Software News

Clive Moody, a senior executive producer working on GRID 2, states that it is generally easier to create video games for the newly announced PlayStation 4 than for the previous home console with the same brand.

He tells Edge that, “I think from the off with PS4 architecture it’s going to be easier to get results.”

He adds, “The last thing we want as developers is stuff in the way of producing and creating experiences so that’s a massive plus.”

Sony says that it has chosen a X86 architecture for the PlayStation 4 in order to make sure that it’s very easy to create games on it and port experience that already exist on the PC, like Blizzard’s Diablo III.

Moody is also saying that Codemasters currently has no plans to launch GRID 2 on next gen consoles.

The racing game is expected to arrive during May.

Via: PlayStation 4 Is Easier to Developer for than PS3, Says GRID 2 Developer

Hidetaka Suehiro, known to gamers as Swery, says that it’s unlikely Deadly Premonition will be launched on any platforms other than home consoles but suggested once more that a sequel might be in the works.

The developer tells MCV that, “If I had the chance to bring Deadly Premonition to these other formats, I might work on it. But I’d like to start a new project.”

His company might create a true follow-up for Deadly Premonition or a prequel to explain some elements of the game universe.

Suehiro also offered more information on the Director’s Cut version of the game, saying, “new players will be able to discover this unique world much easier than before.”

The new version of the game, on the PS3, is designed to support the Move motion control system and will also offer better controls and improved visuals.

Via: Deadly Premonition Sequel Likelier than Ports, Says Game Creator

Samsung's Galaxy Ace IIx has been available in Canada for a few months now, but Rogers has yet to add it to its portfolio of budget-friendly Android smartphones.

Well, it appears that’s about to change, as MobileSyrup reports the smartphone is now on its way to Rogers’ airwaves. Samsung Galaxy Ace IIx will be available for only $225/€165 on no-term.

The device ships with Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system out of the box and packs a 1GHz single-core processor, which should be enough to run most apps and games.

Other highlights of the phone include: 5-megapixel rear photo snapper, 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution, Wi-Fi and 3G support, 4GB of internal memory, as well as microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).

Via: Samsung Galaxy Ace IIx Arriving at Rogers for $225/165 Outright

Experts often say that cyberattacks are bad for the economy and the latest HBGary survey, conducted by Zogby Analytics, reinforces this.

It turns out that over 70% of American investors analyze the security practices of a company before taking any decisions. Moreover, 80% of them say they would probably not invest in an organization that’s been targeted by cybercriminals.

The study has also found that 66% of investors are likely to take a look at the fines or sanctions received by a company before investing.

“For some time, we have said that cybersecurity cannot be a “checkbox” item on a company’s operational to do list,” explained Ken Silva, senior vice president of cyber strategy for ManTech’s Mission Cyber & Intelligence Solutions Group.

“This survey proves that today’s investors are more educated about the damage cyberattacks can cause to a company’s brand and financial bottom line. The high cost of cyberattacks cannot be understated.”

However, investors appear to be aware of the fact that cyberattacks are highly common and there’s nothing that companies can do to make sure they’re not targeted. That’s why most of them don’t look at the actual attacks, but at the corporate responses to cyberattacks.

So what types of security incidents are more concerning? According to HBGary, breaches that involve customer data are twice as concerning as those as a result of which intellectual property is stolen.

“Consumer data breaches grab the headlines and the large liability settlements. But the lack of concern for IP theft, underscores the need for broader education about the financial risk IP theft poses to a company” noted Jim Butterworth, HBGary chief security officer.

“The pilfering of American company trade secrets and other sensitive data is happening every day – costing our corporations billions of dollars in lost revenue.”

Via: Study: US Investors Interested in Cybersecurity Practices, Cyberattack History

The Game Audio Network Guild is announcing the nominees for the 11th annual awards designed to honor the best achievement in audio and music use in video games.

G.A.N.G. president Brian Schmidt states, “This year’s G.A.N.G. award nominees continue to raise the bar, pushing creative boundaries, innovating in technology and delivering exceptional execution and production across all aspects of game audio.”

