Latest News - Page 2743

Microsoft was pushed around by Sony throughout much of 2014, as the PlayStation 4 handily outsold the Xbox One, but that changed to end the year. Microsoft outsold the PS4 in hardware sales and video games in November and December, with a strong focus on carrying the momentum in 2015.

"Bundles were a major driver of hardware sales this December compared to last with 71 percent of hardware unit sales stemming from bundles including software, which compares to 32 percent of hardware sales last December," said Liam Callahan, analyst at The NPD Group, in a press statement.

The PS4 sold 18.5 million PS4 units in 2014 - and Microsoft hasn't updated its numbers since November, after saying it surpassed 10 million units shipped.

The Sony PlayStation 4 dominated the console market in 2014, outselling the Microsoft Xbox One throughout the entire year. The PS4 racked up 18.5 million PS4 sales worldwide, dominating every month except for November and December, The NPD Group said.

"PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in the US and globally in 2014," a Sony spokesperson told GamesBeat. "And [it is] the fastest selling console in PlayStation history with 18.5 million sold through after just 14 months in the market. We are humbled by this success and want to thank gamers worldwide for helping us achieve holiday sales of more than 4.1 million across 123 countries and regions."

However, Sony has faced increased pressure from the Xbox One to close 2014, as Microsoft has offered competitive price cuts - and gamer bundles - as gamers have a lot to cheer for. Sony will face increased pressure from Microsoft in 2015, so it cannot bask in its 2014 success for too long.

The Lizard Squad made waves with their massive DDoS attacks on PlayStation and Xbox Live networks over the Christmas holiday. These attacks spoiled Christmas for untold millions of people as the DDoS attacks crippled servers and left shiny new game consoles unable to connect to online services. These attacks appear to be part of a larger marketing scheme for the Lizard Squad's DDoS-for-hire services.

The Lizard Squad isn't afraid to taunt authorities and that has drawn even more scrutiny. However, they have been very successful at remaining in the shadows, until now. UK police with the South East Regional Organized Crime Unit (SEROCU) cyber crime unit apprehended an 18-year-old male connected with the recent PlayStation and Xbox Live DDoS attacks. The man was also charged with several swatting incidents, in which a fake police call is made to instigate police raids against others.

The Lizard Squad has also been connected with a bomb threat issued to an airline. This threat was made on an aircraft in the air that had a Sony executive among the passengers. This type of escalation has likely led to a heightened sense of urgency for officials to find those behind the shadowy Lizard Squad. The SEROCU worked closely with the FBI to apprehend the suspect, which suggests that The Lizard Squad is high on the FBI's priority list.

Over the past month a number of websites, including TweakTown, have experienced sporadic redirects to scam websites. It has been exceptionally difficult to track down the source of these redirects, and our team has been working tirelessly to isolate the source of the issue. The source of the issue appears to be malicious code injected into Google Adsense ads, which are used by websites around the world.

In December a number of webmasters took to Google's Adsense Forum to complain of the issue, which seems to have peaked around January 9th. A total of 180 complaints were made on that day alone. Web security company Sucuri explains that cybercriminals possibly exploited two Adsense campaigns with Javascript code that loaded the malicious code. This redirect unfolds whether the user clicks the ad or not. Sucuri was able to track down the source, and notes:

While there may be notably reduced frequency to the malicious ads, they are still circulating. We have noticed these redirects are still present on other websites as well during the last few days. Google Adsense works by targeting specific ads to a specific viewers. This type of maddening attack, referred to as Malvertising, is hard to track because different users view different ads. The redirects are landing users on pages that appear legitimate, such as a fake Forbes website, but are all contained in different subdirectoriess of lemode-mgz.com, consumernews247.com, and wan-tracker.com.

Cybercriminals want to breach US companies, stealing data and customer records, and have found surprising levels of success. Some breached companies eventually discover that criminals spent months poking aroun compromised systems, taking their time before stealing large amounts of data.

The US government wants companies to be more forthcoming about data breaches once they are discovered, but some companies - if they actually know about it - remain quiet. Companies will be given some leeway if they inform the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about cybersecurity incidents after they do occur, according to changes the Obama Administration plans to put in place.

"There is an element of embarrassment at work here," said Robert Cattanach, partner at the Dorsey & Whitney law firm, in a statement published by reporters. "But hacking is not a problem that any one company can solve alone."

Smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi took the phone market by storm, and hopes to transition that success into connected technology. Xiaomi has introduced a "smart module" that its hardware partners can integrate into products sold to consumers.

The module will cost just $3.60 and can be installed in refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and other home products, according to Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. There is tremendous potential in smart technologies, and Xiaomi wants to ensure products are created in an effective manner to appease partners and consumers.

