iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users reading habits have changed against tablets

Chris Smith | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Nov 26, 2014 8:54 PM CST

According to latest reading services data, since the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in May this year these two devices have changed user's reading habits favorably toward the aforementioned smartphones and away from iPad's offerings.

Two million articles and videos have been analyzed, covering before and after release of Apple's new champion products. The study claims that once an iPhone 6 has been purchased, they will proceed to use this device for 72% of their total time, in comparison to an 80% share in usage for an iPhone 6 Plus when in compared to an already-owned iPad.

The study also claims that due to the iPhone 6 Plus' big screen offering, the users have experienced on average, a 40% increase in video viewing.

Continue reading: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users reading habits have changed against tablets (full post)

DayZ beta is coming late next year, is also arriving on consoles

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 26, 2014 8:28 PM CST

After 12 months on Steam's Early Access, DayZ is getting some much needed updates, with its developer finally coming clean on what's going on with the open-world game next year.

Bohemia Interactive have said that two very important things will happen for DayZ next year, with the first being it will reach beta in Q4 2015 - a year from now - and that the final version will launch in the first half of 2016. DayZ will continue to be $30 during the Steam Fall Sale, which starts today, but it will increase to $35, and then $44 when the launch of the beta kicks off. The final version of DayZ will be $50.

The developer is splitting the updates into quarterly released, where in Q1 2015, we will see DayZ updated with a new zombie AI, basic vehicles, diseases and more. Q2 will see advanced vehicles, advanced animals, a new UI, player stamina, and more. Q3 will have traps, barricading, aerial transport, and a console prototype. Then in Q4, we'll see the beta unleashed, as well as animal companions, base building and Steam community integration.

Continue reading: DayZ beta is coming late next year, is also arriving on consoles (full post)

Android OS dominating iOS and Windows in tablet and smartphone market

Chris Smith | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Nov 26, 2014 8:10 PM CST

News has just come to light that Android continues to dominate the global market in smartphones, controlling a massive total of 85% of all devices. This marks Apple and Windows OS systems falling further behind the leader, likely due to Chinese domestic phone offerings incorporating third-party Android OS platforms.

Recent reports claim that BlackBerry and Windows Phone have swapped positions, seeing Microsoft creep into a third place standing. However, Windows devices are still only accountable for 5% of the total market share.

As far as tablets are concerned, IDC claims that Android's market share makes up for 67.7% of the total amount, alongside Apple's iOS offering falling to 27.5% and Windows sitting at just under 5%. However, Microsoft has experienced a growth of 67.3% over 2014, fllowing suit of Android who grow 16% in its own right. Unfortunately for Apple, as the competitors grow, they must fall - reporting a 12.7% drop over the same time period.

Continue reading: Android OS dominating iOS and Windows in tablet and smartphone market (full post)

Ubisoft admits Assassin's Creed: Unity is broken, offers free DLC

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 26, 2014 7:32 PM CST

The launch of Assassin's Creed: Unity didn't go too well at all, with the game still experiencing teething problems. Ubisoft has now come out and apologized to everyone, announcing it will be providing its upcoming "Dead Kings" expansion pack for free, to all AC:U players, as a way of saying sorry for shipping a clearly, very broken game.

Ubisoft Montreal boss, Yannis Mallat, took to a blog writing: "Unfortunately, at launch, the overall quality of the game was diminished by bugs and unexpected technical issues. I want to sincerely apologise on behalf of Ubisoft and the entire Assassin's Creed team. These problems took away from your enjoyment of the game, and kept many of you from experiencing the game at its fullest potential".

For those who purchased the season pass or Gold edition of Assassin's Creed: Unity will get the DLC for 'free' anyway, so these people will be offered a free game. You can choose from Far Cry 4, The Crew, Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Rayman Legends, and Just Dance 2015.

Continue reading: Ubisoft admits Assassin's Creed: Unity is broken, offers free DLC (full post)

Fox greenlights 'Independence Day 2' for 2016 release

Ben Gourlay | Celebrities & Entertainment | Nov 26, 2014 7:29 PM CST

It seems like for years, director producer duo Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin have been promising a sequel to the 1996 sci-fi epic 'Independence Day' which went on to gross $817 million worldwide and rejuvenated science fiction films once again.

Well today, Twentieth Century Fox has officially greenlit a sequel, as announced via Twitter by Dean Devlin.

As reported by Deadline Hollywood, 'Independence Day 2' is expected to go into full production starting in May 2015, after Roland Emmerich finishes duties on his next picture 'Stonewall', and it is assumed the previously announced release date of July 4 2016 still stands.

Continue reading: Fox greenlights 'Independence Day 2' for 2016 release (full post)

ASRock's X99 WS-E/10G features Quad LAN; 2xGbE, 2x10GbE ports

Anthony Garreffa | Motherboards | Nov 26, 2014 6:48 PM CST

It looks like ASRock is about to unveil a true beast of a motherboard, in the form of the X99 WS-E/10G, which will feature no less than four Ethernet ports. Yes, four.

