Yes, I know that you can head on over to your wireless provider of choice and get a new smartphone for a reduced price when you sign on with a contract, but that’s just not suitable for some people. Some people prefer to have their phones unsubsidized and out of contractual obligations, so if you want a unlocked Galaxy Note 2, this is the deal for you.

As a quick refresher, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 features a great 5.55″ high resolution Super AMOLED display, quad core 1.6GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB storage, microSD expansion up to 64GB, 8MP camera with 1080p video recording, and that S Pen stylus that makes the “Note” series.

The unlocked version on sale here is the N7100. What this means is that it has quad-band GSM and quad-band HSDPA 850/900/1900/2100. Given this, it should be fully compatible with AT&T in the United States, as well as Rogers, Bell and Telus in Canada, among several other carriers around the world. The 3G will not work, though, with T-Mobile, Wind or Mobilicity.

Furthering the Army of Two franchise's obsession with unexpected references to the world of hip hop, EA has announced that B.o.B. and Outkast's Big Boi will appear in the upcoming Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel.

You remember the original Army of Two, right? We won’t really hold it against you if you don’t, as the game wasn’t terribly memorable, despite its entertaining focus on two-player co-operative gameplay. Beyond that however it was mostly a rote modern shooter, with obvious cues taken from Activision’s Call of Duty franchise as well as EA’s Medal of Honor and Battlefield series’. Honestly we probably wouldn’t have much recollection of the game either, except that it includes one hilarious, memorable moment in which protagonists Rios and Salem have a short chat about the virtues of seminal hip hop collective the Wu-Tang Clan shortly after gunning down a few hundred Chinese soldiers. Those who played through this moment will recall how unexpected it was, and yet this instance was apparently setting a trend for the Army of Two franchise.

When Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel hits retail shelves on March 26, 2013, it too will feature unexpected nods to the world of hip hop, though unlike its predecessor The Devil’s Cartel wears its affection on its sleeve. In an announcement made this morning, EA revealed that not only would rappers B.o.B. and Outkast’s Big Boi create a theme song for the game, the two artists would also appear in Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel as non-player characters. “The duo will be appearing in the game as characters Charles “Chuy” Randall (Big Boi) and Anthony “Baker” Barnes (B.o.B) as T.W.O. operatives working alongside Salem and Rios to take down the Mexican drug cartels,” MTV reports, before stating that their new song (the preciously titled “Double Or Nothing”) will debut shortly after the beginning of next year as part of the game’s impending PR blitz.

That news is neat enough on its own, but in an effort to further appeal to the apparently large crossover demographic of Army of Two fans who are also into hip hop developer Visceral Games is also allowing giving select players a chance to play as B.o.B and Big Boi. Specifically, those who preorder Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel will receive access to a downloadable addition to the game dubbed the “Hit Maker’s Kit” which includes “a one-of-a-kind T.W.O.Contract mission that will allow them to play as Big Boi and B.o.B’s characters, as well as custom masks and weapon skins designed by the artists themselves.”

While this news isn’t quite as awesome as word of a new Outkast album might be, the group’s ongoing, seemingly-endless hiatus marks this as yet another instance in which fans will have to simply satisfy themselves with efforts from one half of the best hip hop group to emerge toward in the last two decades. Fortunately however, Big Boi’s solo work to date has been excellent, so if nothing else this should indicate that Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel will have a solid theme song. Hopefully the rest of the game can live up to this high quality standard.

Ubisoft has officially announced a release date for the Wii U's Rayman Legends: February 26, 2013.

At E3 earlier this year the Digital Trends writing staff found itself seated in a hot, noisy, ornate theater for Ubisoft’s big presentation. This would be our third keynote of the show up to that point, and though we’d seen a few interesting titles, we weren’t really expecting much from Ubisoft. As the company’s various sizzle reels and live demonstrations rolled by we were momentarily impressed by Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed III and the then-newly-revealed ZombiU, but by far the most intriguing game we saw that afternoon would have to be Rayman Legends. Between the game’s gorgeous, colorful aesthetic and its novel approach to platform game design, Rayman Legends quickly became one of our favorite titles of the show, and despite having witnessed brand new footage of imminent, blockbuster releases for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, we left that theater buzzing about a quirky, 2D run n’ jump adventure.

Thus, when the Wii U launched without Rayman Legends in tow, we were understandably disappointed. ZombiU gave us a solid way to enjoy our new Wii U consoles, but we were really hoping to experience the musical, joyful world of Rayman on launch day. While it wasn’t quite ready for its debut on November 18, Ubisoft has finally announced a release date for Rayman Legends: February 26, 2013. Helpfully, Ubisoft also announced that come December 13, the Wii U eShop will play host to a demo for Rayman Legends, so those of you who didn’t see Rayman Legends at E3 (or just desperately want to play it for yourselves) will have a chance to experience the game before deciding whether or not to drop $60 on the title.

But what of those prospective players who know nothing of this game? What of those who are too timid to even try the demo before they have some concept swirling in their heads of what Rayman Legends is all about? We direct those desperate few to Ubisoft’s official description for the game:

The classic cast of Rayman, Globox and the Teensies return and are joined by new characters Murphy and Barbara as they embark on a fantasy adventure through a series of legendary worlds with new environments and enemies. Developed exclusively for Wii U, Rayman Legends expands beyond the traditional platforming experience by utilizing the Wii U GamePad in an array of innovative ways to interact with the game. Players can use the Touch Screen on the GamePad to take out enemies, cut ropes to clear a path and move rotating platforms with the gyroscope technology. Rayman Legends features a fresh gameplay adventure to enjoy alone or with friends, and a plethora of creatively themed levels including several musical maps intricately set to popular and original music, a gorgeous underwater haven and a flourishing beanstalk environment.

