Author: Sean Patterson

While the U.S. braces for the imminent launch of the Galaxy S4, Samsung has also quietly been selling its laptops. The Korean electronics manufacturer this week announced that it has rebranded its entire Windows PC lineup to fit under the ATIV brand.

The move is meant to make it easier for customers to tell Samsung‘s laptops apart, but it could ultimately end up being just as confusing. While the renaming of the ATIV Smart PC and the ATIV Smart PC Pro to the ATIV Tab 5 and the ATIV Tab 7, respectively, isn’t too much to think about, The Series 5 510 and the Series 3 370 will both now share the name ATIV Book 4. And while Samsung’s all-in-one laptops will be rebranded as ATIV One laptops, devices that weren’t previously branded Smart PC or all-in-one PC are now branded ATIV Book devices with a corresponding number.

The confusion continues ast the numbers will be shifting from previous brand names. For example, the Series 7 Chronos will now be the ATIV Book 8, the Series 3 300 will be the ATIV Book 2, and the Series 5 Chronos will – you know what? Just have a look below at the renaming chart Samsung has provided. And make sure to keep it handy in case you find yourself in the market for a Samsung laptop.

“Samsung has been the fastest growing PC brand for the past three years, in part because of our commitment to developing solutions that meet and exceed the ever-evolving needs of our customers,” said Mike Abary, SVP of product marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “Our expanded ATIV brand and the introduction of solutions like SideSync create the necessary synergy between our mobile and PC lines to create real ease of use for consumers. These synergies enable us to maintain our momentum and continue to offer our customers innovations that enhance the way they live and work.”

Nearly a decade ago, Apple proved that advertising was key in getting consumers hooked on their brand. Memorable iPod commercials used color and indie music to create Apple’s new image as the company that sells the best portable electronics. It’s for that reason that following advertising trends in the mobile industry are a bit more interesting than, say, ads for fast food restaurants.

Today, Samsung released a new TV ad that the Korean company will use to try and sell the Galaxy S4 to consumers. The ad, which can be seen below, is fairly straightforward, much like the ads for the device Samsung has already released. It briefly highlights the phone’s larger, clearer screen and thinner profile before moving on to highlighting the software features Samsung has created for the device.

Actually, the ad is rather boring compared to Samsung’s ads for the Galaxy S3. Last year, the company focused on going after the competition directly, implying that Apple loyalists are sheep and making fun of those who wait in lines at the Apple store for new products. There’s little doubt that the ads increased Samsung’s profile in the U.S. and helped the Galaxy S III ship over 50 million units, and the return to boring feature-heavy ads is a bit disappointing.

Last year’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown was a polished, modern turn-based tactical shooter that was at the top of many game-of-the-year lists and seems to have resurrected the XCOM brand, as well as tactical RPG genre in general.

Now, 2K Games is capitalizing on Enemy Unknown‘s success by releasing an XCOM-branded third-person shooter. The publisher announced today that The Bureau: XCOM Declassified will be released on August 20 (August 23 in Europe) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. 2K’s statement did not touch on whether the game will be coming to next-gen consoles or the Wii U at a later date.

The Bureau will be set in 1962, and tell the story of XCOM’s first encounter with aliens. Players will “lead” squads of Bureau agents against the invaders and cover up any evidence of the encounter.

“The Bureau tells the story of XCOM’s mysterious beginnings,” said Morgan Gray, creative director at 2K Marin, the development studio in charge of The Bureau. “We’re expanding the universe with a declassified tale of government conspiracy and heroic cover-ups told through third-person tactical gameplay.”

The game will also feature the XCOM strategy games’ feature of forcing players to live with the consequences of their decisions. Bureau agents can die permanently, and 2K is billing the game as more tactical than a normal third-person shooter.

“The team has been working hard to leverage core XCOM elements like tactical decision-making and permanent death of squad mates in a purposeful way that makes this a unique tactical shooter,” said Gray. “To that end, The Bureau will challenge players unlike any other third-person tactical shooter.”

