Latest News - Page 2873

Facebook announced it was acquiring Oculus VR yesterday for some $2 billion in cash and stock, but the founder of the company, Palmer Luckey, took to Reddit to fan some of the flames that have burst out over the acquisition. Palmer talked about Facebook's market, and whether it would lose control of Oculus:

When it comes to the timing of the announcement itself:

Someone asked whether we'll see deep integration of Facebook and its services into the world of Oculus Rift:

Yesterday, Facebook announced it was acquiring Oculus VR, the startup behind the VR headset, Oculus Rift. Well, there were some 9,522 backers for the Oculus Rift on Kickstarter, where Oculus VR was asking for $250,000 in funding to get its vision of a VR headset off the ground.

Without those nearly 10,000 people, Oculus VR would not be where it is now, right? None of these people will benefit from the acquisition by Facebook, but could this change? Could we see these backers benefit financially from the acquisition? On Oculus VR's Kickstarter page, some backers are voicing their anger.

One backer, Sergey Chubukov, said: "You selling out to Facebook is a disgrace. It damages not only your reputation, but the whole of crowdfunding. I cannot put into words how betrayed I feel by this." You can read more of the reactions on the Kickstarter page.

Microsoft has the most popular operating system in the world, granted a lot of people hate it. If you look back at the history of the computer world, Microsoft has been around almost as long as the PC has been around. Before Windows, Microsoft had MS-DOS.

If you were around in the early days of computing, you might have even spent time using that OS. Microsoft has announced that it has put the source code for MS DOS 1.1 and 2.0 online for the first time. The source code is being offered in cooperation with the Computer History Museum in an effort "to help future generations of technologists better understand the roots of personal computing."

Along with the source code for MS-DOS, Microsoft is also putting the code for Word for Windows 1.1a online. That was one of the first word processing programs that Microsoft offered. Microsoft announced that the code was going on line via a blog post written by Roy Levin.

Earlier this month, Blizzard started teasing us with details about the Reaper of Souls expansion for Diablo III. Along with some details of the game, Blizzard also unveiled a video. If you have been waiting to get your hands-on the expansion, the time is now.

Reaper of Souls is officially available for the PC and Mac platforms. The expansion is offered in two formats, one is a standard version for $39.99, and the other is a digital deluxe version for $59.99. Both versions have the same basic features.

Those features include a level cap bumped to 70, a new character class called Crusader, and a new act to play through. Adventure Mode has been added with the freedom to wander and kill whatever you want to. Bounties in the form of random awards are also offered for exploring the game.

NVIDIA has been peddling its portable Android game console for a while called Shield. The last time the price of the console was changed, it was selling for $249, which was a $50 discount off the original price of the machine. NVIDIA has now announced another discount.

Right now, the NVIDIA Shield is available for $199, making for a discount of $100 off the original price. The discount isn't being offered forever, it is good through the end of April. The money will get you a portable console that is able to play games on the go with its own LCD or shoot games out to other devices.

Along with the price cut, the device is also getting some new features. It has been updated to Android 4.4 KitKat for the operating system. NVIDIA has also updated GameStream with several new features enabling Shield owners to stream games from your home PC in addition to NVIDIA servers. The update brings the ability to wake your PC at home for gaming and log in from the Shield device.

Connected Data, the manufacturer of the Drobo line of external data storage solutions, announced today the release of the latest 4-bay Drobo system. This is the third generation version of Drobo with a lower price tag and three times the performance of the previous version. New features include USB 3.0, faster rebuild times, enhanced support for Apple's Time Machine, and the addition of battery back up. Pricing for this new Drobo starts at $349 with general availability starting late April, 2014.

Like all Drobo products, the newest Drobo is built upon the BeyondRAID technology. BeyondRAID allows existing owners of Drobo appliances to seamlessly upgrade to a new Drobo by simply removing the disk pack from their current Drobo, and moving it to their new one. After upgrading, customers will see an instant performance boost and benefit from all the new Drobo features.

