the Atlantic to the UK, as Expansys is now accepting pre-orders for the HTC Butterfly.
The three variations of this device are fundamentally the same, aside from their respective names and some slight differences in the wireless radios. The HTC Butterfly is the international variant that should be the most compatible with the most wireless networks around the world, so even if you’re not in the UK, this is great news if you’re a fan of high-powered gadgetry.
As a quick refresher, the HTC Butterfly comes with a 5-inch display boasting an impressive 1920×1080 pixel resolution. It will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and feature the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.5GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 8MP main camera, and 2.1MP front camera. The listing on Expansys UK doesn’t have pricing information yet, so you will be placing that pre-order a little on the blind side.
Google's not playing favorites when it comes to the Nexus brand
When Google's purchase of Motorola was finalized this past May, may expected Moto to take the reins on the next Nexus device.
This was despite repeated statements from Google explaining that Motorola would not receive preferential treatment over partners like Samsung, LG, or Asus when it came to developing a new Nexus smartphone or tablet.
In an interview with Fortune, Google CEO Larry Page again explained the company's plans for Motorola and its partners, and played it rather close to the vest in regards to a new Nexus.
Stopping short of reiterating the company line, Page stated Google's focus was on strong relationships with its partners, and introducing new innovations to the marketplace.
No Moto Nexus, yet
Despite just releasing the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 in October, industry eyes are looking ahead to what Google will do next with its Nexus brand.
When discussing how Google would approach releasing a Motorola Nexus device, and why there hasn't been one announced yet, Page revealed he thought it was too soon.
"First of all, I don't think there's any physical way we could have released a Nexus Motorola device in that sense," Page said. "I mean, we haven't owned the company long enough."
Since taking control of Motorola Mobility in May, the manufacturer has released several Android smartphones including the Razr HD and Razr Maxx.
Why Google's own Nexus brand hasn't been developed by Moto remains a secret, but as the line's history shows, Google has taken its time with Nexus releases.
The four Nexus phones have all been released at least 12 months apart from one another, though both the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets were released within months of each other.
Page admits the Nexus development has evolved since HTC introduced the Nexus One back in 2010.
"Exactly what we do, which devices we do, what the timing is, how we release the software with them, all those things have been changing," Page said.
Partners in innovation
According to Page, a large part of the Nexus strategy boils down to innovation and quality, and how Google's partners can help bring that about.
"Every day we kind of evaluate how do we help our partners out the right way," Page divulged. "How do we produce amazing innovative devices... and how do we keep our partners happy."
"I think we've done a pretty good job of that so far."
Page was careful to not discuss whether or not one of Google's partners or Motorola would be leading the charge on a new Nexus device, but did explain that the company's plans revolved around the user.
Getting the most efficient and high-quality product into consumer hands is a key point in Google's strategy, and Page hopes the rest of the industry takes note.
Google's CEO has become disparaged with the "island-like" approach the tech industry has taken, with Apple, Google, and Amazon each running their own economic eco-systems.
"I think it would be nice if everybody would get along better and the users didn't suffer as a result of other people's activities," Page explained.
"I try to model that. We try pretty hard to make our products be available as widely as we can. That's our philosophy. I think sometimes we're allowed to do that. Sometimes we're not."
Google's plans for Motorola may still be well under wraps, and the company is clearly not playing favorites, but one has to expect Google will take advantage of Motorola Mobilities capabilities in the coming months.
Yahoo Mail has a new look, faster speed, and new iOS and Windows 8 apps. Can CEO Marissa Mayer's first big release push Yahoo back to the top of the worldwide email food chain?
Yahoo Mail is no longer quite as ancient-looking as it used to be. The tenacious Internet giant announced today an all-new look for its Web mail client, as well as updates to Yahoo Mail for Google’s Android mobile operating system, plus new native apps for Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows 8.
“You’ve told us loud and clear that you want fewer distractions when it comes to email. You want to quickly login, communicate, and get on with your day,” wrote Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer in an announcement. “And we’ve listened. Starting today, the new Yahoo! Mail is fast, easy, and available anywhere you go.”
Mayer says the new Yahoo Mail has received a noticeable boost in speed, and is “more intuitive and easier to navigate, allowing you to focus on what matters most: your messages.” The company has also designed all versions of Yahoo Mail to have a “consistent look and feel across devices” – an important feature for users who jump back and forth from computer to smartphone and back again.
The Android app, while not entirely new, has also been optimized to use between 20 and 40 percent less battery than the earlier version, according to Yahoo. And of course, the Windows 8 version supports Live Tiles. The only thing missing from the lineup is an iPad app; the iOS version now available is only made for the smaller screens of the iPhone and iPod touch.
The new Yahoo Mail is the first major product launch from Yahoo under Mayer, who was appointed President and CEO of the company in July of this year. Mayer made a name for herself as a successful executive at Google, which she joined in 1999 as employee number 20.
Yahoo Mail remains the number one email client in the U.S., and has 105 million daily users worldwide. Gmail holds the top slot worldwide, however, having stolen Hotmail’s crown in November.
