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Electronics giant Sony announced this week that following two major earthquakes their image sensor factory will remain closed indefinitely.

In addition, a second image sensor plant will be partially suspended as the company assesses the damage.

"We are not expecting any immediate supply disruption as we have some inventories right now," a Sony spokesman added. "We will make an announcement promptly if any supply issues emerge."

Sony owns about 40 percent of the CMOS image sensor market and one of its largest customers is Apple, although Apple does not expect to have any supply constraints either.

Google says Android N will soon add support for pressure-sensitive touch (similar to 3D Touch on iOS).

The company says manufacturers asked them to add the support to the operating system, likely so the many OEMs would not have to address that individually.

For the time being there are no companies that have confirmed 3D Touch abilities for their Android phones moving forward, but Android N is still very early in the developer feedback stage. It will be interesting to see what happens moving forward.

Two years ago, Verizon acquired what was left of Intel's failed OnCue IPTV service and it appears they are now on the verge of launching a set-top box built on Intel's foundations.

The telecom giant has filed documents with the U.S. FCC to get approval for the box, and the documents specifically mention OnCue, and the codename for their set-top, "Mallard."

As has been reported in the past, the new device will offer pay-TV services and a brand new interface unlike that seen in Verizon's current Fios service. The set-top box will also give access to online video services although it is unclear if that includes the big services like Netflix and Hulu.

Sources claim Verizon has mandated its team to ship the box and the service by the end of the year, with testing for some subscribers starting over the summer.

Doom's multiplayer open beta is ready for the weekend.

The beta has been available for download for the last few days and is now playable. You get access to two maps and team deathmatch and warpath modes.

Fans will get to use the plasma rifle, shotguns, lightning guns, the Gauss Cannon and rocket launchers. You can also play as a demon.

If you want some gaming excitement for the weekend, Doom is live for the PS4, Xbox One and Steam.

Apple has announced the end of "iTunes Allowances," a feature that had allowed parents to automatically put money into their children's iTunes accounts on a recurring monthly basis.

As of now, Apple has stopped new deposits and the service will go away completely on May 25th.

Any unused allowance credit will be rolled over into your iTunes account and can be used as normal. There was no word as to why Apple is stopping the program. Moving forward, Apple is encouraging users to try out their Family Sharing features, including 'Ask to Buy' on family accounts.

According to new reports, Google will be adding podcasts to their Google Play Music service later this month, and probably as early as next week.

Google announced the Podcast section six months ago, but has gone relatively quiet about it since then.

"Google will launch podcasts on Android and other platforms next Monday, April 18, inside of Google Play Music, a streaming service similar to Apple Music," said talk-radio giant NPR in a letter to its members, while also mentioning that the information is under embargo.

While it certainly seems like Podcasts are coming next week, earlier this year sports podcaster and writer Bill Simmons tweeted that his podcast would be available in February on Google Play, which obviously didn't happen, suggesting that maybe NPR has their facts wrong, as well.

Dish has unveiled a new $20-per-month model of its Sling TV streaming TV service, adding multi-stream and Fox channels for the first time.

The new package will allow for up to three simultaneous streams on different devices, and will include Fox, Fox's regional sports networks and FX. By signing up, you also get on-demand access to FX Now.

Dish's first Sling TV package has Disney channels including ESPN, but only allows for one stream at a time.

"Since launch, our customers have asked for more channels and multiple streams," said Sling TV Chief Executive Roger Lynch in a statement. The new package "is the first step in answering their requests."

In addition to the Fox anchors, AMC, A&E, Turner channels, Scripps Networks Interactive channels, EPIX and Univision will also be part of the multi-stream service. Disney will not.

Sony jumped ahead of the NPD's console sales report and proclaimed that the PlayStation 4 was once again the top-selling console in the U.S.

"Thank you to our fans and partners for making PlayStation 4 the top-selling console and software sales leader for the month of March, as well as the number-one console for fans of The Division, according to NPD," said Sony. "We are truly humbled by the success and look forward to delivering more amazing gaming experiences throughout 2016, including the launch of PlayStation VR this October."

Overall, hardware sales for down year-over-year, to $253.2 million from $311.1 million.

"Video game hardware dollar sales declined by 19 percent in March 2016, with unit sales dropping 17 percent," said NPD analyst Liam Callahan. "The difference in trends was due to some softening of average retail prices of 2 percent versus last March. Portable hardware sales had the highest dollar sales volume decline versus last March, followed closely by eighth generation consoles. Seventh generation consoles had a steep percentage decline of 78 percent, though those sales now represent only 2 percent of the month's sales."

GameStop COO Tony Bartel has made some waves this week when he noted that he believes some new console launches "seem imminent."

There have been rumors flying about a "PlayStation 4K" that supports 4K gaming for a few months but there have been little details otherwise. Nintendo has been working on their NX console in secret for over a year, and Microsoft is likely not far behind if their rivals are building new consoles.

