Latest News - Page 2805

It feels like so long ago that World of Warcraft was this unstoppable MMO that made mountains of money for Blizzard, but Riot Games has since come in and run straight to the top of the MMO ladder, making billions of dollars along the way.

In the global MMO market, League of Legends is making some serious waves, with one in every eight dollars spent going into the coffers of Riot Games, and its international partners through League of Legends players. League of Legends now holds a 11.9% share of the MMO market, generating a massive $946 million this year alone (and it's not even over yet).

Last year, the game moved from fourth to third in the top 10 MMOs for worldwide revenue, but now it is sitting in the number one spot. Crossfire is right on its heels with 11.2% and has generated $897 million this year, Dungeon Fighter Online has 11.2% generating $891 million, World of Warcraft is now fourth with 9.1% and generating $728 million for Blizzard while fifth spot goes to World of Tanks with 4.6%, which has generated Wargaming a nice $369 million.

An incredible new technology created by a Silicon Valley startup would allow dispatchers some crucial details on when, and where police offers fire their weapons. Yardam Technologies' latest device would notify dispatchers in real-time when an officer's gun has been removed from its holster, when it was fired, and in which direction it was fired, as well as tracking the gun's location.

Phil Wowak, Santa Cruz County Sheriff is one of two officers testing the technology, saying it would allow the sheriff's office to see whether deputies are in trouble, and unable to ask for assistance. He said: "That's the worst nightmare for any police officer in the field". As it stands, this technology will not allow for a remote disabling mechanism, even though the company was showing off that technology in Las Vegas last year, it has since abandoned that effort.

In the previous iteration of the technology, it would've allowed a dispatcher, or someone else in control, to hit a button and safely disable the weapon. This would've come in handy in countless scenarios, such as when an officer drops their gun, is hit, or killed and their weapon can be used by the assailant. Jim Schaff, the Marketing Vice President of Yardarm Technologies didn't detail the reasoning behind removing the remote disabling feature, but the company has said that their latest technology is not out to create a smart gun, but is more "police gunfire tracking technology".

We're weeks away from Grand Theft Auto V receiving its next-gen polish on the Xbox One and PS4, but we're not hearing anything about the rendering resolution of the game on the Xbox One and PS4... until now.

In the next issue of Official PlayStation Magazine, there will be a 10-page on the game, diving right into the world of GTA V on Sony's console. The cover has since leaked, showing scans of the feature and teasing that GTA V on the PS4 will be running at 1080p. OPM have some massive statements for the world about GTA V on the PS4, saying things like "Grand Theft Auto V on PlayStation 4 breathes fresh, oh-so-new-gen life into the greatest game ever committed to Blu-Ray", now I don't know about you, but that's a pretty big statement.

Better yet, OPM continues: "Farewell, 720p. You served your purpose adequately enough. Still, our eyes have been gagging for 1080p's pin-sharp pleasures and Los Santos sandbox is only too happy to oblige on PS4, running at a native 1920 x 1080 pixels. For a game erected on hundereds of tiny incidental details, the resolution bmp is a huge game changer for GTA V". The publication continues: "Glimmering 1080p presentation, hugely increased draw distance, 100 new songs, fresh wild-life, a bumper version of GTA Online, this is sandbox you've dreamt about ever since you slotted Sony's angular baby under your TV".

Estonian hacker Sergei Nicolaevich Tsurikov was sentenced to 11 years in prison, for his role in a cyberattack that stole $9.4 million in 2008. Tsurikov previously pleaded guilty to his role in hacking the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, creating fake payroll debit cards, and withdrawing funds from more than 2,100 ATMs in more than 280 cities.

Tsurikov and his team were described as "one of the most sophisticated cybercrime rings in the world," according to Sally Quillian Yates, Northern District of Georgia attorney. He will also have to pay $8.4 million in restitution.

Handing down actual prison sentences against cybercriminals has been difficult, but the US federal government wants to track down - and prosecute - as many of them as they can.

Intel may have just launched its Haswell-E and X99 platform, but that doesn't stop the chipmaker from teasing its upcoming HEDT (high-end desktop) processor train from slowing down. We're now hearing about the next-gen HEDT tech, Broadwell-E, which will be based on Intel's 14nm technology, using the same LGA2011v3 package.