In addition to boosts in general performance and rebuild times, Drobo has added enhancements specifically for users of Apple Time Machine. The latest Drobo release includes an integrated feature that allows simple allocation of a specific amount of capacity to be dedicated for Time Machine backups, preserving necessary storage space for all of the users other data.

The geeks over at iFixit laid their hands-on the original HTC One smartphone last year and gutted the bugger to see what it looked like on the inside. They found out right away that if you broke the original HTC One, you would have a hard time repairing it. In fact, the HTC One scored a lowly 1 out of 10 for reparability.

iFixit has their hands-on the newly launched HTC One (M8) and are hoping for a reparability improvement. Early on, it looked like HTC might have made the smartphone easier to report when the back cover used spring contacts rather than cables. However, it was soon clear that the remainder of the M8 was no better than the original when it comes to being able to repair.

Many of the parts inside the smartphone use glue that is hard to remove. If you break the screen, which is sadly common for many smartphone users, you have to remove every component inside the M8 to get to the screen. Some of those components are even glued to the screen backing.

The recent Google Android bug discovered by security researcher Ibrahim Balic reveals a common technique could compromise the popular OS due to memory corruption - resulting in the device crashing.

In extreme cases, it appears memory code corruption vulnerability could be boosted and lead to arbitrary code execution, with users at risk of operating a rooted device.

"Although it's true that this vulnerability is capable of crashing Android mobile devices, it's important to point out that at this time there are no known instances or infections of this particular vulnerability 'in the wild,'" said Ryan Smith, Mojave Networks Lead Threat Engineer, in a statement. "Mobile malware distributors are typically motivated by money and information, and are therefore unlikely to use their established distribution channels to disseminate malware an app that simply crashes the device and doesn't gain them anything."

When Motorola and Google first announced the Moto 360 smartwatch, I was quick to point out that it was the new standard to beat in wearable technology. It appears that most of the tech world agrees with me on this as well, but the one thing I failed to hit on was the availability of high-end watch bands for the device.

Every watch aficionado knows that no matter how beautiful a watch may be, its beauty can be diminished by an unflattering watch band. It appears that Motorola knows this as well, and the company has just released a new video that shows off some of the stylish, and elegant bands that will be available for the new Moto 360. Gone is the bulky rubber watch band that is reminiscent of cheap department store watches, and in come leather and metal bands that are designed to go well with any outfit, setting, or event the wearer may attend.

If today was not already full of major news such as the new HTC One M8 releasing, or NVIDIA's launch of not only its new GPU, but a $3000 Titan Video Card, we have Facebook announcing its acquisition of the most revolutionary virtual reality company in history, Oculus VR. But all of that may not be the biggest news to hit the wires today as a new report from Cosmopolitan is indicating that the Spice Girls are in talks with the Backstreet Boys for a world-wide comeback tour!

Yes you heard that right, the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys are considering launching a world-wide tour. The news comes from Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell, who told The Sun "We are actually in early talks about maybe doing a world tour together with the Spice Girls." As I write this post, I can already hear all of the women I grew up with screaming for joy, and see the mascara streaked tears that will no doubt be streaming down their face as the groups take to the stage. Enjoy the videos below!

According to an inside source, Sony is working hard at bringing PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 emulation software to its PlayStation 4 console, and the end product could arrive sooner rather than later. The industry insider says that the PS1 and PS2 emulation will not only bring old titles to the new flagship console, but it will upscale them to full 1080p resolution as well.

This means that classic PS1 titles like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy V, Dark Stalkers 3 and more could arrive in full HD glory quite soon. No official word has been given on when the emulators might arrive, or what titles will be released. Another thing that is unclear is how Sony will offer the games, and if they will be sold or made available for free download. Some sources are saying that we can look forward to hearing an official announcement at E3 though, so at least we will not have to wait very long.

The fallout has already begun over the acquisition of Oculus VR by Facebook that was announced earlier today. Facebook's stock began to take a hit after the announcement, which closed on the positive side for the day, but has fallen below its opening price of $64.25. This means that Facebook has lost between $1.5 and $1.8 billion in market cap in the hour or so since the acquisition announcement was made.