This will be the first time a consumer motherboard has shipped with four Ethernet ports, two of which are GbE (1Gbps) but the other two are 10GbE (10Gbps). All four Ethernet ports are Intel made, with the GbE ports being based on the Intel I210AT chip, while the two 10GbE ports are the X540-BT2 for some super-intensive, high-speed networking transfers. On top of that, all four of them can be bridged together for an absolutely insane amount of networking bandwidth, hitting 22Gbps.

ASRock hasn't just made the networking side of the X99 WS-E/10G impressive, as we also have two PLX 8747 bridge chips, allowing for up to seven PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. This means you can have full x16/x16/x16/x16 quad SLI or Crossfire. If you wanted to go single cards the whole way, you can do x16/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8.

Continue reading: ASRock's X99 WS-E/10G features Quad LAN; 2xGbE, 2x10GbE ports (full post)

Deploying police body cameras could help avoid high-profile incidents

Michael Hatamoto | Wearable Computing & Fashion | Nov 26, 2014 6:18 PM CST

The unfortunate incident between officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown, which left Brown dead and many people rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, has become a prominent platform in the promotion of body cameras. A growing number of police agencies are deploying wearable cameras, typically clipped to an officer's uniform, as a method to record officer interactions with members of the community - and a way to help provide insight into deadly encounters.

"The findings suggest more than a 50 percent reduction in the total number of incidents of use-of-force compared to control-conditions, and nearly 10 times more citizens' complaints in the 12-months prior to the experiment," according to a Police Foundation-commissioned study.

Department of Justice officials and other law enforcement experts share similar findings - and believe the use of body cameras could help prevent future incidents like in Ferguson. Civil liberty groups say the videos would help prevent officers from abusing their authority, while law enforcement groups mention citizens would be less likely to falsely accuse officers of wrongdoing.

Continue reading: Deploying police body cameras could help avoid high-profile incidents (full post)

3DHead CEO's exclusive interview rebutting Reddit user claims

Chris Smith | Displays & Projectors | Nov 26, 2014 5:55 PM CST

Just yesterday we published an article on 3DHead's apparent disappearance from the market, after promising to provide an "Oculus Killer" as mentioned through their wacky marketing video.

In updated news, billionaire founder and CEO Alki David has provided us with an exclusive statement and interview regarding the topic - rebutting claims and providing his own evidence against Reddit user crazy_goat's findings and theories published on the 25th of November.

David first mentioned the claims made regarding his 'FilmOn X' company, set to provide streamed broadcast TV to subscribers mobile phones, stating: "I've attached an article from Litigation daily that reviews the position of FilmOn X in the USA. Please note that FilmOn X is the company that was called Aereokiller not FilmOn TV.

Continue reading: 3DHead CEO's exclusive interview rebutting Reddit user claims (full post)

Experts still claim Edward Snowden data leaks cost lives

Michael Hatamoto | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Nov 26, 2014 5:43 PM CST

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was disgusted by NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance activities, and disclosed the questionable actions of both agencies. However, multiple lawmakers and politicians have spoken out against his actions, saying he has put military personnel and intelligence agents at risk.

British lawmakers hope to push the Communications Data Bill, which would force ISPs and mobile service carriers to keep Internet browsing activity, social media, email correspondence, voice calls, Internet gaming activity, texting, and other records on file for a minimum of 12 months. Phone and email contact data is already retained due to the Data Retention Regulations 2014 bill.

"Consequently there are people dying who actually would now be alive," said Lord West, a former UK security minister and Navy admiral. "It is now critical that we move forward the Communications Data Bill that was paused so unreasonably because there is a very real danger that unless we do this, I think it is not exaggerating to say that people will die in this country who would have been safe if that had been in place."

Continue reading: Experts still claim Edward Snowden data leaks cost lives (full post)

Researchers boost solar cell efficiency 21.8% with Blu-ray technology

Paul Alcorn | Storage | Nov 26, 2014 3:08 PM CST

Data storage affects every aspect of modern life, but it turns out the technology developed for Blu-ray data storage can also have other uses. Solar cells work by trapping light, and it turns out that the same patterns used on the surface of Blu-Ray disks can absorb 21.8% more light than other textures. Solar cell efficiency is measured by how many photons they can absorb, and current designs utilize quasi-random nanostructures to boost efficiency. The pits and grooves present on a Blu-ray are between 150 and 525 nanometers, which is coincidentally the perfect size for trapping photons.

Researchers at Northwestern University began by testing with the patterns from a blank Blu-ray, but interestingly enough they found that greater efficiency is achieved when data is present. Researchers tested with different types of video on the Blu-ray, such as Jackie Chan's "Supercop", episodes of "Family Guy", and black and white movies. The efficiency of the solar cells increased no matter what type of video was present. The 21.8% increase in efficiency equates to a 12% improvement in conversion efficiency, which will result in more efficient solar panels and other applications.

The findings will be published in the journal Nature Communications under the title "Repurposing Blu-ray Movie Discs as Quasi-random Nanoimprinting Templates for Photon Management." Perhaps there is a use for those old dusty Blu-rays on the shelf after all.

Continue reading: Researchers boost solar cell efficiency 21.8% with Blu-ray technology (full post)