"Although we have not modeled extensive growth for new innovation in this presentation, we are very pleased to see the introduction of technology like virtual reality and rumored new console launches, some of which seem imminent," Bartel said during an investor conference.

Additionally, Bartel says expectations are very high for VR devices like the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, which are expected to start off with slow sales but grow into a behemoth in the coming years.

While the rumor has been hot for awhile, Apple has dropped another hint that their OS X operating system could be getting a major rebranding to "MacOS."

Apple posted a new page for Earth Day 2016 this week and the company wrote: "Years of use, which are based on first owners, are assumed to be four years for MacOS and tvOS devices and three years for iOS and watchOS devices."

The most recent OS X framework also contained the name "macOS," so it is becoming increasingly clear that Apple is looking to make a change soon.

Expect more at June's WWDC.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has warned Windows PC owners that they should uninstall Apple's QuickTime, after major vulnerabilities were found in the software.

Apple no longer supports the Windows variant of QuickTime so the DHS says you should uninstall the software to avoid a "loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability of data, as well as damage to system resources or business assets."

Security firm Trend Micro made a similar announcement earlier this week, although they noted that there have not been any successful attacks using the exploits that they know of.

There's actually a pretty good chance you don't have QuickTime installed, anyways, especially since it does not run on Windows 8 or Windows 10, but if you are running an older operating system it may be time to uninstall the app.

Have a eVic-VTC Mini e-cig and an urge to try something fun? This guy has managed to get Flappy Bird and Snake running on his e-cig and tells you how to as well.

Balázs Bank uploaded videos showing the games running on his e-cig device and providing instructions on how to do it yourself for Flappy Bird (at your own risk, of course!).
Here's the video of Flappy Bird.

You can download the firmware file (.bin) from here:

https://goo.gl/AKdSGH (MEGA)
https://goo.gl/NP51qa (Google Drive)


DISCLAIMER: Flash this firmware at your own risk. I will not take any responsibility for damaging your device.

INSTRUCTIONS

Install game:
1. Download and unzip the compressed folder.
2. Connect the eVic-VTC Mini to the computer.
3. Open the official UpdateFirmware.exe (it's in the archive or you can download from Joyetech's site).
4. Click Update button then select FlappyBird.bin.
5. Enjoy (or not) the 'game'.

Ubisoft is aware of issues players of Tom Clancy's The Division are having with their agents disappearing, and promises it will bring them back.

Players develop their agent characters over time as they play the online game, and so many people were shocked when their built-up characters suddenly disappeared altogether. The problem seemed to effect the Xbox One version exclusively.

Ubisoft confirmed that there was a problem and has already fixed it.

"The issue was caused by a malfunctioning server that couldn't synchronise character data correctly and corrupted them instead. The game client was unable to read this corrupted data, and simply assumed that the character didn't exist," the developer told the BBC News website.

The server has since been restored to normal functions so the issue won't affect any new players, and those who have been affected are assured that the character is not gone and a fix will be available shortly to restore them.

While The Division had a relatively stable launch, problems arose when an update (v1.1) was pushed out to players.

A new trailer for the upcoming blockbuster shooter Gears of War 4 hit the web this past weekend and has been well received by fans of the series as it jumps into the next generation.

It is almost a decade ago since Gears of War was launched first on the Xbox 360 console, giving gamers a taste of what the (then) new generation had to offer them. Some will recall a well-received trailer showing Marcus Fenix running through war torn streets and alleys before encountering a giant corpser, all to the tune of Gary Jules - Mad World.

Gears of War 4 will bring the series "properly" to the next generation, exclusively on Xbox One (though it may follow on PC). The new trailer, titled "Tomorrow" takes us forward 25 years when JD Fenix (son of Marcus Fenix and Anya Stroud from the previous titles) is forced to battle a new enemy. In the few days since the trailer has been released it certainly has had a positive response.

If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

A rise in the sale of physical Vinyl copies of albums has been linked to music streaming services in a research poll conducted by ICM.

The data showed that half of consumers who had bought a vinyl copy of an album did so after listening to the music on streaming services or other platforms. Free, ad-supported services appear to drive more sales than paid competitors.

Those aged between 25-34 buy the most physical vinyl copies of albums, according to the ICM data, followed by those aged 35-44. In 2014, vinyl sales hit a 21 year high when 2.1 million LPs were purchased in the UK, representing an eighth straight year of growth in demand, which seems to be continuing into 2016.

However, the research also showed that many of the buyers don't purchase the vinyl copy to listen to it. In fact, 7 percent of respondents had no turntable, and simply buy a physical copy to collect it and/or support the artist.

"I have vinyls in my room but it's more for decor. I don't actually play them," Jordan Katende, a student in Manchester, told the BBC News website. "It gives me the old-school vibe. That's what vinyl's all about.


Source: BBC News