The fallout does not stop there though, and some developers are announcing their plans to stop development of their games for the Oculus Rift. Most notability is Markus Persson, AKA Notch, the creator of Minecraft, who tweeted that Facebook creeps him out and as a result he would be canceling development of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift. This leaves Minecraft in VR open to just Sony when the Minecraft for PS4 launches later this year. Although there is a mod out there that already enables Minecraft to the Oculus Rift, it is in no way as intuitive as native support would be.

The fallout on social media has been well voiced also with many leaving comments asking why Oculus VR would let Facebook buy it. Others have been predicting the death of Oculus VR as we know it, and very few have spoken positively about the acquisition. Shortly after the announcement I received several messages asking me what my thoughts on the acquisition are, and personally, I am going to withhold judgement until I see what changes will be made. I still plan on buying a Oculus Rift DevKit 2, and will continue to use my DevKit 1.

Facebook has just announced that it will move forward with plans to acquire the virtual reality headset maker, Oculus VR, for a cool $2 billion in cash and stock. This figure includes $400 million in cash and more than $1.6 billion in 23.1 million shares of Facebook's common stock. The agreement also features an additional $300 million in earn-out cash and stock if Oculus VR meets certain milestones Facebook as set for the company.

"Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow," said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. "Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."

"We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world," said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. "We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it's only just the beginning."

When Fitbit's recall of its Force fitness tracking bands was taken over by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, things got serious. Over 1 million of the company's "Force" wearable fitness tracking bands were recalled in the US and Canada because they caused a rash after prolonged use to about 1.7-percent of customers. Despite this low number, Fitbit agreed to a voluntary recall, and began collecting the defective units.

It appears that a recall is not enough for one customer though who has now filled a class-action lawsuit against the company over allegations that it did not do enough to inform consumers about the recall. The class-action lawsuit is hoping to force Fitbit to contact every Force owner in California and offer a $130+ refund that would include shipping and tax fees. Fitbit already offers a full refund and a free shipping kit to all those who wish to go that route, so I doubt the lawsuit will have much ground to stand on once court proceedings commence.

"Based on our initial review of the lawsuit, the complaint asks for a recall of Force and a refund to consumers. Fitbit took initiative long before this complaint was filed, publicly offered refunds, and worked closely with the CPSC on its voluntary recall program. We strongly disagree with the statements about the product and the Company," Fitbit said in a statement on the matter.

Over the last few weeks, there have been several rumors pop up on the internet that suggested that HTC would release the new HTC One M8 just hours after launch. As it turns out, those rumors were true, and during this mornings launch event, HTC said that you can buy your very own HTC One M8 right now. Verizon has an exclusive on the in-store purchases for the next 12 days, so that means that you can head over to a Verizon Wireless store right now and buy an HTC One for $199.99 on a 2-year contract or for $599.99 off contract.

HTC says that all major US and Canada carriers are now offering the HTC One M8 on sale via their websites, but as of this writing, only Sprint and AT&T have the M8 listed for sale. Pricing is the same as Verizon, with $199 on contract being the norm and about $600 being listed as the going rate for off contract purchases. I was unable to find a M8 listing on T-Mobile, but I am sure it will show up there soon. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon are all offering the phone on their respective payment plans as well, with the average monthly cost between $25 and $30.

Panasonic has show off an interesting new camcorder for those that want to be able to record 4K video hands free. The camera is called the HX-A500. This strange looking camera has the lens and main unit as separate pieces connected by a cable.

This allows the lens of the camera to be placed at eye level so the user can record hands free. I can see that being a popular feature with people that are into action sports. However, the lens is too large to be worn inside a helmet, but perhaps it could be worn on the outside.

The camera is able to record in 4K UHD resolution at 30 frames per second. It can be connected to a smartphone making it easy to upload video recorded. Panasonic does ship the camera with a head mount and an armband case for the main unit.

