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Alien: Isolation introduces Ripley's daughter on October 7
If you are a fan of the Alien movie franchise with Sigourney Weaver, one of the masterpieces of science fiction, you may have been following the development of the newest game based on the film series. The game is called Alien: Isolation and it has Ripley's daughter as the main character.
Earlier this month a behind the scenes video turned up looking at the game and it got us very excited. The game has now been given an exact launch date when it will land for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC gamers. That launch date is October 7, 2014.
That will put the horror/survival shooter launching during the spookiest month of the year. Players will have to fight the Xenomorph that is hunting them with scavenged resources and wits. This may be one of the coolest games to launch this year.
Continue reading: Alien: Isolation introduces Ripley's daughter on October 7 (full post)
PL-01 tank concept is a Polish masterpiece
Many modern aircraft that are fielded by militaries from around the world have stealth attributes that make them harder to see on radar. The Navy is also working on stealth ships that are harder to be seen on radar as well. One thing we haven't seen too much of so far are land vehicles with stealth attributes.
Poland is changing that with an awesome new tank concept called the PL-01. The tank has some very cool tech that is already possible and some concept tech that will be coming in the not so distant future. The tech that is available now is designed to help the tank reduce its infrared signature. This is done to confuse the tracking systems of weapons used against tanks on the battlefield.
The way the tank does this is with temperature controlled wafers on the outside of the tank near the armor that can match the infrared output of the surrounding terrain. To confuse the enemy even more, the wafer system can allow the tank to mimic the look of a car or other object when viewed in infrared.
Continue reading: PL-01 tank concept is a Polish masterpiece (full post)
Battlefield 4 Naval Strike begins rolling out to premium members on PC
It's been almost a week since DICE first tried released the Naval Strike expansion for Battlefield 4. Unfortunately, only PlayStation 4 owners who were Battlefield premium members could play the new DLC. A major bug in Naval Strike forced DICE to postpone the game for PC and Xbox One premium members until a fix could be implemented. In a statement on the delay,DICE said that: "We know that many Battlefield 4 Premium owners wanted to play Naval Strike today. However, we didn't want to release the new content until we believed it was quality content."
It appears that DICE was able to implement the fix a little earlier than expected, and today Battlefield 4 premium members on PC are beginning to receive the Naval Strike update. This follows a roll-out to Xbox One premium members just three days ago. I just finished downloading the update, and will have a post up very soon with a first look at Battlefield 4 Naval Strike in high-resolution on max settings. The download was just over 5GB and it took me about 8 minutes to pull down on a 117Mb/s downstream connection.
Battlefield 4 Naval Strike includes four new maps, a new game mode and a whole new cache of weapons that many players have had for weeks now thanks to a glitch in the system. Obviously, the new maps focus on a water-based assault, or have island-themed surroundings. The new Carrier Assault mode resurrects the classic Titan mode we all loved in Battlefield 2142, except this time players must assault the opposing team's aircraft carrier using several different methods to gain access into the ships hull. Additionally, a new hovercraft vehicle is present, and players can access it immediately.
Continue reading: Battlefield 4 Naval Strike begins rolling out to premium members on PC (full post)
Silicon Motion expands SSD portfolio with new eMMC and SATA 6Gb/s
Today, at the Electronics Engineering Live! Conference and Expo in San Jose, CA, Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NasdaqGS: SIMO), manufacturer of NAND flash controllers for solid state storage devices, will announce new additions to its Ferri portfolio with single-package Ferri-eMMCâ„¢ and ultra-high performance SATA 6Gb/s FerriSSD embedded memory solutions.
The Ferri-eMMC is available in two flavors, the SM667 for applications that require up to 30K P/E cycles and the SM661 for applications that do not require such high reliability. The new controllers are designed for a wide range of embedded applications and provide for more flexible PCB design and low-cost manufacturing. They are available in configurations ranging from 2GB to 32GB.
The new SATA 6Gb/s Ferri-SSD embedded memory series also has two models, the SM659 and SM619. Embedded DRAM extends the SSD life and delivers best-in-class performance of up to 80K random IOPs. These solutions leverage Silicon Motion technologies including PowerShield, DataPhoenix, Intelligent Scan DataRefresh, SSDLifeGuard health-monitoring, and remote firmware updates. They are available in 8GB to 64GB configurations.