The complete list of nominees includes:

Audio of the Year

Diablo III
Far Cry 3
Halo 4
Journey
The Darkness II
Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Music of the Year

Fez
Journey
The Unfinished Swan
Wonderbook: Book of Spells
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Sound Design of the Year

Diablo III
Far Cry 3
Halo 4
Journey
The Darkness II

Best Soundtrack Album

Dear Esther
Halo 4
Journey
Mass Effect 3
The Unfinished Swan
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Best Interactive Score

Diablo III
Journey
Sound Shapes
Starhawk
The Unfinished Swan
Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Best Handheld Audio

Need for Speed Most Wanted
ORC: Vengeance
Ravensword: Shadowlands
Rayman Jungle Run
Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Best Audio in a Casual/Social Game

Deadlight
Dear Esther
Ghost Recon Commander
Globulous
Solitaire Blitz
The Unfinished Swan

Best Cinematic/Cutscene Audio

Halo 4
Resident Evil 6
The Darkness II
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Best Dialogue

Diablo III
Fable: The Journey
Far Cry 3
The Darkness II
The Walking Dead
Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Best Original Instrumental

"Apotheosis" - Journey
"Heart of Pandaria" - World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
"I Have Begun My Ascent" - Dear Esther
"Pigs In Space" - LittleBigPlanet 2: The Muppets
"Outcast Theme" - Starhawk
"The Unfinished Swan" - The Unfinished Swan

Best Original Vocal – Choral

"Angelus" - The Darkness II
"Incantation" - Diablo III
"Main Menu" - Halo 4
"Main Theme" - Assassin's Creed III Liberation
"The Eored" - Riders of Rohan
"The Resistance Fighters" - Kinect Star Wars

Best Original Vocal – Pop

"Always" - Dear Esther
"I Was Born For This" - Journey
"Song of Liu Lang" - World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
"The Taking" - Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller
"Try And Forget Me" - 1954: Alcatraz

Best Audio Mix

Dragon's Dogma
Far Cry 3
Planetside 2
Prototype 2
The Darkness II

Best Use of Licensed Music

Kinect Star Wars
LittleBigPlanet Karting
MLB 12: The Show
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Tiny & Big: Grandpa's Leftovers

Via: GANG Announces Nominees for Video Game Audio and Music Prizes

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is getting ready for the launch of its Lumia 920 flagship handset on the market in the Philippines, and it has already kicked off the reservation period for the device, it seems.

The smartphone can now be found available for pre-order in the country via Nokia stores, the company has announced, without offering a specific release date or price tag for it.

However, as WPCentral notes, the Windows Phone 8 handset was also listed for reservations through CMK Cellphones, a local phone store that has it available at 25,750 PhP (around $630 / €480).

Apparently, the smartphone will hit shelves in the country in red, white and yellow, at least this is what Nokia Revolution claims to have found out. The retailer is also said to be asking users for a 10 percent deposit for the device.

Via: Nokia Lumia 920 Now on Pre-Order in the Philippines

Epic Games has just confirmed that its upcoming Gears of War: Judgment third-person shooter will receive a special VIP Season Pass that has access to two add-ons, which include lots of maps, new modes and weapons, as well as to a permanent double XP bonus and plenty of extra skins for weapons and armor.

Gears of War: Judgment is out in March and developer Epic Games has focused on getting lots of Xbox 360 owners interested in the new shooter.

We have already seen some new videos and even the leak of the actual game onto torrent websites.

Now, Epic has confirmed that Judgment will receive a special VIP Season Pass that includes to a variety of bonuses, like two separate add-ons and different perks, so check out the advantages below, via Epic Games.

- Two upcoming Game Add-on Packs that include six multiplayer maps, two new modes, and new weapon and armor skins.
- Early access to Game Add-on multiplayer maps so you can be the first to play.
- A permanent double XP boost to accelerate your ascent through the ranks.
- Five exclusive weapon skins and four exclusive armor skins.

The Gears of War: Judgment VIP Season Pass will launch alongside the game and costs 1600 MS Points.

Via: Gears of War: Judgment Season Pass Brings Access to Two DLCs, Double XP, More

Microsoft has recently introduced the new Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7, but the company continues to promote the touch-optimized version of its browser with a new campaign.

This time, the Redmond-based technology giant partnered with singer, song-writer and composer Black Lewis for the creation of ExploreTouch.ie, a new website that plays the role of an interactive touch player to mix and create a song.

“Built entirely in HTML5, Explore Touch takes advantage of the innovative touch support of IE10 to create a site that can be swiped, tapped, scratched and rotated to fully explore the richness and depth of Blake’s track, Your Touch,” Microsoft said.

Of course, users are recommended to give the new website a shot in Internet Explorer 10, but we’ve tried it in some other browsers and everything worked like a charm.

