Mereja

Author: Zach Walton

  • Obama Administration Says CISPA Still Has Some Issues

    On Wednesday, CISPA came closer to reality as it passed the markup phase in the House Intelligence Committee. Now the bill has to make it through the House, then the Senate, and finally the President’s desk. That last one may have just become a little harder, however, as the administration doesn’t necessarily like what it sees in the cybersecurity bill.

    The Obama Administration has finally issued a statement in regards to its stance on the controversial CISPA bill that’s expected to go before the House next week. The statement, written by Caitlin Hayden, a National Security Council spokesperson, says the newly amended CISPA is a good start, but doesn’t go far enough in protecting civil liberties:

    “We continue to believe that information sharing improvements are essential to effective legislation, but they must include privacy and civil liberties protections, reinforce the roles of civilian and intelligence agencies, and include targeted liability protections. The Administration seeks to build upon the productive dialogue with Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger over the last several months, and the Administration looks forward to continuing to work with them to ensure that any cybersecurity legislation reflects these principles. Further, we believe the adopted committee amendments reflect a good faith-effort to incorporate some of the Administration’s important substantive concerns, but we do not believe these changes have addressed some outstanding fundamental priorities.”

    This new statement comes almost a year after the White House issued its first statement in opposition to CISPA. At that time, the statement was much longer, and tore CISPA a new one. The old statement also ended with a veto threat.

    It’s unfortunate then that this new statement contains no such thing. The new one doesn’t even address any of the specific failings in CISPA. It would have been nice to see the administration explicitly state it was against granting companies immunity when they share private information with government, or that it was against the bill allowing companies to share information directly with the NSA. We could assume that the administration, based upon last year’s statement, was against these provisions in CISPA yet again, but its silence doesn’t inspire confidence.

    Regardless, it’s nice to see that the White House still has some issues with CISPA. It would have been even nicer to see the administration issue a veto threat, but this will have to do for now. Now we can only hope that the White House finally addresses the CISPA petition that got over 100,000 signatures last month.

    [LA Times via TechDirt]

  • Crash Blamed On Zombies, Driver Was Hallucinating

    What’s the first thing we usually blame a crash on? Perhaps the driver was under the influence, or maybe even texting. In one case, however, the cause was a little more terrifying, at least for the driver.

    CNN reports that Jerimiah Clyde Hartline, 19, caused a major crash in Southern California after the stolen semi-trailer truck he was driving slammed into a number of vehicles. Hartline says his erratic driving that caused the crash was the result of him trying to shake off zombies that were clinging to the vehicle.

    The police say that Hartline was under the influence of a substance that caused the zombie hallucinations. As he was trying to shake off the imaginary zombies, Hartline collided with a Toyota Tacoma than then collided with 4Runner, and so on. As is the case with these kind of collisions, a number of vehicles were involved. There were thankfully no deaths, but the police say those in the Tacoma were “seriously injured.”

    So, how did all this happen in the first place? Police say that Hartline, originally from Tennessee, was traveling with Daniel Martinez, the truck driver, after he had been kicked out of his home. As the truck made a scheduled stop in California, Hartline stole the vehicle as Martinez was filling out paperwork.

    After the crash, Hartline hopped into a white van demanding that be taken elsewhere. The driver held him until police could arrest him. He was charged with taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent and receiving known stolen property.

  • PC Shipments See Steep Decline In Q1, Windows 8 To Blame [Report]

    PC shipments and sales are declining. It’s an undeniable fact. What people can’t seem to agree on is the cause. Some say the rise of tablets and smartphones are to blame, while others think it’s just a longer than usual transition period. Both are right in their own way, but one research firm says the root cause can be traced back to Microsoft.

    IDC reports that worldwide PC shipments were at 76.3 million units in Q1 of this year. That’s a drop of 13.9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2012. It’s even worse when you consider that IDC was only predicting a 7.7 percent drop in shipments last quarter. Oh, and to just rub salt in the wound, IDC notes that this is the single worst quarter for PC shipments since it started tracking the market in 1994.