Continue reading: Silicon Motion expands SSD portfolio with new eMMC and SATA 6Gb/s (full post)
Wal-Mart launches its new trade-in program for game consoles
Wal-Mart started its video game trade-in program where people can trade in their old game consoles, games, softwares and its accessories. The retail chain giant also launched a tool where you can find the worth of your gaming console hardware and software.
Wal-Mart displayed its in-store credits in its website. It does offer a cash option, but its less than what in-store credit offers.
Wal-Mart's trade-in program allows consumers to trade-in their gaming console stuff via in-store or via online. The company will be sending a shipping label for your goods that you've selected to trade-in.
Continue reading: Wal-Mart launches its new trade-in program for game consoles (full post)
CD and DVD ripping for personal use will be legalized in the UK
Until now, backing up a disc that's purchased for personal use is considered illegal in the UK. However, the UK government recently revealed that the upcoming revision of the copyright law will address the issue.
The decision was made after making series of public consultations and inspection of the copyright legislation. For few years, the initial proposal were in its planning stages for few years. Now, the revised should be implemented by summer. By July, people can now make a backup of their disks for personal use.
The government did emphasize that giving access of those backups to others will remain illegal. You can store personal copies in any storage devices, or even use online storage. But its illegal to allow even your friends to access it.
Continue reading: CD and DVD ripping for personal use will be legalized in the UK (full post)
It's been several months, but the new Kinect for Windows is here
Its been more than half a year since we first got a glimpse at the next-generation Kinect motion sensor from Microsoft. During its unveiling, no mention was made of a PC version. This left makers, and kinect enthusiast wondering if there would even be a PC version of the new Kinect.
Today Microsoft answered those questions by finally unveiling the PC version of the Kinect, and for the most part it is identical to its Xbox One counterpart. The differences lie in the way the Kinect connects to the PC, which is handled through a new connection hum. The hub is designed to connect the sensor to the PC via USB 3.0, as well as providing a place to plug in a power brick. Furthermore, the Xbox logo is gone, and the power button has the universal power logo on it. While the sensor is not yet available for purchase, Microsoft says that it is close to launch and will arrive soon.
Continue reading: It's been several months, but the new Kinect for Windows is here (full post)
Oculus VR secures Valve's Michael Abrash as its new Chief Scientist
Oh, you thought Oculus VR news was done for the week? Well, it just keeps on going, as the VR start up that will soon be operating under Facebook has just announced that it has Valve's Michael Abrash as its new Chief Scientist.
Abrash is one of the key components in the world of VR, as he worked his magic in the early days of gaming with id Software, on the Xbox, and much more. Recently, he has been working with Valve on its VR and AR research and technologies. The Oculus VR blog has a lengthy post talking about it, something you need to definitely read.
Continue reading: Oculus VR secures Valve's Michael Abrash as its new Chief Scientist (full post)
True Player Gear's new VR headset looks a lot like Oculus Rift
Virtual Reality gaming is one of the hottest topics in the tech world right now, and with both Sony and Oculus VR making massive announcements recently, it seems that the buzz is only getting louder. Today I ran across what could be the next VR company to to hit the big times and could give Oculus VR and Sony a run for their money.
True Player Gear is a six-year old company that is based out of Montreal, Canada, and has made some very stout claims about its VR Headset. The five-employee company has posted an image of its device on Reddit, and I have to admit that it looks very similar to an Oculus Rift DK1, but its hardware and features are said to be much greater. The True Player Gear Totem is said to feature a full 1080p OLED screen, two high-resolution cameras for position tracking and Augmented Reality, and a 3 axis 1kHz gyro, 3 axis 4kHz accel, 3 axis magnetometer to also aid in position tracking.
There is not much information on the company's website, but the device is said to be compatible with PlayStation, Xbox and PC, and can handle all 3D video formats. The list of supported engines is also quite nice, but Oculus also supports most of them. The company did mention on Reddit, that it will feature expansion ports for Makers to hack into, surround sound, and individual eye focusing. The company also said that it would be launching a Kickstarter later this year, so hopefully we will get clued in a little more on the project and product before then.
Continue reading: True Player Gear's new VR headset looks a lot like Oculus Rift (full post)
Facebook to use drones and satellites to provide internet connection
Facebook has devised ways to deliver internet to many parts of the world- using drones, satellites and even lasers. After announcing internet.org last year, Mark Zuckerberg hired a team of scientists for the purpose to improve internet access across the world.
The social networking company hired scientists who worked in organizations such as NASA, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and Ascenta which developed solar powered drones.
