Latest News - Page 2851

Computex kicks off for another year next week, but the teases are coming in thick and fast - this time, from ROCCAT. ROCCAT has a new website that is telling gamers to Own the Couch, teasing that it will announce something that is its "contribution to your living room experience" on June 10.

With a June 10 tease, ROCCAT is poised to show off or announce something big at E3 3014. ROCCAT's new website is its first step toward a game-changing product announcement on June 10, something we look forward to seeing. The video above is what you see on the Own the Couch website, so I'm going to take a guess that we're going to see some new gaming peripheral, but we could be surprised yet.

Star Citizen's crowdfunding has no signs of stopping, reaching a world-record crowdfunding total of $44 million. This surge in funding is most likely due to the upcoming dogfighting module which drops in a few days.

The last time we heard about Roberts Space Industries' space shooter was late last month, when Star Citizen reached $43 million in funding. There are more than 450,000 backers - myself included - and with the total of $44 million raised, $34 million of that has been raised since June last year.

The next stretch goal is at $46 million, which I'm sure will be hit before the end of next month, where backers will receive in-game "scanning software" which will allow them to find resources within the world of Star Citizen. The latest fundraising milestone has seem creator Chris Roberts release a piece of concept art for a "negotiation room" where players can make deals inside their ships.

NVIDIA's Tegra K1 is a serious chip, with 192 CUDA cores, NVIDIA's 4-Plus-1 quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, support for both DDR3L and LPDDR3 memory - up to 8GB of it actually, 4K output support, all on a 28nm process. This is something we spotted during our tour of the NVIDIA HQ in Santa Clara, California.

Well, this is now available as a Development Kit through NVIDIA's website for just $192. The Jetson TK1 development kit can be used to build devices and solutions for "computer vision, robotics, medicine, security, and automotive". For $192, you get the Jetson TK1 development board, AC adapter with power cord, USB Micro-B to USB A adapter, and a quick start guide.

It looks like Tyrese Gibson and Dr. Dre have smoked themselves into a corner with their bragging about Dr. Dre, Beats founder and hip-hop legend, where they said he would be "the first billionaire in hip-hop". Well, Apple wasn't happy with that, guys.

Gibson said in a video that Dre was "drunk off of Heinekens," something that was posted to Gibson's Facebook page minutes after Apple announced it was acquiring Beats for $3.2 billion. You can understand why Apple isn't happy with this, as it seems Beats apparently leaked the news of the $3.2 billion deal before it had a signature on the dotted line, according to Billboard.

Video game hardware purchases grew 47 percent, reaching $983 million during Q1 2014, according to The NPD Group research company. Both next-generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony, along with a resurgence in PC gaming, led to a great market for gamers wanting to purchase new hardware, software titles, and gaming accessories.

"For the first quarter of 2014, content spending increased for used games, digital full games, DLC, and mobile with a modest increase in subscription revenue," said Liam Callahan, NPD Industry Analyst, in a press release. "This is another example of the interplay of physical media as well as digital downloads as consumers transition further into this console generation."

The Sony PlayStation 4 game console outsold the Microsoft Xbox One for the fourth consecutive month in the United States - though both game consoles have doubled combined sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively. It will be fun to see what both companies do in the next quarters, especially the 2014 holiday shopping season.

SSDs are already incredibly fast, pushing 500MB/sec in read/write speeds for around $200 - but how does a 300% speed increase sound to you? Yeah, I thought so. Well, a team from Japan's Chuo University have developed a new technology which solves some of the speed hurdles of SSDs associated with "garbage collection" on solid state drives.

The team has come up with an easy solution, which uses a "logical block address scrambler" which reduces the effects of the fragmentation, while at the same time reduces the amount of copies required during garbage collection. This new technology used on an SSD during their testing saw an increase in write speeds of a huge 300%, which also included a 60% reduction in power consumption, and a 55% decrease in write/erase cycles.

We don't know when, or even if this new technology will make it to SSDs in the near future - but if it does, it should see itself baked into SSDs over the next couple of years.