The Web version of the new Yahoo Mail will be rolling out to customers over the next few days, according to Yahoo. If you already have the Android app, it will update automatically. Otherwise, you can download it here. The iPhone app is available here, and the Windows 8 app here.
The HTC Windows Phone 8X was the first device to receive the update
The first update to Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 OS hit the HTC Windows Phone 8X on Monday, and with it came some unexpected features.
The Windows Phone 8 "Portico" update brought the OS from version 9905 to 10211 and was delivered to HTC's flagship Windows Phone 8 device over-the-air.
In addition to the expected improvements to Wi-Fi functionality and fixes for a bug that caused the device to spontaneously reboot, Windows Phone 8 Portico included at least three unexpected SMS features, according to enthusiast blog Windows Phone Central.
Those features make using text messages on the Windows Phone 8X all the easier.
SMS improvements
The Windows Phone 8 10211 Portico update added three SMS features to the HTC Windows Phone 8X that were reportedly not in the update's release notes.
First, users can now save drafts of text messages that can be viewed and sent later.
Windows Phone 8X users can also use a new "select all" option when deleting messages, making the process significantly faster than selecting each message one-by-one.
Finally, a text-back option for rejecting calls has been added, allowing users to compose and select pre-determined responses or type in custom ones on the fly when rejecting a call.
More updates to come
The Windows Phone 8 Portico update arrived first on the HTC 8X on Monday, but its exact release schedule is unclear.
Will Portico arrive on other Windows Phone 8 devices? Will Windows Phone 8 handsets on all carriers receive the update? Are there any other undocumented functions or features that have yet to be discovered?
TechRadar has reached out to Microsoft to get some answers, but the company has not yet responded.
We go hands on with the a portion of the Gears of War: Judgment campaign, as well as a look at the new multiplayer modes from Epic's fourth trip into the Gears of War universe.
A lot has happened at Epic Games since Microsoft afforded the independent developer additional time to fine-tune the fourth installment in the Gears of War franchise. The main spokesman for the company, and one of the visionaries behind the Gears franchise, Cliff Bleszinski, left after 20 years. Rod Fergusson, the long-time executive producer of the franchise, left to work on Irrational Games’ BioShock Infinite. And People Can Fly co-founder Adrian Chmielarz, left the Polish developer for a new venture. Most of the work on this game was already completed by the time these major cogs left, but all three are major influences on the game.
Epic Games introduced a host of faces new to the media for a Gears of War: Judgment event at its North Carolina headquarters, which featured hands-on time with two campaign levels (Museum and Mansion), a newly revised multiplayer OverRun mode, and a brand new Free for All multiplayer experience.
Alan Van Slyke, senior producer on Judgment at Epic Games, promised that the new game will deliver a more intense Gears experience with fresh and new Locust beasts. And, at least in the two solo levels on display (co-op wasn’t offered at the event), this is a more streamlined Gears experience.
The Museum level is the first chapter in the story, which takes place 15 years before the events of the original trilogy, and just 30 days after Emergence Day. This level offers the initial cinematic with the backstory on Kilo Squad going on trial for disobeying orders. It sets up the context of what’s happening in the story. There’s also a built-in tutorial that explains the streamlined control scheme on how to do things like mantle and change weapons. In this level, Kilo Squad needs to defend a museum while Locust are attacking, but it unravels into something much larger.
The Museum level starts in a city under attack by the Locusts and eventually moves into a massive COG museum where several artifacts are on display. This offers plenty of glass to break through, as well as a variety of cover areas. It’s in this level that you first experience the new Dynamic Defense Scenarios. Players are given a short amount of time to position movable gun turrets, or sentries, throughout an area between waves of attacking Locusts. There are different types of sentries, including machine guns and flamethrowers. These guns run out of ammo and have different firing ranges, so there’s a strategy in how far away you place them, and in co-op, making sure they’re replenished to take out the incoming monsters. It’s a fun diversion from the normal shooting action in this level and Mansions, which also has a Dynamic Defense Scenario. It’s a familiar gameplay tactic that’s reminiscent of the defense system in Gears of War 3‘s horde mode, but expanded on.
The Mansion level takes place farther down the game’s story line. The premise behind this mission is that Kilo Squad decides they need to take down Karn, the new Locust General who’s leading the assault. In order to do this, they need launch codes for a missile, which a professor in the upper crust area of Halvo Bay has.
“The Mansion is set in the suburbs where the affluent people of society lived,” said Chris Wynn, senior producer here at Epic Games. “They had the bigger houses and the nicer stuff. There are also a bunch of other locations you’ll go to that are all very unique and very interesting and different. So while we’re set in one city, we wanted to keep changing things with a lot of variety. We wanted to build areas where you have big vistas and see big chunks of the city. We wanted to be intimate and be in alleyways and then we wanted to be indoors and outdoors. We had to look at all these different kinds of locales and figure how to mesh them together through flow and pacing to make it all feel new and interesting to players.”
The campaign mode gives players the opportunity to unlock additional information by choosing the Declassification Testimony, a mode that offers a more difficult mission by changing the rule set while facing certain enemies, and limiting areas with certain weapons. This changes the way you play and changes the testimony story a bit. It also unlocks more content for the Star Scoring System.
