Latest News - Page 2654

It's no secret that the free PS4 games offered with Sony's PS Plus haven't been so exciting, mostly made up of smaller indies with a few choice gems here and there like Rocket League, Dust and FEZ. But now Sony wants to give the power to the players and let them decide what free games they'll get each month.

The new feature is called Vote to Play, and was originally spotted in the What's New section of UK-based PlayStation 4's. Now Vote to Play isn't an open poll where you can suggest and vote on great AAA PS4 games; Sony will pick three games and users will be able to chose one of those games.

According to the promo, Sony will kick off the new feature with three indies (not surprising) including Ubisoft's popular Grow Home, Zombie Vikings, and Armello. If the selection is handled just right Sony could possibly overshadow Microsoft's own Games With Gold service, and it'll be interesting to see what games are offered in the future.

Microsoft has endured a few different technical challenges when it comes to streaming PC games from Windows 10 to the Xbox One, Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed.

Prior to the launch of Windows 10, many gamers were excited about the ability to stream their Xbox One games to PCs - but streaming PC games to the Xbox One also created some attention. However, trying to work out the bugs has been a challenge, as Microsoft needs to ensure the games are encoded and streamed properly.

Streaming from the game console to the PC is a simpler process "because we know exactly what you have," Spencer noted. "It's actually a little more challenging doing the encoding on the PC side to the Xbox, but [the] challenge is good."

Microsoft and Sony have struggled in the short amount of time they promoted the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in China, but hope things begin to turn around. The country is beginning to change, and recently scrapped a ban on game consoles - so there is greater hope of future sales.

"The reason we are here today is not only to bring Xbox One to China but to open up the world to games made in China," said Phil Spencer, Xbox chief, speaking during Chinajoy. "We believe it is incredibly important to open up the opportunity to all developers in China."

Chinese gamers will get the chance to play the Halo: The Master Chief Collection in August - the first Halo game officially launched for the Xbox platform in China - and has great potential to win over gamers.

Remember how the Islamic State is using social media in a clever way to recruit members, lure girls away from their homes, and intimidate locals? Well, it looks like a few women in Chechnya have duped the Islamic State for some quick cash.

The unidentified women, currently being investigated for fraud, scammed at least $3,300 from the Islamic State - by promising to head to Syria to join the group. Instead, the women shut down the social media accounts after the money was successfully wired into their accounts.

"I don't recall any precedent like this one in Chechnya, probably because nobody digs deep enough in that direction," said Valery Zolotaryov, a police officer in Chechnya, speaking to a Chechen newspaper. "Anyhow, I don't advise anyone to communicate with dangerous criminals, especially for grabbing quick money."

Square Enix's hotly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake might not feature the classic turn-based combat fans know and love; Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura affirms that "dramatic changes" are incoming, but also affirms the game will still be recognizable to lifelong fans.

"We are bringing dramatic changes to the Final Fantasy VII Remake," Tetsuya said in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine's UK branch. "That being said we want to clarify: we're not going to be changing it into a shooter or something like that. We are going to be bringing dramatic changes, but we want to make sure it's still recognisable."

In lieu of the beloved ATB system used by the iconic original, could Square Enix opt in for a sort of combination of real-time role-based combat like Final Fantasy Type-0, or maybe even go all in for the action like Final Fantasy 15?

White hat hacker Samy Kamkar recently posted a video discussing how he found a way to "locate, unlock and remote-start" General Motors vehicles by compromising the OnStar vehicle communications system.

Using the gadget, which cost around $100 to make, the system makes it possible to locate, unlock, and start the engine. Once a small wireless device has been placed near a GM car with OnStar, Kamkar was able to gain unauthorized access to the vehicle.

Dubbed the "OwnStar" system, Kamkar showed he was able to intercept communication from the OnStar service and OnStar RemoteLink mobile app. Technical details will be revealed during Def Con next week.

Facebook has unveiled its Aquila solar-powered drone, designed to help provide Internet access - and connect - as many people across the world as possible.

The aircraft, which has a V-shaped, carbon fiber body, weighs up to 1,000 pounds - and has a wingspan equivalent to a Boeing 737. Once in the air, it can fly at altitudes between 60,000 to 90,000 feet, while staying airborne for up to three months at a time.

Once finalized, Facebook will work with Internet service carriers across the world, and will sell Internet access to residents located in remote areas.