Via: Microsoft Unveils Touch-Optimized Website to Promote IE10

After a rather lackluster All-Star season, ABC’s Dancing With the Stars needs a boost in ratings and it needs it badly. Sadly, chances of that happening with season 16 are slim to none, as the entire cast has just been announced.

As several media outlets point out, you might need your trusty Google on hand for this one.

Besides the highly unpredictable Andy Dick, singer Wynonna Judd and Kelli Pickler, few of the names of the stars on the list will probably ring a bell with mainstream audiences, but ABC honchos are keeping strangely optimistic.

With the announcement also came confirmation that Maksim Chmerkovskiy is out, as I also reported some time ago. No word yet on when – and if – he’s coming back.

Below is the list of the stars on season 16 of DWTS, together with their partners, the professional dancers.

Victor Ortiz with Lindsay Arnold
Kellie Pickler with Derek Hough
Wynonna Judd with Tony Dovolani
Ingo Rademacher with Kym Johnson
Zendaya Coleman with Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Andy Dick with Sharna Burgess
Lisa Vanderpump with Gleb Savchenko
Aly Raisman with Mark Ballas
Dorothy Hamill with Tristan MacManus
D.L. Hughley with Cheryl Burke
Jacoby Jones with Karina Smirnoff


Via: Full Cast Announced for Dancing With the Stars, Season 16

Developer Victory Games is ready to offer more information on the upcoming Command & Conquer free-to-play video game and after launching screenshots and details the team delivers the first gameplay footage that uses the Frostbite 2 engine.

Frostbite 2 is quite impressive even if the game is still in pre-alpha stage and fans of the franchise will surely recognize some of their favorite units.

The video footage posted by VG247 also features developer commentary that mentions plans for an closed beta later during the spring.

Command & Conquer is set to be launched on the PC during the fall of this year.

The game will allow gamers battle other humans online and train in a skirmish mode but the Victory Games team plans to add a more extensive single player campaign after the game is released.

Via: Frostbite 2 Command & Conquer Gameplay Footage Looks Impressive

The awards season is officially over now that the 2013 Academy Awards came… and went. With it being the biggest event in the film industry, pressure to look impeccable was huge on the celebrities attending – so great, in fact, that some of them collapsed under it.

We’re just going to assume that the ladies included on this year’s worst dressed list at the Oscars failed because they tried too hard, not because they lacked the money, the competent people or the inclination that would have made them more presentable on the red carpet.

Most of the women named by fashion gurus the Oscars’ worst dressed earned this dubious decision by forgetting that, sometimes in fashion, less is more.

In so doing, they opted for scooping, dangerously low cleavage or, in Liberty Ross’ case, a completely see-through mini dress.

Coincidence or not, but all three women who were too revealing for the occasion are models.

Irina Shayk has a gorgeous body and a face to match. Guests at the Vanity Fair afterparty nearly got to see the former close up and personal, and hardly recognized the latter because of the awful makeup job.

Revealing clothes and bad makeup are never a good combination.

Heidi Klum wore a ridiculously low cut golden dress that looked incredibly uncomfortable and out of place.

Ross, whom you might remember as the wife of director Rupert Sanders, with whom Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson, on the other hand, wore a black mini that went see-through when the flashes were on, revealing both her breasts and her knickers.

We can’t include the photos here but, just so you can get the idea, it looked like this.

Brandi Glanville, former wife of Eddie Cibrian and reality star / author, did not have her backup dresses with her and ended up wearing a gown that she knew was too small for her.

Kristen Stewart’s dress was gorgeous but her styling completely ruined her: with messy and greasy hair, stained fingers and no manicure, the “Twilight” star looked as if she’d decided to attend the event at the last minute, even though she was one of the presenters – so she can’t use that excuse.

Last but not least is Melissa McCarthy. David Meister has been dressing her for years, but this grey, shapeless and unflattering number they decided on for the Oscars, in combination with the big hair, failed to do her any favors.



Via: Oscars 2013: The Worst Dressed Ladies of the Night

The 2013 Academy Awards took place Sunday night at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and, while many other stars who weren’t invited wished they had been, Charlie Sheen was throwing his own, Oscar-rival-worthy party.

Throughout the entire awards show, the Warlock with Adonis DNA tweeted up a storm, showing fans that, when it comes to partying, few are those who could keep up with him.

Check out some of the pics in the gallery below.

From showing him taking a Vodka shower or fallen to the ground, locked in an embrace with a tall metal ashtray, the photos also have aptly chosen descriptions.