Facebook isn't the only one to provide internet access in remote areas. Google started 'Project Link' in November 2013 which aims to provide fiber network for developing nations. It also announced its project codenamed 'Project Loon' which will use hot air balloons to provide internet access.
Continue reading: Facebook to use drones and satellites to provide internet connection (full post)
Lenovo issues recall on over 35,000 laptop batteries
The last time we talked about Lenovo and a battery recall was back in 2009 when the notebook industry was in the midst of one of the biggest battery recalls ever. Lenovo has recently announced another battery recall that covers battery packs used in its notebook computers.
Lenovo says that the battery packs can overheat and pose a fire risk. Lenovo reports that it has received two notifications of battery packs overheating and resulting in damage to the battery pack, notebook, and nearby property. No injuries have been reported so far.
The recall covers 34,500 batteries in the US and an additional 2,900 batteries in Canada. Battery packs covered in the recall were sold separately and with the following notebooks: Edge 11, 13 and 14 series, the T410, T420, T510 and W510 series, and the X100e, X120e, X200, X201 and X201s.
Continue reading: Lenovo issues recall on over 35,000 laptop batteries (full post)
Classic horror shooter Dead Space is free on EA Origin
If you are a PC gamer looking for something to play over the weekend, EA has a deal for you. EA is offering an older horror shooter game as a free download for a limited time. The game is called Dead Space.
There are three game in that franchise, and they have all been reasonably popular. I have played that original title in the franchise and it is defiantly creepy. You might want to play with the lights on, those skeleton spider things jump out at you and it's unmanly to scream like a little girl.
EA has the game as the On the House promotion on Origin right now. The game is free forever. That means you can download it now and keep it unlocked as long as you want. The game launched in 2008 and while it didn't set any sales records, it was popular enough.
Continue reading: Classic horror shooter Dead Space is free on EA Origin (full post)
Plextor announces new M6M mSATA SSD for notebooks
Plextor, a developer of digital storage technology, announced the launch of the M6M mSATA SSD, a compact SSD for notebooks. For users looking to increase the performance of their laptops, Plextor claims the new M6M is capable of maximum random read/write speeds of 94K IOPS/80K IOPS and sequential read and write speeds of up to 520 MB/s and 440 MB/s.
Beyond performance improvements, the M6M includes several key features including better energy efficiency. When the notebook goes in sleep mode, the SSD reduces its power consumption to 2 mW to extend battery life, and can resume in 100 ms. Also, the M6M includes Plextor's exclusive True Protect technology which supports advanced data integrity checks and 256-bit AES full disk encryption.
The Plextor M6M SSD will be available in the second quarter of 2014 in 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB capacities.
Continue reading: Plextor announces new M6M mSATA SSD for notebooks (full post)
Philips hue tap is a kinetic powered smart light switch
Philips has unveiled an interesting new product for the people out there that are into smart lighting and the ability to create custom light scenes. Philips already has a complete line of hue bulbs that can be controlled with a smartphone or tablet.
The company has now rolled out a high-tech light switch called the hue tap. The switch is powered by kinetic energy and needs no battery or hard wiring to connect. The hue tap has four buttons that you can bind light scene creations for times when a tablet or smartphone running the app isn't available.
The tap of a button can change between those light creations and turn the lights off as well. The tap gets its power by gathering the energy from the tap of your fingers on the switch. The switch does require the hue bridge that is found in all starter kits to work. Philips will launch the tap in Europe and the US this summer for $59.95.
Continue reading: Philips hue tap is a kinetic powered smart light switch (full post)
Smartphone Charging Wallet has a battery inside
Like most guys, I typically have a few things in my front pocket. I like to carry my wallet there so I don't have to sit on it while I drive or work. I also have my smartphone in a pocket most of the time and a car key. I may misplace the car key more than I like to admit, but I always have my wallet and smartphone on me.
I bet most guys are the same way so a good place to put a battery to keep your smartphone going longer would be in the wallet. That doesn't sound like something that would work, but Hamamcher Schlemmer has done just that. The company has a new Smartphone Charging Wallet that has a smallish 680 mAh battery inside.
That battery can be purchased in two versions with one having a charge cable for the iPhone built-in and the other having a charger for Android and other devices. The wallet itself is made from calfskin and has plenty of slots for credit cards and cash.