    What could possibly be causing this huge decline in PC sales? IDC says there’s a lot at play here including a decrease in shipments of low-cost Mini Notebooks, and an increase in consumer spending on tablets and smartphones. The high cost of PCs and Ultrabooks are also presenting obstacles as consumers don’t want to spend more than $1,000 on a PC.

    All of the above reasons have contributed to the decline of PC shipments, but IDC points to Windows 8 as one of the leading causes of the current slump the PC industry is facing:

    “At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market,” said Bob O’Donnell, IDC Program Vice President, Clients and Displays. “While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices. Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market.”

    IDC’s findings jibe with that of UK PC Merchants who in February reported that consumers were still buying Windows 7 PCs over those that came with Windows 8. In fact, one merchant said that he had to start offering Windows 7 as the default OS again lest he lose business.

    While this certainly looks bad, IDC reminds us that there’s at least one silver lining in all of this. Going against all expectations, Lenovo posted double year-on-year growth in the U.S. while everybody else, including Dell and HP, have posted double digit losses.

    So, what can Microsoft do to turn its, and the entire PC industry’s, fortunes around? That’s hard to say, but the company is obviously up to something with Windows Blue. Whether the improvements being made to Windows 8 can actually turn everything around remains to be seen though.

  • The Next Xbox Wants To Take Over Your TV [Rumor]

    Families that own a game console tend to keep it as a central part of the living room experience. They watch Netflix, Hulu and other digital programming all through the console. There’s always been one aspect of the living room entertainment ecosystem that game consoles have yet to crack though – the TV.

    The Verge reports that the next Xbox is being built as the centerpiece of the living room. In other words, Microsoft’s next console will take over your TV and set-top box to bring the Xbox experience to every part of your entertainment center. The rumored move to take over the TV is only the natural evolution as Microsoft has been turning the Xbox 360 into more and more of an entertainment machine, instead of a game console, over the past few years.

    To accomplish its goal of taking over the living room, Microsoft is reportedly changing the next Xbox hardware in some significant ways. The first is an HDMI-in that will have users routing their set-top box through the console. Doing so will overlay a Xbox-style UI on all television and film content to keep users firmly planted in the Xbox experience.

    As for Kinect, the company will be reportedly using its Orwellian tech to watch people as they watch TV. It will watch the eye movement of the person to automatically pause a TV show or movie when they look away. Samsung will be using a similar technology in the Galaxy S 4.

    Those wanting the Xbox TV experience without the console, Microsoft is also rumored to be making an Xbox TV set top box. There’s not many details about the hardware just yet, but it seems like it will be the Microsoft equivalent of an Apple TV or Roku player. It’s rumored that the Xbox TV will launch next year – after the next Xbox’ launch later this year.

    Microsoft can’t afford to let all these rumors, especially the controversial ones, run rampant for much longer. The company is rumored to be holding an Xbox reveal event on May 21, but that’s not been confirmed yet. It would probably be in Microsoft’s best interest to announce the console sooner than later to take control of the narrative that’s getting out of control thanks to these rumors.

  • Check Out This Gameplay Trailer For Dishonored: The Knife Of Dunwall

    In early March, Bethesda announced the first piece of story-based DLC for Dishonored – The Knife of Dunwall. The expansion would put players in the shoes of Daud – one of the antagonists from the original game.

    Much like Corvo, Daud is an assassin. He has a few different tricks up his sleeve though, and this gameplay trailer should give players a good idea of what to expect from the assassin that killed an empress:

    The Knife of Dunwall will be available on April 16 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

  • Microsoft May Be Working On A 7-Inch Surface Tablet [Rumor]

    The 7-inch tablet is the new 10-inch tablet. Consumers have stopped wanting the best instead opting for the cheapest, which explains why the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini are so popular. It would seems that Microsoft is finally catching on.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is now in the planning stages of a 7-inch Surface tablet. The interesting part is that a 7-inch tablet wasn’t initially part of Microsoft’s Surface strategy, but the popularity of smaller tablets have reportedly forced the company to reconsider.