The Internet of Things (IoT) had a prominent presence during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, and smartphone makers have taken notice. Ideally, Xiaomi and other companies want users to be able to control connected technology via their smartphones.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a bureaucratic mess when it comes to cybersecurity - and would be inefficient and overmatched trying to protect citizens and other federal branches. This news comes as part of the "A Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Missions and Performance" report, which heavily scrutinized DHS activities.

"Widespread weaknesses in the federal government's information security practices represent a significant vulnerability that could be exploited by adversaries, creating a potential threat to national security and American citizens," according to the report.

It's not just hacktivists trying to breach US infrastructure, but foreign states with sophisticated cyberespionage programs. The DHS itself has failed in maintaining its own security protocols, let alone trying to secure other departments from potential cyberattack.

According to a new ruling by the EU court, European flight booking websites must display the total cost of booking immediately as the booking process begins. This is due to most companies waiting to display additional charges and fees until the last page of the process.

The ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) applies not only to a flight you might be in the process of booking, but all flights in relation to it also. This news comes as a addition to the 2008 EU regulation stating "that airlines show the final price to be paid at all times, including taxes, charges, surcharges and other fees. The rules apply to any form of published pricing, including on the Internet," as reported by PC World.

Multiple airlines have ignored or bypassed these hidden charge laws, seeing the German Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV) take on a legal battle with Air Berlin, promoting this initial law to be put in place.

Amidst the hectic week that was everything-CES 2015, the WaratTell rose from the ashes - set as a sensor based on 10 years of "laugh-detecting technology" and designed by Masafumi Matsumura of Osaka Electro-Communication University - this product actually has a real purpose.

Designed for when your oldies are put away in a home, this sensor will allow you to monitor how happy seniors are via an internet connection and an linked application, showing you how often they laugh or even if they've fallen over or are in any other kind of distress. This is thanks to audio-processing software that is linked to the sensor automatically distinguishing between various vocal sounds.

Fully optioned with a microphone, Bluetooth connectivity, Wi-Fi modules and an accelerometer, this device is located within a bright orange casing painted with a smiley face - which is then connected to a lapel or hangs around your neck.

Adobe has finally made Lightroom available on Android Smartphone platforms, months after adding iOS support for the program. This photo-editing program requires your device to be running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or newer and needs a minimum of a 1.7GHz quad-core CPU and at least 8GB of free storage space.

This is one of the first times that we've seen smartphone applications specifically contain system requirements, but it's acceptable given the computing power needed for tasks that this software can perform. This app is also free to download, as long as you've created a Creative Cloud account and features slightly less features than the desktop edition - giving you full reign of the basic panel and cropping tools.

Unfortunately this release is limited only to your smartphones, with tablets being excluded from operation. You would think that tablets are far superior, given their viewing surface greatly outweighing that of a smartphone.

The French government announced there are 19,000 civilian websites now under cyberattack by unknown sources, in a wide-ranging attack. The French Defense Ministry recently faced a targeted distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, according to officials discussing the ongoing cyber operation.

"These attacks have no effect on the conduct of our operations," said Rear Admiral Arnaud Coustilliere, in a statement to CNNMoney. Reportedly, the attacks are targeting websites while hoping for weak cyber defenses, though the top visited French websites appear to be working fine.

Over the past week, cybercriminals have posted pro-Islamic images and messages on various religious groups websites and other sites. The Anonymous hacker group temporarily downed a jihadist website last week and the Charlie Hebdo magazine released a new edition that has sold millions of copies.

We've learned about companies that use robots to write handwritten messages on paper for you directly through your phone if you're feeling really lazy. But now there's a new robot by Bond that will mimic your handwriting using a fountain pen.

Priced at $199, this robot will make your handwritten letter look extremely genuine. Set out basically as a hand holding a fountain pen, this new technology will write re-write what you've provided line-by-line, using varying pressure to further sell the fact. This might be cool if you're looking to replicate a certain letter to a lot of different recipients, but want to make it look like each one was painstakingly written one-by-one, for example.

The alternative is Handwrytten which is will write a note based on electronic text that you send in, writing the note 'by hand' (by robot). This also looks authentic, but it's a series of predetermined fonts and won't perfectly replicate any handwriting you may have.

Furthering their anti-spam legislation, Canada have made a move today to ensure that users must give their direct consent when installing any software on their devices. Effective immediately, any business operating in Canada that wishes to bypass these laws will see their software installation being classed as illegal and have a C$10 million fine on their hands.

This change to the law is apparently focused toward fighting malware, helping protect consumers and create a greater awareness around problems involving malicious software installations. However legal experts have expressed concern, stating that this amendment to the legislation isn't specific enough and may target legitimate businesses trying to conduct their work.

A further addition includes that businesses wanting to install software on a users device must also make them aware if any personal information is collected by the program, or if the coding will interfere with any standard computer operations.

There's another Battlefield: Hardline beta coming, which will reach the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC sometime soon. There's no solid ETA on it just yet, but it should be in the immediate future.

