IMAX threatens Ars Technica for saying VR is like 'IMAX in your house'

Earlier in the month Ars Technica took a tour of the Valve headquarters in Bellevue, Washington where they got to play around with one of the hottest VR headsets out there, the Vive.

Ars Technica's Sam Machkovech used an interesting headline for the article: "SteamVR: The room-scale VR world that feels like 'IMAX in your house'". Just the word 'IMAX' had IMAX Corporation contact Ars Technica, requesting that they retract the article because of Ars Technica's use of the word "IMAX" without their permission. IMAX Corporation's Deputy General Counsel, G. Mary Ruby wrote in a letter to Ars: "Any unauthorized use of our trademark is expressly forbidden".

Why? The article wasn't about IMAX, it was a reference to IMAX because the experience of the room-sized VR had Alex Schwartz, a game designer that Machkovech interviewed, said "It's like saying, 'I have an IMAX theater in my house'". He added: "It's so much better than we can get away with a cumbersome setup". IMAX didn't like that, with Ruby saying in the e-mail: "We believe that your incorrect reference to IMAX when describing this product is misleading to readers as we do not believe that it is possible for a virtual reality system to replicate the experience of an IMAX theater, which is provided by cutting edge projection and sound technology on screens up to 35.72 metres. We request that all future articles regarding this "room-scale" virtual reality system make no reference to our registered trademark".

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US military seeking ways to defend against small, portable drones

Michael Hatamoto | Drones | Jun 21, 2015 3:24 AM CDT

The US military wants to create solutions to identify and engage enemy drones, as new technologies allow warfare to evolve and change at a significant rate. Future wars will likely rely on drones and robots, with a lot of attention dedicated towards small drones.

The US Navy is currently working with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, while the Naval Air Station Patuxent River has a research agreement with the University of Maryland. Johns Hopkins is helping create a drone defense system, and the University of Maryland wants to more accurately identify drones.

"These things are in everybody's hands," said Conrad Grant, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins physics laboratory. Consumers can purchase small drones for a few hundred dollars, leading the way to anyone being able to carry out suspicious activities against the police or military.

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Batman: Arkham Knight on the PS4 will have a 3.5GB day-one patch

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jun 20, 2015 10:40 PM CDT

Batman: Arkham Knight drops on June 23, with PlayStation 4 owners to get hit by a day-one patch that weighs in at 3.5GB. The patch will introduce in the "Rival Points" feature, as well as the original Batman skin, support for future DLC, and an Improved Performance and Stability Fixes.

We don't know if the Xbox One or PC versions of Batman: Arkham Knight will be slapped with 3.5GB day-one patches, but we should expect something very similar for these two platforms, too. With the game dropping on Tuesday, and with Polygon already giving it a perfect 10 and saying that Batman: Arkham Knight is "the best game of this console generation" the hype is real.

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5G standard will be up to 20Gbps, with 1GB/sec capable on your phone

If you thought your current 4G speeds were good, they won't even begin to compare to what 5G will offer. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has agreed on the preliminary definitions of the future 5G standard, where the 12-member delegation decided on the new specification.

5G compliant networks will be capable of providing speeds of up to 20Gbps, or over 2GB/sec, which is 20x faster than the 1Gbps specification for 4G. This means that consumers will enjoy speeds of up to 1GB/sec on your smartphones, with the region being between 100MB/sec and 1GB/sec, which is insanity. This is a 10x to 100x increase in the speeds available on typical 4G networks.

This huge increase in speeds will usher in a new era of connectivity, allowing 4K resolution video streaming and beyond being more than capable from a 5G-capable smartphone. The final 5G standard will be confirmed in October, with the 193 ITU member countries all voting on the final spec. 5G should be tested in 2018 at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

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Jaguar borrows insane 'Sixth Sense' technology from NASA for its cars

Anthony Garreffa | Electric Vehicles & Cars | Jun 20, 2015 8:46 PM CDT

It looks like Jaguar is reaching into the future with its latest adoption of technology, thanks to the kind folks at NASA of all places. The new addition is an accident prevention technology that monitors your condition to prevent accidents, something the various features are collectively called "Sixth Sense".

Jaguar borrows insane 'Sixth Sense' technology from NASA for its cars

One of which is "Mind Sense" which is derived from a NASA technology that enhances a pilot's concentration skills, where it tries to read your brain waves, using sensors found in the steering wheel. The on-board computer then attempts to assess whether you're alert enough to be behind the wheel, with the steering wheel capable of being programmed to vibrant, or the system issuing the driver a warning sound, in case you've started to fall asleep or begin daydreaming.

Jaguar is also looking to install various medical-grade sensors into the driver's seat, especially when it comes to their luxury sedan, the Jaguar XJ. These sensors will make sure that you're good to drive, so the car will dim the lighting or play some music if it detects that you might be stressed out. Future iterations of Jaguar vehicles will be capable of self-driving, where it will be capable of detecting if you're having a heart attack, or seizure and take control of the vehicle to prevent an accident (and I'd dare say, call an ambulance for you).

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Grand Theft Auto V 'ENBSeries' mods look absolutely mind blowing

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jun 20, 2015 7:19 PM CDT

Grand Theft Auto V has been out for a while now, with some modders taking to it quickly, but the release of the ENBSeries beta mod is a cut above the rest. I'll let the images talk for themselves, with the first batch from 'dpeasant'.

The additional detail is absolutely mind blowing, with GTA V effectively coming to life... some more screenshots for your eyeballs to enjoy, and for your PC to cry in pain from.

What an upgrade, don't you agree? Want to download it? Click here.

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Pepper humanoid robots sell out in Japan in just one minute

SoftBank publicly launched its Pepper humanoid robot on Saturday, and 1,000 units sold in just one minute. Each robot costs around $1,600 and a support plan for about $120 includes app store access and cloud voice-recognition software.

Pepper can impressively develop its own personality and can detect human emotions. SoftBank designed the humanoid robot so it can remember faces, along with being able to pick up speech patterns.

The company said it planned on manufacturing 1,000 Pepper units per month, but after selling out so quickly, it'll be curious to see if SoftBank wants to accelerate its plans. There is such high interest in Pepper, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says partners told the company they are willing to sell the robot at a loss, if need be, over the next four years.

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Barriers to smartwatch adoption are proving difficult to overcome

Michael Hatamoto | Wearable Computing & Fashion | Jun 20, 2015 8:30 AM CDT

There are plenty of smartwatches, fitness bands and other wearables that we can choose from, though it looks like manufacturers are still fighting to get casual consumers to spend.

There are a few different barriers that must be addressed, such as the following: lack of persuasive uses, no killer apps, limited functionality, and style, according to a recent Business Insider Intelligence consumer survey.

When asked why they don't have interest in a smartwatch, 51 percent of those surveyed said they simply don't see the point of owning one. Perhaps providing a killer app could help woo new users, and that would essentially kill two birds with one stone.

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Microsoft responds to Sony becoming new 'home' of Call of Duty

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Jun 20, 2015 4:20 AM CDT

During E3, it was revealed that Sony is the new "home" for the Call of Duty game franchise, which wasn't a major shock among any of the game companies involved. However, it caused a bit of a commotion among Xbox One and PlayStation 4 game console owners - as PS4 gamers will receive all map packs first.

"We were expecting the announcement, obviously we have a great relationship with Activision, we have more people playing Call of Duty today on our platform than any other," said Aaron Greenberg, Senior Director of the Studios Marketing Group, in a statement to Polygon. "And if you think about it, if you're a shooter fan and want to play Halo and Call of Duty, there's only one box to do it on."

Even with Sony now being the new 'home' for Call of Duty, that doesn't mean Microsoft won't try to cash in on Activision's premier game franchise:

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Mad Max 'Eye of the Storm' game trailer released

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jun 20, 2015 3:48 AM CDT

E3 2015 - Warner Bros and Avalanche Studios have released a new trailer for their upcoming Mad Max game, with the new 'Eye of the Storm' trailer available below. Not only that, but a slew of new high resolution screenshots have also been released.

Mad Max 'Eye of the Storm' game trailer released

Mad Max will feature an interesting crafting system that can be used to craft new weapons and tools, he will eat rodents, maggots and other small animals in order to get his health increased, too. Max's garage can be used to fully modify the car's engine, chassis, wheels, body work, and the "shell" of the car itself.

Avalanche has also talked about the graphical side of Mad Max, where the studio said: "Since the Avalanche Engine has been used in several games, it has picked up a lot of graphical features along the way. The engine is optimized for open world games so you will find dynamic time of day and dynamic weather, with some big sand storms. Mad Max is set in The Wasteland where a lot of the ground is visible, so we added parallax occlusion mapping to give some depth to the terrain material".

Continue reading: Mad Max 'Eye of the Storm' game trailer released (full post)