Each game section (there are about 40 in the game) is scored from 0-3 stars based on difficulty. At end of the chunk you’ll see the task that you did – executions, kills, etc. — and fill up the stars to show you what you did well. The campaign offers the ability to instantly replay a section to improve your star rating.
Replayability is also enhanced with the new Smart Spawn System (S3), which ensures that Locusts will spawn different enemy types (maulers and kantus, tickers and wreckers) at different locations each time you play to create different “water cooler” moments in the campaign.
Epic unveiled a new OverRun map called Junkyard, which is a mix between an interior and exterior map. The OverRun game mode is similar to “Rush,” in the Battlefield games, with teams assigned to either attack or defend, and each success by the attackers opening up a new section of map. The map shown recently, Junkyard, takes place in a factory, industrial-style junkyard area. There are two lanes — a left lane and a right lane. The way that has played out through development is that Epic made several maps — and Junkyard is one of the ones that came through pretty quickly because it was very simple and easy to understand.
“The multi-tiered objectives that we have in OverRun are very simple. You have the attackers, which is the Locust team,” said Quinn DelHoyo, multiplayer lead on Gears of War: Judgment. “They try to get what we are calling the Emergence Hole, or E-Hole for short. That’s where the Locusts come out of in the fiction of Gears of War. The Locust team is trying to destroy this cover that the COG have put over this hole to keep them out. Once they take that over, the Cog gets pushed back and the map opens up new areas. The maps are long in OverRun, but each play space is really tight. Once you get the first objective, you move to the next area, which is another E-Hole cover. The final objective is a generator, which is the COG’s last stand. They’re holding out to keep the Locusts from destroying the generator. Each objective is worth one point with three points total per map. If both teams happen to get all three objectives, then it comes down to the time it took. So you always want to go as fast as you can. It’s a very fast-paced game.”
There’s a lot of communication necessary to win in this mode. There were ac vents in the walls that tickers can run through and sneak in to avoid the barriers. Each section of the map is different. The first objective is outdoors, then you go inside, and the final objective takes you back outside again. A strategy that works in one area may not work in another, so it keeps your team on its toes.
Epic also debuted the new Free For All multiplayer experience, a traditional “every man for himself” mode found in most other shooters, but new to the Gears universe. The map being shown, Streets, offers a downtown section of Halvo Bay, which includes a butcher shop, body shop, steel works, and a book store. There’s also a roof top with a water tower for more vertical gameplay. The default rule is first player to 25 kills wins the game, but it’s completely customizable.
“The fans and the communities – especially the competitive eSports communities – in order to warm up before their matches, or even online if you want them to be really good and practice your own skills, they’d get a bunch of friends to go on a King of the Hill and turn on friendly fire and just blast each other,” said DelHoyo. “You can get really good at your movement and your shotgun and your lancer skills. Now we’ve just built that into the game with Free for All. You don’t need to do any type of weird game manipulation. And if none of your friends are online, you can play Free for All and not worry about anything.”
DelHoyo said fans didn’t love playing as the locusts, so they took them out of the competitive game, and replaced them with red and blue COG teams. For the multiplayer, dedicated servers are back, and Epic has added loadout choices to let people play they how want by choosing weapons. There are also interactive environments in each map, including a secret bookcase in the librarythat players can find and utilize.
There’s going to be a lot of replay value in this game when it ships. And Epic has made good use of the extra development time with an experience that will be familiar, yet new, for fans of all skill levels.
Microsoft and Apple are butting heads over iOS revenue sharing
The SkyDrive app may not have much of a future on iOS according to a new report detailing Microsoft's unwillingness to share revenue with Apple.
Microsoft recently introduced the ability to purchase more cloud storage for SkyDrive in-app, and has balked at sharing that revenue with Apple.
The App Store's clearly explained policy dictates Apple will receive 30 percent of all app sales, as well as 30 percent of all revenue generated by in-app purchases.
Apple would continue to earn 30 percent of the SkyDrive subscription fees even if a consumer no longer used an iOS device, which caused Microsoft to rethink its stance of profit-sharing.
As a result, Apple is now blocking Microsoft's latest update to SkyDrive, despite repeated tries from Microsoft to work out some kind of arrangement.
Third-party problems
Sources familiar with the issue told The Next Web Microsoft has been trying to work out a compromise with Apple, but hasn't had much success.
Microsoft reportedly even said it would remove all subscription options from the app, and thus removing the SkyDrive app's ability to generate revenue, but Apple rebuffed the offer.
Since neither party has been able to resolve the issue, an update fixing a bug that crashes SkyDrive on iOS hasn't been pushed to consumers.
Even more disconcerting are the ramifications being felt by developers who have third-party apps that work in conjunction with SkyDrive.
Several of the apps in question require users to sign in to SkyDrive, but Apple's review team has denied such access claiming "the log in interface must be native and not a link or a web view."
In other words, since users won't have to log-in through Apple, and would instead be able to log-in through Microsoft, the apps are being cut off until Microsoft agrees to pay.
The whole story?
Though The Next Web's sources indicated the primary issue between Apple and Microsoft lied within the SkyDrive commissions, there may be another twist.