    Microsoft already hinted that it was working on a 7-inch tablet last month when its newly updated OEM guidelines said that Windows 8 now supported a minimum resolution of 1024×768. The resolution is perfect for cheap 7-inch tablets. At the time, Microsoft said the new resolution rules were for “partners exploring designs for certain markets,” but it seemed pretty obvious that Microsoft would be making a 7-inch Surface tablet of its own.

    A smaller, cheaper tablet could be just what Microsoft needs as Windows 8, and Surface tablets, have failed to capture much of the mobile market. Most of the problems stem from the high cost of Surface tablets with the Surface RT starting at $499. A 7-inch Surface could probably come in under $300, which would allow Microsoft to undermine the price of the popular iPad Mini. If Microsoft was truly crazy, it could even price it below the Nexus 7 at $200. Such a scenario is highly unlikely though.

    All of this is just a rumor for now, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it become reality sooner than later. It only makes sense for Microsoft to build a 7-inch Surface, and its own efforts may lead other OEMs to create cheaper 7-inch Windows tablets to help Windows 8 gain a little more marketshare.

  • Facebook Retires The REST API For New Apps

    In late 2011, Facebook said that it would retiring the REST API to focus all of its efforts on the Graph API. Developers had over a year to make the jump, and now Facebook is finally pulling the plug.

    Facebook announced today that the REST API no longer available for new apps. Going forward, all new apps on Facebook must use the Graph API. Apps created after April 10 will receive an error code 3 upon trying to call the REST endpoints.

    So what does this mean for all the currently existing apps using the REST API? Facebook says those apps won’t be affected, and can continue to use the API. Of course, Facebook would really like it if developers made the jump to the Graph API. If enough developers make the jump, Facebook may even be able to fully retire the REST API so that all apps are on the same page.

    If you have yet to make the switch to the Graph API, you might want to check out the stellar improvements and features Facebook has been introducing to it lately. In fact, Facebook just launched a few more Open Graph tools to help make users’ timelines more interesting.

    As per tradition, Facebook also released its latest bug report. Since last week, 70 bugs were fixed, and 72 were accepted for further review. You can check out the full bug fix list at the blog post.

  • Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Brings The Best Of The 80s To Videogames

    Ubisoft had me worried when it seemed like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon was just an April Fools joke, but it’s thankfully a real game. The spin-off of last year’s incredible open world shooter takes players back into an 80s infused alternate reality 2007 that looks parts Terminator, Escape From New York and G.I. Joe. The result is something that can only be described as incredible.

    To celebrate the game’s announcement, Ubisoft released a trailer today that combines old VHS footage, G.I. Joe-style animation, and gameplay footage into what must be the greatest game trailer released in the past five years:

    Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon will be assaulting your eyeballs on May 1. It will be available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The best part – it doesn’t require Far Cry 3 to play. It’s an entirely separate experience that’s a love letter to everything children of the 80s grew up with.

  • CISPA Advances: Do You Trust Congress With Your Privacy?

    Well, that didn’t take long. The Hill reports that the House Intelligence Committee met in secret Wednesday to mark up CISPA and approve any last amendments before it made its way to the House floor. CISPA was approved on a vote of 18-2.

    Now CISPA is heading to the House floor, but the question still remains – will CISPA protect your privacy? The amendments approved during the mark up point to a bill that’s well intentioned, but some privacy advocates still aren’t convinced. Those very same privacy advocates are now leading the fight to improve or kill what they feel is an attack on their online freedoms.

    Are you concerned about CISPA? Do you think it will pass the House? Let us know in the comments.