The new CPU will not be an architectural change, but it will provide smaller changes over what we have with the current Haswell-E processors. The new Core i7 Broadwell-E will be built on Intel's 14nm process, and will feature between 6 and 8 cores based on their, you guessed it, Broadwell microarchitecture. These cores will feature up to 20MB of L3 cache, and is pin-compatible with current Haswell-E, meaning we have quad-channel DDR4, too.

Intel could provide the full 40-lane PCIe interface, instead of the cut down 28-lane PCIe interface that the entry-level HEDT currently has. We should expect a 140W TDP, even with the die shrink, when the Broadwell-E processors launch in 2016.

3D Realms is back, unveiling a slew of nostalgia with its new 3D Realms Anthology, which is available through their website for $19.99. The pack includes some of the biggest names in gaming from the 90s.

We have: Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy, Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad: Dark War and more, all DRM-free. Better yet, there are free downloads of some of their other games, including Alien Carnage, Major Stryker, and Stargunner. The company got rid of its former staff in 2008, but kept the rights to Duke Nukem and other big names. Get in on the new 3D Realms Anthology and enjoy some great PC gaming memories - remember folks, even these games run at past 30FPS.

We recently discovered a new SSD controller design company is forming and many of the names involved are familiar. The group is headed up by CEO and co-founder Mike Lee. Mr. Lee's former employer was SK Hynix, where he was the Director of SSD SOC Development for the Link A Media Devices team (LAMD).

At this time, details nearly nonexistent other than a few bits of information scattered around the web. The above image started our hunt for more information. Many in the photo are former SandForce, LSI and Skyera employees and all are now with Tidal Systems.

We've often wondered what affects SandForce ping pong would have on employees. SandForce was first acquired by LSI, then LSI was acquired by Avago and then SandForce was spun off to Seagate. SandForce founder, CMO and former NVIDIA nForce chipset architect Radoslav Danilak started Skyera to focus on all-flash enterprise storage a few years ago. At least a handful of the pre-LSI SandForce team went with him. Skyera already has two products on the market, skyHawk and skyEagle.

LG has announced its new G3 Screen smartphone, but something much more interesting is being launched simultaneously: LG's new "NUCLUN" processor. LG's new chip is an 8-core processor built on ARM's big.LITTLE technology, featuring four 1.5GHz cores, with four 1.2GHz cores.

The faster 1.5GHz cores will be doing the heavy lifting while the four 1.2GHz cores will be doing all of the less processor-intensive stuff. LG says that NUCLUN is "designed to support the next generation of 4G networks, LTE-A Cat.6, for maximum download speeds of up to 225Mbps while retaining backward compatibility with current LTE networks". LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company President and CEO, Dr. Jong-seok Park, said: "NUCLUN opens up a new chapter in LG's history of innovation in the mobile industry. With this in-house solution, we will be able to achieve better vertical integration and further diversity our product strategy against stronger competition. NUCLUN will give us greater flexibility in our mobile strategy going forward".

As for the G3 Screen, we have a 5.9-inch Full HD IPS-based panel, the aforementioned and very impressive sounding NUCLUN processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of on-board flash expandable through microSD, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with OIS backed up by a 2.1-megapixel camera for selfies, Android 4.4 KitKat, and a 3000mAh battery. We have the super-fast LTE-A Cat.6 connectivity, and when it comes to size we have 157.8 x 81.8 x 9.5mm (or 6.1 x 0.3 x 0.37 inches), and 182g (or 0.4 lbs).

Following the Texas Ebola outbreak from earlier this month, the virus has now appeared in the city that never sleeps, with the first case being diagnosed at New York's Bellevue Hospital.

According to the New York Times, the patient identified as Dr Craig Spencer, returned from Guinea earlier in the week after assisting 'Doctors without borders' in treating patients with the virus. Fears have been heightened after Dr Spencer had significant contact with the population upon his return, travelling from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the subway on Wednesday night, going to a bowling alley and then catching a taxi.

Authorities have long feared that the virus would be unleashed in a densely packed area and with a population of over 8 million people packed on a tiny island, authorities have now been put on high alert.

Sony continues to struggle in the smartphone market, and plans to drop its low-end smartphone offerings in China, Central America, South America, and additional select emerging markets. Looking ahead, Sony wants to focus on high-end devices sold in the United States, Japan and Europe, according to the unnamed sources.