“Late for the Oscars again.... c #Snubbed #JustMadeBail,” he writes in a tweet to the first photo above, showing him stumbling drunk on the edge of a lake, I think.

Deep down inside, I just wish these are old pictures he’s using because he looks pretty messed up in them, and he was just getting back to (a semblance of) normal again.

Via: Oscars 2013: Charlie Sheen Doesnt Need the Oscars, Throws His Own Party

What we know: Dead Island was a surprise hit when it launched during 2011 although much of the hype that surrounded the experience was due to the impressive cinematic trailer that had been launched for it earlier during the year.

With Riptide, the development team at Techland is aiming to capture the attention of the public with the same concept again and build on the initial success.

This time, the action moves to the island of Palanoi in the Pacific, with players needing to escape the vessel that was supposed to save them as the crew is affected by the zombie virus.

The new location allows the development team to introduce new environment types, including a swampy one, which will allow new enemies to take the player by surprise, and more variety is promised for the various quests and set pieces.

The four characters from the original Dead Island are returning to the game, complete with new items to use and new abilities.

A newcomer will join the undead powered party in order to test his own strength against the hordes.

Dead Island – Riptide will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on April 23 in the United States and three days later in Europe.

Why it matters: Dead Island was much appreciated for the slow motion reverse time trailer that first revealed the core themes and mechanics of the game.

Developer Techland and publisher Deep Silver have tried producing something similar for Riptide, but the promotional efforts have failed to ignite the same effect.

It will be interesting to see whether the expanded mechanics in Riptide will manage to get fans back into the undead-infested Pacific or whether the initial action experience was enough to satisfy our appetite for crushing zombie skulls.

The full Incoming 2012 series of articles can be read on Softpedia right here.

Via: Incoming 2013: Dead Island Riptide

As expected, Samsung announced the upcoming availability of its Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, which might or might not be the spiritual successor of the Galaxy Note II.

For the time being, it’s unclear if this is Galaxy Note 10.1’s little sister or Samsung plans to make it the Galaxy Note II successor, thus skipping the Galaxy Note III.

All in all, Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 is more of a marketing move as the slate does not really feature anything innovative in terms of specs.

The slate is powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core Exynos processor and packs 2GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up to 64GB via microSD memory card.

The 8-inch display supports 800 x 1280 pixels resolution. There’s also a 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 will be available soon for around 500 USD / 380 EUR, depending on the location.

Via: MWC 2013: Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0 Hands-On

SoundKonverter, a frontend to various audio converters that can be used for different tasks including CD ripping, is now at version 2.0.0 RC 1.

SoundKonverter 2.0.0 RC 1 supports a large number of formats, such as flac, mp3, m4a, wma, ac3, and many others. If the user tries to convert a file that is not supported, the application will inform them which backend needs installation.

Highlights of SoundKonverter 2.0.0 RC 1:

• The option to not modify the audio stream of mp3 files when calculating Replay Gain has been added;
• The libav plugin has been added;
• Modify mp3 stream when forcing the recalculation of Replay Gain;
• Don't try to calculate Replay Gain if it is impossible;
• Sox effects are now working properly;
• A crash which occurred when encoding with sox and without filters has been fixed;
• Calculate Replay Gain if there is only one track in the album.

Check out the official announcement for a complete list of updates, changes, and new features.

Download SoundKonverter 2.0.0 RC 1 right now from Softpedia.

Via: SoundKonverter 2.0.0 RC 1 Improves Replay Gain Function for Mp3 Files

Media companies are always asking for more copyright protection, for more tools to take down infringing content, for Google to do more to protect their business.

They argue that they need it all to thwart pirates who are threatening the livelihood of millions (Hollywood math) of people and that the fears of critics who argue that these tools and laws can and will be abused are unfounded.

And then, they go ahead and abuse the laws and tools at their disposal in every way they can get away with. Case in point is NASCAR that tried to get footage of a horrific accident at Daytona this weekend off the internet.

As anyone who has used the internet and even a few of those who haven't will tell you, you can never take stuff "off" the internet, once it's there, it stays there.

But it doesn't hurt to try. NASCAR sent YouTube a takedown notice, on copyright grounds, for a video shot and uploaded by a spectator.

Quite obviously, NASCAR doesn't own the copyright to that video, despite claiming on race tickets that it owns everything you film, and in fact, it didn't even claim to, it said it tried to get it down out of "respect" for the families of those injured, 28 in total, 14 of which were rushed to the hospital.