Bungie popularized the ‘online community tied to a specific shooter’ concept with Halo Waypoint, and EA and Activision took it to its logical conclusion with subscription services like Call of Duty: Elite and Battlefield 3 Premium. Now publishers have begun to create online communities for games that aren’t even shooters. Capcom’s ResidentEvil.net, which tracks player stats and issues challenges for Resident Evil 6, is a good example.

This week, Ubisoft has announced it has created a new “VIP program” for the Assassin’s Creed series.

The community is called “The Watch,” and fans of the series can join the program now, if they’ve pre-ordered Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and have a Uplay account. It’s available online through the Assassin’s Creed website and Ubisoft claims it has been “optimized” for mobile devices.

People who join “The Watch” will have access to “exclusive tailored content” and early Assassin’s Creed announcements. Ubisoft will also be publishing “in-depth features” about the world of the games and their creation. Of course, members will also get special missions and rewards, as well as a chance to rate themselves against other players on leaderboards.

In general, “The Watch” appears to be another online gaming community for gamers who are really into one game. The new trailer for the service shows that separate feeds will be used in a column format to deliver content to users.

Mars: War Logs, a new cyberpunk action-RPG, has been released for PC today. It is currently selling for $20 on Steam. The game’s publisher has stated that it will be available on the Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network “very soon.”

Spiders Studios first announced the title back in December, when it seemed the announcement of cyberpunk-themed games had become a trend. The developer revealed the game as being set in a decadent, dystopian Mars where survivors of a “great cataclysm” fight over the planet’s precious water supplies.

Though the fighting in the game is real-time, the game’s mechanics still incorporate many RPG aspects. Players will be able to level up their characters to make them hard-hitting, stealthy, or into a “technomancer.”

As a downloadable title, Mars: War Logs isn’t likely to be as long or as polished as RPGs from larger studios. As the launch trailer for the game shows, however, the game’s intriguing art direction and allusions to Dune may be enough for certain types of sci-fi fans to give it a try.

A new study shows that the current debate about online privacy may wane as those who grew up online begin to take over. The survey, conducted at the University of Southern Calfornia (USC), shows that members of the Millennial generation hold very different conceptions of privacy compared to their parents and grandparents.

Millennials, defined as those aged 18-34, were found to be more willing to allow companies track them or access their personal information compared to those 35 and older. Millennials were also found to be more receptive to the idea of targeted advertising, and were much more active on social media. All of this, though, is predicated on receiving some benefit for the lack of privacy.

“Millennials think differently when it comes to online privacy,” said Elaine Coleman, managing director of media and emerging technologies for Bovitz, the research firm that conducted the survey in conjunction with USC. “It’s not that they don’t care about it – rather they perceive social media as an exchange or an economy of ideas, where sharing involves participating in smart ways.”

Though the social benefit of most social media is clear, even more tangible benefits still don’t seem to entice those over 35 as much as they do Millennials. One question, for example, asked whether a survey respondent would reveal their location to a company in exchange for coupons to nearby businesses. 56% of Millennials would share their location, but only 42% of older respondents said they would.

“Online privacy is dead – Millennials understand that, while older users have not adapted,” said Jeffrey Cole, director of the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. “Millennials recognize that giving up some of their privacy online can provide benefits to them. This demonstrates a major shift in online behavior – there’s no going back.”

(Infographic courtesy the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future)

(via BGR)

Last year Hostess Brands, Inc. went bankrupt, shutting down all of its factories. Fans of snack treats such as Twinkies and HoHos were dismayed as the cakes left store shelves. Now it appears that collectors who hoarded boxes of Twinkies in the hope that the treats would become rare could be out of luck.

Hostess Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Cup Cakes will be returning to stores this summer. Hostess Brands, LLC, a newly formed company, has announced that it will begin hiring to relaunch two of its bakeries, including a Hostess bakeries in Emporia, Kansas and Columbus, Georgis. The new Hostess was formed by investors who bought the old Hostess’ assets during its bankruptcy.