The California National Guard is using an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the search for Edward Kavanaugh, a person missing since July 17 riding a motorcycle in Northern California.

The drone can collect real-time images, so ground units have a better idea on where to search while looking for Kavanaugh. So far, the hunt in El Dorado County has not turned up anything, even with the drone's assistance.

The California National Guard previously used a drone to help fight the Rim Fire in 2013 - as it has special abilities, including infrared sensors, image-intensified cameras, and the ability to stay in the air longer than helicopters and traditional aircraft.

The FBI isn't finding it very easy to beef up its cybersecurity ranks, largely due to lower salaries, according to a report from the US Department of Justice.

In addition to higher salaries in the private sector, trying to get a government position related to cybersecurity involves multiple hoops that people won't have to jump through if they simply go to Silicon Valley. Applicants have to undergo extensive background checks, drug screenings, and other hurdles that private sector companies typically don't bother with.

Under the Justice Department's Next Generation Cyber Initiative, which went live in 2012, the FBI has successfully recruited just 52 of the 134 computer scientists it was granted permission to hire.

Facebook is by far the No. 1 social networking website, at least based on numbers, with a whopping 1.49 billion monthly active users, the company said. The site also has 968 million daily average users, which was higher than the 960 million estimate put forward by Wall Street analysts.

Combining the Facebook website, Messenger app and Instagram, users average 46 minutes per day, Facebook officials said.

The increased number is a strong 3.47 percent over its previous quarter, and 13 percent year-over-year increase - as Facebook still finds ways to keep users engaged. Not surprisingly, Facebook is generating a lot of success, especially when it comes to advertising, with the company's mobile app ensuring people are using the service.

Tom Cruise really makes the Mission Impossible movies something special, but with the release of the latest movie in the franchise, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, they pushed it too far when it came to believable gaming in the movie.

In one particular scene, Simon Pegg (who plays Benji Dunn) is playing Halo 5 on a triple-monitor setup. To most moviegoers, this seems innocent enough until you see that the game is Halo 5, on a Xbox One, on triple monitors. This is an impossible feat for the Xbox One as it only supports at single display output.

The camera pans back and you can see Pegg clearly holding an Xbox One controller, and then the camera pans to the cover of Halo 5. It's not much, and as I said to the normal moviegoer this isn't going to break the movie for them, but for me, it was definitely a laugh. Hopefully people don't go out and buy an Xbox (the only place for Halo 5 when it's released later this year) expecting to hook it up to triple monitors.

In a recently issued press release, LG Electronics announced a net profit of 206.38 million (226.4 billion KRW) over second-quarter 2015, in what it claims to be "an extremely challenging environment."

With the TV market being described as weak, revenue in this section amounted to 3.59 billion, with LG's mobile arena gathering 3.33 billion, marking a 1 percent increase from the same time last year. Home appliances and air solutions saw a larger 10 percent increase, reporting total sales amounting to 4.09 billion at an operating profit of 266 million.

LG claims that the current "sluggish global TV market" is particularly harsh in CIS, Latin America and Europe. This means that LG has posted a slight decline in operating profits in this area, seeing a drop of 222.52 million.

With passwords entered in your phone, simply walk near your computer and everything will automatically log in - apparently. Excalibur has just seen an Android release and in an email to us they explained exactly how this interesting application works.

With browser support limited to Firefox and Chrome, this app allows you to store multiple passwords in its secure memory. When paired with your computer, this app will automatically log you in or out of your computer and websites depending on range. As you can see in the video above, simply placing your phone next to the PC will see it log in, walking away will see everything log out.

This free app requires a specific authentication process to make sure people can't steal your precious data - if you're looking for a more in depth explanation as to how this is achieved, head to this blog post.

In a recent email by Futuremark's director of engineering, Jani Joki, we were all given a little clarification as to how Futuremark software will operate with Windows 10.

As it stands, all current Futuremark benchmark programs are compatible with this recent operating system release, however, users are reminded that the latest version of SystemInfo should be installed to make sure. This means that 3DMark, 3dMark 11, 3DMark Vantage and Powermark will work as per usual.

There are a few programs which currently stand on shaky ground compatibility wise. If you're worried about your software, head here to see a comprehensive list and information on compatibility.

Said to be designed for 6th Generation Intel Core processors in a recently issued press release, G.Skill's new Trident Z and Ripjaws V series of DDR4 memory modules are made with speed as the major goal.