Sounds neat, right? Trust us when we say that you can’t get a good feel for Rayman Legends without at least seeing it in action. Obviously you’ll get a much clearer idea of how the game functions by playing it, but we’ve yet to meet anyone who has seen Rayman Legends in motion who doesn’t immediately have an intense urge to play the game for themselves. Thus, we also direct you to this footage of the game. If all of this doesn’t get you properly amped, you may want to consider a new hobby. Fly fishing maybe, or Chinese Checkers perhaps.

Google has announced that its Apps for Business suite is not longer free for new subscribers.

Google lovers who plan to use the platform for their business needs better listen up. The search engine giant announced on Friday that users will no longer be able to sign up for Google Apps free of charge.

Google Apps for Business is a cloud-based productivity suite that lets business owners and managers connect with their team members from any where on any device. This includes apps such as Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets and other popular Google apps tailored to a particular business.

The company’s director of product management Clay Bavor announced via his blog that users will now have to pay when signing up for these enterprise-based services. He explained that Google is putting more emphasis on creating a stronger and fuller user experience for paying customers.

“When we launched the premium business version we kept our free, basic version as well,” Bavor wrote. “Both business and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience isn’t quite right for either group. Businesses quickly outgrow the basic version and want things like 24/7 customer support and larger inboxes. Similarly, consumers often have to wait to get new features while we make them business-ready.”

The paid version of Google Apps will only apply to new customers. Those already using a free account will not be forced to pay the annual $50 fee that newcomers will soon be forking over. Bavor clearly specified the difference between the paid and free version of Google Apps, emphasizing that the latter is aimed toward business needs.

Individuals wishing to use the company’s Web apps like Gmail and Google Docs should register for a free personal account, while businesses will now have one paid version to work with. Bavor advises companies “of any size” to sign up for Google’s premium Google Apps for Business, which features 24/7 customer support, a 25GB inbox and a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee with no scheduled downtime.

Other versions of Google Apps, such as Google Apps for Education and Google Apps for Government, will not be affected.

“With focus we’ll be able to do even more for our business customers,” the Google executive wrote. “We’re excited about the opportunity to push Google Apps further so our customers can do what matters most to them – whether that’s scooping ice cream, changing the face of healthcare or contributing to lifelong learning.”

More than five million businesses are reportedly using Google Apps, according to The Next Web. Including both free and paid versions, Google Apps is said to be used by more than 40 million users worldwide.

In an effort to alleviate complaints players have had with Far Cry 3's busy heads-up display, the company has announced an upcoming patch that allows users to simply strip the entire thing out.

Far Cry 3 is a great game. We don’t need you take our word for it, as praise for Ubisoft’s open-world jungle adventure has been almost unanimous. However, that’s not to say that the game is perfect, and since it hit store shelves earlier this week we’ve heard numerous complaints about the game’s heads-up display. While functional, the display is cluttered. Ubisoft did excellent work in making the various on-screen indicators useful and information-dense, but the company almost went too far, and the result is a heads-up display that occasionally obscures crucial parts of a player’s vision.

It seems that we weren’t the only people listening to these complaints as this morning Ubisoft announced an upcoming patch which will allow players to tweak the HUD to their liking. “Based on feedback from both press and fans, the Far Cry 3 production team is working on a patch that will allow you to toggle most HUD/UI elements based on player preference,” an Ubisoft representative wrote in a message to Kotaku. “The patch will also avoid issues encountered in the .dll hack that might create a mission walkthrough break (missing QTE prompts, critical information, etc). The team is excited about how the Far Cry 3 community and fans of the game are enjoying themselves, and finding new ways to experience the Rook Islands. More news will be coming on the patch shortly…”

You’ll notice that the announcement includes neither a release date for the patch, nor word of what else it might change in Far Cry 3. We expect all of that information to appear quite soon, as Ubisoft seems ready to do everything in its power to build the extant Far Cry 3 playerbase now that the game is officially on shelves.

On to more pressing matters though: Why did Ubisoft send that announcement directly to Kotaku?  Because yesterday the site published a piece detailing a relatively simple hack to remove Far Cry 3′s in-game HUD. The writer, Kirk Hamilton, claims (accurately) that replaying Far Cry 3 without any of Ubisoft’s hand-crafted user interface elements blocking the screen makes the game experience quite different (and, as you’d expect, significantly more difficult). Unfortunately, Hamilton’s hack does cause unforeseen problems with the game’s periodic quick time events, making them effectively unbeatable. Ubisoft, already hard at work on a patch that will allow players to strip out the HUD without breaking anything, must have seen Hamilton’s article, realized he made an excellent point, and decided to drop word to Kotaku that the developer was hard at work on improving Hamilton’s new way to play Far Cry 3.

For the most part though, that’s boring, “inside baseball”-type stuff that won’t interest you unless you get paid to write about games. The important part here is that Ubisoft is paying very close attention to how people feel about Far Cry 3 and are working diligently to improve any problems that might arise. We’re very excited to see what else this next patch might add to the game, and will have more word on when/how it will appear just as soon as Ubisoft makes that info public.