According to AllThingsD, the squeeze is being put on SkyDrive due to Microsoft wanting to renegotiate the 70/30 revenue split with Apple over Office 365 subscriptions.
The sources close to the matter didn't divulge just what kind of split Microsoft was instead seeking, but did say Apple reticent to change its policies, even for a massive money maker like Office.
Office Mobile for iOS isn't due to arrive until sometime next year, which gives Microsoft some time to continue negotiations with Apple, even if those talks come at the cost of SkyDrive's users.
Apple's policies shouldn't be new information for anyone involved in developing apps for iOS, so it will be interesting to see just how much flexibility will be given to Microsoft as the discussions progress.
TechRadar has reached out to Microsoft for comment, and will update this article when and if they respond.
Starting December 13, you can head to Verizon's online store and place your order for the Samsung Galaxy Camera. The 4G LTE connected camera will run for $550 and cost $5 to add to your monthly data plan. The device will also be available an in exclusive cobalt black color.
Been wanting to snap some pictures and upload them immediately via Verizon’s 4G LTE network? Well your wishes are oddly specific, but also granted. The Samsung Galaxy Camera will be available for purchase online through Verizon starting December 13, just in time to make it a last minute gift to a loved one – even if that loved one is yourself.
Already available through AT&T, the Samsung Galaxy Camera is making its debut with Verizon with a price tag of $550. That’s $50 more than the asking price at AT&T, but it does come with a couple trade-offs. The internet-accessible camera comes in white or a Verizon exclusive cobalt black casing. It also will only cost $5 to add the camera to your Verizon Share Everything data plan, making it the least expensive device to connect with. This monthly fee is also half the price of AT&T, which charges $10 a month. So if that $50 up front cost looks like a deal breaker, you’ll break even in under a year of use.
Powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Samsung Galaxy Camera offers 4G LTE connectivity to make it easy to upload every shot you capture through the 21x optical zoom lens. All 16 megapixels of picture will show up on the device’s 4.8 inch HD Super Clear LCD screen. You can read our full review of the device here.
Looking for extra protection for your LG Nexus 4? Perhaps you are afraid of scuffing the sides of your beautiful new flagship smartphone? You’ll be happy to know that the LG Nexus 4 bumper case is back in stock at the Google Play store, allow it appears to only be back for those in the United States.
This side bumper doesn’t cover the back, but it does manage to add a little extra protection for your new investment. Additionally, the color styling is two-tone just like the LG Nexus 4 and looks brilliant. Not to mention, it isn’t a thick bumper so it doesn’t look tacky or add much bulk to your smartphone.
For those interested, it is just $19.99. You better move on this one quickly, as last time around the LG Nexus 4 bumper sold out in just a few minutes. So far, it has been online for a while now, but there is certainly no guaranteeing it will be there tomorrow. If stock is low like last time, you can pretty much bet that there will be some “enterprising” individuals that will snag up a few of these with intentions to sell them on Ebay or elsewhere.
Do you already an official LG Nexus 4 bumper? If so, do you feel like it was worth the purchase or not?
Yahoo! has a bold vision for email: simple and fast
Yahoo! introduced a new Yahoo! Mail experience on Tuesday that purports to bring email back to the basics.
The new Yahoo! Mail includes a redesigned web client, a new Windows 8 desktop app, and mobile apps for iOS and Android, all of which are available starting today.
"The underlying premise of email is pretty simple … yet, somewhere along the way, email got a little complex," Yahoo! Mail and Messenger General Manager Vivek Sharma wrote on the Yahoo! Mail blog on Tuesday morning.
"Today, we're taking a step towards bringing email back to its roots," Sharma continued.
Making email simple again
The reimagined new Yahoo! Mail aims for three bullet points: to be fast, easy and available everywhere.
The new Yahoo! Mail apps have reportedly been "built for speed," while the redesigned web client takes users directly to their inboxes and allows messages to be composed and read more quickly. Improved search functions help as well.
Overall, Sharma wrote on the Yahoo! Mail blog, the changes will save Yahoo! Mail users an average of 36 million minutes every day.
To make the Yahoo! Mail experience easier, Sharma explained, every aspect of the web client has been simplified so users will only see the options that they need.
On the apps side, each version (iOS, Android and Windows 8) reportedly takes advantage of its respective platform's unique functions to make things easier on users.
Yahoo! Mail anywhere
Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer emphasized the improvements to the Yahoo! Mail experience in a separate post on the Yahoo! corporate blog.
"We've redesigned the new version of Yahoo! Mail with speed in mind," Mayer wrote on Tuesday morning. "Getting through your emails is faster than ever before.
"We've also made your inbox more intuitive and easier to navigate, allowing you to focus on what matters most: your messages. And, because mobile is everything these days, Yahoo! Mail now has a consistent look and feel across devices."
Mayer wrote that the new Yahoo! Mail web client should roll out to users "over the next few days," while the Windows 8, iOS and Android apps are available now.
The great email wars
Earlier this year, VentureBeat reported that Gmail had pulled ahead in the email wars, with 425 million monthly active users.