Whether this was out of respect or out of wanting to control the story and keep people coming to races even if wheels may occasionally come raining down on their heads doesn't really matter, NASCAR abused a tool created to deal with copyright infringement to try and censor free speech.

That's all there is to it. It's hardly the first and it certainly won't be the last, as laws get more extreme, you can expect things like this or worse to happen on a regular basis.

The video was initially pulled down, as part of the automated response, but after YouTube reviewed the request, it reinstated the video, pointing out that there was no copyright infringement whatsoever.

It's nice to see that YouTube does sometimes ignore abusive requests, but this was a controversial video that was getting a lot of attention. More obscure videos won't get the same treatment, more often than not these types of abuses will succeed.




Via: NASCAR Abuses Copyright Infringement to Remove Horrific Crash Video from YouTube

The following tutorial will teach Ubuntu users how to install the dynamic wallpaper, called Evolving Circle Wallpaper, inspired by the lock screen on the Ubuntu Phone OS, on their Ubuntu Linux operating system.

The Evolving Circle Wallpaper has been designed to display a 12-hour clock through the ring of dots in the main circle, turning white up to noon, then fading out up to midnight. It will also change its appearance depending on the time of day. It supports only the Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) and Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal) operating systems.

Step 1 - Adding the Evolving Circle Wallpaper PPA repository

To add the PPA software repository of the Evolving Circle Wallpaper in your Ubuntu operating system, hit the CTRL+ALT+T key combination to open a terminal window and type (or paste) the following command, hitting the Enter key after it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:muscovy/ppa

Enter your password and hit the Enter key again when asked. That’s it, the PPA has now been installed and you can proceed to the next step in the tutorial. Do not close the terminal window!

Step 2 - Install the Evolving Circle Wallpaper

Now, type or paste the following command in the terminal window (hit the CTRL+ALT+T key combination to open it again in case you accidentally closed it) and hit the Enter key after it:
 
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install evolving-circle-wallpaper

Wait a couple of minutes for the wallpaper to be downloaded and installed. When the installation is over, you will see the Change Desktop Background dialog. Close it, and open it again by right clicking on your desktop and selecting the “Change Desktop Background” entry. Now, choose the Evolving Circle Wallpaper (the last one).


That's it! If you encounter issues with the tutorial, do not hesitate to comment below!

Via: How to Install the Ubuntu Phone OS Dynamic Wallpaper on Ubuntu

Shuhei Yoshida, the leader of the Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, confirms that all video games launched on the new PlayStation 4 will have a digital version available as soon as they are delivered via stores.

The executive is quoted by VG247 as saying that, “We’re shifting our platform more and more to the digital side – PS4 will be similar to PS Vita in that every game will be available as a digital download, and some will also be available as a disc.”

He adds, “Because of the flexibility of the digital distribution scheme, we can have more small games that might be free or available for a couple of dollars, or different services like free-to-play or subscription models.”

The flexibility is designed to allow Sony to attract a wider audience than with the PlayStation 3 and to deliver customized experiences based on their playing style and their interests.

Via: Sony Confirms that All PlayStation 4 Releases Will Have Digital Versions

Yet another development version of the upcoming GNOME Boxes 3.8, a sophisticated application to easily and quickly access remote or virtual systems on the controversial and popular GNOME 3 desktop environment, saw the light of day a few days ago.

GNOME Boxes 3.8 Beta 1 is a here to add various attractive features and fix some annoying issues that were introduced since the previous development version, but first we should mention that some dependencies were changed: spice-client-gtk-3.0 >= 0.15 and govirt-1.0 >= 0.0.3 (without it, oVirt support is disabled).

Highlights of GNOME Boxes 3.8 Beta

1:

[ADAMRK=1]• Added support for oVirt;
• Added support for post-installation drivers, which means that if combined with the libosinfo 0.2.4 library, all virio drivers and QXL will be automatically installed;
• Recommended storage and RAM are automatically marked in VM properties;
• Bumped minimum required and step value for RAM from 1MB to 64MB in VM properties;
• Downgraded the step value for storage from 1GB to 256MB in VM properties;
• IEC units are no longer used in properties and wizard;
• Fixed an infinite loop crash;
• Fixed a crash related to passing media on command-line;
• Improved media detection;
• Improved restart of installations;
• Media detection code can now adapt to the latest versions of the libosinfo and udev packages;
• The thumbnail position in properties view has been fixed;
• Better support for the new GNOME-Shell search interface;
• The installation progress of drivers will now always reach 100%, even if errors occurred during installation;
• Ability to search using multiple terms.