The Japanese company might cut its smartphone sales target again in 2014, with a Q2 earnings call scheduled for October 31. The company previously said it hoped to sell 50 million smartphones throughout the year, but that figure was cut to 43 million in July.

The technology world has evolved at a rapid pace, and Sony has largely been unable to keep pace with rivals. Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi all surpassed Sony device sales, as the cheaper Chinese rivals provide cheaper phones that have risen in popularity.

Nintendo is reportedly prepared to begin development of a 3DS and Wii U successor, hoping to recruit a new senior software architect position that is located in Redmond, Washington. This is a unique change since the posting is for a US-based job instead of a position in Japan - but Nintendo was careful to use rather generic terminology for a future-facing project.

The company has previously said there were no immediate plans for a new console platform, but the rumor mill has been in overdrive. If you're interested in applying for the position, you'll need the following requirements: "The ideal candidate will have had experience working directly in a GPU architecture and design team with significant responsibilities. Low power and SoC design experience would be a plus." And a bachelor's degree is required, though a graduate degree in computer science/engineering or electrical engineering is preferred. Also, at least five years of lead or architectural role experience wouldn't hurt, according to the job posting.

Danny Boyle is preparing to sit in the directors chair for a new biopic on Steve Jobs, on which we've just heard that Christian Bale from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, and American Hustle, will star as Steve Jobs.

The news comes from Aaron Sorkin, who is writing the script for the movie, in his recent interview with Bloomberg Television. He said: "We needed the best actor on the board in a certain age range and that's Chris Bale. He didn't have to audition. Well, there was a meeting". Bale wasn't the only one on a list of 'who should play Jobs' with Matt Damon, Ben Affleck (also Batman), Bradley Cooper (also from American Hustle) and Leonardo DiCaprio in the run for the role of Jobs.

The film still doesn't have a title, but will be based on Walter Isaacson's 2011 biography on the late Jobs, with shooting on the movie to start in the coming months. Sorkin isn't worried about Bale's acting chops, adding: "He has more words to say in this movie than most people have in three movies combined. There isn't a scene or a frame that he's not in. So it's an extremely difficult part and he is gonna crush it".

Naughty Dog has some serious games under its belt for Sony, with PlayStation exclusive titles like Uncharted and The Last of Us, with the latter recently going through a Remastered edition on the PS4. The Last of Us: Remastered was running at 1080p and 'mostly' 60FPS, with an option to enable 30FPS if you really wanted to.

When asked about hitting 1080p and 60FPS for its upcoming games, including Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog's Community Manager, Arne Meyer said: "I think that's what we want to push for with anything we're doing on this generation. That's sort of the mandate from when we were building the PS4 engine. Let's see if we can do this and hit it. We hit it with The Last of Us Remastered, so why not stick with this?".

Uncharted 4 will soon hit the PS4, and with near confirmation it'll be running at 1080p and 60FPS, fans of the original three Uncharted games have wondered of a remastered version of the popular games. Meyer talked about those rumors too, where he said: "I personally think it would work well, because there's a lot of attention on the studio between the success of Uncharted 2, 3 and The Last of Us. It'd be nice to give players the opportunity to go back and play the older games, and people who are new to the PlayStation platform". What better way to drum up to the launch of Uncharted 4 on the PS4, than with a remastered Uncharted trilogy released?

After resigning from Electronic Arts last year amid multiple problems the company was experiencing, John Riccitiello hasn't made much noise in the last twelve months, until now.

Unity Technologies' founder, David Helgason, is stepping down as CEO of the company, with Riccitiello replacing him. Helgason will stay with the company, but said that Riccitiello is "the right person to help guide the company to the mission that we set out for ourselves over a decade ago: democratize game development!". The founder of Unity also said that the company has been "making some big moves" lately, reiterating that Unity has been investing in new partnerships and technologies.

Helgason wrote: "This is a lot to take on as a company and building it right is going to take a huge effort. We keep our eyes out for the best talent and help wherever we feel we can use it at every level. That's why today, I'm pleased to welcome John Riccitiello onto the Unity team as our new CEO. Sure, that sounds odd, as it also means I'm stepping down from the role, but this is an amazing win for Unity and the community. Many of you are likely familiar with John. He's been in the games industry for a long time, both as COO and later CEO of Electronic Arts. He's also helped fund and guide some notable startups like Oculus and Syntertainment among many others, and is a heartfelt believer in the indie scene and its importance to the overall well-being of the industry".