That number came straight from Google, while Yahoo! user numbers could only be estimated using third-party data from comScore. But those numbers had Yahoo! at under 300 million users (and Hotmail at 325 million).
TechRadar has reached out to Yahoo! to get more up-to-date user statistics, but the company has yet to respond.
Microsoft announced more than 40 new entertainment apps for Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Tuesday, including support from TV networks like The CW. What do these releases tell us about the future of Xbox and the rumored Xbox TV?
Microsoft’s ambition to take over living room entertainment with the Xbox began with video games, but television is the company’s ultimate goal. As its Xbox Live Gold premium subscription service has evolved over the past decade, it’s changed from a multiplayer gaming service to a smorgasbord of different entertainment options including television channels like ESPN Xbox Live. On Tuesday morning, Microsoft announced the latest expansion into television through Xbox Live with 43 entertainment apps planned to release around the world between now and early 2013.
Starting Tuesday in the US, Microsoft now has video channels for Maxim magazine and CNET, with new channels for Game Trailers, Flixster, IndieFlix, The CW, Vimeo, and even PBS on the way over the next few months. There are also new entertainment apps including cloud storage service SkyDrive and streaming music business Napster.
That’s in addition to a large number of television content aimed at Western European nations like the Germany/France exclusive ARTE and HBO Nordics for Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
Microsoft is constantly updating Xbox Live with apps like these, often in small numbers, lending to the curatorial nature of the Xbox Live Marketplace. Unlike Apple’s iTunes which is glutted with apps from independent companies, Xbox Live still feels contained even though it’s got thousands of apps and games at this point.
The business philosophy is to make Xbox Live seems on paper as content rich as a cable television subscription, and that model is precisely what Microsoft is trying to emulate. Come 2013, Microsoft is expected to fragment its Xbox business, offering a high-end gaming console called Xbox 720 or possibly Durango as well as a streaming media set top box called Xbox TV. The Xbox TV will still play video games but it will primarily be for Microsoft’s entertainment services.
While these television apps demonstrate how Microsoft is slowly growing its partnerships with providers like The CW, they aren’t representative of the work Microsoft is doing behind the scenes. The company hired former CBS Television executive Nancy Tellem to head up its television entertainment production back in September and we’ve yet to see the fruits of her labor. When will Microsoft transform Xbox Live into a service with true parity to cable services like Time Warner and Comcast? Soon considering how it’s ramping up these app releases.
The UK's mobile giants are battling for 4G spectrum
Companies hoping to secure a portion of the 4G airwaves in next year's spectrum auction have today submitted their bids to Ofcom.
The long-delayed auction, now scheduled for March 2013, will divide up the available spectrum and allow mobile networks to press ahead with plans for UK-wide 4G LTE connectivity.
The UK's biggest mobile operators - O2, Vodafone, EE and Three - may face competition from international rivals, private equity firms and other industries for ownership of the all-important airwaves.
All interested parties were required to submit proposals by 4pm on Tuesday, alongside a hefty deposit of £100,000, which Ofcom requested to fend off time wasters.
Ofcom, which has been heavily criticised for delaying the auction process, played up the bidding process, claiming to have 'fired the starting gun' on the path to a full 4G roll out.
Fired the starting gun
Ofcom said the list of bidders will not be made public for a few weeks, while Ofcom assesses the suitability of each proposal and decides whether the company moves onto the next stage of the process.
The respective companies are bidding for access to two bands. The 800MHz spectrum freed up by the analogue TV switch-off and the 2.6MHz spectrum, which will likely be used in dense urban areas.
The 4GEE network was able to launch this autumn on the 1800MHz band it converted from 2G to 4G.
"We have fired the starting gun on the 4G auction process," said Ofcom CEO Ed Richards.
"In the past year alone, mobile internet usage has doubled. The 4G auction will release crucial capacity to support future growth, helping to boost UK productivity, innovation and drive significant improvements to mobile broadband availability across the UK."
Blizzard has successfully ported Diablo III to a console version, although don’t expect to go pick up a copy for the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 anytime soon. The port remains an unofficial project at this point, according to Blizzard executive Rob Pardo, and it’s still unclear if the design team wants to bring the game to your living room.
In an interview with Polygon, Pardo said Blizzard is still exploring a console option. He said they have builds up and running on an unnamed console and they are hoping to get it far enough along to where it can become an official project. But as of writing, they aren’t quite ready to release any more information on it. He did note that it looked pretty cool, however.
"The whole team is essentially working on the next big Diablo thing," said Diablo III lead designer Jay Wilson in a recent interview with Polygon. "A lot of that stuff will show up next year at some point." We know that Blizzard is planning an expansion for Diablo III as well but again, there’s no timeline on when that might be released.
The idea of a console version of Diablo III shouldn’t be a surprise to most. The company posted a job listing more than two years ago looking for a lead designer to work on a console version of the game. When Blizzard officially announced the game at BlizzCon 2008, they said it would be available the Mac and PC “for now.”
After multiple delays, Diablo III was finally released in May. According to recent figures, the game has sold around 10 million copies – 3.5 million during the first 24 hours alone.
What will Microsoft's next-gen console be called? What about Sony's? Will they be the numerically appropriate PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720? New rumors from alleged industry sources suggest a number of strange monikers for those machines.