Continue reading: Smartphone Charging Wallet has a battery inside (full post)
Intel finalized specifications for 9 Series Chipsets
Reports have indicated that Intel confirmed its specifications for the upcoming 9-Series chipsets for LGA-1150 and LGA 2011-E HEDT platform- H97, Z97 and Intel X99 desktop chipsets. Intel Z97 and H97 chipsets are available for LGA 1150 package, whereas the Z97 will be paired with current generation 'Haswell Processors, followed by its refreshed versions and 'Devil's Canyon' processor families. Intel X99 will be paired with the upcoming 'Haswell-E' HEDT platform with LGA 2011-3 package.
Motherboards with Intel Z97 chipsets will have up to PCI-Express 3.0 slots wired to the CPU, and have configurations of x16/NC/NC, x8/x8/NC and x8/x4/x4 for GPU setups. What should be noted that unlike the previous generation, H97 will support overclocking, though it will not have the same PCIe configuration that Z97 allows. Along with this, both chips will have up to 8 PCI-e 2.0 lanes for series of onboard devices and 14 USB ports, out of which 6 are for USB 3.0.
Both the H and B version of 9 series chips will allow PCI-e M.2 storage drives that provides 66.6% more bandwidth compared to SATA 6Gb/s standard. This should accelerate manufacturer's plans to release a series of high-performance SSDs by 2014- 2015. These two chipsets also will allow RAID, AHCI and Rapid Storage Technology. Intel Z97 will have Dynamic Storage Accelerator (DST)whereas Intel H97 will have Small Business Advantage (SBA) feature.
Continue reading: Intel finalized specifications for 9 Series Chipsets (full post)
GeForce GTX 4K Surround, 1.5 billion pixels per second on 4-way GPUs
GTC 2014 - One of the more impressive setups at this year's GPU Technology Conference was from Origin PC, where the custom PC maker had one of its Genesis PCs on display running 4-way GeForce GTX Titan Black GPUs in SLI.
What good are all four of those GPUs if there's not going to be an insane amount of pixels to be pushed, right? Well, are three 4K TVs enough? Yeah - I thought so. The Origin PC Genesis system was pushing out an insane 1.5 billion pixels per second, running Slightly Mad Studios' Project CARS. I didn't get any hands-on time with it unfortunately, but we'll let some of the photos of the setup do some justice.
Continue reading: GeForce GTX 4K Surround, 1.5 billion pixels per second on 4-way GPUs (full post)
Medical identity theft amounted to 43% of identity theft cases in 2013
A rather shocking 43 percent of identity theft cases last year can be traced back to medical identity theft, as security experts and healthcare providers struggle to keep up with security challenges, according to a recent study.
Unfortunately, medical records are significantly more lucrative to cybercriminals, meaning it's a popular target for attacks.
"Despite concerns about employee negligence and the use of insecure mobile, 88 percent of organizations permit employees and medical staff to use their own mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets to connect to their organization's networks or enterprise systems such as email," according to the Ponemon Institute's Fourth Annual Patient Privacy and Data Security report.
Continue reading: Medical identity theft amounted to 43% of identity theft cases in 2013 (full post)
Report says 97% of mobile malware is targeting Android devices
Android had a greatly successful year in 2013, capturing around 87 percent of the international smartphone market - but during the same year, the Android community had to deal with a large amount of malware and security threats.
Ninety-seven percent of current mobile malware targets Android, and users will continue to face a large amount of threats moving forward.
Security company F-Secure recommends sticking to the Google Play Store to download apps, as one in every 1,000 apps might have had malware - while purchasing or downloading apps from other sources can easily lead to malware infection.
Continue reading: Report says 97% of mobile malware is targeting Android devices (full post)
We go for a drive in the Tesla Model S with Google Glass
GTC 2014 - As an Australian-based editor of TweakTown, one thing I've always wanted to do is go for a drive in Tesla Motors' Model S electric car. Well, while I was at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California, I took the opportunity to jump in and take a look.
Jonathan Katz, Product Specialist of Tesla Motors, drove the car - and just as we were taking off, I asked if he could wear my Google Glass unit, where he was more than happy to help out. The video above gives you a first-person perspective of the drive itself, something that I don't think has been done before, at least with Google Glass.
It gives you the perfect look at the car, with Katz explaining the various features and functions of the car, of which there is actually many. There were five of us in total in the car, but the backseat did not seem cramped. The 'frunk' as Katz explains (the front trunk, as there is no traditional engine and components under the bonnet is spacious, with the trunk featuring even more space.
Continue reading: We go for a drive in the Tesla Model S with Google Glass (full post)