The bakery in Kansas will be hiring 250 employees initially, with 50 more to be added over “the next several years.” The Georgia bakery will initially hire 200 employees. Unfortunately for workers, it does not appear that those jobs will be union. A labor dispute was one of the many factors that led to Hostess’ bankruptcy last year.

“The city is delighted that the new owners of Hostess Brands are resuming production at the Emporia plant,” said Bobbi Mlynar, the mayor of Emporia. “Making the best snack cakes in the world is something that Emporia-area workers know how to do well and are eager to resume doing. The plant has been a major employer here for almost 50 years, providing significant support to our economy, as well as being a good corporate citizen in our community. We look forward to the same type of relationship with the new owners.”

The Tribeca Film Festival is wrapping up this week, and Sony has a bit of a surprise for gamers who also love movies.

The publisher has announced that it will be screening footage from the video game Beyond: Two Souls at Tribeca. The screening will take place on Saturday, April 27 at 6:45 pm EST. Those who aren’t in New York City can catch the screening live on Sony’s PlayStation Blog.

Though Beyond is a video game, developer Quantic Dream has taken great pains to make it cinematic, something the studio has been striving toward with its previous games, such as Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy. The game stars Willem Dafoe and Ellen Page as characters embroiled in a supernatural tale. Dafoe, Page, and other actors went through extensive motion capture processes to place their likenesses into the game.

Page will be at the screening to answer questions with the game’s director, David Cage. The screening will debut the “official” trailer for Beyond and show off a 35-minute scene from the game.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that a clinical trial of an experimental HIV vaccine has been halted, following a report from a safety monitoring board. The independent data and safety monitoring board found during an interim review that the vaccine does not prevent HIV and does not reduce viral loads in people who have HIV.

According to the NIH the study, called HVTN 505, has been running since 2009. 2,504 volunteers in 19 U.S. cities were chosen to undergo a series of immunizations that researchers hoped would prevent HIV infection and reduce viral loads in those infected (or receive a placebo). The volunteers were all either men who have sex with men or transgender people who have sex with men.

After reviewing data from the study this week, the monitoring board found that study participants who received the vaccine were just as likely to contract HIV as those who had not. In fact, more study participants who received the vaccine became infected with HIV than those who received a placebo, though the difference was not statistically significant. The vaccine also failed to reduce viral load among study participants who contracted HIV.

Due to the findings, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has stopped administering the vaccinations. Researchers will continue to follow current study participants, who will be contacted and informed of whether they received the vaccine or the placebo.

Last week Gawker published an email from an executive board member of the Delta Gamma sorority at the University of Maryland. The ‘deranged sorority letter,’ as it became known, was meant to whip chapter members into shape when it came to hanging out with the Sigma Nu Fraternity members.

The colorful email caught fire on social media, spawning dramatic recitations of the letter. Perhaps the most famous of these readings is one done by Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon.

With the bad press that Delta Gamma sorority was getting, it was only a matter of time until the young woman responsible for the email was dealt with by the organisation. Now, the person responsible for the email has resigned from the sorority.

The Delta Gamma Facebook page this week posted a notice to its page, stating that the girl has resigned and that the email was not an “official” sorority correspondence. The chapter also emphasized that the tone and content of the email was “highly inappropriate” and “unacceptable.”

Delta Gamma Fraternity20 hours ago

Delta Gamma has accepted the resignation of one of its members whose email relating to a social event has been widely distributed and publicized through social media and traditional media channels.

The tone and content of the email was highly inappropriate and unacceptable by any standard.

No matter who released it to the public or how it reached such a mass audience, the email content should not reflect on any sorority woman in general or any fraternal organization at large.

This is a regrettable action by a college junior – a personal email that is now on view for a global audience. And as all reasonable people can agree, this is an email that should never have been sent by its author. Period.

This email should not be depicted in any way as standard or routine or tied to any official sorority voice. It is not an official voice or message and should not be construed as such.

For the young woman who wrote it, we can only express our regret and concerns for landing notoriety in this manner.