    The big question is whether or not the House Intelligence Committee actually improved CISPA during the mark up. There were six amendments approved, and all six were backed by the bill’s authors – Reps. Mike Rogers and Dutch Ruppersberger. The amendments talk a big game, but do they really take your privacy seriously?

    Speaking to reporters, Rogers claims that this year’s CISPA addresses all the problems privacy advocates had with the bill:

    “What we came up with, we think, is the right approach. It is the one bill out of everything you’ve seen on both sides of this great institution of the United States Congress that protects a free and open Internet and allows people to share cyber threat information to protect their clients, their business, their [personally identifiable information].”

    One of the more publicized amendments would require the government to strike any personally identifiable information from the data it receives. The same would be required of companies receiving information from the government. The problem with these seemingly well intentioned amendments, at least according to TechDirt, is that the information isn’t wiped before it reaches the government. There’s an expectation that the government will wipe any personally identifiable information from the data as soon as they receive it, but it’s hard to say when that data will be wiped. Will the government wipe the data as soon as it receives it, or will it wipe it when it’s most convenient?

    Another amendment would forbid companies from using the information it receives from the government for marketing purposes. This is definitely the most troublesome amendment only because it admits that CISPA would allow this sort of thing if left unchecked. According to the folks in Washington, CISPA is meant to combat cybersecurity. Why does the bill have to address something like marketing then? There are bigger problems with a cybersecurity bill when the kind of information it shares can be used for marketing purposes.

    Alongside the amendments, the committee also struck some language from CISPA that said the information the government receives could be used for “national security purposes.” Critics said the language was too broad, and feared that information received under CISPA would be used in criminal investigations that have nothing to do with national security.

    Despite these amendments, two members of the House Intelligence Committee still voted against CISPA. Rep. Adam Schiff threatened to vote against CISPA if his amendment wasn’t taken up, and he stayed true to his word. It’s a shame too as his amendment would have addressed a few major concerns privacy advocates have with the bill.

    Schiff’s amendment would do what Rogers’ amendment does in that it removes personally identifiable information from data the government receives from companies. The only difference is that Schiff’s bills called for an automated system that would strike the information from data before it reached the government’s hands. It’s not said why the committee didn’t go with Schiff’s amendment, but some lawmakers have already shown that they don’t trust algorithmic software.

    Even if the privacy protections actually protected users’ privacy, opponents of the bill are still sour over CISPA’s willingness to grant legal immunity to companies that share data with the government. In other words, you can’t sue a company that mishandles your information as long as that data was being used for “national security purposes.”

    Opponents are also still unhappy with the bill not explicitly stating which government agency companies must share data with. Privacy advocates think the information should be sent to a civilian agency, like the Department of Homeland Security, but there’s nothing stopping a company from sharing information with the National Security Agency, a secretive organization that has little governmental oversight and is already rumored to be illegally collecting online communications.

    Do you think the amendments approved by the House Intelligence Committee do enough to protect your privacy? Let us know in the comments.

    CISPA may have passed committee, but now the real fight begins. The first obstacle standing in its way is the rest of Washington as both the White House and Senate were opposed to CISPA last year. The Senate’s insistence on passing the doomed CSA ultimately doomed CISPA as well. Schiff is also confident that the White House will come out against the bill again:

    “I do think that the reservations that the White House has stated to the bill are still there and my expectation is that they would be appreciative of the steps that were taken, but also call for additional steps.”

    Another obstacle standing in CISPA’s way is a renewed Internet grassroots movement dedicated to making sure the bill doesn’t pass. Groups like the ACLU and EFF are leading the charge while Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has teamed up with Fight For The Future to launch a petition aimed directly at stopping CISPA.

    Despite all of this, CISPA will probably make it past the House again. It did last year, and the 2012 elections didn’t dramatically alter the House in a way that would make its members more likely to reject the bill.

    It’s going to get really interesting, however, when the Senate reveals its own cybersecurity legislation. Will it be another bill similar to last year’s CSA or will the Senate adopt something similar to CISPA this time around? Another big question is whether or not the White House will reject it again as the Obama administration has remained quiet on the debate so far despite a White House petition calling for the death of CISPA reaching 100,000 signatures.

    Do you think CISPA has any chance of passing the Senate? Will senators better take your privacy into account? Let us know in the comments.

    [Image: EFF]

  • Ares And Killer Frost Duke It Out In Injustice: Gods Among Us

    In a few weeks, we’ll finally be able to see who wins in a match up between Superman and Batman in the Injustice: Gods Among Us Battle Arena. Before that, however, the team at NetherRealm are still announcing characters for the already packed fighter.

    Killer Frost and Ares, villains opposite of Firestorm and Wonder Woman respectively, are joining the fray. Instead of spotlighting the characters separately, the reveal trailer instead pits the villains against each other. Fans will get to the specials for each character as well with Ares’ special being especially awesome.

    The addition of Killer Frost is especially interesting as it seemingly confirms that Firestorm will be added to the game as well. Every character revealed thus far has had their opposing hero or villain added to the roster so it only makes sense.

    Injustice: Gods Among Us will launch across the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U on April 26.

  • Dark Souls II Looks Just As Brutal As Its Predecessors

    When Dark Souls II was announced during Spike TV’s VGAs, many fans thought this was an admission that the game would be dumbed down to appeal to a more casual audience. Those fears persisted well into the present day, but a new trailer and gameplay video should hopefully put your fears to rest.

    First up is a new trailer for Dark Souls II showing some of the environments players will explore in the game. It’s obvious that Dark Souls II has received a pretty major facelift as the environments look way better than past games. There also seems to be a lot more fear and desolation going around if the environments are any indication.

    If you want to see the game in action, check out IGN’s 12-minute gameplay reveal in which the director gives us a tour of an area in the game:

    Dark Souls II will launch on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC later this year.

  • Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs Stepping Down Later This Year

    In late 2010, Mozilla appointed Gary Kovacs as its CEO as the non-profit began development on Firefox OS. As the launch of Firefox OS nears, Mozilla is now once again on the lookout for a new CEO.

    Mozilla announced today that Kovacs will be stepping down as the CEO of the non-profit later this year. He won’t be gone entirely, however, as he plans to stick around as a member of the Board of Directors.

    “The past two and a half years have been pivotal in the evolution and rapid growth of Mozilla,” said Gary Kovacs, CEO. “I am very proud of our accomplishments as a team. In our mission to empower the next two billion Web users, we’ve made great advances in desktop and mobile and in our ability to lead at the pace of the market. With this solid foundation and a strong team in place, this is the right time for me to announce the transition plan and a vote of confidence in the abilities of the leadership team. I am grateful for the privilege of leading this organization during this period of rapid growth, and I look forward to helping guide Mozilla’s impact on the future of mobile.

    Kovacs stepping down isn’t the only executive change happening at Mozilla over the next few months. The non-profit also announced that Mitchell Baker and Brendan Eich have expanded their roles to Executive Chair and Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President of Engineering respectively.

    Jay Sullivan will be moving up from SVP of Products to the position COO. He will still be directly involved with Mozilla’s product strategy and the Firefox OS development team.

    Harvey Anderson, Corporate Secretary for Mozilla, is now also the SVP of Business and Legal Affairs. In the new role, he will “have oversight for the apps marketplace initiative and continue to lead mobile and strategic partnerships.”

    Finally, Li Gong is Mozilla’s SVP of Mobile Devices. As the title implies, he’ll be in charge of global Firefox OS adoption as the handsets featuring Mozilla’s mobile OS launches later this year.

    Over the next few months, Mozilla will be on the lookout for its next CEO. It will interesting to see who the non-profit ultimately ends up choosing as they will be in charge of Mozilla as it attempts to stake its claim in the ever growing mobile market.