Sony is doing some good business with the PS4, but where's the next-gen Uncharted game everyone wants to see? Well, when Uncharted 4 finally arrives, the next adventure could be a little darker than the previous Uncharted games that have been released.

The news is coming from Tidux, an industry insider, who has tweeted that Uncharted 4 would be a "darker" entry in the franchise, with an even heavier focus on the story. Tidux tweeted "Uncharted 4 is a darker, story heavy game," with another tweet teasing "Blended with awesome epic moments," but if that wasn't enough, he adds "latest version of Uncharted 4 is bananas, simply bananas".

I'm looking forward to seeing what both Sony and Naughty Dog can do with the increased horsepower in the PS4 with a next-gen Uncharted game, but I'm hoping it's not too constrained if it's going to work on the slower, ageing PS3.

Online gambling website BetCoin has unveiled the BetCoin Reels online slot machine, a "provably fair" 5-line slot machine. Much to the dismay of governments already concerned of bitcoin-related money laundering, it looks like gambling will continue to push the cryptocurrency forward.

"The company is not resting on its laurels, however, and new games and new features are already in development," noted BetCoin officials.

BetCoin has four online bitcoin-themed "gaming" products that include instant payouts and 3D graphics, as online gambling websites scramble to accept bitcoin currency payments. There are a growing number of online websites that accept bitcoins, featuring poker, blackjack, roulette, and other popular casino games.

A Canadian lawmaker is spearheading an international group of attorneys, professors, bitcoin businesses and supporters to publish the first bitcoin law book. It's possible Canada could become the first country to create federal bitcoin laws, though volatility, secure monetary exchanges, and criminal behavior must be addressed moving forward.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to write about the evolving law surrounding Bitcoin and other digital currencies said Chrstine Duhaime, Duhaime Law partner, in a press release. "As the US Federal Reserve noted only weeks ago, Bitcoin's disruptive technology may force banks and other financial institutions to adapt and change the way they provide services to consumers and it will open new markets for business all over the world. It's important that the law keeps pace with emerging technologies like Bitcoin and we are excited to be a part of the international dialogue on Bitcoin law."

Consumers and businesses are becoming more familiar with bitcoins, but governments are still unsure how to handle the popular cryptocurrency. There are a growing number of money laundering-related cases involving bitcoins, which police authorities are trying to clamp down. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice is working to learn more about bitcoins and any black markets available for drug dealers and money launderers.

The United States had 59 percent of cybercrime victims, a whopping lead over the United Kingdom at 14 percent and Australia in third with 11 percent, according to security firm Trustwave. Cybercriminals are making big money with successful data breaches, as customer information and medical records generating lucrative amounts on the black market.

Retail stores also tend to be attacked the most, with 35 percent of overall attacks investigated by Trustwave during 2013. The food and beverage industry was second with 18 percent and hospitality had just 11 percent of the overall number of attacks. In addition to traditional cyberattacks, retailers need to pay closer attention to sophisticated point-of-sale attacks targeting in-store technologies.

"Security is a process that involves foresight, manpower, advanced skillsets, threat intelligence and technologies," noted Robert McCullen, Trustwave CEO, in a press statement. "If businesses are not fully equipped with all of these components, they are only increasing their chances of being the next data breach victim. As we have seen in our investigations, breaches are going to happen. However, the more information businesses can arm themselves with regarding who are their potential attackers, what those criminals are after and how their team will identify, react and remediate a breach if it does occur, is key to protecting their data, users and overall business."

It was only yesterday that we were reporting on Samsung's rumored VR headset, but now it is becoming much more real. VRFocus has unearthed a patent that the South Korean giant filed from last year, in August to be specific.

The patent describes Samsung's VR headset as 'a device that is worn by a user and displays an image in front of the user's eyes in a virtual reality system or an augmented reality system'. Samsung's VR headset will form a virtual image at a "predetermined distance" from the user, with images being created and blasted to each of the users' eyes. These two modules are also set at a "predetermined angle" in order to direct the users vision to a "target position".