We now consider this matter closed. Powered by socialditto  1,000+ likes ·  178 comments

Though Delta Gamma may consider the matter closed, the email is likely to make the sorority infamous for years to come.

Below is this author’s current favorite dramatic reading of the email. Former Attack of the Show correspondent Alison Haislip perfectly captures the venom in the email and emphasizes its rather creative language.

It’s been rumored for a while now that Eminem has been working on a studio album. Now, that rumor has been all but confirmed.

Dr. Dre, a long-time collaborator and producer for Eminem, this week called in to a radio show called Big Boy’s Neighborhood, which airs on 106 FM in Los Angeles. Dre told the host that Eminem is just about finished with his new material. Dre also mentioned that he has been back in the studio himself, though he states he is “just having fun.”

“Em is finishing up his project, man,” said Dre. “And for me, man, I’ve just, like, gotten inspired again to go back in the studio. So I’m…really just having fun, with life and having fun being creative and just trying some new and different things with myself, man.”

Eminem has released six studio albums during his career. HIs last effort was 2010′s Recovery, which received generally good reviews from fans and the media.

Dr. Dre’s full interview can be heard below:

(via Huffington Post)

Both in and out of video games, it seems that patient gamers are always rewarded. While early adopters can often end up shelling out $60 for a new game and $30 to $60 more for a title’s DLC, those who are willing to wait for the experience can often grab award-winning games at lower prices with all DLC already included.

That’s the case this year for gamer’s who haven’t trekked across the plains of Skyrim. Almost two years after the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda has announced that a “Legendary Edition” of the game will launch on June 4 (June 7 in Europe) for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The game will cost $60.

Skyrim: Legendary Edition will include a version of Skyrim updated to the 1.9 title update and all three of the game’s DLC’s: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn.

Bethesda announced earlier this month that it has officially stopped development on Skyrim. The team that was still working on the game has been shifted to a new project, which could be The Evil Within, Fallout 4, or some other unannounced Bethesda title.

After weeks of voting and 40 million votes, EA has announced this year’s Madden NFL cover athlete. Barry Sanders will grace the cover of Madden NFL 25, which will celebrate the franchise’s 25 years of console success.

“The Madden NFL franchise has such a rich tradition and history, and there’s no better way to celebrate our 25th Anniversary than by having one of the best players of all-time on the cover,” said Anthony Stevenson, senior director of marketing for EA Sports. “Barry Sanders has long been a fan favorite, so we’re proud to have him as the face of Madden NFL 25.”

EA Sports has also released the first two of several “playbooks” that will detail the improvements and changes made over last year’s Madden game. So far, the publisher has announced a new “precision modifier,” 30 new “moves,” and a new “force impact system.”

Madden NFL 25 will be released on August 27 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. EA has not mentioned whether the game will be coming to the PlayStation 4 or the next-generation Microsoft console, and a mention of a Wii U version of the game was conspicuously absent from EA’s announcement.

A rough-looking teaser trailer for the game was released alongside the cover announcement:

Verizon Wireless today announced that it has finally begun taking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S4. The device will cost $200 (as long as customers remember to send in a $50 mail-in rebate) with a two-year contract.

The carrier expects to have the devices available online and in Verizon Wireless stores on May 30 – long after other carriers will have the device. However, launch dates have become a bit less definite lately, after Samsung issued a statement making it clear that supplies of the Galaxy S4 will be stretched thin throughout the world for weeks.

T-Mobile was originally touting the fact that it would be the first U.S. carrier to sell the Galaxy S4, on April 24, but the carrier yesterday pushed back its launch date for the smartphone to April 29. AT&T’s launch date is currently April 26.

Android fans who want one of Samsung’s new flagship Android devices within a few weeks of its launch will probably need to pre-order with their carrier of choice. The recent popularity of the Galaxy S phones has propelled Samsung into the role of Apple’s main competitor, and not even Samsung’s large manufacturing infrastructure can keep up with the demand.

