Destiny Beta coming to PlayStation 4 on July 17th
Sony’s Andrew House just kicked off the company’s E3 show by announcing an open beta for Bungie’s Destiny on July 17th. But gamers won’t have to wait until later this summer for a crack at the massively multiplayer online title; House also mentioned that the open world title would be available this Wednesday as an alpha build for those of you that like works-in-progress. And to make the pot even sweeter for interested parties, Sony’s releasing an exclusive bundle that comes with an all-white — sorry, that’s “glacier white” — PlayStation 4 and free 30-day trial to PS Plus, Sony’s network service, on September 9th. So, it’s confirmed: Destiny’s launch marks the beginning of the many colored PS4s to come.
Sony’s Playstation 4 will be available in white this September, comes with Destiny and 500GB
Not only did Sony just announce that the beta of Bungie’s next title, Destiny, is coming as a beta next month, it also let the cat out of the bag that you’ll be able to get the game bundled with a “glacial white” Playstation 4 on September 9th. The new-hued console will come with 500GB of storage and a free 30 day membership to Playstation Plus.
Follow our liveblog at Sony’s E3 2014 conference for the latest updates!
Sony announces ‘Little Big Planet 3’ with loads of new characters and abilities
You know you want it. We don’t even have to ask, and Sony is delivering! Little Big Planet 3 is coming. The most immediately notable change is the slew of new characters, like the quadrupedal Oddsock and the flying Swoop. Flying is an obvious new trick, but there’s also a the ability to wall jump and a larger character that can shove obstacles out of the way and generally hurl his girth around the level. The idea is that multiple character can cooperate to extend the world of Little Big Planet in interesting ways. And don’t worry, if you and your friends have invested countless hours crafting levels for the first two titles, they’ll actually be playable in the newest installment — complete with automatically upscaled graphics! There’s also sorts of great new mechanics and beautiful new graphics to enjoy. Though, you’ll have to be patient, Little Big Planet 3 won’t hit the Playstation 4 until the holiday season.
PS4 owners will be able to play ‘FarCry 4’ with friends who don’t own the game
Looking forward to playing FarCry 4 with your friends? Sony says if you buy it for the PlayStation 4, you’ll only need one copy between you. Taking the stage at the company’s E3 2014 PlayStation event, Sony VP of developer relations Adam Boyes explained that folks playing the game on PSN will be able to invite their friends to play with them even if they don’t own the game. How is this possible? Boyes didn’t say, exactly, but it sounds like an ideal use case for PlayStation Now — Sony’s Gaikai-sourced cloud streaming service.
Developing…
HTC Dot View Case for the HTC One M8. A Cool Idea that Needs Work.
HTC has been on an up and down spiral over the last couple of years as Samsung took the lead in the Android smartphone race. That’s not to say they haven’t made some awesome hardware, but they lost their way a couple of years ago and flooded the market with too many options and nothing spectacular.
With the Release of the HTC One and now the HTC One M8, HTC appears to be on the right track and the release of the HTC Dot View case for the HTC One M8 showed they were thinking out of the box.
The HTC Dot View case protects your phone while still allowing notifications and touch control without opening the case itself. There are a couple of issues that stop it being what it could have been, but it’s still a cool case, just not one that I’d have for myself.
Read the full review now on TheSavvyTechs.
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Bloomberg built a virtual trading terminal using Oculus Rift
No matter how many screens they add to their setup, traders are limited to a finite amount of display real estate. To solve that problem, Bloomberg LP’s turned to the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift. Don’t expect to see a room full of Oculus-equipped traders anytime soon, though; it’s just a prototype, albeit one that Bloomberg’s showing off at its Next Big Thing Summit this week.
Bloomberg’s prototype puts infinite screens before your eyes, allowing you to view as much financial data as you desire. Beyond the obvious benefit of unlimited space, a virtual trading desk would allow for a more mobile workspace (you could take the Oculus home or on the road) and the ability to change screen arrangements based on the time of day. It’s unclear whether an Oculus-powered trading desk would cost less than a brick-and-mortar Bloomberg terminal, which costs about $2,000 a month.
Currently, the rig is merely a mockup, with screenshots and videos rather than real-time information. Bloomberg’s Nick Peck told Quartz that the proof-of-concept may eventually work with a Leap Motion for gesture control. While the virtual trading terminal is still far from a final product, it’s an exciting look at how Oculus Rift — and virtual reality in general — could benefit the workplace.
Filed under: Displays
Source: Quartz
iOS 8 makes it tougher for WiFi hotspots to track your location
Apple made a hullabaloo over iOS 8′s user-accessible privacy controls during its WWDC keynote, but it now appears that some of the biggest safeguards are under the hood. Security guru Frederic Jacobs has noticed that iOS 8 uses random network identifiers when scanning for WiFi access, and will only reveal a device’s true ID when it connects. In other words, hotspot operators can’t get your position simply because you’re walking by with an iPhone in hand — you have to sign in first.
It’s a relatively simple move, but it could have far-reaching effects on data collection. Both cities and retailers have experimented with tracking phones as they pass by WiFi hotspots, helping to gauge foot traffic. When iOS 8 launches, it could render those trackers useless; at best, they’d paint an incomplete picture. There’s no word on whether or not other platforms will follow suit. Even if no one else adopts the idea, though, it’s good news for privacy advocates who want to limit access to their location.
Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Mobile, Apple
Source: Frederic Jacobs (Twitter)
Skype’s redesigned iPhone app is all about sharing things faster
Skype has been lavishing attention on its Android and Windows Phone messaging apps as of late, but it’s now time for the iPhone client to get a makeover — and it’s one of the company’s biggest overhauls in recent memory. The new software brings a much fresher-looking interface that’s both in step with other platforms (chiefly Windows Phone) and lets you accomplish many common tasks faster. You can now start group chats right from the hub, and you don’t have to wait until someone hops online to send a message.
There are a lot of subtler tweaks that should go a long way toward improving the experience, too. The app’s overall performance is up to five times faster, and it’s much better at syncing message statuses as you move from device to device. So what’s the catch? Simply put, the app isn’t ready yet; Skype is launching the new iPhone version in about a week. Until it’s available, you’ll just have to make do with the teaser video below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft
Source: Skype
‘Just Dance Now’ lets anyone with a smartphone and internet connection join in to… dance
Ubisoft’s just kicked off its E3 presser with a look at Just Dance 2015 which is — let’s be honest — expected and not all that exciting. But the company also has a trick up its sleeve for this new edition of the motion-controlled dancing game: online multiplayer from any connected device. The service, called Just Dance Now, lets any player with a smartphone, tablet, smart TV or PC join in the game using the accelerometer on their phone. And, according to Ubisoft, there’s no upper limit on how many players can connect at once using the Just Dance Now app, which the company demoed using a song by ‘ol Lady Gaga.
Filed under: Gaming
‘Assassin’s Creed: Unity’ gets redesigned open world, ships October 28th
Earlier today at Microsoft’s Xbox One E3 event, we got a glimpse of four-player co-op in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Unity. But the developer’s giving the new title a proper unveiling at its own show, with an extended trailer showing in-game footage and a release date: October 28th.
Alex Amancio, Creative Director for the title, said that his team “redesigned the building blocks of Assassin’s Creed” for Unity to let players “carve [their] own unique path through the game.” Gameplay for Unity focuses on assassin Arno Dorian and looks to feature more of the same stealth and murder mechanic we’ve seen in previous installments of the franchise. This time, though, all that cloak and dagger carnage takes place during the French Revolution.
AIVAnet 