EA hasn't mentioned the date yet, but it does tease what we can expect. We will continue to see the main Conquest mode features, but the new beta will include a new game mode: Hotwire. Hotwire is explained by DICE as "an all-new mode coming to Battlefield focused on combining all-out warfare with all-out speed".

There will be no progression cap during the beta, so you can go rank crazy if you want. Any and all progress will not be carried over to the full game, which is still on track for release on March 17.

Twitch has finally unleashed something broadcasters can jump for joy over, with a new music section launched which features over 500 royalty-free tracks that broadcasters can use in either live, or archived videos.

These songs, according to Twitch "will not be flagged by the audio recognition system implemented in 2014 to protect audio copyright holders and Twitch broadcasters alike". Twitch's Chief Strategy Officer Colin Carrier said: "Our community has been vocal about the importance of music for their broadcasts and their love of music in general. By working with both established and upcoming record labels, we are now able to offer music for them to use that is cleared for live broadcasts and archiving."

Not only that, but the new Music section has been added to Twitch's main game directory. This provides artists with a way of "creating, performing and presenting original songs" after Twitch approves it of course, where they continue "certain established labels and artists" may also host "radio-style listening shows and broadcast large scale events, such as music festivals".

Microsoft owned the holiday season with the Xbox One and its $349 price tag, but then the price went up to its normal $399 as Microsoft removed the discount. Well, it's been 12 days, so Microsoft is discounting the Xbox One by $50 once again, but this time for a much shorter amount of time.

As of tomorrow (Friday, January 16) the company is dropping the price of the Kinect-less Xbox One by $50, but Microsoft isn't sure when this sale will end. When asked why Microsoft is cutting the price again after 12 days of it returning to normal, Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Xbox, Michael Nichols told Polygon: "Over the last year we made a bunch of moves to engage fans better. Included in that was a real lead up to the holidays".

Not only will the price cut take place, but Microsoft plans on throwing out new games, improvements to Xbox Live, and much more. Nichols added "It was really about positioning ourselves to have a breakout holiday. We were as aggressive as we could be to see how people would react. The results were staggering, it was a terrific response to the changes we made".

Artificial intelligence is developing at a rapid rate, and Elon Musk wants to make sure robots don't one day try to overtake mankind. The donated funds will be used to help support AI research activities, especially projects with a focus on non-threatening AI development.

"Here are all these leading AI researchers saying that AI safety is important," Musk recently said regarding AI. "I agree with them, so I'm today committing $10M to support research aimed at keeping AI beneficial for humanity."

Physicist Stephen Hawking joined Musk and signed an open letter that pledged AI would be developed in a productive, safe manner for humans. The Future of Life Institute published the open letter, which has generated great interest from tech and science industry leaders.

The video game industry had a lot to cheer for, as developers are excited to make games for the Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 4 and PC, but slumping game sales caused major headaches.

Hardware sales are racking up strong sales numbers, but not enough gamers are purchasing new titles, according to The NPD Group. Hardware sales increased 20 percent, up to $5.07 billion throughout 2014 - but Microsoft and Sony are engaged in a price war, with console prices continually dropping.

Disc video game sales in December dropped 2 percent year-over-year, down to $1.28 billion, as the industry strives for stability. A 2 percent year-over-year drop is smaller than previous months, and could indicate that gamers were willing to break out the wallet for new titles.

Intel's fourth-quarter earnings pointed towards a rise in PC shipments, with it being noted that fully capable, lightweight laptops are available on the market for less than $200 - Intel claim that this trend of pricing is set to stay and may even fall lower than expected.

Intel's CEO, Brian Krzanich, pointed out that PC shipments are expected by Intel to stabilize in 2015, further stating that the prices for consumer desktops and laptops may fall slightly. Adding to the market is the thin-and-light laptops as mentioned above, with numerous systems being available and running on Chrome OS or Windows for a tiny price of $199, we're seeing products available like never before.

Reporting a fourth-quarter revenue of $14.7 billion, up six percent from 2014, Intel's Krzanich stated that "the innovation and options in the PC market have never been stronger," with Intel obviously setup to reap the benefits. 2014 wasn't a great year for the PC, but thanks to the recently released earnings we can see that the PC Client group revenue has been raised three percent when compared to the fourth-quarter in 2014, alongside the number of chips sold in laptops increasing by an impressive 11 percent.

Featuring beastly internals such as an Intel i7-5960X Haswell-E 8 Core paired with two MSI GTX 980's in SLI and a casual 32GB of RAM, Jjsky500 PC Mods has gone all out on this build and custom chassis design, even managing to fit a complete watercooling loop within.

Complete with a nice red LED lighting theme, this custom chassis features six MSI dragon cut-outs to really give it the whole MSI feel. Currently in a bunch of different "best of CES" articles, this case is certainly a stunner and something a little different than we're used to seeing here at TweakTown.

As for a complete components list, this system contains: