Latest news

Time Warner Cable has released their TV app to Microsoft latest and greatest gaming console – the Xbox One. The app as you might guess allows you to watch TV on your Xbox if you have the cable company's subscription.

Engadget notes that unfortunately unlike the Xbox 360 the Xbox One version is still limited to video-on-demand content but will eventually support live TV as well. There is however already support for both Kinect voice controls and Snap multitasking.

You'll find both free and paid content just like on other platforms that include iOS, Android, Roku and Samsung Smart TVs.

The users of the uTorrent have found that the new version of the popular BitTorrent client comes with an additional piece of software unseen before. What makes it even worse is that it is installed without consent.

The program is called EpicScale and is a bitcoin mining software. Mining cryptocurrencies uses a lot of your processing power and therefore is extremely power hungry.

BitTorrent has replied and assured that EpicScale is not installed without users consent. Several users seem to disagree and have found the mining software on their computer without agreeing on installing it.

Have you had problems with this program? If you have installed the new update and your CPU is running hot you may want to check your installed programs (via Control Panel) and remove the possible EpicShare.

Mobile payment system Softcard is officially dead following its recent acquisition by Google.

The company has sent out emails to current users acknowledging that the app and all accounts will shut down on March 31st.

Softcard was created by Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile but even hundreds of millions in investment could not buy any regular users for the service. Google acquired most of the tech that was powering Softcard last month, and has rolled it into their Wallet mobile payment app and used the tech for the upcoming Android Pay API.

Google is expected to pull the Softcard app from Google Play next week.

Check out a copy of the email here:

According to a new report, Google will begin their new experimental MVNO later this month, but with one massive caveat.

The search giant is preparing to get into the carrier business, with a network that can instantly switch between Wi-Fi, Sprint and T-Mobile depending on what network is strongest.

Given the fact that T-Mobile is GSM and Sprint is CDMA, Google needs specific hardware and software tweaks to make it all work and for the time being the only device that is completely open for them to toy with is their own Nexus 6.

With the Nexus 6 as the only phone available for the new network, the company is obviously shortening the list of potential consumers, as the device sells for $650 unlocked.

As part of a broader report on Apple today, the WSJ has suggested that Apple's rumored 12-inch MacBook Air could be launched as early as Monday.

Apple has scheduled a press event for Monday in which they are widely expected to reveal a firm launch date for the Apple Watch including pricing. However, Apple could have more than one announcement scheduled.

Says the report: "While suppliers are gearing up to ship the new 12-inch MacBook Air in large quantities in the second quarter, Apple's launch schedule remains unclear, the people said."

The new Air will be thinner and lighter, and the 12-inch display will take the same space as the current 11-inch Airs, suggesting smaller bezels. The new laptop will also have minimal ports, with some reports suggesting there will be a single USB C port.

Nvidia has unveiled the new Titan X GPU - the most powerful video card ever created.

CEO Jen-Hsun Huang says the GPU has 8 billion transistors, uses the new Nvidia Maxwell architecture and has a ridiculous 12 gigabytes of VRAM.

More will be revealed on the spec side in the coming weeks, but Nvidia demoed the power of the Titan X by showing off 'Thief in the Shadows,' a VR experience that lets gamers "wade through acres of coins, pass between stacks of gold ingots and explore subterranean crevices all guarded by an enormous dragon that has no intention of giving up any of his hoard" (Smaug from The Hobbit). The game plays at 90fps.

Last month, Chinese smartphone giant announced that they were opening an online store for U.S. customers and the company has confirmed now that it will be doing the same for Europe.

Unfortunately, just like in the U.S., the European store will not include phone or tablet sales, just accessories and smaller devices like the Mi Band fitness tracker and Mi speakers and headphones.

"It's going to be a different Mi.com experience from what we have in our markets in Asia, because we're not selling phones," said Hugo Barra, former Android exec and now Xiaomi's global vice president. "We're only going to sell a small number of our hero accessories, things like the Mi Band, studio-grade headphones, in-ear headphones and the world's most popular power banks."

The lack of phone sales is notable as the company has quickly risen to the world's third largest smartphone maker in just 4 years of existence, thanks to brisk sales in Asia. The company has massive revenues but short profits as the margins are tight on all devices they sell in an effort to get their ecosystem into the hands of millions where they can sell software and services at nearly 100 percent margins.

First thing this morning, Marvel's The Avengers Twitter page tweeted out a simple request: Tweet #AvengersAssemble to 'unlock' a new trailer for the hotly anticipated film.

Thousands of fans quickly tweeted the message and Marvel rewarded them with a brand new trailer that includes new footage and a good luck at Vision.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is set for release on May 1st.

Check the tweet followed by the trailer:

Although the date was leaked last month, Konami has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be released on September 1st.

Notably, Metal Gear Online will also go live the same day, giving gamers the chance to get into the competitive multiplayer mode right out of the gate.

The game will sell for $60 for PS4 and Xbox One and $10 less for PS3 and Xbox 360. PC gamers will have to wait two weeks to get the title via Steam.

Dish has confirmed today that Sling TV subscribers will now have access to AMC and IFC - without any increase to their subscription price.

The service will cost $20 per month and includes the following channels: TNT, TBS, CNN, Food Network, HGTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, the Disney Channel, Galavision, El Rey Network, a Maker Studios channel and ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3.

For $5 extra, there are add-on packages, the latest of which is called 'Hollwood Extra' and includes EPIX, EPIX 2, EPIX3, EPIX Drive In, and Sundance TV.

AMC is a big deal given the hit status of Better Call Saul, the last season of Mad Men and the ongoing Walking Dead series.

Nvidia has announced the latest generation of their SHIELD series, introducing the "world's first 4K Android TV console."

The design of the console is pretty cool compared to the ugly black boxes we have become accustomed to with Apple TV, Roku and Amazon, with Nvidia's green accents (and LEDs) and a triangular shape.

Launching in May, the console will cost just $199 and include a controller. Nvidia's Grid cloud service will be pre-installed. The console supports 4K video at 60fps, the first piece of hardware to do so. Under the hood is a new Tegra X1 superchip, making it multiple times more powerful than existing set-top boxes.

In their demo, Nvidia promised 50 curated Android games that were ported specifically to work with the X1 including Crysis 3.

Here's the full spec breakdown:

•NVIDIA Tegra X1 Processor with 256-core Maxwell GPU
•3GB RAM
•4K Ultra-HD Ready with 4K playback and capture up to 60fps (VP9, H265, H264)
•Audio Features: 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI, High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192kHz over HDMI and USB, High-resolution audio upsample to 24-bit/192hHz over USB
•16GB on board storage, MicroSD slot supporting 128GB
•Wireless: 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi
•Bluetooth: 4.1/BLE
•Interfaces: Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 2.0, Two USB 3.0 (Type A), Micro-USB 2.0
•IR Receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony)

Nvidia has confirmed that its 'Grid' cloud gaming service will indeed be a subscription service that allows gamers to stream new and older catalog titles at up to 1080p and 60fps.

The service will launch in May and will have over 50 games at launch. You can purchase additional titles, normally at full price, from Nvidia's store. Most new high-end games will be available on Grid the same day as their physical and digital releases.

There will be two tiers of the service, free and premium, although it is unclear how much the premium tier will cost.

CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said the lag time is almost non-existent, as the service is backed by Amazon Web Services and Nvidia's own Grid supercomputers. "If you have a fairly good internet connection, I can get a response from a computer based in Oregon in 150 milliseconds. That's half the blink of an eye," added the exec.

You will need at least a 25Mbps downstream connection to be able to stream at 1080p.

In their demo, the company showed off streaming of new games like Resident Evil: Revelations 2 and Witcher 3 and there seemed to be no visual lag. Quality did appear a bit lower than playing on a $2000 gaming rig or the PS4, for example, but that was to be expected.

Google has announced today that starting with the release of Chrome 42, the browser will no longer support Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Currently in stable Chrome 40, Chrome 42 is expected to launch in April. If you are one of the 6 percent of Android users that still uses the old version of the mobile operating system, after the new release you will no longer be able to update your Chrome browser, leaving it potentially vulnerable but certainly without whatever new features and performance tweaks newer versions may offer.

Ice Cream Sandwiched launched in late 2011, and the OS has been substantially upgraded by the newer Jelly Bean, KitKat and Android 5.0 Lollipop.

So why the new move? Google answered: "While the number of Ice Cream Sandwich devices is shrinking, supporting them in terms of engineering effort and technical complexity is increasingly difficult over time. Each new feature or web capability that's added to Chrome must be built and tested for ICS. Often workarounds and special cases have to be added specifically for ICS, and that adds code complexity, slows performance, and increases development time. The number of ICS devices is now sufficiently small that we can better serve our users by phasing out support for earlier devices and focusing on making Chrome better for the vast majority of users on more modern devices."

Netflix has announced that fans in Australia and New Zealand will finally get access to the company's streaming catalog.

Many Aussies and Kiwis have heard a lot about Netflix over the years, and we're excited they'll get to experience our unique blend of Netflix original content, local series and films, and popular movies and TV shows from around the world, all for a low monthly price," said Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief executive officer.

Starting on March 24th, consumers can choose between three service plans: single stream SD, two-stream HD and a four-stream 4K 'family plan.' Pricing is not official yet, but it is expected to be in line with global prices, which are $7.99 for the base plan, $1 more for the HD plan and $3 more for the family plan.

Most notably, Australian customers of ISP iiNet, which has a bandwidth cap, will not see Netflix counted towards their monthly quota, a relief as Netflix and other streaming services can quickly and quietly eat up your monthly data cap in no time.

Sony has boasted today that global PlayStation 4 sales have reached a new milestone: 20 million units.

"We are so grateful for the enormous support from PlayStation fans worldwide, and we are truly humbled that gamers around the globe have continued to select PS4 as the best place to play," added Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House. "We remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver unique and interactive entertainment experiences powered by the network and the PS4 system's deep social capabilities."

The company expects sales to continue to be strong with an upcoming lineup of games including Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Bloodborne, Until Dawn, Tearaway Unfolded, and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

Major rival Microsoft has not had any new milestones to share since November when they reached 10 million units sold, but undoubtedly the Redmond giant has sold millions since given the exceptionally strong holiday season the company had thanks to a price cut across the board on its console and bundles.

Source:
Sony