Samsung specifically mentions the use of LCD and OLED panels, which could allow users to slot their smartphones into the VR headset, which would really change things up. The VR headset will still require a connection to a device, as this could just be a frame holder for the device. We did report that the VR headset would be Android-powered, but if you can slot in your Samsung phone - most of which are based on Android - then this would make sense.

Intel is expected to launch its new Devil Canyon-based CPUs at Computex on June 2, but it looks like this will just be a show-and-tell, and not a full release. Retail availability on the Devil Canyon chips will reportedly now be late September.

The new Devil Canyon CPUs were expected to bring forward faster clock speeds, better packaging materials, design that is better for overclocking, and better TIM between the IHS and die of the processor which would result in higher overclocks. The Core i7-4790K was meant to be the star of the show, but along with the Core i5-4690K and Pentium G3258 CPUs, retail launches won't happen until later in the year.

This is why we haven't seen the high-end enthusiast boards on the Z97 chipset unveiled yet, as motherboard makers are waiting for Intel to launch its Devil Cayon CPUs - but with this delay, we might not see much of these motherboards unveiled. But, at Computex, we should see the new LGA 2011-3 motherboards, which will feature the enthusiast X99 chipset - something we look forward to seeing ourselves.

The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel, which was the first Sin City casino to accept bitcoin cryptocurrency payment, now has its own Robocoin bitcoin ATM. Customers can exchange U.S. currency and bitcoins, or deposit cash into bitcoin accounts. D Casino Hotel is located off the main strip, and can be found on Fremont Street.

D co-owner Derek Stevens said the number of bitcoin-related transactions is higher than initially considered, though wouldn't disclose exact figures. The popular cryptocurrency is accepted at the D front desk, casino floor, restaurants and in the casino gift shop.

The addition of bitcoin ATM machines in shopping malls and other popular shopping destinations continues to grow - and with casinos fighting for visitors willing to spend money - adding them to the hotel lobby and casino floor makes sense. Bitcoins continue to gain mainstream acceptance from customers, and more stores are showing interest in accepting the currency as payment.

Even though companies are becoming increasingly aware of cyberattacks and the rising threat they pose, many decision makers are hesitant to spend money to improve security - until a data breach or theft occurs. If an attack doesn't lead to massive financial losses, cybersecurity experts warn, cyberattacks are still being shrugged off. Unfortunately, companies don't think the cost of building a stronger cybersecurity defense is a worthwhile expense, instead focusing on more pressing business matters.

"Until it hits them at home, it won't matter much," said Scott Goldman, security company TExtPower CEO, in a statement. "The very fact that people are becoming numb to the constant stream of breaches indicates the pathetic level of security provided by most online services."

U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin said the attacks it faces has quadrupled since 2007, and public utilities also are being caught up in the chaos. Security typically won't lead to increased revenue or profit, and despite looming cyberthreats, it will continue to take a major incident before change is made.

NASA and a group of amateur astronomers are working together to put an old satellite back on task. When the little satellite, known as ISEE-3, flies back by the Earth next month, scientists will have a short window to attempt to communicate with the old satellite and get it back to work on its original mission. The problem for NASA with getting the satellite back on task was that it didn't have the resources to take on the project due to a tight budget.

Amateur scientists stepped up and took up the challenge of communicating with the satellite. NASA has endorsed the group, known as ISEE-3 Reboot Project. The original mission for the satellite was created in the Carter Administration. ISEE-3 stands for International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 and was launched in 1978.

The mission for the satellite was to monitor the solar wind. Originally, it was paired with ISEE-1 and ISEE-2, but ISEE-3 was pulled from that original mission in an attempt to encounter Halley's Comet. After that comet mission was successful, the satellite took a 30-year route to bring it back near the Earth. Amateur scientists crowd funded $125,000 for the project. The team will have to create virtual software versions of the communications gear used to communicate with the satellite because that original gear no longer exists. If the team misses the satellite, it will take another 30-40 years before it passes close by the Earth.

Weeks before E3 2014 kicks off, we're hearing about Half-Life 3 from the co-creator of Counter-Strike, Minh Le. Le has said that he's personally seen artwork of Half-Life 3, and even captured a look at Left 4 Dead 3, too.

