Software News

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