Moreover, the following translations have been added, updated or fixed in GNOME Boxes 3.8 Beta 1: Galician, Greek, Malayalam, Polish, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Turkish and Uyghur.

Download GNOME Boxes 3.8 Beta 1 (3.7.90) right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.

Via: GNOME Boxes 3.8 Beta 1 Adds Support for oVirt

When it comes to reviews, we have three to deliver this week: The Bridge, a puzzle game that also has plenty of style, Impire, a game that takes a piece of the Dungeon Keeper formula and adds some interesting twists, and March of the Eagles, a battle-focused grand-strategy title.

We also have a Quick Look for Death Inc., an interesting little indie game that’s currently seeking funding via Kickstarter.

Our familiar Gamer Diaries are continuing the countdown of the most interesting big games of the coming ten months and we also talk about March of the Eagles.

As always, we also have assembled two Weekend Reading pieces: one dealing with the mistakes of the PS3 and another one about the promise of the PlayStation 4.

We also have an EndWeekGame article dealing with our free time for the weekend and a selection of the most important news from the past seven days.

On Monday, Bungie's Destiny project finally received a complete reveal, with information about the universe and the gameplay, while CD Projekt RED talked about what The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt could learn from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

On Tuesday, Treyarch leaked information about the new DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, called Orientation, apparently, and Naughty Dog talked about how it would make the move to next-generation hardware.

On Wednesday, a round-up of rumors about the PlayStation 4 appeared ahead of the supposed official announcement and an analyst said that lack of a Wii U version of GTA V showed lack of trust in the platform.

On Thursday, Sony revealed the PlayStation 4, with the highlights so far including the lack of backwards compatibility and some pretty interesting hardware specs.


On Friday, a report explained that the reveal of the Xbox 720 from Microsoft would arrive during April and Jonathan Blow compared the Durango and the newly revealed Sony platform.

On Saturday, Call of Duty got a new PC update, complete with extra content and Sony explained that prices for the PlayStation 4 would go from free to the median for current consoles.

Via: A Gamers Week: February 24

LG’s latest Android-based flagship smartphone, the Optimus G, is now available for purchase in India, with a price tag of INR 30,990 ($571 / €433) attached to it.

The smartphone can be seen listed on Saholic’s website with this price tag attached to it, and is said to be shipping in 6 business days to those who would like to purchase it.

However, AndroidOS notes that LG will hold a launch event for the new device soon, and that the retailer could start shipping units to users immediately after it. This means that the currently listed availability of the phone is more like a pre-order period.

For those out of the loop, we should note that the LG Optumus G was made official in the fourth quarter of the last year with a 4.7-inch True HD IPS Plus display and with a 1.5GHz quad-core processor inside.

Powered by the latest flavor of Google’s Android operating system, the smartphone is said to be capable of delivering great performance capabilities to all users.

However, although it landed on shelves several months ago, the phone hasn’t managed to impress a lot of people, it seems, with LG claiming one million purchases back in January, roughly three months after the device had been launched commercially.

Even so, as a flagship handset, the Optimus G can fulfill the needs of modern smartphone users, courtesy of the top hardware specs inside it and of great software loaded on top.

“LG Optimus G E975 is an Android Jelly Bean phone with 4.7 inch True HD IPS Plus display. The 1.5GHz quad core processor in tandem with 2GB of RAM gives lightning fast processing speed,” Saholic notes.

“The 13MP back camera is capable of recording 1080p HD videos @30fps; a 1.3MP camera is on the front side of the body for self-portrait and video chat.”

The smartphone also arrives on shelves with GPRS, EDGE, HSPA and Wi-Fi capabilities inside, as well as with Bluetooth, NFC, and USB connectivity. It also sports A-GPS, and 32GB of internal memory.

Furthermore, LG Optimus G sports a 2100 mAh battery capable of delivering up to 15 hours of talk time or 14 days of standby time.

Via: LG Optimus G Arrives in India at INR 30,990 ($571 / 433)

Shuhei Yoshida, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide, says that there’s no way to eliminate firmware updates from the home console ecosystem, but that his team is making sure that they will not bother the player in any way on the PlayStation 4.

