NVIDIA re-open the GeForce forums

Anthony Garreffa | Internet & Websites | Nov 2, 2012 4:29 AM CDT

NVIDIA have re-opened the GeForce Community Forums, after they "suspended operations" of the forums back in July due to a suspected breach of their systems.

NVIDIA have said that they've built a new and improved forum experience, which sports a new appearance. They've redesigned and re-hosted them in order to line up better with the overall GeForce.com experience, which completes a vision set more than three years ago when nZone and the SLI Zone forums merged.

There was no talk of the previous breach of their systems, which is quite strange considering that's what took them down in the first place. Hopefully these forums stand up better than the last ones did.

Continue reading: NVIDIA re-open the GeForce forums (full post)

PlayStation 4 devkits sport AMD A10 APU, would run games at 1080p at 60fps

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Nov 1, 2012 9:29 PM CDT

Finally, some news for the gaming world that is exciting. VG247 have had multiple sources whisper into their ears that "Orbis" developer kits, otherwise known as the PlayStation 4, are reaching developers, housed in a normal PC case.

VG247 report that there are four different dev kit versions, with the previous version just a graphics card. The version shipping at the moment is a "modified PC", and the third version which will arrive in January 2013 will be closer to the final spec. The final version will be in developers' hands "next summer".

The latest Orbis units are based on AMD's A10 APU series, with the PS4's APU described as a "derivative" of existing A10 hardware, which is "based on A10 system and base platform". VG247 were told that the "ultimate goal" for the hardware is to run 1080p60 games (1920x1080 at 60 frames per second) in 3D with "no problems". The goal, to create a machine that's powerful enough for "today and tomorrow's market". Considering tomorrow's market is 4K... I'll stop there for now.

Continue reading: PlayStation 4 devkits sport AMD A10 APU, would run games at 1080p at 60fps (full post)

Android pulls in 75% of mobile market share in Q3, iOS manages 14.9%

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | Nov 1, 2012 8:33 PM CDT

Android is by far the most popular mobile operating system, very likely due to the fact that the phones vary so greatly between manufacturers. This means there is a phone available for nearly everyone that runs the Google-crafted operating system. Big or small screens, multicore processors, whatever your desire, there is an Android phone to meet your needs.

I'm sure this is why Android's market share came in at exactly 75 percent for the third quarter. This large number comes as no surprise to me at all, just like the market share numbers for Windows comes as no surprise. Apple's iOS market share is just one-fifth of this number, coming in at a tiny (by comparison) 14.9 percent.

BlackBerry and Symbian are still doing horribly. BalckBerry managed to grab just 4.3 percent of the market, falling 34.7 percent year-over-year. Symbian did even worse, capturing a tiny 2.3 percent and falling 77.3 percent year-over-year. Windows Phone 7 is still the biggest loser in terms of market share, but did the best in year-over-year change.

Continue reading: Android pulls in 75% of mobile market share in Q3, iOS manages 14.9% (full post)

Pre-order Crysis 3 and you'll get a free copy of the original Crysis for PC, Xbox 360, or PS3

Trace Hagan | Gaming | Nov 1, 2012 7:37 PM CDT

Crysis 3 is coming. We've covered the game quite a bit, especially while checking it out at E3. We've told you how to get an Alpha multi-player key for this upcoming public trial. Now we're bringing you news that if you pre-order Crysis 3, CryTek and Electronic Arts will provide a free digital copy of the original for PS3, Xbox 360, or PC.

"The release of Crysis in 2007 was truly a watershed moment for first-person shooters and raised the bar on cutting-edge visuals and gameplay and we could not be more thrilled to include the original game as a pre-order bonus," said Cevat Yerli, Chief Executive Officer of Crytek. "Building upon the framework laid by the previous games, Crysis 3 offers unparalleled tactical freedom as players experience New York City's Seven Wonders and adapt to the truly unique challenges they present. By blending the best elements of the series so far, we've created an action experience that we believe will blow fans away."

Crysis 3 is sure to be great and getting Crysis original for free is just that much better. Users who pre-order the Crysis 3 Hunter Edition will get the Predator bow immediately in multiplayer, along with a Hunter Nanosuit module. Players will also start at level 5 in multiplayer. Pre-order the Hunter Edition on Origin.com and other retailers for $59.99.

Continue reading: Pre-order Crysis 3 and you'll get a free copy of the original Crysis for PC, Xbox 360, or PS3 (full post)

Apple's statement that Samsung didn't copy Apple has to be re-written

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Nov 1, 2012 5:34 PM CDT

Samsung's lawyers argued that the legal posting by Apple proclaiming that Samsung did not copy Apple's iPad design did not meet what the court ordered Apple to post. The court has agreed and now ruled that Apple has 24 hours to remove the current statement and 48 hours to replace it with a proper account.

"This has received enormous publicity and has perpetuated confusion as to Samsung's entitlement to market the Galaxy tablet computers in issue," a Samsung lawyer said in a written statement to judges. "It has created the impression that the UK court is out of step with other courts."

