Author: Zach Walton

Google loves to announce fake products and services on April Fools’ Day, and I’m fine with some products remaining pranks. Its latest joke product, however, would actually be pretty cool if it were real.

Google Fiber Poles is the first prank product to come out of Google Fiber, and it’s actually a pretty neat idea:

Google Fiber Poles actually presents a lot of problems that make this project impossible, but it would be great if Google made Fiber more ubiquitous around Kansas City. Installing more wireless access points would be the most obvious solution, but something similar to Google Fiber Poles that encourages people to work together in groups would be most welcome.

Batman and Superman – the two characters that pretty much define the DC Universe. The two have come to blows in the past, and they will again in the Injustice: Gods Among Us Battle Arena finale.

Before we get to that, however, Batman and Superman had to emerge victorious over their opponents in the semi-finals. First up, Batman squared off against The Flash where Batman easily took the win. Of course, some YouTube commenters are not exactly pleased with the outcome – rightly pointing out that The Flash could handily beat Batman in a matter of seconds if the outcome was decided by anything other than voting.

The other matchup saw Superman taking on Green Lantern. Once again, votes decide the ultimate victor, but this fight is at least a little more balanced. Green Lantern can easily put up a decent fight against Superman, but the combined powers of Superman and Killer Croc were just too much to bear.

The final fight between Superman and Batman will air two weeks from now. Both characters are incredibly popular so it will be interesting to see which hero gets the most votes.

Injustice: Gods Among Us launches across the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U on April 16.

There’s money to be made in Android game development, but you have to be smart about it. There’s a lot of things to consider when developing a successful Android game. To help developers just starting out or those who have yet to find success, Google has put together a short video that describes “crucial elements to developing successful games on the Android platform.”

Go here for more on Android development.

Gamers love watching other people play games. It’s the only way to explain of popularity of Let’s Plays and live streams on YouTube, Twitch.tv and other sites. The only problem is that those who do live streams must have video capture equipment or software thus preventing a number of players from broadcasting their exploits.

At GDC 2013, YouTube announced its intentions to change all that with a new API that allows game developers to integrate YouTube live streaming into their games. Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 proved the API’s popularity last year when the game allowed players to live-stream matches without the use of any third-party program.

YouTube isn’t reserving live-streaming capabilities just for the hardcore crowd eiher. The API will be available to iOS and Android developers soon so mobile gamers can start sharing their screen with the world in real time.

An interesting aspect of the new API is that YouTube may be helping content creators monetize their streams. There are tools in the API that would allow live-streamers to drop ads in the middle of their stream. It’s unknown if the live streamer would actually be able to make money off of their content though. Some publishers have rules in regards to monetization of in-game video so those rules may be left up to them.

These APIs come at a time when YouTube faces stiff competition from other established, and more gamer centric, live streaming services like Twitch.tv. Twitch still requires extra software or hardware to stream, however, so YouTube’s APIs may just help bring more streamers and viewers to its side.

[h/t: The Verge]

The next-generation of game consoles is quickly approaching, but there are some who claim that we don’t need new hardware. The argument usually focuses on how there’s still ways to squeeze more power out of the current generation of consoles, and how games still haven’t reached their full potential.

At GDC 2013, Epic Games smashed that argument to bits with its latest real-time demo of Unreal Engine 4. The technology on display just isn’t currently possible on existing hardware, and it’s exciting to think what developers will do with it once they have the power to do so.

The most exciting part about this tech demo is that it’s running on currently available hardware. Epic confirmed that the demo was running on a single, unmodified Nvidia GTX 680. So, we know that Unreal games built on the PC will look great, but it will be interesting to see how the engine works with the AMD hardware in the PS4 and next Xbox.

[h/t: Polygon]

For all of its talk of supporting open Web standards, Internet Explorer 10 still lacked one important part of the open Web ecosystem – WebGL. Sure, you could add it with a plugin, but Microsoft refused to add native support while Mozilla and Google do amazing things with it. That all may change, however, with Windows Blue.

Fremycompany reports that Internet Explorer 11, as seen in the recent leak of Windows Blue, contains hints in its code that Microsoft will finally be adding native support for WebGL. The only problem is that it’s not entirely functional yet:

I didn’t get webgl working, even by trying using iesl, hlsl and other combinations. So, it seems like WebGL interfaces are defined but not functional at this time.

As CNET points out, Microsoft did have a good reason to keep WebGL out of Internet Explorer until now. The company called it out as a security risk, and was concerned that malicious actors could hijack browsers using the technology. Still, this latest hint of incoming support may mean that Microsoft has patched up all the security holes it was concerned about.

There’s not much more to go on at this time beyond the initial hints, but it would be incredibly advantageous for the Web if Internet Explorer finally added native WebGL support. It’s quickly becoming one of the more important open Web standards as more people use it to make games and other graphic intensive content on the Web without plugins.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft to see if the Internet Explorer team is working on native WebGL support. We’ll update this story if they get back to us.

For an 82-year-old, William Shatner still looks incredibly young. That being said, it seems that his age is finally catching up to him. Despite that, he still holds his own against one of his oldest adversaries – the Gorn.

All of this is for the upcoming Star Trek: The Video Game. The story takes place between 2009′s Star Trek reboot and the latest film – Star Trek: Into Darkness. In the video game, Kirk and Spock must fight off a Gorn invasion.

Of course, this video only raises our collective hope that William Shatner will make a cameo in the newest game. He could prove an invaluable ally to future Kirk and Spock what with his incredible acting and charm.

Windows 8 was obviously built with tablets in mind, but the OS only supports tablets with 1366×768 displays. That’s all going to change, and it could mean big things for Windows 8 going forward.

In a recent Windows Certification Newsletter, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 now supports a minimum resolution of 1024×768. The company says the new rule is for “partners exploring designs for certain markets.”

So, what does this mean? A lower resolution could point to Microsoft opening up to putting Windows 8 on smaller devices, including 7-inch tablets. The current stable of Windows 8 tablets all size in at either 9 or 10-inches, and the price reflects that. The high price commanded by the current stable of Windows 8 tablets has definitely been an obstacle for consumers, and a lower resolution, lower priced tablet may just be what the company needs.

The possibilities don’t stop at 7-inch tablets either. ZDNet speculates that Microsoft may be using its partnership with Nook to create a Windows-powered eReader that would have access to Barnes & Noble’s extensive collection of eBooks. The 1024×768 resolution would be a perfect fit as it would finally allow Microsoft to sell cheap hardware.

Of course, all of this is mere speculation for now. All we know is that Microsoft is relaxing its certification requirements. It’s too early to tell if OEMs will start making 7-inch tablets, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to hear something along those lines later this year.

Earlier this year, eBay posted revenue growth of 21 percent year-over-year. Over the next three years, it hopes to increase revenue even more.

In a meeting with investors, eBay announced that it plans to continue growing through 2015 thanks to a “commerce revolution.” This revolution will be spearheaded by the transition to mobile as more and more people take to the Web to buy and sell.

“Led by mobile, a commerce revolution is under way,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “Technology is creating a new web-enabled retail interface, a new seamless, multiscreen commerce experience that connects consumers anytime, anywhere. This will expand shopping beyond conventional store environments and e-commerce sites. How we shop is being transformed, and eBay Inc. intends to be a leader in this new commerce world.”

This outlook is not only good for investors, but for the millions of people who sell on eBay. In fact, the company thinks it will enable $300 billion of global commerce in 2015, compared to $175 billion in 2012. It also hopes to grow its revenue from by over 50 percent to $21.5 billion in 2015.

So, how is eBay going to do this? The company has a three pronged approach: