Taylor Swift's '1989' album won't be available on Apple Music

Michael Hatamoto | Business, Financial & Legal | Jun 21, 2015 5:41 PM CDT

Taylor Swift previously pulled the majority of her music from Spotify, the No. 1 streaming music service, and doesn't have any interest in Apple Music. Her record label, Big Machine, has confirmed that the "1989" music album won't be available on Apple's music service, which launches on June 30.

Swift, of course, has issued a statement saying this decision is thinking of the rising musicians and songwriters. It seems Swift is most distraught over the three-month free trial that Apple will provide music listeners before the mandatory $9.99 monthly service kicks in:

"This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field... but will not get paid for a quarter of a year's worth of plays on his or her songs."

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AMD shoots down spin-off talk, remains committed to long-term strategy

Michael Hatamoto | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Jun 21, 2015 3:58 PM CDT

Despite previous reports that claim AMD plans to spin-off into two separate businesses, the company has been quick to deny those reports.

The Reuters report indicates AMD wants to focus on graphics and licensing away from its server business, with speculation that the ATI brand could be reborn once again.

"AMD provided official confirmation that we have not hired an outside agency to explore spinning-off/splitting the company," said Sarah Youngbauer, spokesperson at AMD, in a statement to eTeknix. "We remain committed to the long-term strategy we laid out for the company in May at our Financial Analyst Day, which encompasses all parts of the business."

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Fallout 4 editions with Pip-Boy is selling out at retailers

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Jun 21, 2015 3:33 PM CDT

The Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition that includes a real Pip-Boy has proven to be a complete hit among gamers. It looks like Bethesda is having a difficult time keeping the Pip-Boy Edition on store shelves, and it remains unknown which stores - and in what locations - will be restocked.

"The Pip-Boy is important part of Fallout, and we love it so much that we made a real one," said Todd Howard, game director at Bethesda Softworks, in a statement published by Forbes. "Yes, you can put your phone in it, and yes, we made an app for it so it works with the game, and yes it's a second screen experience. Usually I find second-screen experiences to be stupid gimmicks, but as far as stupid gimmicks goes, this is the best f---ing one I've ever seen."

Bethesda also said it will ask its sales team and stores to address those folks purchasing multiple copies and reselling them on Ebay. Some Fallout fans are frustrated already, but Bethesda is doing its best to sort out logistical issues in a timely manner.

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Fable Legends director discusses decision to support DLCs

Michael Hatamoto | Gaming | Jun 21, 2015 3:22 PM CDT

Lionhead Studios and Microsoft Studios are preparing for the launch of Fable Legends, built on the Unreal Engine 4, which will be a free-to-play game. Gamers won't be initially required to pay to play, but can purchase downloadable content (DLC) if they want additional content to play.

"We launch the game later this year with a certain amount of content but then we're going to continue to release new content every single month, new quests, new stories to play," said David Eckelberry, director of Fable Legends, in a statement to Newsbeat. "Some of that you can purchase, some you can unlock in the game and some you just get for free."

Even though so-called freemium games appear to have some popularity, gamers have shown frustration when they must pay to essentially complete the gaming experience. However, it's a thought that is not lost on Eckelberry and said game developers have to "be responsible" and it "would be wrong" to build half a game and then charge gamers.

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NASA has a humanoid robot deployed on the International Space Station

NASA and General Motors are testing its humanoid robot, dubbed the Robonaut, aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The Robonaut was designed so it can complete simple and repetitive tasks that allow astronauts to take care of other action items. Specifically, NASA hopes the Robonaut is able to reduce the number of dangerous tasks that the ISS must complete.

Researchers are curious about how the Robonaut can survive in a minimal gravity environment. If it does well, future editions could be used on missions outside the ISS.

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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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