Le talked about Half-Life 3, where he said: "I don't know if I can talk about that, to be honest, but I think it's kind of public knowledge that people know that it is being worked on. And so if I were to say that yeah, I've seen some images, like some concept art of it, that wouldn't be big news, to be honest".

He continued: "But yeah, I guess I could say that I did see something that looked kinda like in the Half-Life universe. It wouldn't surprise anyone if I said they're doing it, they're working on it, yeah. So to go on a limb I'd say I did see some concept art for Half-Life 3". When it comes to Left 4 Dead 3, Le had much more to say: "The one thing I'm really excited about is Left 4 Dead, the new Left 4 Dead. I saw it, it looks great. I was really excited when I saw that. I was like 'wow, this looks great'".

T-Mobile has been talking up its new VoLTE service that launched in Seattle recently. The service will allow people in the area to make regular voice calls using their LTE connectivity rather than having their phone change over to older, presumably slower, technology to make those voice calls. The biggest catch is that only specific devices will be able to use the VoLTE service with T-Mobile.

Specific phones that we know will support VoLTE at this time include the Galaxy Note 3, LG G Flex, and Galaxy Light. Apple's popular iPhone is capable of supporting VoLTE service, but odds are it won't support VoLTE.

The iPhone 5, 5S, and 5C all have coding inside that points to support for VoLTE inside the firmware of the chip used for LTE connectivity. That chip is the Qualcomm MDM9615m used in all LTE capable Apple devices. Apple and T-Mobile haven't offered the carrier update needed to make support for VoLTE happen. The reason it isn't expected is that the iPhone LTE chip can't surf the web on a LTE connection and make a call at the same time. That means if you are surfing the web and a phone call comes in, the web pages you are browsing would close.

The University of California, Irvine student health center was reportedly compromised, with a form of keylogger malware running for at least six weeks. In the breach, student ID numbers, contact information and bank numbers of up to 1,800 students and a small number of others at risk, according to UC Irvine spokespeople.

No UC Irvine medical records were compromised, with the malware operating from February 14 to March 27, according to officials.

Universities are having a hard time trying to keep their networks secure, with cybercriminals finding large amounts of information that is increasingly easy to compromise. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was recently hit by a data breach, while Iowa State University also suffered a data breach as criminals tried to mine for bitcoins. University of California at San Francisco also suffered a breach, and University of Hawaii officials are warning of increasingly clever phishing attacks.

Privacy has always been a big concern when it comes to social networking, and Facebook has been at the frontlines of both sides of the privacy debate. Back in 2009 Facebook introduced a new default option to let the entire world see your post, but that lead to several outcries from privacy advocates. Today it appears as if those cries have been heard, and Facebook has made some adjustments to fix this issue.

Facebook now defaults all new users post and images to the "Friends Only" option which means that those pieces of content will only be visible to that users friends, and the public will not be able to read or see them. Existing users will see their settings remain the same, but Facebook is notifying them of their current privacy settings and asking them if they would like to change them. Facebook is calling this a Privacy Checkup, and the message will appear in the form of a popup when existing users post a new post.

While all of this is good for those who over share everything (I am guilty myself), I find that the best privacy policy is to only share things on any social media platform that you do not mind the entire world reading. Just take a moment and ask yourself, "Would I like my boss, mother, PTA president, or local news station to read this?" if so, then post it. If not, well it may be best to leave it off of Facebook.

NASA and many other organizations are searching the universe for evidence that life exists on other planets. while the near term search is focusing on looking on and under the surface of Mars and other planets in our solar system, other researchers are looking much further away.

One of the planets being closely looked at for signs of possible life is called Kepler-186f. This is the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone. That means it is the right distance from the sun for liquid water to pool on the surface.

SETI is one of the research groups that is looking for signs of extra terrestrial life. SETI researchers believe that in the next 20 years, alien life will be discovered. SETI is looking at half a dozen other world's that might have life, including Kepler-186f. Naturally, SETI scientists say that the discovery will depend on financing. That gives SETI an out if no alien life is discovered in the next 20 years; they can just say the financing wasn't there.