There’s been some confusion in recent months over whether Voyager 1 has actually exited the Solar System. NASA scientists have reported multiple times that they’ve seen indications that the probe may be outside the heliosphere, only to roll back the fanfare with a deeper analysis of the data.

Now, NASA is letting everyone in on the agonizing wait with a new feature incorporated into its Eyes on the Solar System software. Eyes on the Solar System is an interactive, 3-D web app that uses up-to-date NASA mission data to depict the Solar System.

The new module allows users to watch the Voyager 1 probe as it hurtles toward interstellar space. Astronomers believe that Voyager 1 entered a “magnetic highway” at the edge of the Solar System late last year. The ‘Highway” is a region where charged particles can pass both in and out of the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles that surrounds the sun.

The app will speed up Voyager 1′s journey to one day per second. Navigation data from the project is used to show the probe roll and maneuver through the Solar System.

NASA researchers are tracking the particles coming from inside the heliosphere and outside of it. They believe that a sustained increase in detected outside charged particles indicates the “magnetic highway” Voyager 1 currently occupies. Scientists are waiting for a magnetic field shift before confirming the probe has left the Solar System.

(Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Yesterday, Nintendo posted its annual earnings, which were a bit disappointing due to slow sales of its newest console, the Wii U.

Buried inside Nintendo President Satoru Iwata’s statements about Nintendo’s financial standing is something of great intrest to gamers who are looking forward to this year’s E3. It turns out that Nintendo will not be hosting a huge press conference at the event, which is common for console makers and large publishers.

Since Nintendo does not have a new console to launch the way Microsoft and Sony do, the company will use its presence at E3 to show off upcoming Wii U games. Iwata stated that the company will be working on a “new presentation style for E3″ that includes smaller events focused on Nintendo’s U.S. software lineup. For Japan and the rest of the world, Nintendo will be releasing Nintendo Direct presentations to show off its software.

Iwata’s statement on E3:

In the past we invited reporters, investors and analysts, industry partners, such as software publishers, and distributors who attended E3 to our large-scale presentations. We also used them as a communication tool in which we broadcast our presentations on the Internet to reach out to video game fans around the globe. I believe that many are expecting us to host a similar event this year.

On the other hand, since we set out on new endeavors such as Nintendo Direct two years ago in October, we have been paying special attention to the fact that different people demand different types of information from us. For example, as video game fans are looking for information about games, it seems that they are less interested in sales figures that investors and analysts on the other hand attach much greater importance to, and distribution partners are looking for information on how we are going to market our products in the immediate future. At previous financial briefing sessions we announced information about our products, showed videos and even uploaded the recording of these events onto our website, but given that we now have an established method such as Nintendo Direct, we feel that we will be able to deliver our messages more appropriately and effectively by doing so individually based on the various needs of different groups of people.

At E3 this year, we are not planning to launch new hardware, and our main activity at E3 will be to announce and have people experience our software. Many people are certainly very interested in learning more about the Wii U titles that we are going to announce. We will use E3 as an ideal opportunity to talk in detail mainly about the Wii U titles that we are going to launch this year, and we also plan to make it possible for visitors to try the games immediately. As a brand new challenge, we are working to establish a new presentation style for E3.

First, we decided not to host a large-scale presentation targeted at everyone in the international audience where we announce new information as we did in the past.

Instead, at the E3 show this year, we are planning to host a few smaller events that are specifically focused on our software lineup for the U.S. market. There will be one closed event for American distributors, and we will hold another closed hands-on experience event, for mainly the Western gaming media. Also, I did not speak at last year’s presentation, and I am not planning to speak at these events at the E3 show this year either. Apart from these exclusive events for visitors, we are continuing to investigate ways to deliver information about our games directly to our home audience around the time of E3. We will share more information about them once they have officially been decided.

During the E3 period, we will utilize our direct communication tools, such as Nintendo Direct, to deliver information to our Japanese audience, including those who are at this financial briefing, mainly focusing on the software that we are going to launch in Japan, and we will take the same approach outside Japan for the overseas fans as well.