Chromebook devices are seeing strong growth, with sales increasing 67 percent quarter over quarter, but still have a long way to go, according to ABI Research. Acer leads the current Chromebook market, ahead of Samsung, Hewlett-Packard and Dell - but each company hopes to see the low-cost laptops continue to see increased interest from consumers and vertical industries in 2015.

"Consumers are hungry for a product that is cost effective but also provides the versatility and functionality of a laptop," said Stephanie Van Vactor, ABI Research Analyst, in a statement. "The growth of the Chromebook market demonstrates a niche that is gaining traction among consumers."

The price of mobile hardware is dropping in price, and Chromebooks are often significantly cheaper than other laptops, so it will take time for the market to develop. Total Chromebook-powered device shipments are expected to tally 4.1 million in 2014, a drop in the bucket compared to the estimated 300 million shipments of traditional PCs.

Rockstar is reportedly preparing to re-release Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for the Microsoft Xbox 360 soon, according to Xbox Achievements. The Xbox 360 version is no longer available to download, while the Sony PlayStation 3 version is still available.

October 26 is the 10-year anniversary of when GTA: San Andreas was released, so now would be a fitting time for a game re-launch. The game was originally released in October 2004 for the Sony PlayStation 2, and was later released for the Microsoft Xbox, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows phones.

Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto V will be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 next month, with a PC version set for a January 2015 release.

Peripheral and audio maker Rapoo has launched the wireless KX Mechanical Keyboard, providing vibration feedback so users have a better typing experience. The keyboard uses a 5GHz connection and has a range up to 32 feet, with a standby time of 40 hours. Rapoo also included a Dual-Mode so a micro-USB cable can be plugged into the keyboard - making it possible to recharge the keyboard while it's still in use.

The KX includes three different lighting levels, allowing an enhanced computing typing experience depending on time of day and ambient light. The Rapoo KX Mechanical Keyboard is available now in black and white for $79.99 MSRP, with red, yellow and blue versions of the keyboard available in 2015.

Mechanical keyboards have become increasingly popular among PC gamers, but have migrated to traditional keyboards for regular PC users.

As expected, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has signed a controversial bill that will ban the sale of Tesla vehicles in the state. Michigan isn't a major target for Tesla at the moment, but the company has ambitious nationwide growth plans through 2020, providing less potential future customers.

"This bill does not, as some have claimed, prevent auto manufacturers from selling automobiles directly to consumers at retail in Michigan - because this is already prohibited under Michigan law," Snyder said to lawmakers.

Not surprisingly, GM was in favor of the anti-Tesla bill, as Michigan joins Texas and North Carolina, shutting Tesla out in the cold. Due to the state's current laws, along with major influence from Michigan automakers, it seems unlikely that the bill would be overturned anytime soon.

Researchers from Ohio State University are working on a solar battery that is able to store its own power inside of an internal solar cell. The unique hybrid device uses a mesh solar panel that provides an opening for air to enter the battery, and electrons can be transferred between the solar panel and the battery electrode.

"The state of the art is to use a solar panel to capture the light, and then use a cheap battery to store the energy," said Yiying Wu, Ohio State chemistry and biochemistry professor, said in a press statement. "We've integrated both functions into one device. Any time you can do that, you reduce cost."

When licensed to companies, this could help companies drop costs up to 25 percent, according to Wu and his students. Light is converted inside of the battery, ensuring almost 100 percent of electrons are saved, as opposed to the 80 percent standard when electrons travel between a solar cell and an external battery.

Office retailer Staples was the latest high-profile company hit by a data breach, with customers in the Northeastern United States affected. The US Secret Service is now investigating the incident, which involved debit and credit card data of an unknown number of customers. It appears retail locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York were hit, but it's possible stores in other states were also targeted.

"We take the protection of customers information very seriously, and are working to resolve the situation," Staples said in a statement. "If Staples discovers an issue, it is important to note that customers are not responsible for any fraudulent activity on their credit cards that is reported on a timely basis."

Retailers are struggling to keep data secure, as similar attacks have victimized Target, Home Depot, Kmart, Sears, with millions of customers across the country affected by these breaches.