  • The IRS Doesn’t Think The Fourth Amendment Applies To Your Email

    The IRS runs a number of tax audits each year, and as such, has to obtain information on private citizens. If the information is in a physical format, the agency must obtain a warrant to access it. If it’s stored online via email or other electronic information, there is no such protection.

    In a Freedom of Information Act request, the ACLU obtained a number of IRS documents that explain the agency’s rules in regards to obtaining digital information. Much like other law enforcement agencies, the IRS operates under the ECPA, a decades-old law that allows government agencies to obtain emails without a warrant if said email has been opened or is more than 180 days old.

    So far, all of this is old news. What’s the IRS doing that’s so different from any other agency? In the official IRS search warrant handbook from 2009, the agency’s guideline explicitly states that the Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply to online communications. Here’s the relevant portion of the handbook:

    “…the Fourth Amendment does not protect communications held in electronic storage, such as email messages stored on a server, because internet users do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications.”

    To make matters worse, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel reiterated this line of thinking a year later when they said that the Fourth Amendment does not “protect emails stored on server.” The ACLU points to other documents that imply the IRS is obtaining emails left and right without a warrant all thanks to the ECPA’s outdated definitions.

    It’s no surprise to see the IRS taking advantage of the Fourth Amendment loophole in the ECPA. The surprising part is just how frank the agency is about its data collecting methods. It’s also depressing to see that the agency feels that American citizens “do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy” on the Internet.

    Of course, all of that should have changed in 2010 with the United States v. Warshak, a Sixth Circuit Appeals Court ruling that found law enforcement had violated a man’s Fourth Amendment rights when they obtained his emails without a search warrant. Unfortunately, the IRS feels that it would only need to consider obtaining a warrant when dealing with cases in the sixth circuit. It’s still open season for warrantless email collection everywhere else.

    It’s a little distressing to find that the IRS holds Americans’ Fourth Amendment protections in such low regard, but it’s only foolish at this point to think any government agency actually cares about the Fourth Amendment in regards to online communications. We can only hope that Congress passes one of the many bills it’s proposing this year to reform the ECPA.

  • Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian Calls Up Larry Page To Talk CISPA

    Pro-privacy proponents and Internet activists are obviously concerned about CISPA. The bill would allow corporations to share private user data with the government while enjoying complete legal immunity. What’s more concerning, however, is that major Internet companies that deal in private data aren’t saying anything about CISPA.

    To find out what these companies think, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian attempted to call Google CEO Larry Page, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo to ask them about their stance on CISPA. Humorously enough, the Google representative claims that there’s no Larry Page at Google, but then says that he’s just not in. Similar situations unfolded when he attempted to contact the others:

    Sure, the video is a little humorous, but it ties into an important campaign from Fight For The Future called “Save Your Privacy Policy.” It’s a petition that will be sent to the above CEOs asking them to publicly come out against CISPA, and defend their users’ right to privacy.

    Speaking of petitions, the petition asking the White House to stand against CISPA crossed the 100,000 signature threshold in early March. There has yet to be a response, but the Obama administration stood against CISPA last year. We can only hope that they will do so again.

    [h/t: Reddit]

  • First Galaxy S4 Ads Focus On Features, Not Making Fun Of Apple Fans

    Samsung loves making fun of Apple and its fans with its ads. It’s kind of become a tradition now that every major Samsung product launch takes a dig at the people who wait in line outside Apple stores for the latest iDevice. That’s probably not going to change with the Galaxy S4, but Samsung isn’t poking fun just yet.

    Samsung released the first Galaxy S4 ads today with all three focusing on a specific feature that’s being introduced with Samsung’s latest flagship device. The first is for Sound Shot – a feature that lets users record sounds alongside their pictures.

    The second is for Group Play – a strange feature that has users syncing their phones to all play the same song. It seems a little unnecessary, but hey, somebody will probably get a kick out of it.

    The final ad is for S Translator – an app that is basically Samsung’s version of Google Translate.