GTC 2014 - Jen Hsun Huang, the co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, has just unveiled the new GeForce GTX TITAN Z GPU. What does the Z variant of an already incredible GPU do?

Well, how does 12GB of VRAM sound? GeForce GTX TITAN Z features two GK110 cores, 12GB of VRAM, 5,760 CUDA cores (2,880 cores per GPU), 8 TeraFLOPS of performance and a price tag of $2999. The TITAN Z's two GPUs run at the same clock speed, thanks to NVIDIA deploying dynamic power balancing.

This means that both GPUs will never see a performance bottleneck. We should see a card that is both cool and quiet, instead of hot and loud. NVIDIA is using low-profile components with a ducted baseplate that channels turbulence and improves acoustic quality.

GTC 2014 - NVIDIA has just unveiled its next generation GPU at its GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California - Pascal. Don't let the name fool you, there's some incredible technology that has made Pascal possible.

Pascal has three key technologies that have made it possible, NVLink, 3D Memory and a new Module size - one-third the size of a PCIe card. NVLink provides some incredible bandwidth - where it will provide up to 5-12x the bandwidth of PCIe 3.0, which NVIDIA expects to see 1TB/sec memory bandwidth by 2016 thanks to the next technology, 3D Memory.

3D Memory is something that has been coming for quite sometime, but it will provide 2-4x memory bandwidth, and its extremely small. This helps NVIDIA's next-gen Pascal GPU to be just one-third the size of standard GPU - such as the just-released GeForce GTX TITAN Black GPU.

Today HTC officially launched it's next flagship, the completely refreshed HTC One M8. The new flagship is said to continue upon the path of excellence that HTC experienced with the 2013 edition of the One, and includes many new features that make this the best smartphone on the market. Boasting a new 5-inch full HD display, the phone features a powerful 2.3GHz quad-core processor from Qualcomm, and 2GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly.

Unlike its predecessor, the HTC One M8 features an microSD card slot to augment the 16GB or 32GB of on-board storage. The new HTC One M8 does in fact feature the dual rear camera system we have seen in leaks over the past month, and the pair make for some awesome new photographic features. The larger main camera handles traditional photo duties while its smaller counterpart is tasked with figuring out what is where in the photograph. This depth perception feature allows the M8 to do some clever tricks such as refocusing images after they are taken, or even create that high-end Bokeh (background blur) effect that was previously only possible on high-end cameras.

The HTC One M8 comes with an entirely new sixth iteration of its Sense UI, which has cleverly been dubbed "Sixth Sense." This new version of HTCs Sense UI is more ascetically refined, and features a few interchangeable color schemes that causes stubble changes in the colors displayed on things like the phone dialer, gallery app, and the quick settings screen. BlinkFeed also gets a refresh and its API is now open to developers to allow deeper integration with more apps, feeds, and news. Overall BlinkFeed's UI has been redesigned as well, and features larger story blocks, and less clutter. BlinkFeed can also be turned off now, unlike its always-on version in Sense 5.5.

This morning at 6AM, DICE officially released the Naval Strike expansion for Battlefield Premium members, but the launch did not go as expected. Only those on consoles got the update, and DICE says that the PC launch has been delayed due to a major bug that was found shortly before launch. DICE did not give any indication what the bug was, and did not give a timeline on when PC gamers can expect the expansion.

"On March 25, Battlefield 4 Premium members on consoles will be able to experience the ultimate sea-to-sea warfare in the third expansion pack for Battlefield 4," DICE said in a statement. "Battlefield 4 Naval Strike takes the intense and dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to four all-new maps set in the South China Sea while introducing a new game mode and vehicle."

"However, we are delaying the launch of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike on PC. We've detected an issue and it needs to be solved. Quality is our number one priority and we will not release Battlefield 4 Naval Strike on PC until we feel it meets the highest quality level possible," the release continued. "Once we have a confirmed date for PC, we'll be sure to update those players on our official channels. We appreciate your patience and look forward to seeing everyone on the Battlefield."