If you'll recall, the statement had in it verdicts that other courts had found, something Samsung clearly wasn't happy with. The original reasoning behind the requirement to post the notice is solid:

Continue reading: Apple's statement that Samsung didn't copy Apple has to be re-written (full post)

Amazon releases their first mobile game, Air Patriots available for Android and iOS

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | Nov 1, 2012 3:31 PM CDT

Amazon has jumped into yet another market by producing their own mobile game for Android and iOS. The game, called Air Patriots, seems like an interesting take on the whole tower defense type game that has proven popular on the mobile platforms. I know I love TowerMadness and play it constantly on my iPhone.

Air Patriots has the player control a squad of planes to defend your territory and defeat the enemy. Users draw a path on the screen with their finger, which the planes then follow and use as attack paths. Amazon is offering up 13 different types of planes, 28 levels, and 7 different maps, 3 of which are free.

"When we created Air Patriots we wanted to make a game that was easy and engaging, and the simplicity of drawing paths for planes was something we thought would appeal to players," Ernie Ramirez, executive producer at Amazon Game Studios, said in a statement. "We think customers will find Air Patriots both familiar and fresh, with a degree of challenge that keeps them engaged and enthused to play more."

Continue reading: Amazon releases their first mobile game, Air Patriots available for Android and iOS (full post)

Rovio shows off new Angry Birds Star Wars trailer with Han Solo and Chewie

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | Nov 1, 2012 1:41 PM CDT

We're getting closer to the release of Angry Birds Star Wars and Rovio has indulged us with yet another trailer, this time featuring Han Solo and Chewie. The trailer also shows off some in-game play and it's rather interesting how the game appears to be taking shape. More on that in a moment, for now, take a look at the trailer:

The game appears to feature some really unique forms of birds and they take the Star Wars theme to the max. For instance, Han Solo is firing a laser gun as he flies through the air, and the beams then ricochet around the level, something we haven't seen out of Angry Birds as of yet.

Chewie, too, offers a unique play style as it appears Rovio has mixed the previous land-based Angry Birds with Angry Birds space. This is rather fitting, considering Star Wars takes place on both planets and in space. It really is a culmination of the many games that Rovio has produced in the Angry Birds series.

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Facebook revamping its Marketplace section to offer Craiglist-like classifieds

Daniel Perez | Internet & Websites | Nov 1, 2012 10:32 AM CDT

For several years now, Craigslist has been the go-to site for anyone looking for local classifieds with many people content with its overall use. A number of Craigslist-like websites have popped up recently such as Backpages, but none have been able to make any sort of dent in Craigslist's dominance in the classifieds world. Although, if today's report turns out to be true, Facebook could finally give Craigslist a run for its money.

According to a report by The Daily, Facebook is currently working on a tool that would allow for users of the social network to publish listings that would announce things like apartment rentals, furniture for sale and even job listings. The section, which is being called Marketplace for now, will also give the user the ability to share their listing that would show up in their friends' news feeds.

A good portion of the service will be completely free, but Facebook will be accepting payments to further promote your listing to your friends, similar to its "promoted posts" feature. Promoted listings will appear as ads in your friends' Facebook feeds instead of being shoved into regular Facebook updates. Promoted listings will cost less than $5 to promote.

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Google makes Google Drive content shareable through Google+

Daniel Perez | Software & Apps | Nov 1, 2012 10:07 AM CDT

Google Drive users, who also happen to use Google's social network service, Google+, will be pleased to hear the company has now made it much easier for users to share their documents with their friends by allowing your files to be viewable in Google+, to which you can choose who you'd like to share them with.

The process to share your Google Drive documents on Google+ isn't as simple as clicking on a "Google Drive" option in Google+ to then choose which document you'd like to share with your friends. Instead, as of now, it's a multi-step process:

Sharing a file or document from your Drive using Google+

Continue reading: Google makes Google Drive content shareable through Google+ (full post)

Kim Dotcom reveals MegaUpload successor 'Mega'

Daniel Perez | Software & Apps | Nov 1, 2012 9:24 AM CDT

Back in early September, Kim Dotcom revealed he was working on an "ultimate" version of his widely popular MegaUpload website, which was brought offline earlier this year. Last week, it was reported Megaupload's successor would launch on January 20, 2013, and it looks like things are going according to plan as Kim Dotcom's successor to MegaUpload, simply called "Mega," has been soft launched today.

The new Mega is completely free of the U.S. as hosters, domains and backbone providers have all been taken overseas, which will make it nearly impossible for it to suffer the same fate as MegaUpload. What also helps is having the burden of hosting unlawful content focused squarely on the user as they're the ones who are in complete control of what content they store in the cloud.

One big improvement Mega will have over MegaUpload is it will be free of any software required to be used in order to upload or access a user's content. Instead, everything will be taken care of within the Mega website itself as it will encrypt and decrypt your data in real time. Cross-account folders will also be available which will make collaborating between multiple users a breeze.

Continue reading: Kim Dotcom reveals MegaUpload successor 'Mega' (full post)