Not a week goes by that there isn’t a new rumor about what a Microsoft or Sony next-gen console, colloquially referred to as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720, will be when they hit the market. Multi-core processors, Blu-ray disc drives, anti-piracy systems that detect fingerprints to verify identity, VR headsets, holographic projection systems; the sky is the limit when it comes to the next round of consoles from Microsoft and Sony if anonymous industry sources and patents are to be believed. What’s not clear, though, is what these machines are actually called. Codenames like Microsoft Durango and Sony’s Orbis have bounced around for months. Are those guarantees?
When last we checked in on Sony’s next machine, word on the street is that Sony is not going to call the console PlayStation 4. The reason given is that the Japanese word for 4, “shi,” is also the word for death which wouldn’t exactly be a runaway branding success for Sony’s home country. Though Sony is still referring to the device as Orbis to developers working on early games, that may not be the final name either. SemiAccurate’s sources (via VG247) claim that the current codename for the fourth-generation PlayStation is Thebes. Not exactly a name that rolls of the tongue, but neither does PS Vita.
Regardless or not Thebes is the final name, we may not see the machine release until 2014. While most rumors peg both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 for Christmas 2013, there are hints that Sony is holding off. SemiAccurate’s sources say that the console won’t ship until spring or even fall 2014. SCE president Shuhei Yoshida said in November that it’s “too early to talk about the end of this generation of consoles.” Sony keeping the price of the new PlayStation 3 model above $250 certainly reinforces the belief that the console has another year on shelves to come.
What about that pesky Xbox 720 or Durango? Last we heard, Microsoft’s next high-end console will just be called “Xbox” and will ship alongside a low-end machine called Xbox TV. SemiAccurate’s sources inside Microsoft say that at least the codename has changed and that the console is now called Kryptos. Strange as that sounds, the source does confirm earlier reports that the console runs on an AMD-produced chip currently named Oban. There were hints earlier this fall that the Xbox 720 would also be delayed into 2014 due to Oban manufacturing problems.
Kaptur collects photos into albums of memorable moments shared on yours' and your friend's Facebook Timeline, and the app has gained enough popularity it's hit the one million user milestone.
Sometimes a night or an event isn’t quite memorable enough without a complete photo album to go along with it. And odds are, your friends and family all have a set of images from the same event floating around on their respective Facebook accounts – and some of these photos might be out of your reach. Kaptur, a social photo discovery platform, makes it possible to collect all of your and your friend’s photographs from an event and port them into your own album, collectively all of the image memories you want and need from a single night or event.
It’s not hard to see why Kaptur is embraced by its users. Photo-sharing has exploded, and it doesn’t hurt that the app itself is free. But while the user experience of the site and mobile app isn’t anything to brag about, Kaptur is doing something right to hit the user milestone it recently did.
Kaptur has one million users and has helped collect photos from over 10 million different events. Kaptur founder Tejapaul Bhatia announced that Kaptur, formerly exclusive to the Web, and recently for iPhones and iPads, has been recently picking up steam in the last six months with traffic doubling. The iPhone and iPad app have collectively garnered 250,000 downloads so far.
The company’s core feature is its patent pending technology that’s able to aggregate and organize friend’s photographs from social networks. Once the photographs have been collected into an album, users can share it with friends and family through a customized URL. Kaptur avoids tooling the app with bells and whistles so it’s incredibly foolproof. While the results might be simple enough, the process is one of the more awkward we’ve put ourselves through.
From the get go, you should know that the iPhone is a limiting experience – opt for the desktop or iPad if possible. For now, users are required to sign up and sign in with Facebook, which is the only social network integrated into Kaptur for now. Then they’re introduced to a page with Kaptur’s motto and a menu labeled “Get Started.” This box is where all the navigation happens. You can create new albums by selecting new events based on a date or an album that’s housed on your own Facebook profile, and Kaptur will then give you the option to pull in albums from specific friends or cull your friends’ pictures to find relevant albums. If you’d like friends to contribute to the album, you can invite them to collaborate.
The technology is admittedly powerful enough that it’s able to recognize and suggest similar events no matter how far back the event took place. If you’re feeling adventurous, Kaptur offers an option to collect and display a random event. To view images in succession, there’s an option to view photos in a slideshow. And you can also download the albums should you wish to keep a digital copy on your computer.
The app on the iPhone has kinks to work out. For one, because the desktop app has been ported to fit the smaller screens of the iPhone and iPad devices, Kaptur been shrunk to fit the smaller screens. It’s a chore to navigate or even use for that matter. For the best experience with Kaptur on the iPhone, hold your phone horizontally since this zooms into the app. Sharing, while a feature on the iPhone, doesn’t really work as intended. This is because the custom URL that Kaptur provides is meant to be copy and pasted, but unfortunately the screen size is too small for my fingers to be able to select the URL and copy it in the first place. And viewing the photos by swiping on the iPhone isn’t smooth like flipping through pages on Flipboard.