(via Endless)

Rayman Legends was supposed to be a Wii U-exclusive title, launching sometime during Nintendo’s “extended launch window.” In February, however, Ubisoft announced that the game would be ported to all consoles, and delayed the near-complete Wii U version so as to launch the game simultaneously on all platforms.

Early adopters of the Wii U were, understandably, upset. Ubisoft responded to the severe criticism, but only by releasing a new demo for the game on Wii U.

This week, the final release date for the game has been set. Rayman Legends will launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U on September 3 (August 30 in Europe), putting the game’s launch just weeks before the release of Grand Theft Auto V.

In the meantime, Ubisoft is still trying to make things right with Wii U owners. The publisher has launched a new Rayman Legends Challenges app for the Wii U. The app is free and includes different challenge modes and randomly-generated levels that allow players to earn “cups,” which unlock daily an weekly challenges.

Following its recent reveal of a new logo, the Jacksonville Jaguars this week unveiled the NFL team’s new uniform, which includes a “military-style badge” on the front of the jersey.

Unlike real Jaguars, the new uniform is mostly black, with teal and gold accents. There are stripes the team is calling “claw marks” on the shoulders and neckline of the jerseys. The helmet has a color gradient from gold on the back to black on the front. The team stated that the new uniform features an “aggressive, modern design.” It also emphasized that the badge on the front is an explicit call-out to the team’s “hard working military fan base.”

“These uniforms balance our tradition with the future” said Shahid Khan, owner of the Jaguars. “The military-style badge on the front of the jersey speaks directly to the strong relationship we have with our hometown of Jacksonville. These new uniforms leave no doubt about our brand essence of being proud, bold and committed. I believe our new look will energize and inspire both our players and fans. It’s clearly a new era for the Jacksonville Jaguars.”

Earlier today, T-Mobile revealed that its original Samsung Galaxy S4 launch date has been pushed back from April 24 to April 29. The carrier blamed “an unexpected delay with inventory deliveries” as the cause.

Now, it seems that T-Mobile’s supply difficulties were a sign of things to come.

Samsung has issued a statement to Bloomberg making it clear that supplies of its new flagship Android smartphone will be short for weeks after its release.

The statement:

“Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks.”

Pre-orders for the Galaxy S4 are already being taken by AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and some retail locations. (Consumers might want to steer clear of pre-ordering at Best Buy, though, as the store has a history of overbooking smartphone pre-orders.)

Over the past two years, the Galaxy S series has begun to dominate the Android landscape as the only Android smartphones that regularly put up sales numbers even in the ballpark of Apple’s iPhone sales. Being unable to meet high demand is a challenge that Apple has dealt with for years now, and one that Samsung will have to contend with now that it is Apple’s largest rival. Though Samsung is the largest manufacturer of smartphones in the world, even its prodigious manufacturing capabilities can’t keep up with demand for the next Galaxy-branded smartphone.

It appears that Apple has been right all along that Flash is not the future of the web. Unity this week announced that it will be phasing out support for Adobe Flash development.

Unity is a multi-platform game engine that is capable of producing games for consoles, PCs, touch devices, and the web. In particular, the engine has been used to create some of the most popular mobile games in recent years, such as Rovio’s Bad Piggies.

David Helgason, CEO of Unity, announced in a blog post on Tuesday that the company has stopped selling Flash development licenses.

Unity will continue to support its existing Flash customers “throughout the 4.x cycle.” Bug fixes will be made in future Unity 4.x iterations, but further development for the Unity engine on the platform has ceased.

The decision was made, Helgason stated, because of Adobe. Helgason called recent versions of Flash unstable and stated that, “We don’t see Adobe being firmly committed to the future development of Flash.” He also pointed out that Adobe has cancelled the Flash Player Next project.

Instead of Flash, Unity will be concentrating its development on its own Unity Web Player. Helgason stated that the Unity Web Player is installed on over 200 million computers and is used by one-third of all “Facebook gamers.”