He tells Eurogamer that, “It’s about the implementation phase. It’s all about how it gets implemented. So we have to wait for the final product, but our goal is always like that. So there will always be firmware updates.”

But the team working on the new console is trying to push both the download and the install process into the background in order to make sure that gamers can spend all their time actually playing on the PS4.

The core of the PlayStation 4 experience is designed to include more connectivity options and to give the player more freedom.

Via: Firmware Updates on PlayStation 4 Will Never Bother the Player

A new flavor of the Foursquare application is now available for download for the owners of BlackBerry 10 smartphones, namely version 10.0.0.2877, with appealing enhancements packed inside.

Users who will download and install the new application release will enjoy a new venue page, with all the important stuff being showed at the top when tapping on a place’s name.

This includes rating, address, hours, menu, and phone number, as well as swipeable photos, which have just been added.

Furthermore, the new app flavor will provide users with the possibility to easily share content with other BlackBerry 10 devices through simple taps.

Foursquare 10.0.0.2877 for BlackBerry 10, available for download through this page in the BlackBerry World, also enabled users to easily update their profile photos, while also packing a variety of bug fixes inside, as well as small UI tweaks.

Via: Download Foursquare 10.0.0.2877 for BlackBerry 10

The local University of Engineering and Technology from Lima, Peru, has created a very special billboard by working with Mayo DraftFCB.

For those unaware, Lima is the second largest capital in the world that happens to be located in a desert.

Obviously, deserts aren't fun, what with their tendency to be very short in water.

The team has crated a billboard that can harvest moisture in the air and turn it into potable water.

Granted, there won't be too much condensation going on, since desert air is dry. Still, moisture exists everywhere, and the five tanks located at the top of the tower are definitely voluminous (96 liters each).

As for purity, condensed water is cleaner than most, and there is a filtration system as well, so that issue is well covered.

The water can be accessed from a single faucet located at the base of the billboard.

Via: Billboard Pulls Drinkable Water out of Thin Air Video

Jonathan Blow, the developer of The Witness and creator of Braid, says that he is receiving no monetary compensation from video game publisher Sony in order to bring his new game exclusively to the PlayStation 4 console during the launch window.

The developer tells Kotaku that, “After some more time went by, and our release date drifted further into the future, we realized that the next-generation console launch time might be a good time to release the game.”

Blow received a development kit for the PlayStation 4 and decided that the new Sony platform was a good fit for the experience he is creating.

The Wii U was not taken into account because of its unique features that posed development problems.

The Witness is a first person puzzles game that uses an open world and creates complex challenges for the player.

Via: No Money Involved in The Witness PlayStation 4 Console Exclusivity

Rumors suggest that creating video games for the recently revealed PlayStation 4 is an expensive proposition, which might mean a lower number of core titles available for the pre-Christmas launch date.

But a number of developers believe that team sizes and costs have remained pretty much flat when compared to the current PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Herman Hulst, the managing director working on the new Killzone, tells Gamasutra that, “I can very simply share with you that when we did Killzone 2 and 3, we probably maxed out with a team size of 125. We have 150 now, so it's marginally bigger.”

He also reveals that it takes about the same time to create a game for the current generation and for the PlayStation 4.

He adds, “We've also learned a thing or two in previous installments on the PlayStation 3. So it's not, in terms of the cost, it's not as scary as maybe some people have led you to believe.”

Guerrilla Games is working on Killzone: Shadow Fall, the first video game that Sony revealed during the PlayStation 4 event in New York.

The video shown looked interesting and the graphics quality seemed to be on par with that delivered by a solid gaming PC, although changes are clearly possible before the console is actually launched.

The Evolution Studios team working on Drive Club says that it is working with a 110 man team, a small increase over its previous size.

Jonathan Morin, the creative director working on Watch Dogs at Ubisoft also believes that good development teams will be able to control costs and create quality on the PlayStation 4.

So far titles confirmed for the new Sony home console include: Killzone, Drive Club, Deep Down, Final Fantasy, Destiny, The Witness and new projects from Media Molecule and Quantic Dream.

Via: Developers: PlayStation 4 Costs Comparable with Current Gen

Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail in the murder case killing of Reeva Steenkamp. As we mentioned before, the South-African hero has killed his girlfriend on February 14, claiming he thought he was shooting at a burglar.

The Pretoria court that held his hearing for the last four days has decided that Pistorius does not constitute a flight risk.

"The accused has made a case to be released on bail," presiding Chief Magistrate Nair tells reporters, according to Al Jazeera.

Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder against his girlfriend, with the prosecution trying to prove that, while the athlete did not plan the murder in advance, he took advantage of the moment when she went to the bathroom to kill her.

"He planned it that night when she (Steenkamp) locked herself in (the toilet)," argues Prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

"The fact that we have only one survivor of that tragic night is difficult for the state," he notes.

"He did not want to kill Reeva. He had no intent to kill Reeva," defense attorney Barry Roux responds.

Roux went on to clarify that it would be very difficult for Pistorius to leave the country at this point, with his face plastered over any major publication covers in the world.

"Let me tell you how difficult it is for this man to disappear from this world," Roux explained.

While the judge read the decision, the Olympian remained still, displaying no emotion. Throughout the hearing, he has been seen crying and holding his head in his hands.

A crowd gathered in the courtroom applauded the judge's decision to allow Pistorius to be free during his trial. Many of them are family members, while others are supporters of the Olympic medalist.

Via: Pistorius Gets Bail in Murder Case as Hearing Ends

There's no love lost between Facebook and Google. Especially in the early days, Facebook, or rather Mark Zuckerberg, saw Google as the ultimate enemy and made sure it had as little to do with Google as possible.

That's mostly true these days, while the two companies have to work together on some things, the Facebook Android app for example, there's no real relationship between the two.

Still, that doesn't mean they can't appreciate each other, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and there's certainly plenty of that between Google and Facebook.

Even so, you probably wouldn't expect Facebook's Zuckerberg to be all that excited, at least not publicly, about a Google project.

Except perhaps when that project happens to be Google Glass, the futuristic augmented reality glasses that are slowly becoming a reality.

Zuckerberg recently met Google's Sergey Brin, who's been spearheading the Glass project, during a science award ceremony they both sponsored, along with Russian Billionaire and Facebook investor Yuri Milner.

After the event was over, Zuckerberg was very eager to find out more about the glasses Brin was wearing and get to try them on himself.

Brin doesn't seem to leave the house without his glasses, he's been spotted riding the New York subway with them.

According to Forbes, Zuckerberg was very interested in the device and very eager to get his hands on a pair.

So far, only a few people have ever seen a Google Glass device, let alone used one, and Google hasn't given them to anyone outside the company just yet.

But it has revealed more details about Glass recently, including a sneak peak at the UI, and also encouraged people to tell Google why they want a pair for the chance to be able to buy them.

Zuckerberg revealed that he was not only interested in the device for himself, Facebook already had three engineers on standby to start working on apps for Glass as soon as they could get their hands on one.

Via: Facebook's Zuckerberg Is a Big Google Glass Fan, as Sergey Brin Found Out

Galaxy S IV, supposedly the next flagship Android-based smartphone from the South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung, is now expected to arrive on shelves with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor packed inside, and not with the previously rumored Exynos 5 Octa chip.

Although nothing has been officially confirmed for the device as of now, Piper Jaffray‘s Gus Richard suggests that Samsung might indeed choose this chipset for its upcoming smartphone, so as to make sure that it can deliver it in time.

Apparently, the company is facing some power management issues with its Exynos 5 Octa processor, which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January and which was expected to arrive on the market inside this smartphone.

Furthermore, the analyst says that Galaxy S IV’s launch has already been delayed, and that the adoption of a Qualcomm processor would help Samsung deliver the smartphone faster.

“We believe Samsung’s Galaxy S4 has slipped and the Galaxy S3 has been in production a quarter longer than expected,” Gus Richard said, according to a blog post on Barron’s.

“We believe the S4 is being delayed primarily due to power issues with the company’s eight-core Exynos Octa […] we believe the company is likely to shift more to external sources. We believe QCOM will pick up more of Samsung’s S4 business.”

Of course, this doesn’t mean that Samsung will indeed make this move, since analysts aren’t always right, yet there’s a great chance that things will actually happen this way.

Galaxy S IV has been long rumored to land on shelves with a full HD touchscreen display, perhaps a 5-inch one, a 13-megapixel photo snapper, 2GB of RAM, and Google’s latest Android flavor loaded on top, thus capable of strengthening Samsung’s position at the top of the market.

However, Samsung did not provide specific info on the device as of now, and it won’t do so in the near future either, as the company has already confirmed no Galaxy S IV presence at the MWC 2013 show in Barcelona.

Via: Galaxy S IV Likely to Sport Snapdragon Processor, Analyst Says