While there’s room for improvement, Kaptur is undoubtedly growing with $2 million raised from investors, and has inked partnerships with names and brands including Beyoncé, Red Bull, EMI, Sony, Vera Wang and others. And one million users is nothing to shrug at - hopefully it translates into money spent on refining the user experience, and more fingers crossed, we’ll soon be able to pull in photos from apps like Flickr and Instagram in a future iteration.
Support for Sony's PlayStation Vita is dwindling as the handheld is still struggling to connect with gamers. Sony is working to beef up the PS Vita's game selection by signing indie developers like FuturLab to create new content.
Back in May, the video game industry was jawing on big releases meant to carry us through the summer drought. Diablo 3, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Max Payne 3 dominated message boards and sales charts, while B-listers like Starhawk and Dragon’s Dogma picked up the slack. The big releases weren’t necessarily the best though, and the Brighton-based independent developer FuturLab earned itself a quiet following with its well-reviewed PlayStation Minis shooter-puzzler Velocity. That inventive downloadable suitably impressed Sony as the company has now contracted FuturLab to help develop some much-needed new content for the ailing PS Vita.
Sony announced on Tuesday morning that it has entered into a one-year partnership with FuturLab that will help fund a swath of new content for the company’s handheld gaming machine. We’re particularly pleased to be working with FuturLab to bring new and exciting games to PlayStation Vita,” said Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s Shahid Ahmad, “FuturLab has a unique and fun approach to entertainment and we see their games as being a fantastic addition to the ever growing catalog of PS Vita games.
While Sony didn’t disclose the exact funding figure, the company did confirm that FuturLab would be compensated in an unusual way for this kind of deal. Unlike most independent developers who receive funding from Sony, FuturLab will keep the rights to their creations.
“Sony has provided a great package that means we retain full control of our IP, which is a perfect deal for us,” said FuturLab’s James Marsden, “We’re incredibly excited to be working closely with PlayStation over the next year, bringing our particular brand of twitchy fun to the PS Vita.”
FuturLab is likely cooking up either a sequel to or a significantly upgraded version of Velocity as its first project. A countdown website was opened by the studio bearing the cryptic message, “You asked for it.” In the background are the aliases of Internet commentators that have asked for a follow up to the game.
At this point in time, any new content for the PS Vita is a good thing, as Sony’s handheld is thirsty for support. While an indie studio with a promising track record is definitely a welcome addition to the Vita-exclusive stable, it’s not the sort of project Sony needs to fund to convince people to actually buy the console. FuturLab will no doubt make an interesting Vita game, but it’s doubtful it will make a system-seller.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced earlier today via blog post that the search company has updated their web-based e-mail client. The revised layout focuses on minimizing distractions and improving speed, Mayer noted. Yahoo Mail now also has new mobile apps for Android, iOS and Windows 8 users on the go that are available as of writing.
Performance upgrades were a key concern for Yahoo as its sluggish nature likely deterred many users over the years. The company estimates that the speed increases will collectively save users around 36 million minutes each day.
As The Verge points out, it appears as though the iOS app launched without much attention last week but Yahoo just updated it today. The search company says it includes push notifications, the ability to easily add pictures to a message as an attachment and an auto-updating message list that eliminates the need to manually load new e-mails when you reach the end of a list.
The Android app has been completely overhauled and is said to reduce battery drain by 20 to 40 percent. Aesthetically, it’s identical to the iOS app and allows users to add multiple Yahoo Mail accounts. The Windows 8 app includes pretty much what you’d expect to see on that platform like live tile support and Windows 8 search features.
The web interface will start rolling out to users over the next couple of days, she said.
Yahoo Mail is one of the oldest free e-mail services on the web. It launched way back in 1997 and despite the search engine company’s troubles as of late, their mail client has continued to prosper. Last year, comScore reported that Yahoo Mail was the second largest web-based e-mail client with around 310 million users.
Yes, it's true. Lenovo has officially brought touch to its ThinkPad X1 Carbon to offer the hands-on appeal of a tablet and the portability of an Ultrabook.
Remember last month when Lenovo accidentally let slip some details about its new ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop? Well, we now have the official announcement from the company that the new computer will indeed be designed for touch. The X1 Carbon Touch will be similar to its traditional laptop counterpart, with the use of lightweight carbon fiber keeping it at an airy 3.4 pounds and a mere 20.8-millimeters thick. That’s a little heftier than the non-touch X1 Carbon, but still pretty portable compared to other laptops on the market. As was rumored in November, the 14-inch HD+ screen supports 10-finger touch, so you can be fully hands-on with the machine.
One of the common complaints about Windows 8 so far is that, for many folks, the combination of the tablet-friendly interface and the classic PC interface proved confusing. It’s possible that putting this binary OS onto a similarly double-capable computer will help alleviate those complications. Hybrids have proven just as polarizing as the new Microsoft OS, so potential buyers will want to go to a brick-and-mortar store to give the X1 Carbon Touch a spin before committing.
In terms of specs, the basic model comes with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory, and is preloaded with Windows 8 64-bit. The more powerful model has an Intel Core i7, 8GB of memory, and Windows 8 Pro 64-bit as an OS. The computers are the first Ultrabooks optimized for Microsoft Lync, a unified-communications platform for Windows users. The most basic model starts at $1,399 through partner retailers, and the fully-loaded one is $1,649. According to Lenovo’s website, the Touch Ultrabooks won’t ship until Dec. 21 – just in time for Christmas.