    If you were expecting a bit more humor out of the Galaxy S4 ads, you’ll probably have to wait closer to launch. Speaking of which, the launch shouldn’t be that far away as AT&T will start taking pre-orders for the device on April 16 with a rumored launch sometime in early May.

    [h/t: Droid Life]

  • Next Xbox Is Powered By AMD Jaguar CPU, Ditches Backwards Compatibility [Report]

    During the PS4 reveal in February, Sony revealed that the console would be using AMD’s new Jaguar x86 system-on-a-chip architecture that combines a CPU and a GPU onto a single chip. There were rumors that Microsoft would be doing the same with the next Xbox, and a new report adds more fuel to the fire.

    Speaking to those familiar with Microsoft’s plans, Bloomberg reports that the next Xbox will indeed use AMD’s Jaguar SOC. The report doesn’t mention any specifics, but previous leaks have said that the next Xbox’s CPU would feature eight-cores, and be clocked at 1.6 Ghz. The PS4′s Jaguar has the same number of cores, but is clocked at 1.8 Ghz.

    The report says that Microsoft’s move to an AMD-based architecture will effectively kill any chances of backwards compatibility in the new console. The Xbox 360 employs an IBM PowerPC CPU that makes any chance of compatibility with the new AMD chip all but impossible. Of course, the next Xbox could use emulation for Xbox 360 games, but that seems unlikely. Those wanting to play Xbox 360 games will just have to keep their old consoles around.

    Bloomberg’s report is just the latest in a number of leaks that are beginning to paint a clearer picture of the next Xbox. One of the most persistent, and plausible rumors, is that the next Xbox will ship with the next generation of Kinect hardware. The surprise is that Kinect will be required at all times, even if the game in question doesn’t require it. Some suggest that Microsoft will be using the Orwellian tech it patented some time ago to enforce DRM or other protective measures based upon the number of people in the room.

    Another persistent rumor is that Microsoft’s next console will require an always online Internet connection. The latest rumor says that the console will be able to function for up to three minutes without an active connection, but will suspend all activity to open the network troubleshooter after it times out.

    Of course, all of this is mere speculation and rumors for now. We won’t anything until Microsoft decides to unveil the console. The latest report suggests that Microsoft will host its unveiling event on May 21, and then reveal more at E3 in June.

  • Learn How To Use The Application Data Folder In The Google Drive SDK

    The Google Drive SDK has received a lot of love over the past few weeks, especially with the launch of the Realtime API. Google has also been releasing more tutorial videos to help developers get the most out of the cloud service.

    Google’s latest Drive SDK video will show developers how to use the Application Data folder:

    During this session we’ll build up on the Android quickstart application and show how to create configuration files in the cloud that can be seamlessly synced across devices using the Application Data folder and custom file properties.

  • Nintendo Says The Wii U Has Plenty Of Third-Party Support

    One of the perceived weaknesses of the Wii U is that it doesn’t have any third-party support. A survey of GDC attendees suggested as much as only 4.6 percent of respondents claimed to be working on Wii U games. Well, Nintendo wants you to know that it has plenty of third-party content.

    Nintendo confirmed today that a number of third-party titles will be hitting its newest console starting this month with Injustice: Gods Among Us and continuing through the end of the year with high profile releases from Disney, Ubisoft and others.

    “Disney, Ubisoft and our other third-party partners have a great lineup of exclusive games and unique experiences for fans of all ages,” said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America’s vice president of Licensing. “Their creativity spans every audience and genre, creating new ways to play that can only be experienced on Nintendo platforms.”

    Disney seems to be throwing all in with Nintendo with the release of a Planes adaptation exclusively for Nintendo consoles. The game will probably not appeal to adults, but Disney’s Cars adaptation for the Wii sold surprisingly well. If Disney’s Planes film is even half as popular, it could see some success on Nintendo platforms as well.