Quoted as "the first retail memory kit to break through the 4000MHz barrier," the Trident Z Extreme DDR4 modules broke the 4000 MHz milestone through the help of an ASRock Z170 OC formula motherboard. Built with Samsung IC memory chips, this RAM can be set up to operate at speeds ranging from 2800 - 4000MHz.

As for the Ripjaws V, this series will feature five different color schemes and the 4GB, 8GB and 16GB modules will operate from 2133MHz to 3733MHz depending on your needs. Also featuring Samsung IC memory chips, G.Skill says that these modules have been extensively tested for hours on end to ensure safe overclocking practices for all consumers.

Bethesda is currently knee deep putting the finishing touches on Fallout 4, with the studio teasing that mod support won't be arriving until 2016. Pete Hines, the VP of Marketing for Bethesda announced the news during a brief talk with IGN recently.

Hines said: "Our entire focus is on finishing the game. Nobody cares about mods if the game sucks. This has always been our philosophy. We shift energy to construction tools, the creation kit, and all of that stuff once the game is done, and we start to figure out what all of that is going to look like".

He makes a very valid point, and I'm sure most would agree that they're rather have a more stable, better-performing Fallout 4 than mod support early on. Hines continued: "The idea is that [the tools] will work on all platforms, but the truth is the system doesn't exist. It's still being built and worked on and it's going to take awhile. It's going to take clearly into next year because we can't even start it".

Sony hasn't been doing too well in the mobile industry, but it has to be better than the 1.2c profit per smartphone that LG has been making, right? Even with the not-so-great sales on the Xperia Z4, Sony is forging forward with the Xperia Z5, which is said to be arriving in March 2016.

According to the leaks, the Xperia Z5 will be released alongside the Xperia Z5 Compact, both rocking Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 processor. Qualcomm isn't expected to have its new chip ready until early 2016, so it should be perfect timing for Sony. The Xperia Z5 should rock a 5.7-inch QHD display, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 20.7-megapixel rear-facing, 4K-capable camera.

We should begin to hear more about Sony's Xperia Z5 smartphones later in the year, especially once we get to CES 2016 and MWC 2016.

At E3 2015 Microsoft delivered a strategic bomb by announcing backward compatibility on the Xbox One, which will allow gamers to play older Xbox 360 games on the console for free. Although the Redmond-based console-maker plans to kick off the feature with a slew of games, the future of backward compatibility will ultimately be left to the discretion of developers and publishers.

"So, we'll start with 100 titles this autumn, and we'll be adding titles as time goes by," Microsoft's corporate VP Kudo Tsunoda told the Official Xbox Magazine. "At some point we're going to need to get - obviously - the permission of the owners of the content, the publishers and the developers. So 100% is always a hard thing to achieve in anything."

Microsoft currently plans to support 100 Xbox 360 games by this Fall, and expects to have the feature fully up and running by holiday 2015. The feature is currently its actually testing phase for Xbox One Preview Program members, but the library is quite small and includes games like Perfect Dark: Zero, Banjo Kazooie and Mass Effect (which actually runs pretty good on the Xbox One).

Michael Jackson fans and 1980's nostalgia hunters should head back to the EPCOT Centre in the Walt Disney World Resort Florida, as the Jackson 4D experience 'Captain EO' returns back to the theme park.

According to the Disney Insider Blog, the attraction has quietly returned after first premiering in 1986 and closing in 1997 and then summoned back in 2010 after the death of the King of Pop, before closing again in 2014.

The 17-minute short film directed by Francis Ford Coppola of 'Godfather' fame and executive produced by 'Star Wars' creator George Lucas is considered one of the first 4D experiences, and cost an astonishing $30 million. Whilst it's never been officially released on any home video formats, the film was broadcast on MTV in 1996 and multiple copies can be found on YouTube.

Kinematix has been heavily promoting its TUNE, a wearable designed for runners, able to collect all sorts of information - well beyond pace and speed - including each foot's ground-contact time, heel-contact time, and more.

TUNE includes insoles with electronic sensors, able to to sync with small electronic devices that connect to the outside of the shoe. After each run, athletes are able to take a closer look at their technique throughout the workout - and the TUNE app even shows how to properly do exercises.

The insole is extremely thin and should be able to fit into most shoes, and since the insole isn't in direct contact with a person's foot, there should be no need to try and wash it.