Intel has confirmed its next generation systems-on-a-chip will go into production in 2013, ready to take on the might of ARM once again, as its Medfield processors have failed to take hold of the market so far.
Intel has spoken of its near-future plans to tackle the mobile processor market, where it’s currently being soundly beaten by ARM, whose architecture is used on more than 90-percent of the world’s smartphones. While Intel has already had a go at grabbing some of the market for itself with the Medfield Atom chip, its limited adoption has seen it become largely forgotten.
So what’s next for Intel? Its plan is to forge ahead with the creation of much smaller and more efficient mobile systems-on-a-chip, this time built using a 22nm manufacturing process, which it currently uses for its Ivy Bridge PC processors amongst others. Intel’s current crop of mobile chips are built using 32nm technology, and by shrinking them down to 22nm, they would become the smallest of their type in the world.
All this was announced at the International Electron Devices Meeting which took place in San Francisco earlier this week. Reuters reports that the presentation used at the conference promises the 22nm Intel SoCs, “will be ready for high volume manufacturing in 2013.”
Drawing on experience
This makes it all sound very easy, and while Intel has a certain advantage over its competitors by already building 22nm chips – Qualcomm’s at 28nm and Nvidia’s at 40nm – it’s quite different to try and squeeze all the components not usually associated with PC processors, such as the memory and the radios, onto a single, tiny chip. Intel says its going to overcome this problem by employing the same 3D Tri-Gate transistors it uses in the production of its Ivy Bridge chips.
According to a report by Bit-Tech this would, “provide a significant boost in efficiency,” while an Intel spokesperson said 22nm Tri-Gate chips could offer hardware manufacturers with the option of increased performance from the same amount of power, or to keep the performance the same as 32nm chips while lowering power usage. As standby times and battery performance are becoming more important to us, this could be seen as a considerable benefit.
However, for all Intel’s noise, no other date except for 2013 was offered for when the next generation chips would arrive. Because it has taken nearly a year to launch a handful of phones using its Medfield chip, it’s hard to imagine anything much happening at a consumer level before 2014. Earlier this year, Intel Mobile VP Mike Bell said the Merrifield 22nm smartphone SoC would be out in 2013, saying, “This is a really big deal for us,” and that it would, “change the game for Intel in the smartphone world.”
A Nokia engineer working on Windows Phone 8 has posted details on how Microsoft's Windows Store approach to security can be bypassed to avoid paying for games and in-app purchases. The process involves things like injecting code into the purchase process, altering a few lines for security checks, and changing files associated with games. That’s probably more than the average user is prepared to handle, but it does highlight a potential threat to developers who have submitted their creations to the Windows Store.
Justin Angel, the engineer in question, points out that there’s a fundamental problem with Microsoft storing game data locally -- including encrypted files alongside the algorithm and algorithm key/hash for decryption. “If it’s stored locally, we can find it, read it and modify it,” he says.
Angel explains the process using a handful of games as case studies. In Soulcraft, for example, he was able to decrypt and edit XML files to gain 1,000,000 of gold for his first level character (worth over a thousand dollar on Android and iOS), while in Meteor Madness he was able to modify another file to turn the trial game into the full $1.5 version. There's also an example that ditches ads in Minesweeper and a workaround to unlock levels in Cut The Rope. Basically, if there’s a way for developers to make money, there’s a way to bypass it.
Angel says his findings are meant to be educational with the hope that “both developers and Microsoft can benefit from an open exchange of knowledge,” and that Nokia had nothing to do the research. Justing Angel’s website is currently offline for some reason but the article is available through Google Cache.
Mad Men fans take note: If Don Draper had Google, this is what it might've looked like.
Designer and developer Norbert Landsteiner released an art project imagining what Google might’ve looked like in the 1960s. Google60 puts the search engine into an interface imitating a vintage IBM 360 computer.
When you type a search term into Google60′s punch card, you’ll next see a slow printout of the Google name, which in this universe stands for Gabby Onthology Operated Grader and Linguistical Extrapolator. Next, you’re prompted to select a text, news, or image search. The system then accesses a tape deck that acts as “peripheral storage” while retrieving your data. After a bit of time, the results print out – one noisy line at a time – on tractor-feed paper. The sound is just as important as the look in creating the retro vibe. Landsteiner sourced the sound effects, which users can control under the Output Volume dial, from real devices including an IBM 129 Keypunch, and a Teletype Model 33.
No search data is transmitted to or from the artist’s site, masswerk.at, and instead connects directly to Google. Want to print your results to look like they do on screen? Make sure to enable background-images in your printer settings, and you should see the line-printer output.
It’s a slow, wildly impractical way to actually search for information, but it’s a kooky tool to play with and wander down memory lane. Searching for images is especially entertaining. Though Landsteiner isn’t affiliated with Google, this isn’t his first foray into casting a vintage light on Google. Earlier this year, he introduced Google BBS, which takes a more Technicolor ’80s-style approach to the tool.