    In more exciting news, Disney Infinity will be coming to the Wii U on August 18. For those unfamiliar with the title, Disney Infinity is much like Activision’s Skylanders franchise in that it’s a game where players unlock new characters by buying physical toys. It worked amazingly well for Activision, and Disney’s stable of classic characters should make it a hugely popular game across all platforms.

    Despite earning the ire from Wii U fans for its delay of Rayman Legends, Ubisoft still seems committed to Nintendo’s platform. The publisher announced today that Splinter Cell Blacklist will be coming to the Wii U. This one is a legitimate surprise as the publisher said the game would only be coming to the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC at E3 last year.

    As for Rayman Legends, Nintendo says the expanded “demo,” including the online challenge mode, will be available in late April. The challenge mode contains four levels, including “Murfy’s Dungeon,” which is exclusive to the Wii U version of the game.

    Here’s the other third-party titles confirmed for the Wii U in the coming year:

  • Injustice: Gods Among Us
  • LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
  • Resident Evil: Revelations
  • Fast & Furious
  • Sniper Elite V2
  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Directors Cut
  • Ducktales Remastered
  • Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara
  • Mutant Mudds Deluxe
  • Spin the Bottle
  • Scram Kitty and the his Buddy on Rails

    • To be honest, it’s strange to see Nintendo sending out a press release confirming a number of third-party titles when the respective publishers will probably be sending out their own press releases. It seems that the Kyoto-based company wants people to know that the Wii U hasn’t lost on third-party support just yet, and Nintendo is obviously working to secure content from publishers and developers.

    Unfortunately, it may not be enough as we move into the next generation of consoles this year. The PS4 and next Xbox will be more powerful than the Wii U, and developers may not want to downscale their titles for Nintendo’s console. If that’s the case, the Wii U may miss out on some of the biggest releases of the next few years.

    That being said, most buy a Nintendo console for the first-party games and a handful of exclusive third-party titles that really take advantage of the hardware. That will probably be the case with the Wii U, and honestly, that’s not so bad.

  • The iPhone 5S May Come In Multiple Sizes [Report]

    One of the most prevalent rumors surrounding the next iPhone is that Apple is working on a larger phone. Some suggest that the larger display won’t come into play until next year’s iPhone 6, but others are now suggesting that we’ll get a larger iPhone with this year’s iPhone 5S.

    Brian White, analyst for Topeka Capital Markets, said that Apple will release the iPhone 5S with three separate screen sizes. He reportedly got his information from a company in Apple’s supply chain.

    “We believe Apple is coming around to the fact that one size per iPhone release does not work for everyone and offering consumers an option has the potential to expand the company’s market share,” White said.

    This isn’t the first time that White has predicted the iPhone 5S will come in multiple screen sizes. He said the same thing back in January, while adding that Apple would be using Sharp’s new IGZO display panels for the larger screens. He also said that the iPhone 5S would be offered in more colors than just the traditional black and white.

    White also addressed the persistent rumor that Apple will be releasing a cheaper iPhone this year for the Chinese market. Some rumors suggested that Apple would go as low as $99 for the cheaper device, but White says that Apple can’t possibly go below $300 without a subsidy. The reason being that Apple never sells at a loss or at cost. Even if it’s cheaper, Apple has to make a tidy profit on every iPhone sold to keep investors happy.

    All of this is speculation for now, but we may find out more about the mythical iPhone 5S sooner rather than later. The latest rumors peg the iPhone 5S release date for June. If that’s the case, we could see a reveal in late May/early June.

    [h/t: Apple Insider]

  • Check Out The New Zombie Mode In Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2

    During the reveal of the new Uprising map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Treyarch revealed a new zombie mode called Mob of the Dead. The new scenario takes place in Alcatraz as zombies take over the infamous prison.

    Interestingly enough, Treyarch will be attempting to make its zombie mode more of a psychological horror game this time around, instead of the tower defense/survival gameplay of past zombie modes.

    Mob of the Dead will be available on Xbox Live first as part of the Uprising map pack on April 16.